Handhold for birding

John there are many myths and pseudo rules created by people who simple cannot handhold many things. BTW for stating that I handhold long lenses I was banned from this forum for a week or so a few years ago. One of the reason I just canceled my membership here after that.

‘True rules’ are:

1) Technique Stationary object: practice Moving object: practice ‘perfect’ panning - better you match movement, sharper photo 2) Equipment - you always get what you pay for 3) Exposure (and quality of light)

Usually I can handhold 500mm f4 IS L plus 1.4X on 1.6 sensor (all day long when hiking) even at very slow shutter speed.

You can check last issue of Nature’ Best Photography - full page photo taken at 1/100 sec right after sundown with above setup.

Native pixels crop - here are some action at almost 100% crop. As you know birds you know skimmers and they movements. I was just working on some skimmer photos taken this summer. All on the wing handheld 500mm+1.4X 40D.

All the best and always try to find your limitations by experiments, and not by believing myths. Mark

Catching fish

Skimmer on the wing with fish

I can't match those images, which are stunning, but I don't have much trouble hand holding a 300/f4+1.4x at all. If you're crossing broken ground with a long lens, the addition of monopod makes it that bit more difficult.

@Mark, beautiful images you have there. I'm familiar with panning technique and you're right equipment does matter in this type of shooting.

@Peter: what kind of PP you've done to it, looks beautiful.

I recently acquired 300mm + 1.4X TC. Went to the zoo for handholding practice yesterday :-).

http://flickr.com/photos/dallascowboysfan/2683143937/sizes/o/

It doesn't seem as sharp as my 70-200mm f/4 IS USM though. It could be the TC that causing it, I'll try without it next week.

Some people are steadier than others. Some get worse with age, some better (I got much better, for some reason). On the average, the camera is going to shake (yaw/pitch) about 2 moa/sec which is going to limit the sharpness based on (effective) focal length and shutter speed. You have to shoot about 3x faster than the "focal length rule" to get consistently sharp results. No matter how steady your hand, getting a sharp image at slower speeds is a matter of luck. You have to kiss a lot of frogs, so to speak, to find a prince.

That said, image stabilization is a god-send for hand-held shooting. I get a good percentage of keepers with my 70-200/2.8 VR at 1/30 second or less (good enough for theater shots), and near tripod clarity at 1/125 in daylight.

Some people are steadier than others.

true

Some get worse with age, some better

true

You have to shoot about 3x faster than the "focal length rule" to get consistently sharp results. No matter how steady your hand, getting a sharp image at slower speeds is a matter of luck. You have to kiss a lot of frogs, so to speak, to find a prince.

Not quite true, see ‘rules’ above. Champion marksman is not hitting target most of the time handheld from a few hundreds yards because of luck or kissing frogs but because of his/her skills and practice. Not everybody can be a marksman, astronaut, pilot etc. Again, testing and knowing own limitations can help to not waste one’s own time. But on the other hand, to limit yourself because somebody else said so does not seem to be a smart move. Best, Mark

Actually with a long, heavy lens, even if I could hand-hold, I do recommend and use a monopod. That is much easier to do for hours on end, rather than "hand-hold" and get stiff and grouchy. With VR or not ... : monopod!