[ThorSanchez]

I think your ISO is too high and you're too far away with the camera, Mysterick!

I don't think it's a case of missed focus, nothing is sharp in these pics.

A good guideline is to not go above ISO1600, stick with ISO 800 as much as you can manage. Noise reduction is processing that destroys details, so you want as little of that as possible.

The time of day looks bad, and that's something you can control. Can't see sharp shadows, so these are poor conditions, too. I think people who might think that the quality of light in early morning and late afternoon is only important for landscapes are mistaken.

He has a K-3 Mark III. I think your ISO guidelines are a couple stops too conservative. This picture at ISO 16,000 with the Mark III and the 55-300 PLM @300mm is sharper than what he posted. And I didn't use any magic Topaz or equivalent software, just RawTherapee.

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[clackers]

He has a K-3 Mark III. I think your ISO guidelines are a couple stops too conservative. This picture at ISO 16,000 with the Mark III and the 55-300 PLM @300mm is sharper than what he posted. And I didn't use any magic Topaz or equivalent software, just RawTherapee.

I think the K-3 III is just doing more noise reduction, Thor. Postprocessing reduces the number of spots but smears the pixels and introduces artefacts. Here's your image zoomed in.

Remember, bird photography is not like car photography, we don't want smooth, we need to see the details and textures.

[clackers]

He has a K-3 Mark III.

Cranking up the ISO doesn't compare to getting close in better light, as I could do here at ISO 1250 with the K-1, and it would've been nicer at ISO 400. One thing I agree with Tony Northrup is that the definition of the muscles around the eyes are a good indicator of image quality.

[ThorSanchez]

Cranking up the ISO doesn't compare to getting close in better light, as I could do here at ISO 1250 with the K-1, and it would've been nicer at ISO 400. One thing I agree with Tony Northrup is that the definition of the muscles around the eyes are a good indicator of image quality.

ISO isn't the main problem with the original poster's photographs, he just missed focus.

And yes, getting closer with better light is always good. But that's often not an option, and with a camera like the Mark III you can still get fine results. Nobody is going to zoom in on my bird picture 100% and print it out to hang in their house. But it's more than acceptable for many use cases, and a lot better than not pressing the shutter, which presumably is your suggestion in the conditions of that day.

[clackers]

which presumably is your suggestion in the conditions of that day.

Yes, not a keeper, IMHO. Just practice.

Especially since we can see that's a setup.

That bird, and others, will return.

That's when a picture can be taken that we'll all enjoy.

A fine bird photographer like Norm Head would sit for hours to achieve the right shot, even our beloved Rupert would get his squirrels when the conditions were right, and we could see the efforts in the end results.

[LensBeginner]

Cranking up the ISO doesn't compare to getting close in better light, as I could do here at ISO 1250 with the K-1, and it would've been nicer at ISO 400. One thing I agree with Tony Northrup is that the definition of the muscles around the eyes are a good indicator of image quality.

You will get my upvote for the picture, in spite of whom you cited

[robgski]

try to handhold that camera and lens

Or, use a beanbag or monopod, something which allows you to move the camera to capture the subject, but provides some stability once you've acquired the subject.

as other have said, the ISO is too high so detail is lost. You might try manual settings, underexpose a little bit, then boost the light in post. If your ISO is lower, you can add some light in post without loss of detail.

Most importantly, practice

[Lowell Goudge]

I have a lot of issues with the OPs shooting conditions,

As many have said, with stationary birds on a feeder, and a tripod, why is the OP shooting at 1/1250 and wide open. It makes absolutely no sense.

He should be shooting at less than 1/400 and stop down a stop or two.

It is also unclear whether he has SR on or off, and on a tripod using SR can make things worse,

In fact, with lens combo he is using, he should hand hold the shots. For stationary birds, you can go down to perhaps 1/200 hand held reliably providing you have proper technique. If you are really good, you can get about a 50% keeper rate at less than 1/100.

If the OP wants to see the limit of SR, look at the link below

Pentax K 300mm f/4 samples - PentaxForums.com

The first two shots, are shot with the K7 at 1/40th. I was free standing, no post or other support to lean on, and simply kept my arms tight to the body one hand at the extreme end of the lens, and the other on the grip so I could hit the release. The camera was tight against my face, and I took several slow breaths before the shot, tripping the shutter while exhaling slowly. The first shot is the full frame, the second is a 100%crop with no image resizing it is a JPEG right out of the camera with no sharpening or processing. It was done this way to be able to upload on the site at the time without getting resized upon upload,

My approach these days is as many others have posted, is to use Tav mode and let the ISO go where it needs to, my two current shooting bodies are a K5 and a K1 MKII and the iso limit is set to 6400. I shoot with some better lenses these days than the K300 and 1.7x AF adaptor, but for me, I prefer a sharp image with some grain over a bad image due to wrong settings. I also shoot spot focus, unless doing BIF where I use on the K1 the center 9 focus cluster.

I think here the OP just didn’t have things set correctly

[mysterick]

It's refreshing to get such helpful suggestions. There is a variety of settings to choose; all valid for various circumstances. One of the main things I understand is that I should work at it until I can better understand the techniques/settings, that any circumstance presents. Shaky hands don't help. Thanks to all!

I went to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park yesterday. These are not "keepers" either but I think with your help I have improved. These bird pics are all new to me.

[35mmfilmfan]

One suggestion I have read is that in wildlife photography, one should always try to get the eye in focus and sharp. Not easy in a rapidly moving subject such as a bird or small mammal, I know - and yet another thing to concentrate on !! Good luck.

BTW, have you checked your lens(es) for front or back focus ? Especially at wide apertures, this can be an issue.

[brewmaster15]

It's refreshing to get such helpful suggestions. There is a variety of settings to choose; all valid for various circumstances. One of the main things I understand is that I should work at it until I can better understand the techniques/settings, that any circumstance presents. Shaky hands don't help. Thanks to all!

I went to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park yesterday. These are not "keepers" either but I think with your help I have improved. These bird pics are all new to me.

Much Better! Were these hand held images?


At this point I think you should also look at how you are "processing" the pics. what did you do to these images after capture? and are you shooting Raw? what size JPG in camera are you set for?



al

[mysterick]

BREWMASTER15: Yes, handheld. Thanks. Normally I shoot raw; however I realized when I got on the computer that I had inadvertently reset to large jpeg. I did bring down the exposure and bumped up the contrast a bit. I also increased the luminosity of the blue and violet.

35MMFILMFAN: No I haven't checked f/b focus on this zoom. Doesn't the issue change throughout the zoom range? I understood that it does and that one FL adjustment might mess up another. And the combo of 1.4 RC?

[clackers]

You will get my upvote for the picture, in spite of whom you cited

(Laughs) Before he became a photography vlogger, he was quite a respected author of books on Windows server administration, I own several. No bull*, no hyperbole, no clickbaity shock jock tactics, very reliable and trustworthy.

[clackers]

These are not "keepers" either but I think with your help I have improved. These bird pics are all new to me.

They're fine, Rick, obviously the light is too poor for them to be 'publishable', but it's the equivalent of practising guitar in your bedroom. It has to be done, to be capable of better.

They say that the light is right and you're standing in the correct position when you can see your own shadow in front of you and it's longer than you are tall. That means just after dawn or before sunset, and the bird will be nicely front lit, and there will also be a catchlight in the eye.