? for taking pictures of birds in flight

[tbost]

How do you setup the camera for shooting birds in flight?
do you shoot in manual, shutter priority, etc?
what shutter speeds do you use? aperture? iso? sunny and cloudy conditions.

I have a Nikon d40 and just got a 55-300 VR lens and I am hoping to find a duck or two at camp this weekend.

Thanks.

[outdoorsms]

try to keep shutter speed 500 or above probably keep you lens as wide as it will go unless you have plenty of light

[teul2]

The biggest issue is you need a fast focusing lens. The 2 i have won't focus fast enough most of the time, but I can get lucky everyonce in a while and get a clear image.


I am going to steal from Charlie here.
These are the settings he had on his camera for this shot.
And this is how I have learned what settings to try, by looking at other shots FXIF data.
I have a plug in on my browser that I can right click on a pic and see it all real easily.

Camera Maker: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark III
Lens: EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x
Image Date: 2011-11-13 07:42:22 -0700
Focal Length: 700mm
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure Time: 0.0004 s (1/2500)
ISO equiv: 1000
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB
GPS Coordinate: undefined, undefined
Photographer: Copywrite Charles Long Jr.
Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

[tbost]

thanks.

[canadacaller]

I just saw this, so sorry for the late reply. Having a fast lens , and a fast body will definitely help your overall odds and keeper ratio, but there is something to say about good techniques as well. Try doing a Google search on proper lens techniques and you will get a variety of information. As far as the settings, I shoot 60% of the time in manual mode and adjusting as the light changes, the rest of the time its in AV mode. Having a body capable. Of quality pics in your higher ISO 's will help matters as well. Hope this helps!

Char