Downy Woodpecker this morning on my walk through the brush at Assateague Island.

This is a mature female and graciously posed for me to setup the tripod and snap off a few shots!


I am still not too sure about this lens (HD 55-300mm WR).
I find a lot of my shots very soft; perhaps I'm still getting used to it. I definitely need to invest in a good flash though, maybe that will help with my early morning strolls.
Shooting at F8 when the sun is just coming up drops my shutter speeds way down and even with a tripod I find it hard to capture sharp images of these quick little birds.

Only when they are perfectly still can I setup the exposure just right.
112 shots this morning and this is the only one I'm moderately happy with. Even then I wish it were sharper.
I guess I need to start saving up for a DA*300 and TC...

Anyways, let me know what you think!

[sawicksted]

Nice capture. They are much smaller than one would think.

We have 3 pairs of different woodpeckers that come to the feeder 3-5 times a day. A male and female each of Hairy and downy. We also have 2-3 Northern Flickers too. I find that shutter priority(Tv) or shutter/aperature(Tv/Av shift) priority works the best for my Pen F100-300 zoom Set the range of the iso to include all settings that you are comfortable shooting with and you should find a difference.

PF member Normhead does some exceptional bird shots.

[boriscleto]

In low light you have to let the camera bump up the ISO. I rarely shoot at anything less than ISO 1000 now, even with the K-3. But that's with the lil'Bigma at F/10.

When I was still shooting the 55-300 with the K-5 is was usually 1/1250s @ F/8 ~ISO800.

@normhead gets great shots at low ISO and low shutter speeds, but he will admit that he takes dozens of shots to get one or two keepers.

[UserAccessDenied]

In low light you have to let the camera bump up the ISO. I rarely shoot at anything less than ISO 1600 now, even with the K-3.

Does that help achieve better sharpness in your photos?
I've also been told that when I zoom to 300 with my 55-300 I should back off a mm before taking the shot. I guess shooting at 280mm is sharper than 300mm, even if I crop them both to the same frame afterwards?

These are all things I appreciate hearing... The more I can find out here the less guess-work I will be doing in the field.

[boriscleto]

Does that help achieve better sharpness in your photos?
I've also been told that when I zoom to 300 with my 55-300 I should back off a mm before taking the shot. I guess shooting at 280mm is sharper than 300mm, even if I crop them both to the same frame afterwards?

These are all things I appreciate hearing... The more I can find out here the less guess-work I will be doing in the field.

I always used the 55-300 @ 300mm. The best sharpness with a consumer zoom is always going to be nearest the close focusing distance.

And don't worry too much about noise. This is ISO 4000... K-5 & 55-300 1/500s @ F/8 from about 15 feet.



DoF is going to be an issue that close.

Out in the field it still pays to get close.

1/1250s @ F/8 ISO 2000 This is cropped to 4.6 MP.

[UserAccessDenied]

I always used the 55-300 @ 300mm. The best sharpness with a consumer zoom is always going to be nearest the close focusing distance.

And don't worry too much about noise. This is ISO 4000... K-5 & 55-300 1/500s @ F/8 from about 15 feet.

Wow!
Beautiful shots....
I wish I had a yard and a feeder, would make Cardinals much easier to shoot!

I was chasing them around all morning and couldn't get a single shot. I saw about 15 of them though.

So do you just get it to TAv and set max ISO to 6400 or something?
Then choose your aperture and pick a fast shutter and let the camera choose the ISO for the conditions?

I guess I've just been so worried about noise, but noise doesn't really matter if the shot itself isn't sharp.

[DarkShadow]

Nice shot! Downy woodpeckers are a small bird and are constantly moving. there head.I have some shots I have taken with a sigma 150-500 @ 500mm but from a Canon 6D FF continues focus less then twenty feet away. Getting the sigma 120-400 tomorrow for My K-3 that I took a chance on a used one from B&H Photo.

[UserAccessDenied]

Nice shot! Downy woodpeckers are a small bird and are constantly moving. there head.I have some shots I have taken with a sigma 150-500 @ 500mm but from a Canon 6D FF continues focus less then twenty feet away. Getting the sigma 120-400 tomorrow for My K-3 that I took a chance on a used one from B&H Photo.

Let me know how you like the 120-400!
I'm still looking for a little more reach... The 55-300 is great, but a lot of times I cannot get closer (I typically shoot on Assateague Island and they heavily regulate where you can and cannot walk...)\

Still thinking the 150-500 is my best option.

[DarkShadow]

I will let you know or post some pictures.It has some mixed reviews so I am hoping for the best.