.........observations and thoughts.
I do not have a zoom that will autofocus at 50 f/s. my wife did get a couple of Bif shots with PROCAP T 25 F/S generally a zoom is needed to adjust how much space you want to give the bird to spread it wings and fly. Shooting a small fast bird like a Painted Bunting the tradeoff is more space which increases the chances of catching a good pose at the expense of a significant crop. My 300f4 was too short for painted buntings and the results show the effect of the crop. The Great Kiskadee and the woodpecker, on the other hand, were bigger, slower birds and the 300f4 was perfect.
The ideal setup would be a 45-60MP sensor coupled with a zoom the equivalent of the 150-400 OM Systems zoom in terms of IQ. Plus 50 f/s is a must with lightning fast AF and RAW. A 250 shot buffer makes a huge difference. I don't believe a setup is even on the horizon.
The secret is to shoot in ProCap, SH2 100% of the time with a shutter speed fast enough to capture a BIF shot as one never knows when a perched bird takes off. The woodpecker was one such instance. I was composing for a perch because the woodpecker had just landed and they tend to stay put a bit but I was in ProCap and my reaction is to push the shutter on movement. The camera caught the BIF at the extreme edge of the frame. You can see I had slowed down the shutter to take a still shot so the wings aren't frozen.
You have to train yourself to full press on every movement. With the Kiskadee the bird kept hopping and I kept pressing. I must have pressed 8-10 times but the 250 frame buffer made the difference.
I do not have a zoom that will autofocus at 50 f/s. my wife did get a couple of Bif shots with PROCAP T 25 F/S generally a zoom is needed to adjust how much space you want to give the bird to spread it wings and fly. Shooting a small fast bird like a Painted Bunting the tradeoff is more space which increases the chances of catching a good pose at the expense of a significant crop. My 300f4 was too short for painted buntings and the results show the effect of the crop. The Great Kiskadee and the woodpecker, on the other hand, were bigger, slower birds and the 300f4 was perfect.
The ideal setup would be a 45-60MP sensor coupled with a zoom the equivalent of the 150-400 OM Systems zoom in terms of IQ. Plus 50 f/s is a must with lightning fast AF and RAW. A 250 shot buffer makes a huge difference. I don't believe a setup is even on the horizon.
The secret is to shoot in ProCap, SH2 100% of the time with a shutter speed fast enough to capture a BIF shot as one never knows when a perched bird takes off. The woodpecker was one such instance. I was composing for a perch because the woodpecker had just landed and they tend to stay put a bit but I was in ProCap and my reaction is to push the shutter on movement. The camera caught the BIF at the extreme edge of the frame. You can see I had slowed down the shutter to take a still shot so the wings aren't frozen.
You have to train yourself to full press on every movement. With the Kiskadee the bird kept hopping and I kept pressing. I must have pressed 8-10 times but the 250 frame buffer made the difference.
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