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Yeah, AF Fine Tune can be frustrating with some lens and body combos. I'd give it a shot being very careful with your setup and testing multiple times to ensure consistent results. It wouldn't take a ton of back focus to give you just what you're seeing, sharp eyes that fall into the DOF range at 50 feet but soft features just in front of those eyes.
Thank you I will have to go back and watch some BCG videos again. I appreciate you taking the time to reply, I am going to try to get it right
 
Great Horned Owl volunteering to let me check the resolution of my D850 500pf combo.


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I love owls. Mediocre at best photos like these are what prompted me to start upping my game so to speak with equipment and knowledge. I shot these Great Horned Owls photo at a barn in Morrow County Oregon with a mirrorless micro four thirds DMC-GM1 and LUMIX G VARIO 45-150/F4.0-5.lens. Anyhow, I really like this location it is a beautiful scene imo but my skills weren't up to snuff back then.View attachment 1936View attachment 1937
Getting an owl in the open door up top is great. And then for an added bonus another owl on the roof, with a raptor in the top of the dead tree on the right. Very nice!
 
Barred Owl mobbed by Robin. I was amazed at how long she tolerated the mobbing she was getting from this robin, a hummingbird, and a black-headed grosbeak.
Great how calm and collected she looks while being harassed :)

I've found a fair number of owls based on mobbing by smaller birds, I always check out the racket when I hear something like this going on when walking in good owl or raptor habitat but the owls tend to stay put and IME most hawks and the like get chased away sooner.
 
Great how calm and collected she looks while being harassed :)

I've found a fair number of owls based on mobbing by smaller birds, I always check out the racket when I hear something like this going on when walking in good owl or raptor habitat but the owls tend to stay put and IME most hawks and the like get chased away sooner.
I've found more owls by chasing the racket of stellar jays, robins, and crows than any other way. If I hear them, I figure I've got 5 min to find them before they give up and quit.

Notice that her nictitating membrane is half visible in each eye. The robin would fly in and hit her in the back which would trigger the closing of the membrane. She eventually flew 20 feet away and landed where there were more limbs around her which meant the mobbers didn't have a blind-side approach any longer and they left shortly after that.
 
Here is one from a couple years ago in the Washington Desert unit.
This was shot with a Tamron 150-600mm on my D500 cropped. Tight fit in a gnarly Russian Olive tree

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