I have been trying different lens and my photos are no way near as good as my Mark II. I am very disappointed with my purchase of this Mark IV after hearing so many reviews of how great it is I have yet to see a landscape or wildlife image that comes close to my Mark II.
I can't upload an image(raw file because a file is too large)
1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
You are welcome and I know EXACTLY what you mean about the excitement of photographing wildlife. It is very easy to be so concerned about capturing the moment that it is far too easy to overlook getting optimal settings and framing. I have definitely been there and done that!
Although my setup is different from tradition and what many others use and recommend, I have found that with the excellent auto ISO algorithm in current Canon bodies that manually setting aperture and shutter speed while using auto ISO works very well for action shots. This is particularly true with a longer telephoto lens. My rationale is simple, below a certain shutter speed I am not going to be able to freeze motion and without IS or a tripod in use there is a minimum shutter speed to avoid camera shake even if you aren't trying to freeze motion. So for most of my shooting, shutter speed is going to be set to easily freeze motion. Most of the time I am using Canon long primes that are about as sharp wide open as they are with the aperture stepped down slightly. So unless the lighting is excellent or for some reason I need to increase depth of field I will set the aperture wide open or within 1 or 2 stops when I need a little more DoF or want exact focus tracking to be less critical. ISO is the third leg of the exposure triangle and I let the camera set that, with the shutter speed and aperture fixed by me I know that the camera is going to choose the lowest ISO number it can to provide a standard exposure with best possible image quality.
I started shooting sports using manual aperture and shutter speed with auto ISO several years ago and have carried it over into wildlife. I don't know about Nikon or other makes but the Canon auto ISO algorithm performs without flaw. I do shoot everything in RAW so that I can make minor exposure adjustments in post but the camera metering gets it very close if not perfect in the great majority of cases. When I had a 1D Mark II, I shot mostly in shutter priority to freeze sports motion and depending upon lighting set the ISO to as high as possible without sacrificing too much image quality but with the newer bodies with auto ISO I really prefer the control of pure manual so that the camera is going to provide the level of motion freezing and depth of field totally under my control.
This is one of many eagle photos I shot last month, the only exposure setting changes I made throughout the day was closing down the aperture a bit at times from the wide open f5.6 setting of my 800 mm lens when lighting permitted. But ultimately you will need to try different setups and choose what works best for you. Ultimately the old adage of "haste makes waste" really applies to photography and it is better to miss some captures completely if that leads to much higher quality captures in your mix of photos.
Good luck, the 5D IV is a very nice camera and you will love it once you and it are on the same page 🙂
Rodger
Rodger
Thank you for looking at my post and file. I was a bit excited about the eagle and did not look at my settings. It was shot near sunset in the shade.
I will attempt again with diligence to my settings. I was afraid that he would fly so I tried my trusted AV settings but this is a new baby for me. this image I thought would have been sharper being in full sunlight
@depshado wrote:Thank you for looking at my post and file. I was a bit excited about the eagle and did not look at my settings. It was shot near sunset in the shade.
I will attempt again with diligence to my settings. I was afraid that he would fly so I tried my trusted AV settings but this is a new baby for me. this image I thought would have been sharper being in full sunlight
What happens if you attempt to take less challenging photos, and at focal lengths under 100mm?
well, less challenging shots look GREAT! But that isn't as exciting as birds of prey
This shot was with my 150-600mm Sigma Sport. 1DX, Sigma 150-600mm S at 600mm, f6.3, SS 1/2000, ISO 800. Raw file format. Lens correction and slight unsharp mask in LR and WB correction. That's all. It is a 50+% crop of the original.
It is always better to get closer. That is even more important than a better lens.
"Thank you for the advice on my Tamron lens..."
You are certainly welcome. I hope a bit rubs off and helps you some. I have tested the big Tammy G2 150-600mm, new model, it is in my opinion the sharpest of the bunch right now. If you need any, and I can help, tips on LR let me know.
Always remember the camera is basically a storage device. You and your lens tell it what to store.
I had a Mk II and I loved it. I had a Mk III and I loved it, too. I retired before I could love a Mk IV ! There is no doubt you will love your Mk IV. As far as taking pictures it is probably a better choice than any of the 1 series cameras are.
Although they are just storage devices there is a bit of gadgetry going on inside. 
