Out of focus fast moving targets EOS 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 

[Waddizzle · Accepted solution]

“ I will have to check how my settings are set up.  I think I am in servo and I was in Spot or single point at first but it kept jumping off my subject so I moved to Area. I am gonna take a look then get back to you. “

The most likely cause for you losing tracking on a single bird is camera shake. If you only use a single focus point, then you are fully responsible for keeping the single focus point on your subject. 

Refer to a DOF table or app. All the birds would probably be in focus no matter which one you followed.

Cropping an image to a much smaller size can significantly reduce the resolution of the image, making it seem as if the image is out of focus. 

[Tronhard · Accepted solution]

Conventional wisdom suggests that one uses the following rule of thumb for shutter speed to account for hand-holding, being 1/focal length.  However, that is only for camera shake.  Fast-moving birds present their own challenges, so for that one needs to up the shutter speed significantly above that.   I would suggest shooting at something over 1/1000sec, and adjust ISO accordingly.  A bit of potential noise is easily fixed in post, but a fuzzy image from shake or bird movement is a much more difficult issue to sort out afterwards.

I shoot wildlife predominantly, and I personally use Back button focus, with servo, single-point with animal (or human as required) face and eye tracking.  I shoot using the R5, R6 and R6II and they all have fabulous focusing and tracking abilities, but they will not solve the issue of subject movement while the shutter is open. Upping your shutter speed will also reduce the chances of camera shake.

For shooting hand-held, I have always found the following technique to be effective:
Eye tight to the view finder
Hand under the lens, heel of hand under the body and the fingers curled under the lens.  Think of it like holding a rifle, it's the same principle.
Arms with elbows tucked tight to the torso to form a triangular support
Right hand lightly manipulates the controls - no weight bearing and a light touch.

[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  

[stevet1]

Brocstar,

Two things:

1) Just as your zoom is amplified or increased, so is your camera shake. The slightest little twitch is going to show up more at those distances. Using a tripod or monopod will help reduce that shake.

2) What focus mode are you using? Single point? Or area? Or tracking?

In a large area focusing mode, the camera might tend to focus on what's closer to you than what you really want to focus on, and that's why the water might be in focus, but the bird is not.

T,ry choosing a single focus point and pick out one single bird and zero in on him (or her).

As you learn more, you might want to put your camera in Servo mode, and use back-button focusing, or BBF. With that method, combined with Servo, you use your thumb to continuously press a button on the back of the camera to keep your subject in focus while you use your index finger to actually take the shot.

Steve Thomas

[Brocstar]

I will have to check how my settings are set up.  I think I am in servo and I was in Spot or single point at first but it kept jumping off my subject so I moved to Area. I am gonna take a look then get back to you 

[Waddizzle · Accepted solution]

“ I will have to check how my settings are set up.  I think I am in servo and I was in Spot or single point at first but it kept jumping off my subject so I moved to Area. I am gonna take a look then get back to you. “

The most likely cause for you losing tracking on a single bird is camera shake. If you only use a single focus point, then you are fully responsible for keeping the single focus point on your subject. 

Refer to a DOF table or app. All the birds would probably be in focus no matter which one you followed.

Cropping an image to a much smaller size can significantly reduce the resolution of the image, making it seem as if the image is out of focus. 

[Brocstar]

Thank you, 

I went and watched the videos that were sent to me by members and I used their custom  settings and going to give it another go today with my tripod. Hopefully I learned something 😉 

[Brocstar]

Was out today practicing with the new AF settings. It is still very difficult to have the camera lock onto subject while in flight. I am using the AF-On button for AF with Eye detection for animals but when they are moving fast it doesn't keep locked. So would I use my Spot Focus extended area with the star button and hold it down or just single press? I am also wondering with the AF--On do I keep it pressed down for the entire shot or just hit it once then done? 

Thank you for the help 

[March411]

What were the ISO, shutter speed and aperture for the image of the BIF? Also, is the first image cropped or did you shoot in a vertical orientation? How far were you from the subject and it looks like a beach or desert, what was the temp?

Did you download the DPP software to view your focus points. The wing tips look sharp in the first image.

The second image looks pretty sharp.