Out of focus fast moving targets Canon R6 Mark II

[Brocstar]

Hello. I’m a novice photographer. But I’ve been shooting with the R6 Mark II for about a month now. I have the RF 100 x 500 lens from Canon. I was shooting some fast moving birds that were feeding today and a lot of my photos were out of focus.  my lens was set from 100 to infinity. I had auto focus on. And I was shooting high-speed. From a far the photos look great but once you zoom in you can tell there is a lot of noise. I kept my ISO at 100 for most of the shooting as it was very bright out. Is shutter 1/500 too slow with an aperture of 5.6f, ISO 100 not great for high speed. I was hoping to get more tact photos. 

Another couple shots I placed were water shots of big groups of birds, dive bombing bait. I was hoping to get some tack shots of the pelicans and seabirds penetrating the water. But they’re pretty dull and not very sharp.One instance of that my settings were 1/5000. F7.1 and iso 1000, water super sharp birds not. 

Another example is 1/640, f7.1 iso… Water sharp birds not. 

I am fully zoomed at 500mm

I want to make sure I am using the best settings for fast birds feeding and catching food as theses opportunities do not come up very often. 

Seemed like on the solo shots with fish hanging from birds mouths, camera was having hard time focusing.  

Any help helps. 

Thanks 

[March411]

Brocstar, Welcome to the site!

So it's you first time out, don't be discouraged it only gets better. I have the same setup and it took me a bit to find my sweet spot. You should have gotten some pretty sharp images 1/5000 so I am going to assume your point of focus was not on target. Generally I am @ 1/2500 or 1/3200 to freeze BIF. It's most likely the way you setup of you camera, action, birds in flight need a paticular setup profile. I set mine up exactly like the video below explains and it works outstanding for birds and wildlife.

Most important thing, once you find a setup that works save it to one of your custom settings. Once you turn the camera off, without saving the custom settings they could get lost. After watching the video you may have additional questions, come back here as there are many members that will assist you find that sweet spot. 

Autofocus Setup and Button Layout for Bird and Wildlife Photography 

[Brocstar]

Thank you so much.  I guess my wife said they are pretty sharp but once I zoom they dont look great, that is to me they don’t.. I was hoping to get some of the action shots more clear especially when they would fly over with a fish hanging out of the mouth. 

[Brocstar]

As you can see on the photos I uploaded. The invidious  bird photos are out of focus.  The photos with multiple birds close up, the water is in focus more than the subjects.  I know I am still learning and these are all shot using Manual mode.  I think I need to learn Av and Tv more but I get frustrated when I cannot change all settings. I also think my AF was not set correctly. Do you have any other tips on how you set your AF?  I am taking my daughter to a play here shortly so do not have time to watch the video but I will when I get home.

Thank you again for taking the time to educate a novice like myself.

Broc  

[Waddizzle]

You’re too far away to capture tack sharp photos of individual birds.

How much do you know about the basics of photography?  Learning to use a camera effectively is a bit like learning how to play a new musical instrument effectively.

You are facing two learning curves. You would need to learn some music theory before you can learn to play any instrument.

 Learning to drive a car is no different. All cars pretty much work the same way.  Their dashboard might look different but the same controls are there.  But you must learn the rules of the road to go from point A to point B.

Cameras are no different. They may look a little different but they all work the same way.  I bring this up because learning about the basics of photography is what is most important.  

There are many videos on YouTube covering “Exposure Triangle” and “Depth of Field”.  It is also important to learn how to properly hold the camera, too. 

[Brocstar]

Thank you for the help. Sorta.. 

I do understand what Exposure Triangle is and Depth of field and how Aperture affects those two things greatly. I also understand that I am a novice to say the least so take that with a grain of salt.  I appreciate all those who can help someone like myself learn the art without criticism.. With that said I appreciate your input about being to far from my subjects. The birds that were flying over my house with bait they had just plucked from the ocean were both far way and flying at very quick paces.  This was my first attempt at capturing a feeding frenzy like this. It was pretty exciting to watch and I did get a few keeper shots but not as many as I would hope. There’s always tomorrow