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He used to be a Nikon shooter but several years ago he switched to Sony. Most recently he was trying out the new 300mm f/2.8 with or without a TC but has used the 600mm f/4 in the past for many of his videos (also the zoom). In response to a question he once said he shoots handheld. No idea what settings.
He is shooting handheld, With Ospreys you must shoot handheld.
My wife said she would like to shoot some more from the shore which is free… But Need to pay with way more time waiting for the action, and it’s still not the same as positioning on a boat at a perfect spot.
The problems you've described are real depending on the proximity of the osprey's hunting area. I primarily shoot them fishing in a river, so as long as I can range 200-degrees or so laterally I can capture most action. To clear shore obstructions (tall grasses/plants) I typically wear rubber boots and setup in the river near the shore where the water is shallow. I anticipate the direction the osprey is likely to head and position my feet so I can quickly shift around the tripod, though that's easier said that done at times. As far as elevations goes, I can only shoot up to about 60 degrees before losing the target, but most times I'm shooting them well within 45 degrees from horizon. In theory, hand holding would get around this problem, but I find it nearly impossible to smoothly track them a long focal lengths -- as you know Ospreys fly very erratically as they hunt.
Interestingly, I shot some Osprey diving shots in our local ponds last summer; however, I wasn't aware of this rule of thumb, so my video was shot at 1/2500 shutter speed, 120 fps using Z9 and hand-holding the camera and 400TC. The videos turned up ok; I guess they could be made better following the rule of thumb - will try it definitely this year. Here's the video. I had to admit that the background was awful; however, the camera managed to keep the bird in focus. O dive 3.mp4
like all rules of thumb, rules are made to be broken. I see anything like this (and same for stills) as a starting point.
Handholding Z9+400TC Wow! You’re a Navy Seal!
I only use the built-in stabilizer within the camera and lens. I hold the lens on my left hand and keep the upper part of the arm flushed against the body which is bent slightly backward to give the combo as much stabilization as possible. I hardly ever use a tripod or monopod and been hand-holding for many years starting with D5/500mm f/4+1.4 tx and got used to doing so.
Yah, I treid keeping my left hand flushed to my body, but That limits the angles, for example, a fly overhead, I must extend my arm. Even when it is flush, my laft hand would start to shake after a while.
One plus thing going for you is taking a video in 120 fps - high sampling rate masks the shakes to a minimum; at 30 fps the shakes are lot more apparent.
