I've been what I would call an "advanced tourist" type photographer for most of my life, although I've always loved photography. Recently I needed a creative outlet so I took a course to heighten my knowlege and got a k-30 and a 70-200 tamron.
I've spent the day today very happily figuring out how to apply what I've been learning on the course, trying for a close up of a hummingbird. The bird is about the size of my two thumbs held together, so this is pushing the macro abilities of the lens. Alas, I can't seem to get a sharp shot. I was hoping that someone could suggest which direction to go to improve things.
This is the first time I've done this in the forums, hope this is all OK. I created an album of some samples:
mvsjes2's Album: Learning sequence - PentaxForums.com but I can't seem to control the sequence of shots on the album. The captions are numbered from 01 - 07 so you can see what I was trying in that sequence.
I'm not sure if the lack of sharpness is:
a) my focus is off.
b) insufficient depth of field.
c) too slow a shutter speed.
d) pushing the lens beyond what it was practically designed for.
e) That I'm really more suited for bowling instead.
For a, I used live view and zoomed in to the tip of the bird feeder and very carefully manually focused on that. I didn't move the camera to 'recompose', just used the zoom feature to zero in on the bird feeder while leaving the camera in place. With the zoom and manual focus, it seems quite accurate to focus on a specific part of the picture.
For b, I was trying f2.8 for a long while, then stopped down to 4 and 4.5, which improved things, but still no joy. I figure if I have to go beyond that to get a sharp shot then there's something else wrong.
For c, I ranged from 1/125 - 1/640.
For d, Would I be better off with that Pentax 100mm macro I've always wanted?
For e, I'm lousy at sports, so I would really like to figure this out.
I am seriously interested in a real macro like the Pentax 100mm, so if that's what would help I'm all for it. But I don't want to blame the equipment if it's really just my technique.
Any help or advice greatly appreciated.
(I was going to post this in the critique section but that seemed more for when you have figured out a particular picture and wanted other's opinions, whereas this is more my technique is off and need help with that.)