Help, what am I doing wrong here?

[weepiper]

A bit of advice from you established photographers please as I know these pictures are rubbish but I don't quite understand why they have come out rubbish.




I took loads of pictures of this buzzard today but every single one has come out a bit fuzzy and unfocused looking. The top one is a crop, the bottom one is straight off the camera. Top one was taken at f6.7, 1/1250, ISO 320, bottom one f6.7, 1/800, ISO 400. Both are at the very end of my zoom lens which is 300mm, but it's a micro four thirds camera so that's equivalent to a 600mm traditional lens. Both were taken with continuous tracking autofocus switched on.

How could I have made these better? Am I just beyond the limit of what my lens can pick up sharply? Would different settings have helped? It was a beautiful day so I'm pretty disappointed they came out so crap!

 

[neonwilderness]

Looks like the focus is set to the distance and not on the buzzard. Your focus point is probably set to the centre of the image.

What camera are you using? You can usually half press the shutter button to lock the focus, then recompose and shoot.

 

[weepiper]

Looks like the focus is set to the distance and not on the buzzard. Your focus point is probably set to the centre of the image.

What camera are you using? You can usually half press the shutter button to lock the focus, then recompose and shoot.

It's an Olympus OM-D E-M10 mark iv. I can set the focus point to be in the centre, in a 9-square block, or across the whole grid. I think I had it on 9-square block here. There's a little tracking focus indicator thing that lights up when it's locked on and that was lit with the half-press, iyswim.

 

[neonwilderness]

I'd try changing to the centre focus point then focusing and locking on the bird before recomposing and shooting. The 9 square block might be too big, so it's picking up the background.

 

[weepiper]

I'd try changing to the centre focus point then focusing and locking on the bird before recomposing and shooting. The 9 square block might be too big, so it's picking up the background.

Thanks. Maybe it was picking up the branches. Kicking myself that I didn't put it back to single autofocus because that's much easier to tell through the viewfinder if the focus is right but I wanted to try and catch it if it took off.

 

[RoyReed]

On a 600mm lens (equiv) at f6.7 and I'm guessing 15m, the depth of field is going to be less than 10cm, so focus is really critical. You need to set the focus to a single point and make sure it's exactly on the bird, ideally on its eye. If you use any form of multi-point auto focus it will always try to focus on whatever is closest to the camera. I'd probably go to a higher ISO and a smaller aperture to make sure of getting a bigger depth of field.

I've got a depth of field app on my phone that let's you calculate dof for any given lens/aperture/camera combination.

Also, do a test on a static subject (eg. a brick wall) to see how sharp your lens actually is at its maximum focal length. My 70-300mm (apsc) zoom is pin sharp up to 270mm, but falls off a bit in the last few mm up to 300. It's still usable, but sometimes it's better to shoot at 270mm and crop in a bit.

E2A: I mistyped 10mm depth of field. That would be really shallow. I've changed it to 10cm which is still quite shallow.

 

[weepiper]

On a 600mm lens (equiv) at f6.7 the depth of field is going to be less than 10mm, so focus is really critical. You need to set the focus to a single point and make sure it's exactly on the bird, ideally on its eye. If you use any form of multi-point auto focus it will always try to focus on whatever is closest to the camera. I'd probably go to a higher ISO and a smaller aperture to make sure of getting a bigger depth of field.

I've got a depth of field app on my phone that let's you calculate dof for any given lens/aperture/camera combination.

Also, do a test on a static subject (eg. a brick wall) to see how sharp your lens actually is at its maximum focal length. My 70-300mm (apsc) zoom is pin sharp up to 270mm, but falls off a bit in the last few mm up to 300. It's still usable, but sometimes it's better to shoot at 270mm and crop in a bit.

Thanks, this is helpful. To make sure I've understood, you mean set the aperture to a higher f-stop? So f8 or whatever?

 

[RoyReed]

Thanks, this is helpful. To make sure I've understood, you mean set the aperture to a higher f-stop? So f8 or whatever?

Exactly

 

[weepiper]

I checked my camera after it finished charging and I had the focus set on a single central square (the buzzard was the last thing I was taking pictures of before i put it away) so I think I need to practice with a smaller aperture and fiddle with ISO.

 

[RoyReed]

I've just been reading some reviews of the Olympus OM-D E-M10 iv. It looks like it only uses contrast detection for autofocus (the more contrast the focus area has, the sharper it is). While this is fine for most types of photography, it does mean that focus tracking of fast erratically moving objects will not be as good as a camera that uses phase detection for af. This review explains it in a bit more detail (section on Autofocus about halfway down: Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV review

This won't make any difference for photos of birds sitting in branches, but might make it a bit more hit and miss getting focus on birds in flight.

The review also has an example of a photo shot at 1600 ISO. It looks perfectly usable to me. The sample at 6400 was very noisy, so I wouldn't go that high. They didn't have anything at 3200, but that might be the limit of how high I'd go. If you shoot RAW, most image processing software will give you quite a lot of control over how that noise makes it to the final image. You really need to do a few tests to find what's acceptable to you.

 

[shaman75]

There are a few things going on.

Camera shake can cause this. If you're hand holding, the shutter speed may need to be faster. The bigger the zoom, the more any movement or vibration is amplified. Even the way you press the shutter button can be enough.

Obviously the focus may be out, especially with branches in the way. The smallest focus spot would be best and aim for the head if you can.

Zoom lenses are usually known for being soft at the ends and sharpest in the middle range.

The other thing is that something like continuous tracking focus may well end up with the focus shifting rapidly and repeatedly, creating more movement. Better to keep trying to lock in with a single focus, fire a burst of shots quickly and focus again and repeat.

I would personally increase the aperture (depth of field will get bigger the farther away the subject), increase the ISO to a manageable noise level (800?) and try to increase the shutter speed. I probably wouldn't go below 1/1250. And turn off continuous focusing. Practice on pigeons with a range of settings and see how far you need to crank it.

I've spent years trying to get photos of birds. Very few come out in focus.

 

[weepiper]

Thanks for all the tips here, I consciously tried to keep them in mind today and got some shots I'm very pleased with despite the strong wind and the autofocus limitations of my camera.

 

[shaman75]

Great pics!

 

[Magnus McGinty]

Very nice!