Help using the Nikon D850

[HRB]

I've been a Nikon D500 user for quite some time. I recently added the Z6ii and a 500mm pf to my wildlife equipment. I get superb images out of either of those cameras (autofocus of the Z6ii notwithstanding) but I simply have more trouble shooting my D850. This Eagle was shot about 3:30 pm under cloudy skies. Distance about 75-80 yds, I/2000 sec, f6.3, ec +1/3, iso 6400. I remember Steve mentioning that most problems with new D850 users it too slow a shutter speed so I tried using 1/2000. So I'm open to any suggestions as to how this image should have been shot. Thanks in advance for any help...

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[jeffnles1]

I think we should start by asking you what you think is wrong with it?

I think perhaps your expectations are possibly too high. Given the conditions you mentioned above, this is not a bad shot. A single eagle 75-80 yards away is not an easy shot to capture nor is it optimal for detail. As big as eagles are, that distance is pretty far. Secondly on an overcast day with ISO 6400 I honestly think this image is pretty good.

It could be the images against which you are comparing this were shot with the bird much closer and under better lighting conditions.

Given the hand you were dealt here, I would be happy with this one.

Jeff

 

[Ralph]

I think we should start by asking you what you think is wrong with it?

I think perhaps your expectations are possibly too high. Given the conditions you mentioned above, this is not a bad shot. A single eagle 75-80 yards away is not an easy shot to capture nor is it optimal for detail. As big as eagles are, that distance is pretty far. Secondly on an overcast day with ISO 6400 I honestly think this image is pretty good.

It could be the images against which you are comparing this were shot with the bird much closer and under better lighting conditions.

Given the hand you were dealt here, I would be happy with this one.

Jeff

I agree with Jeff. A little too far and inadequate light for any sharp detail. Also looks like there is a little atmospheric distortion going on as well.

 

[HRB]

I suppose some of the detail is lost in the iso noise but could I have halved the shutter speed and produced a sharper image or is 1/1000 too slow for a soaring eagle?

 

[Charles Loy]

I can point finger at the editing. It's shown as a small bird in a big photo. Crop the 850 files a bit tighter. Photo as shown is over exposed, tighten up the exposure. It's very very seldom I will + exposure, but - a tad is more often. Get the edit right and this photo will be more pleasing.

 

[Butlerkid]

For BIF's I sometimes use 1/2000 shutter speed, but often shoot @ 1/3200th. I wouldn't go slower on shutter speed. Rather I'd suggest at concentrating on getting closer to your subjects. I use the D850 for BIFs and it's a fine camera.

This was with the D850, 500mm (using 500 f4), @ 1/2000, ISO 1800, f 7.1 and cropped a bit.

 

[jeffnles1]

I suppose some of the detail is lost in the iso noise but could I have halved the shutter speed and produced a sharper image or is 1/1000 too slow for a soaring eagle?

That is impossible to say for sure. Eagles can fly very slow or they can zip through the air like a fighter jet just depends on what they are doing at the moment. If that one was just gliding or hovering, maybe you could have gent away with a slower shutter if it was flying hard, you may need faster. Going slower the background would be blurry as you pan with the moving bird and that may be OK depending on what you want from the photo.

Even with a D850, I think 75-80 yards on a overcast day that looks to have had some fog or haze in the air is pushing it for a tack sharp photo of an eagle even if it was sitting still on a perch.

Just my $.02 worth. It's a good photo for what it is and for the conditions under which it was shot. Like someone above said it is a little over exposed but you could probably correct it in post processing your RAW files. I don't see any horribly blown highlights except perhaps the top of the eagle's head.

Hope this helps.
Jeff

 

[bleirer]

I'm wondering if you may have missed focus a touch? Plus too far away but that can't always be helped. Noticing the small blown out areas especially the head, but maybe see if the raw file has some whites to recover. Sometimes the dehaze slider in Lightroom can help local contrast, and a little nudge with the sharpening tool.

Also one to one pixel peeping at 45 megapixels can look worse than it is to your eye compared to one to one with 25 megapixels.

 

[Mdfotognut]

As one who shoots BEagles from a Long ways off (upwards of 400 Yds away)- completely agree with what others have said here. Eagles can soar (wind direction is a good barometer to keep in mind when shooting as birds use it like aircraft that take off & land Into the wind) on gusty days looking for fish (their primary food source where I shoot) but can also fly completely unpredictable erratic patterns when fighting mid-air for a catch. Good sunlight is also the key- as you did'nt have this day. I Try & go on sunny days to get my keeper rate up. With that, many times I'm cropping even more than what you have but keep my SS around 1/3200th & try & keep my ISO as Low as possible knowing I'll have a severe crop even on a good shot. Usually use a 600 f4 & sometimes w/a TC 1.4, which gives me an effective reach of 850. IQ diminishes Slightly when cropped, but the extra reach can also decrease the amt of crop (& subsequent noise). Good light- keep your subjects as Close as possible- with Eagles know that factor can barely be controlled, and your SS High & ISO Low. Often have to go up to F7.1 when multiple subjects (Eagles & Sometimes a Peregrine) are all in the viewfinder to keep all sharp, so again good sunlight is the key. Also- Dehaze slider can Really help w/outside shots, but be careful of overuse as shadows appear much quicker. Fwiw. I Have seen tack sharp BIF pics taken HHeld w/an 850 & 500pf & a 2X TC but again, SS Needs to be high & keep ISO as low as possible due to crop factor. I use a tripod w/my 600 b/c of weight & shoulder issues- makes for much easier panning too

 

[Turberticus]

1/2000 is probably too fast considering the bird was at a distance under cloudy skies, plus it looks like it could have been gliding. At that distance you won't really get wing blur, plus Eagles will occasionally glide which make faster shutter speeds unnecessary IMO. My go to is 1/1600 or 1/2000 for raptors in flight but have gotten sharp photos at 1/1000 assuming they're not going crazy. I think the bird was just too far away in this case, and as you may know cropping a high ISO photo will only make things worse.

 

[HRB]

Appreciate all the replies but for me, shooting with the D850 has always been a source of constant disappointment. It seems like the appropriate exposure lives in a very narrow range between too much or too little light, speed and ISO compared to either the D500 or the Z6ii. I should not have to be a Lightroom slider jockey to create good images. I should be able to get the exposure much closer so that only a minimum amount of LR modification is required. Since the D850 frustrates me, I turn to the easier to shoot cameras and consequently learn nothing. I don't imagine there is some secret to understanding the D850 so I'll just keep on shooting with it till I get it right. Ok, I should shut up now...

 

[NorthernFocus]

Appreciate all the replies but for me, shooting with the D850 has always been a source of constant disappointment. It seems like the appropriate exposure lives in a very narrow range between too much or too little light, speed and ISO compared to either the D500 or the Z6ii. I should not have to be a Lightroom slider jockey to create good images. I should be able to get the exposure much closer so that only a minimum amount of LR modification is required. Since the D850 frustrates me, I turn to the easier to shoot cameras and consequently learn nothing. I don't imagine there is some secret to understanding the D850 so I'll just keep on shooting with it till I get it right. Ok, I should shut up now...

If you're capturing what you want/expect with the D500 there's no reason you can't do so with the D850. In my experience they are virtually identical. But based on the content of this thread it's still not clear what your issues are. What is disappointing about the results? You mention exposure. How do you shoot? What exposure mode? If you shoot the same subject with the same lens from the same distance it is possible that metering will be different vs the D500 because the camera is metering less subject and more BG. So switch to crop mode in the D850 and things should be identical.

I've shot tens of thousands of frames through both bodies and as stated above they behave virtually identically. If you're getting different results then something is different. Only you can figure out what that difference is. I'd bet that it's not the difference in the cameras.

 

[Mark Garfinkel]

I've been a Nikon D500 user for quite some time. I recently added the Z6ii and a 500mm pf to my wildlife equipment. I get superb images out of either of those cameras (autofocus of the Z6ii notwithstanding) but I simply have more trouble shooting my D850. This Eagle was shot about 3:30 pm under cloudy skies. Distance about 75-80 yds, I/2000 sec, f6.3, ec +1/3, iso 6400. I remember Steve mentioning that most problems with new D850 users it too slow a shutter speed so I tried using 1/2000. So I'm open to any suggestions as to how this image should have been shot. Thanks in advance for any help...View attachment 30930

I agree with Jeff's comments below. Having a D850, I would have had the same setting.

 

[RichF]

For BIF's I sometimes use 1/2000 shutter speed, but often shoot @ 1/3200th. I wouldn't go slower on shutter speed. Rather I'd suggest at concentrating on getting closer to your subjects. I use the D850 for BIFs and it's a fine camera.

This was with the D850, 500mm (using 500 f4), @ 1/2000, ISO 1800, f 7.1 and cropped a bit.

Nice humming bird shot. Natural light? No flash

 

[RichF]

I've been a Nikon D500 user for quite some time. I recently added the Z6ii and a 500mm pf to my wildlife equipment. I get superb images out of either of those cameras (autofocus of the Z6ii notwithstanding) but I simply have more trouble shooting my D850. This Eagle was shot about 3:30 pm under cloudy skies. Distance about 75-80 yds, I/2000 sec, f6.3, ec +1/3, iso 6400. I remember Steve mentioning that most problems with new D850 users it too slow a shutter speed so I tried using 1/2000. So I'm open to any suggestions as to how this image should have been shot. Thanks in advance for any help...View attachment 30930

Difficult shot - very contrasty in hazy condition. Bird is sharp, perhaps white a touch blown out. Try dehaze in LR, might really help

 

[Butlerkid]

Nice humming bird shot. Natural light? No flash

Yep....natural light.....drizzling rain!

 

[Woodyg3]

Your camera can't be held to blame for cloudy skies, a distant subject, and likely some atmospheric haze. The D850 is an amazing camera and thousands of photographers regard it as the best DSLR ever made. So, if I were you, I'd just keep at it. There is no reason you can't attain results equal to or better than your D500.

All that said, do you have some other pictures you could provide that are taken with the D850 that have been lass than satisfactory? With more data we can probably help you more. Stay positive, and in time I'm sure you'll grow to love that D850!

 

[Whiskeyman]

... I should not have to be a Lightroom slider jockey to create good images. I should be able to get the exposure much closer so that only a minimum amount of LR modification is required. Since the D850 frustrates me, I turn to the easier to shoot cameras and consequently learn nothing. I don't imagine there is some secret to understanding the D850 so I'll just keep on shooting with it till I get it right. Ok, I should shut up now...

No, you shouldn't just "shut up now." Keep inquiring and trying. And while LR (or other post-processing software) won't make a bad photo great, it shouldn't be completely avoided.

Keep shooting, get closer, and then keep shooting and get even closer. Try a different subject to improve your confidence in both you and your gear; birds-in-flight are some of the toughest subjects to get right in photography. Get a mentor or camera buddy and shoot with them regularly.

And BTW, Bald Eagle craniums are really easy to get wrong in camera. If you get them right, you often underexpose the rest of the photo.

 

[dwillar]

That is a crisp bird given the conditions. Just keep working on taking more pictures. I usually shoot scenes like that at 1/4000 and always have some problems with those conditions. Keep that pic and come back to it in six months when you have shot some more. It takes time to learn to read the conditions and get the camera to do what you want it to do to improve the exposure. It is a great photo!

 

[Calson]

At a glance it is roughly +2 EV overexposed. The wider the field of view the less I rely on any autoexposure mode and use 100% manual settings for exposure.

I have long wished that Nikon would employ exposure adjustment based on the areas inside the focus field but it does not with any camera of theirs that I have owned. Canon was doing this somewhat but I have not used their cameras since 2007 and the arrival of the D3.

When I first open a NEF file in an editor I adjust Levels before doing anything else. The RAW file is designed by Nikon to provide as much information as possible and so it usually needs a Levels adjustment to have a usable image file. Even Auto Levels in Photoshop works reasonably well for batch processing many files from a shoot.

 

[O]

For BIF's I sometimes use 1/2000 shutter speed, but often shoot @ 1/3200th. I wouldn't go slower on shutter speed. Rather I'd suggest at concentrating on getting closer to your subjects. I use the D850 for BIFs and it's a fine camera.

This was with the D850, 500mm (using 500 f4), @ 1/2000, ISO 1800, f 7.1 and cropped a bit.

Totally agree, i never go below 1/3200 in the situations described at the top of this page.

 

[bleirer]

What I wonder if you have something fundamentally wrong going on there. There is no reason an experienced user like you should have problems with that camera. I'd suggest setting it totally back to factory settings with a hard reset and then set up an exposure test with a grey card, make sure it is metering right in good light and normal conditions.

 

[O]

What I wonder if you have something fundamentally wrong going on there. There is no reason an experienced user like you should have problems with that camera. I'd suggest setting it totally back to factory settings with a hard reset and then set up an exposure test with a grey card, make sure it is metering right in good light and normal conditions.

I tend to agree something is not right, what do you mean with setting ec +1/3 and why are you up at 6400 iso is it on auto iso, are you in manual ???? matrix ?

 

[dwillar]

What mode do you have the camera set to? A aperture, S shutter, P program or M manual. I had lots of trouble adapting to my D850 until my frustration level made me go to Manual mode. Any of the three other modes gives the camera control and not the person attempting to run the camera. Day by day, my frustration became less and less as I began to take control. I sat AF to AFC S for single point. I moved the auto focus function from the shutter button to the AF-ON button on the back of the camera. This requires me to hold the AF-ON button engaged for as long as I want AF to function. For still shots, I press the AF-ON button to focus the camera and release the button. The camera retains that focus point until I change it. Your right thumb will get used to this pretty quickly.

I am curious how your camera got to ISO 6400 and then how/why you set EV to +1.3. When in doubt shoot three frames EV +1.3, 0, EV -1.3 and check your results at 100% magnification (in the camera) for each frame to see the results. This will help you understand exposures better and quite quickly. I try to check my shooting environment and preset the camera for what I expect to shoot. I get better every time I go out. Just relax and have fun. It takes time and lots of photos under less than optimal conditions. The D850 is a top of the line professional camera and delights in showing you every little mistake in judgement you make. Have patience!

 

[O]

I've been a Nikon D500 user for quite some time. I recently added the Z6ii and a 500mm pf to my wildlife equipment. I get superb images out of either of those cameras (autofocus of the Z6ii notwithstanding) but I simply have more trouble shooting my D850. This Eagle was shot about 3:30 pm under cloudy skies. Distance about 75-80 yds, I/2000 sec, f6.3, ec +1/3, iso 6400. I remember Steve mentioning that most problems with new D850 users it too slow a shutter speed so I tried using 1/2000. So I'm open to any suggestions as to how this image should have been shot. Thanks in advance for any help...View attachment 30930

I shoot my D850 or any other pro camera in most cases simply.

Manual
F7.1
-0.7ev
1/3200 or 1/4000ss
9 FPS with grip
Float the ISO to 10,000
Minimum ISO Auto
Marix metering
21 point focus
Adobe SRGB
Jpeg Fine
Lens VR off
200-500, 150-500 Sigma, 70-200 fl, 28-300
Everything is beautifully exposed, i have a 100% success rate with this set up.
I f you don't then
a) put it back to factory reset as suggested by someone else and start again.
B) send it into Nikon,
C) if it comes back as ok, then look in the mirror