Beginner looking for advise (Canon 7d mkII + Tamron 100-400 Di VC USD) (1 Viewer)

[dcato]

I've decided to take the step into DSLR photography. I've previously used a superzoom that was able to document what I saw, but with very clear limitations in terms of usability and picture quality. I was therefore hoping for a leap forward with my new equipment (see specs in the thread title). However, after a few trips with the new camera and playing around with the settings, I still feel like I'm far from where I want to be.

As an example, I'm attaching a photo of a European Turtle Dove. It was taken handheld from ~30-40m at the max lens range (400mm) with the one-spot AF pointing at the middle of the bird. It's obviously been compressed here for the forum, but the original looks about the same (= equally unsharp). I've shot a couple of hundred photos with the new setup and I just can't seem to get beyond this quality, so I don't think this is a matter of "just take a few more shots". The same bird was photographed by someone else, roughly at the same time (https://dofbasen.dk/image_proxy.php?mode=o&pic=31693125_20230406070214_731290604.jpg). According to the file info, that person used a Coolpix P950, which I feel should be inferior to my setup. To give some background for this photo, it was taken in great light at the end of the day and it was starting to get a bit cold outside. Seems like pretty optimal conditions to me.

Anyways, any suggestions on what I can try to improve the sharpness? (preferably "beginner-friendly" advise )

 

[gerald762]

It would be helpful if you could give the shutter speed, f stop and ISO.

 

[DMW]

I would suggest using a decent tripod and taking some test shots of a static object at closer range in good light. Stop down a bit from maximum aperture, so try eg f8 and f12, and also try at various focal lengths from 400mm down. Make sure you have a reasonable shutter speed and moderate ISO. Try using auto focus and manual focus.

What this will do is show you what your lens is capable of with optimal settings. There's a fair chance that at 400mm and maximum aperture (I believe f6.3) your lens won't be pin sharp regardless of what you do.

 

[dcato]

gerald, sorry, I didn't realize the photos uploaded to the forum lost their file info. I agree, that's pretty relevant info to start a discussion with! f/6.3, 1/3200 and ISO 640 for the dove (the file info of the other person's photo is available through the link).

DMW, I took the dove photo with the shutter priority program and tried faster and faster shutter speeds to see if that would reduce the softness. This was the best photo of the lot, but I had a few similar looking shots as well. I will take your advise and work more on changing the aperture settings too.

I don't have a working setup to mount the camera on a tripod, but I understand what you're trying to say. I can place the camera on a table or something to create ideal conditions and see if I can improve the sharpness.

I notice that you mainly refer to the basic settings (shutter speed, aperture and ISO). So if I understand it correctly, your best guess is that I should focus on finding a balance between those and not try to spend too much time reading up on and tinkering with the more advanced settings.

 

[DMW]

It's not so much a question of focusing on the basic settings, and ignoring more advanced settings, as doing some tests to see how your lens performs at different settings. Most lenses are soft at their widest aperture, and some tele-zooms lose sharpness at maximum zoom. By shooting at 400mm wide open (f6.3) you are probably seeing the worst of what your lens can do. This is why I suggest going out in good light, and taking shots of a static object at different aperture settings and zoom lengths. Start at 400mm f6.3, and stop down the lens in increments to see if sharpness improves. Then back off from maximum zoom a bit and repeat the process.

 

[dcato]

Ok, placed the camera on a flat surface and spent some time today testing different settings. The weather was nice and it was good light outside, so couldn't ask for much better conditions. I can definitely see that some more conservative settings (such as stopping down the aperture) can help out a bit, but it didn't fundamentally change the fact that the photos are not even close to being sharp. In my opinion I'm at maybe "70%" of what I expected in terms of sharpness and I was maybe able to improve a few percentage points by finding the best settings during the test. I don't know what else I could try to find any "magic" combination that would take me up to where I want to be.

I'm fully aware of the term "you get what you pay for" and I know I don't have the best possible equipment. However, seeing how superzoom cameras easily outperform my setup leads me to believe that something is not right. I bought body and lens separately used, so I didn't have a chance to try the setup in advance (or even confirm their condition) and don't really have any way to return them. Thank you for the advise so far. If anyone can think of something else, I'm open to try it out. Otherwise, I think what I'm going to do is to try and find other photographers and first-hand test my setup against theirs. I've also understood there is a "tap-in" console for the Tamron lenses that has worked wonders for some. I might invest in one of those.

 

[gerald762]

I don´t know your camera! What settings are you using for the focus point? My Nikon has several settings for the number of focal points, from 5 upwards to 50( I think!) For something stationary the less focal points the better.

 

[dcato]

My understanding is that the 7d mkII is supposed to be quite advanced in terms of autofocus and settings. I've tried a few different AF methods, but now I'm only using the single point in the middle (according to the manual, that particular point has better specs than all the others). There is a noticeable difference in how the camera behaves depending on the setting and this one gives the best result/easiest to use (for non-moving targets).

 

[kids]

Ok, placed the camera on a flat surface and spent some time today testing different settings. The weather was nice and it was good light outside, so couldn't ask for much better conditions. I can definitely see that some more conservative settings (such as stopping down the aperture) can help out a bit, but it didn't fundamentally change the fact that the photos are not even close to being sharp. In my opinion I'm at maybe "70%" of what I expected in terms of sharpness and I was maybe able to improve a few percentage points by finding the best settings during the test. I don't know what else I could try to find any "magic" combination that would take me up to where I want to be.

I'm fully aware of the term "you get what you pay for" and I know I don't have the best possible equipment. However, seeing how superzoom cameras easily outperform my setup leads me to believe that something is not right. I bought body and lens separately used, so I didn't have a chance to try the setup in advance (or even confirm their condition) and don't really have any way to return them. Thank you for the advise so far. If anyone can think of something else, I'm open to try it out. Otherwise, I think what I'm going to do is to try and find other photographers and first-hand test my setup against theirs. I've also understood there is a "tap-in" console for the Tamron lenses that has worked wonders for some. I might invest in one of those.

find a place where you can put the camera on a steady surface , put a book or newspaper some 30 yards away. Set the camera up to take a timed delay image. focus on the print and press the shutter stand away from the camera. this will tell you if the AF is working . Let us know if the mages (through varying zooms ) are pin sharp

 

[kennethwfd]

Two suggestions.
One to focus on the bird's eye, which I can see in focus regarding the P950 image
Second. To check lens calibration. The easy way to do it is to prop a school ruler at 45 degrees, and focus on the 6-inch mark, ie the middle. Is it the sharpest part of the photo, or is the focal point above or below? The 7Dii has the ability to compensate for this in the calibration settings.
As others have said, I would try about 370mm, which is probably where the lenses' "sweet spot" is, and try an aperture of F8 or 12

 

[dcato]

Thanks for the additional feedback.

Since I created this thread, I eventually managed to start getting shots I was happy with, but with a pretty low hit rate. The camera and lens did require fairly strong micro adjustment and I never managed to get anything reasonable when shooting wide open, so I was always at f8.

While continuing to shoot during the year, I decided that I enjoyed bird photographty enough that it was worth investing in a new setup. I have recently moved on to R7 + RF100-500. There is a noticeable difference in what my new camera can do. As for my 7Dii + Tamron 100-400, I'm in the process of trying to sell it (lens sold, hopefully soon followed by the body).

 

[kennethwfd]

I use a 7dii myself, and I assure you it is a very capable body. Due to illness, haven't done much bird photography recently, but noticed dunlins close to Lower Pennington Lane, so propose to fit my Canon 100-400 to the 7dii and hope they are still there for the next couple of days. Failing that, there are the Turnstones at Keyhaven

 

[mr_birdman]

That new 100-500mm lens of yours will struggle in low light. We had a couple on our recent Qld photography workshop who had exactly that problem with their R5 bodies having a lot of issues focusing in dim lit forests.

However, it's still a great lens to start with until you work out whether you want to get even more out of your gear, in which case be ready to sell a kidney to buy a decent fixed super telephoto lens for birds. Not sure what they would cost in your neck of the woods, but in Australia the really good long super teles are sickeningly expensive.