My Sony Camera Settings for Wildlife & Bird Photography: For A7RIV A7RII A9 A9II
I’m often asked what settings I use with my SONY cameras for wildlife and bird photography. In this video I cover a few not so common settings that I think are must have for any birding photography.
My list of SONY bird photography camera's here bit.ly/3POJm3m
Learn how I took each photo. Detailed setup on Instagram (@drphotosca) bit.ly/1pXYTS4
#SONY #SONYCAMERA #BIRDPHOTOGRAPHY
These SONY camera settings can be used for almost any of their cameras from the new SONY a9II to the more common bird and wildlife camera the SONY a7RIV. I use these bird photography settings on both my SONY A7RII and A7RIV before heading out. They are an ideal starting point for birds in flight, small bird photography and more.
0:00 Introduction
0:30 Bird photography challenges with SONY cameras
0:40 Why I don't take Scott Kelby's advice
1:22 Exposure triangle challenges
1:38 My go to SONY camera settings for wildlife and bird photography
2:00 SONY Camera Setting Tip #1
3:05 SONY Camera Setting Tip #2
3:29 Overcoming white balance issues
4:15 Set it and forget it settings for SONY cameras
4:20 SONY Camera Setting Tip #3
4:51 Sony Camera group settings
7:15 Bounce tip for all wildlife and bird photographers
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Thanks David. That is great advice for any camera brand on settings for capturing birds!
Thank you and yes for all cameras 😁
Thank you for doing this video. I have recently started my briding experience and am looking forward to testing these settings out! :)
Thank you for your feedback and good luck with your journey it's certainly a fun one! 😀
Great video. Turns out I was pretty much using identical settings. The only issue I constantly seem to have is the tracking focus ends up sliding down the birds body rather than constantly tracking on the eyes. A little annoying but works for most shots.
Thanks for the comment. I find the same thing happens with certain birds. Mostly small birds with black eyes and black feathers around the eye. Seems the camera gets confused. 😄
I have sony a7m4 camera. I love photographing birds. I was in two minds regarding using back button focus with this camera. With your confirmation I am going to use it. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing. I think you'll find it to be a great way to focus and capture bird photos. 😄
Thanks for the tips, I was out this morning capturing Osprey, the on-branch pictures are bang on but my in-flight pictures are nowhere near as good! Looks like I'll need to keep practising 👍
That's the only way to nail your shots is to keep shooting. 🙂
Great video as I have just switched to Sony from Olympus.This has given me a base line to start from..
Thanks. Tough to pick as they all have something good about them and some things not so good. Have to say that between SONY and OLYMPUS I'd side on SONY too 😁
This video made me want to start a bird photography business. Wow such beauty in these images.
Thank you appreciate the feedback. All the photos (and many more) with camera settings etc are on my IG channel instagram.com/drphotosca/
Great tip 👍. Thanks Please do one about doing video like you have in this video. What settings you use.
Thanks! I'll add that to the list. I'm not sure how long the video will be. My video setup is very very basic 😂
Thanks for this valuable information! I’m going to try and rent tyhe Sony a r & 4 soon (fingers crossed) and this information in paramount. I like to capture action shots weather dogs running or eagles flying. What advice can you give when using the continuous burst mode?
Thank you for your comment. I would certainly set the camera to high speed burst shooting. Also have the camera's "Priority Set in AF-C" set to AF. This will set focusing as the top priority. MENU →(Custom Settings) →[Priority Set in AF-C] → desired setting set to AF Hope that helps and good luck! 😀
Thanks, that was helpful. Until now I used a Panasonic bridge camera but TBH the quality is awful, especially when the light becomes problematic. That's the reason I got my new Sony A7R III together with the Sony FE 200-600mm yesterday. Had my first outdoor session today and even if I was more occupied with learning the camera usage than taking images the quality improvement was very much notable. Your settings advice is very well appreciated by an Alpha 7 newbie.
Thank you and glad to hear. Good luck with the camera there is a lot to learn in them you'll have years of fun shooting with it.
Thank you for a video and sharing you experience! Thumb up. One remark: you were saying about lock-on af. Actually it is the old sony tracking system that was used in previous generation cameras. In newer cameras like a9, a9ii, a7r iv, a7c, a1 there is real time tracking af. Huge difference and much more reliable. In terms of exposure I am getting the best results with Aperture Priority and ISO AUTO minimum shutter speed. That way you can set you min shutter speed you need, but if the light allows, the ss could be even higher. PS. I really like the bird photos and clips - nice to watch :-)
Thank you for your comments. Looks like I got my terminology mixed up thanks for the correction. I've never had much luck sticking with Aperture Priority but if that's what works for you go for it. I feel everyone has to experiment with these settings to find what works best with the way they shoot. I think for me it's a habit from the past when I was shooting sports and rodeos. 😀
@@DavidReidPhotography Thanks for the pointers. When shooting hummingbirds, I usually go to 1/2000th of a second. Those rascals don't stand still and are always darting off. Of course, I have to fire off quickly before they leave their blossom. I use the A7R3, bought before the R4 came out. It is incredible and the photos are easy to crop while maintaining excellent photo quality. The lens I use a lot for birds is the 200-600 zoom. Wonderful lens for the money.
@@bondgabebond4907 Thanks for sharing. I've yet to get my 200-600 working to a point where I take it out often. Maybe with the summer sun I'll have better luck.
Thanks again for the very helpful advices. I have a question regarding to choose wide open aperture. With wide Aperture , are we going run into shallow depth of focus issue? Will the picture tend to be blurred? If not, why can we avoid the shallow depth of focus issue? Thank you!
Yes shooting wide open will reduce the depth of field to its minimum. Depending on how far away the bird is this can cause issues with focusing in general. Usually the reason you have to shoot wide open is the lack of light. On bright days you should try and close it down a couple stops to have more of the bird in focus. Bracketing the ISO helps a little too although the base noise of your sensor will force you to keep the max ISO in check. No simple answer it's a toss up between not exactly in focus and too much noise. One last tip is to find places the spots where the birds land or fly that is the brightest. Position yourself so you can get the bird as bright as possible and then work with your settings to adjust the f stop and increase the depth of field. Good luck :)
@@DavidReidPhotography Thank you so much! Totally make sense. I am a beginner and very thankful for the advices. The guide is very helpful. I will try it today.
Hi cracking video, I have a A7III with a 100-400 GM Lens with a X2 Converter. What would be the best settings to use. I find with the drop in Fstop with the X2 on is frustrating indeed. Thanks
Thanks for your comment. Personally I haven't had much luck with 2x converters. I use to have one for my Canon 1DX but stopped using it. I think if you're going to use it there are a few things to keep in mind. First you need a tripod and gimbal. No matter how well you think you can hand hold your gear 800mm is a long lens. Next I can only see this really working with stationary birds. Maybe large birds standing or perched and not moving. This will allow you to lower the ISO to something reasonable (200-800) as well have a lower than ideal shutter speed. Something else to consider is the time of day. The heat from the ground can easily distort the photo making you feel like it's the lens at fault. So early morning shooting would be best IMO. Hope that helps and good luck :)
Great video. I am a bit confused with the ISO bracketing. Specifically how to set up a high and low value on my Sony AR73
Thank you for your feedback. I don't think the SONY A7R3 allows you to set an ISO range with a lower and upper limit. It does however allow you to set a minimum shutter speed for your ISO. That might work as well. Hope that helps. 😀
Thank you for the answer. I figured it out. You can set these values through Auto ISO @@DavidReidPhotography
Hi great video, would this also apply to a camera like Sony RX10 IV?
Thank you. I can't speak specifically to that SONY model but fundamentally yes they would apply to most cameras.
Awesome video, thanks for sharing! What's your experience with the noise generated by the A7riv? I shoot with the 200-600mm 5.6-6.3 and really struggle to balance between picking up the ISO so as not to get a blurry image from a SS I can't drop, but not so much to get too much noise - I feel the A7riv struggles with this in my hands! This is no doubt my inexperience with the camera and mirrorless in general - do you find yourself allowing a bit of noisyness to keep the shutterspeed above that critcal value if you need to?
Thank you appreciate the feedback. I believe you are facing the same problems i have with the SONY a7 RIV and the SONY 200-600mm G lens. This lens needs lots of light. When I say lots I mean the brightest days you have in a year. The SONY a7 RIV has a high base ISO which allows me to bracket the ISO up to ISO 2000. This helps keep the shutter speed high and can help with the overall quality of the image. Here is my general setup with this camera and this lens combo. 1) Tripod and gimbal 2) ISO bracketed 200-2000 3) Shutter speed 1/2000 - 1/8000 This is where I start when using the SONY 200-600mm lens. Obviously you can change these settings for your specific circumstance. The key here is lots of light. Without it you'll always have reduced quality in the image. Hope that helps.
@DavidReidPhotography this makes total sense! Thanks so much for that! I'll have to break the gimbal out!
Thanks. Not sure what you mean by lock on expand flexible spot. I found expand spot. I’ll see if I can find an explanation somewhere.
Thanks for the comment. This option will lock on to a subject and track it. It works for bird photography often enough you should try it. It's not 100% perfect but a good option in the right conditions. 😀
@@DavidReidPhotography I discovered that it’s not an option on the a7iv. However, I did assign a button to initiate tracking in conjunction with back button continuous focusing.
Thanks for that. Please, what about your video settings?Any program? Thank you
Been working on a general 'video settings' and sample video footage video. Taking more time than I thought it would 🤣
@@DavidReidPhotography 😅. Thank you so much. Please keep doing what you are doing
Good work
Thanks
Hi, great video. I have a question and I would like to know your opinion please. The sony a9 II all claim to be ideal for wildlife photography, but it only has 24MP, in wildlife photography you often have to shoot away from the animals and you need to crop the image. With the A9 II, do you want before or after cropping do you still have high image quality? the difference in image quality is significant between the A7R III and A9 II, for wildlife photography, low light, away from the subject, etc. Thanks a lot. Best regards
Thank you! Great question. I've used the SONY A9 II photographing owls (close to me) in the shade and the images were amazing. I do agree with you that the sensor size limits your ability to zoom in during post production. I shot with the CANON 1 DX for many years and loved it's responsiveness and low light capabilities. However the sensor size was limiting too. I currently use the SONY a7 RIV for most of my wildlife and birding photography simply so I can zoom in. It's a trade off between the SONY A9 II and the SONY A1. Outside of the cost which one is better depends on the environments you normally shoot. Right now I'd say the A1 has the best of both worlds but not 100% sold on the overall value. Like you I'm debating the real need for either one of these bodies or stick with the SONY A7 RIV.
@@DavidReidPhotography thanks a lot
I have a a77 and obviously don't have some of the settings that you have but one thing my camera has is it has tracking auto focus which I imagine should help
Thanks for the comment. Yes always use autofocus. For bird photography any camera/lens that has autofocus is better than trying to focus manually. If your camera doesn't have some of the more advanced settings that's ok. You can still capture some great photos you just have to work within the limitations of your camera. That also applies to the most expensive camera out there. 😀
Hi David great video. I have been over to your Instagram page and some cool photos on there, but cannot seem to find the details of camera settings you used for each photo. I'm new to Instagram so is there a way to see the settings that i don't know about. Cheers Ed.
Thanks for the feedback. Sorry the current posts are part of a challenge so yes missing that info. But if you start from this post (link at the end) and go back from there you'll see the camera, lens, ISO, shutter speed and aperture settings. Also, once this IG challenge is over I'll be back to adding in that detail on every post. Sorry for the confusion. .. *IG:* instagram.com/p/CQt8dTGr7B-/
@@DavidReidPhotography thanks for your reply David -wondered if there was something I was missing, your explanation clears that up. Cheers Ed.
Thanks for sharing the settings, would it work for my sony a37 2012?
Thanks and yes they should be a good start. As always settings need to be adjusted for many factors including your shooting style. Give it a shot and good luck with your photography! 😀
@@DavidReidPhotography i think i figured the setting today, the only thing i dont get is when i set the shutter to 1-1250 the front or rear dial is pretty dark somehow, for the aperture i dont think i can modify any of that, well i cant find it on my camera or on the web do you have any clue ? thanks in advance!
Glad to hear you're making some headway. I found this post that might be of some help. community.sony.co.uk/t5/alpha-nex-interchangeable-lens-cameras/how-do-i-set-aperture-in-manual-mode-on-a37-slt/td-p/646585
@@DavidReidPhotography inunderstand now why i couldnt found how to change it 😃 thanks so much for the info,
No worries good luck!
Thanks just got some videos of yours and was amazed by your quality of pics , videos and instruction. Since you moved to A1 , not sure if you can a make video on video settings on your sony cameras prior to a1 :) I use a9 and riii primarily. I am happy with settings and almost similar to what you have mentioned with bbf for clicking photos in this video. Now when I have to switch to video. Do you have any settings customised for that. Can you make a video on that if possible. My struggle is around switching to video. When I am clicking a photo, for eg got some decent shots and I feel like capturing a video. I press the red dot to start capturing video. But the moment I do that, 1st I see focus going on toss. 2nd: Not sure if shutter speed at that time matters, coz we are at at high speed around1/1250 or higher, but then rules say for video we should not go above the double of fps set, in our case if we are in slow mo of 120 or 100 fps, so 1/250 or so. How do you manage all these nuisances. A quick note on this or a video would help. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.
Thank you for your comments. Initially I wasn't a videographer. My interest was 100% photos for many years. However, with the changing world of social media I've had to adapt and become a 'videographer' or I guess a creator. But you bring up a good point. Like you I face the similar issue of capturing some photos and then immediately wanting to capture some video. I'm by no means an expert in video but I think I can pull together something on how I approach video while taking bird photos. Thanks again!
@@DavidReidPhotography glad you understood my pain points. I have spoken with sony artisans and they gave wierd answers.. one of them asked me to use a9 for pics and riii for videos..since i have extra bodies.. i was like really is this a solution. But still really look forward to get your tips and how you manage. Thanks again.
Thanks for sharing your advice. Is "just switch to RAW" still true with modern cameras in 2022? Most of my wildlife photos are so damn close in JPEG even without tweaking, and I chuck out stuff I don't want. After that I can still make huge adjustments to JPEG's in Affinity Photo, or even the plain photos app in Windows 10 - exposure, colour balance, white balance you name it.. I HAVE switched to RAW three times now to be a more "pro" photographer, but each time it has just been very tiresome spending time on additional "developing", like we are still back in the dark old days of using film, and comparing results of tweaking the same photos in RAW and JPEG I couldn't see any benefit, even with pretty badly under and over exposed photos. Logically there is still infomation lost in JPEG compression, but my point with the incredible technology advances, and using 4K resolution just to start with, do you really need the tiny gain from RAW any more?
Thanks for your comment. For me I shoot only in RAW mostly because of the flexibility I have in post production. I tend to find myself in locations where the exposure can change rapidly and as a mostly manual shooter I rather focus on composition than exposure. Post allows me to fix the thing I didn't in the field. Now if you're shooting in a location where you can shoot without much concern for exposure and your camera shoots good JPG's I'd say go for it and stick to JPG. It's all part of the creative process and how you see your art :)
Hi, why use the subject tracking (lock on)? Is the idea you don’t have to pan as well to keep the bird in focus? Or some other reason. Thanks!
Depending on the situation subject tracking allows me to move the camera less while still keeping the bird in focus. It all depends what type of bird I'm shooting and how fast it's moving around.
I always have my camera in manual With my shutter speed set to 1250 sec Aperture F8 and I use my ISO to adjust my exposure.
Thanks for sharing likewise do similar in many circumstances 🙂
Does Sony have a proprietary post processing program like Canon's DPP 4?
Sure does. Check this link out for more info. www.sony.ca/en/electronics/image-editing-video-production-software
Good morning David Thank you very much for your informative VDO. I am Dr Tarun Sharma from India. I have A7R MIV with 24-70 f/2.8. My finding is little different from you wrt focusing. You said flexible spot focus whereas I believe it should be in tracking mode. I may be wrong. Kindly suggest. Regards & Best Wishes 🙏
Thank you for your comment. When it comes to what focus mode to use it really depends on the situation you're in. Birds out in the open can take advantage of using the full focus area and tracking. However, when trying to capture a bird on a branch or bush I often switch to a smaller focus area to lock on to the bird. My C2 button is programmed for Focus Area so I can quickly switch between them as the situation changes. Hope that helps.
I use almost the same settings as you on but the Sony a6500 However I find that the Autofocus mode Expand Flexible Spot (Small). still results in some shots that are out of focus for stationary birds. Is this normal? Even though the center focus point is on the subject and lit up in green the entire time, shouldn't all the shots be in focus, because I read that the surrounding smaller points are only used to fall back on in case the center focus can't be achieved. I just find it strange that in a burst of photos that some will be out of focus. I am holding the back button focus button throughout the time I press shutter, maybe I should just do it once at the beginning and let go, then take the burst? I feel like maybe it is causing it to keep 'hunting' for focus. Curious to hear your opinion.
Thank you for your question. My experience with SONY's focus system on many cameras (other than the SONY A1) is very similar to yours. It works but not always the same. As often as I can I use center or spot. There are several factors that impact the performance for SONY or frankly any other brand. The color of the bird, lighting, movement, distance, lens. All these things to me have a large enough impact on focusing performance that worrying about the camera is second to those issues. I often find myself using spot when birds are still and center when moving or may move. Then I try to position myself in a place with maximum light to give the camera a fighting chance. If I'm shooting above 1/1250 I'll also try turning off the lens stabilization. This can work against you sometimes at high shutter speeds. Last I'll use a monopod. This can make a huge difference. When we click the shutter it's easy to move the camera body while taking the shot without really noticing it. Hope some of these help out.
Suuuper!!
Thank you 😀
Hi, is there a solution to lower the noise. ISO above 400 gives a lot of noise. I’m using a Sony A7r III.
Thank you for your comment. I'm a little surprised you're having issues with noise at ISO 400. I would try testing your camera outside on a bright day taking a photo of something stationary. Run through the ISO range say from 100-1600. Then check to see how different the noise is. I've found that often the noise is more to do with the overall exposure (specifically shutter speed) and at times image stabilization than ISO. I often shoot up to 1,600 or even 3,200 on my SONY A7 RIV. Hope that helps
Thank you very much for the video, very helpful, truly appreciate your sharing your expertise! How do I set the ISO bracket? Thank you!
I found the ISO bracket. Thank you!
Sorry wasn't able to jump on earlier. It's a setting I use more than any other for adjusting exposure.:)
@@DavidReidPhotography Thank you!
I just got a sony a9ii and i cannot get sharp photos even with the typical bird settings. Any recommendations?
Thanks for your question. Can you share more details on the lens you're using, shutter speed(s), ISO, f stop and types of birds you're looking to capture?
nice tuto. does iso bracketing mean 5 pictures for each shoot without any risk bird turns its face ? I am new in Sony with a a7IV. I have learned on youtube (Mark Galer...) that today mode A, AF-C, iso auto 100-12800, min shutter speed 1/250sec, with a custom button for min shutter speed (here 1/1250) is a good choice with respect to manual mode and "back button focus" starts being an obsolete method because we have now AF lock button, dmf,... what do you think ? do you use eye detetcion for bird in conjunction with spot tracking ?
Hi Marc, Thanks for the comment you have several things to unpack there. This is my POV as a starting point. Bird photography settings are very dependent on the location. In Canada shooting in the summer versus the winter at the same location can be very different. So as a starting point here are my comments *ISO Bracketing* This is not like bracketing (f stop) where that type of bracketing would take several photos (usually 3 or 5) at different f stops so you can either capture the right one or blend later. ISO bracketing lets the camera change the ISO within the limits you set say 100 to 800. This is critical for bird photography as birds fly in and out of sunny and shaded areas changing the exposure. Letting the camera adjust the ISO to compensate for that helps to improve your exposure. Shooting in RAW further helps you to recover in post production. I generally have ISO set at the lower limit 100 or 250 and the upper limit 800 or 1000. I try to not go higher than that. *AF-C* - Yes a must for moving objects like birds *A - Aperture priority* - I don't agree with this. Again depending on your overall setup and location you can easily get caught off-guard. For example shooting with a SONY 100-400 lens on a dull day if the camera drops the shutter speed too low you'll end up with a blurry and useless photo. I tend to stay in manual and force the f stop to a number that works best for the lens and lighting and then adjust my shutter speed based on the situation. For example a stationary bird with a monopod I can drop the shutter pretty low say 1/250 to drop the ISO and still get a sharp image. *ISO 100-12800* - This depends and I'd say that 12800 is way too high for most shots. It's more a rare situation that an every day one. *Min shutter* yes 1/1250 but you can break that rule as I said above. Bright sunny days with a longer lens go as high as you can. You'd be surprised that holding the lens as still as you can can still be too much movement while the bird moves. On sunny day's I can easily shoot 1/4000 or higher. *Back button focus* - Yes a must. It takes a bit to get use to but one big advantage is that you can lock on to and hold it on a bird and then wait to take the photo. Then when the bird is in a spot you like you can then easily snap the shot. Letting the camera do all this work is asking a lot of the camera even the A1. As the bird moves around the camera will often refocus on branches or the tail and you can miss the shot. It's just not as reliable as you'd think. *Bird eye focus* - Yes this is on all the time. With back button focus the bird eye focus on the SONY A1 is a great combination. Take a look at my SONY A1 bird eye focus video for some examples. kzhead.info/sun/abpwn8Oae4qnop8/bejne.html Hope this helps answer your questions Marc.
thank you. - So, iso bracketing is therefore what sony calls iso auto, isn't it ? - If you set U1 for mode A, af-c, auto iso, min 1/250sec, eye detection and set C1 button to min shutter speed, you can increase speed of U1 setting to 1/1250. - af-c works fine with half shutter. If you need to switch to "AF-S" and recompose you can set lens button... to AF lock so you switch to AF-S... - mark Galer seems to work a lot with the 3 settings and memory settings with custom hold 1-3. I try to understand how he does that at the moment. This alolows to tempoirary switch from action at continuous shutter 1/2000sec to single shoot 1/250s.
@@marclabro Yes they call it auto ISO. I wouldn't use AF-S for birding. You and the bird will move enough that the photo won't be as sharp as it could be.
yes, of course. I just meant taht BBF is mainly used to switch between af-c and af-s and today BBF seems to become less interesting than in the past with dslr. half shutter press seems to become something which comes back vesrsus in the past everyone probing BBF.
@@marclabro I think it's shooting preference. I find BBF works for me when shooting birds. Either one is good.
What are your settings on Face/Eye AF? On the A7III if you set subject detection on animal the AF Lock-On doesn't work. It only works if you set the subject detection on humans.
Thank you for your comment. I believe the SONY A7III only has human and animal eye focus. Although they say the animal eye autofocus can be used for birds they also say this is a difficult subject for the A7III. The newer models including the SONY A1 have eye focus for humans, animals and birds. For these cameras the bird eye focus is very good. You can see more in this video kzhead.info/sun/abpwn8Oae4qnop8/bejne.html
What size lens do you use?
Thanks for your question. I more often use the 100-400mm lens regardless if I'm shooting Canon or Sony. Saying that in the winter or on dull rainy days I tend to use the 70-200mm more often.
I agree with all of your suggested settings but do not understand on minimum ISO why you select 320 and not 100.
Thanks for the comment Carl. I do use ISO 100 but I've read that some camera sensors work better at a different ISO - think they call it native ISO. If memory serves me correctly the SONY a7RIV and/or the SONY A1 has been thought to have a native ISO of 320. In practical terms in may not matter much but is worth testing on your camera. Slightly higher settings can give you that little extra room to move when shooting in manual mode and the quality of 100 vs 320 on these two cameras is most likely impossible to see. Hope that helps answer your question.
@@DavidReidPhotography Thanks for your reply. I will do some testing and see if I notice any difference.
Hii bro.. Nice video.. I have sony a7riv with 200-600 lens. I don't know why each and every picture have motion blur. Bird Eyes are not sharp even not moving birds. If possible please reply..
Hi thanks for your comment. The SONY 200-600 G lens is not an easy lens to get sharp photos with. My experience is that you must use a tripod with a gimbal head. Also you need to have a very high shutter speed (so lots of light) and an f stop of f/8 f/11 or higher. I see reviews where they're shooting at 1/60 but that has never worked for me on the SONY a7RIV or the SONY A1. Wish I had better advice for this lens. I think I should spend some time with it in the field so I can do a review with it. Maybe someone else here can share there experience 🤔🙂
Hii David... Thanks for your valuable information 👍
Is this video for the Sony HX400V
Thank you for your question. The settings are generally for the SONY full frame cameras however you could apply them to almost any SONY camera.
You set the suto iso range at 320-1250?
It depends on the day and the camera I'm using but normally I have Auto ISO set between 100-1600
Tips start at the two minute mark if you're wondering
Thanks for adding in!
I have sony a6400 , and lens is 18-135. Is it good for birds photography
Thank you for the question. The SONY a6400 is a very versatile camera. Combined with the kit zoom 18-135 you would have a good *starter camera* for bird photography. You should be able to capture some good photos of birds in your backyard or in the wild that are close to you. Hope that helps.
@@DavidReidPhotography Thank you so much for your reply.. yes you are right sir, it needs close objects.. May b next year I will buy new one, starts saving from now 😅. 400mm will be fine I think?, right sir?
@@bwinner29 yes a 100-400mm lens would be helpful even on the SONY a6400. Best time of year to purchase this lens is usually during Black Friday 😊
@@DavidReidPhotography thank you sir
Quick comment This was the second video of yours that I watched and the hard driving music at :20 stopped me from watching the rest. I go by Grandpa Tom and you'd think I was an old geezer but I am 62 and used to appreciate loud music and it still would be OK in a tractor pulling competition but birds?? come on. and you have your voice settings low so it blasted me off my chair. OK I guess I fit my name. :)
Duly noted Grandpa Tom! It's part of the learning curve to get the audio from mixed sources correct. Hopefully I'm making some progress with the newer videos.
@@DavidReidPhotography Thanks for the response. I am a new subscriber and I do understand what you are saying. You will get it dialed in.
PLEASE HELP! I just recently purchased an A7R iv and the Sony 200-600mm and ALL of my photos are blurred and have no detail at all. Seems like the megapixels aren’t even there. Any advice?
Hi Jesse sorry to hear that. I'm assuming when you switch to another lens the photos are in focus and have the full RAW image size? Couple questions. 1) Are you shooting in RAW or JPG? 2) Can you share the settings for the camera and lens? 3) What is the camera ISO and shutter speed? 4) On the lens what setting do you have for each of the 4 switch settings? 5) Was anything in the photo in focus?
Great. So what was the problem?…. I also got my 200-600mm yesterday and have unsharp images. Figuring out if it’s my fault because I shoot handheld… iso is set to max 2000. tried every thing from 1/500 to 1/2000 but still not crystal clear sharp. Set OSS mode to 3 now on the lens and making additional testings.
@@FortbloxNET I think the SONY 200-600 lens is more tricky than SONY let on or even some of the KZheadrs who have been paid or given early access to this lens. I plan on doing a more detailed test and hopefully a video on this lens. Here is what I'm thinking minimum settings are for this lens. 1/2500 ISO 1200 Monopod a must That leaves aperture and the body. I know that doesn't help you with your concern but know that you're not alone on this.
@@DavidReidPhotography no, it helped a bit :-D problem is every youtuber has different opinions on the setting. some said, freehand with 1/500th is okay, other said, 1/1000th is the MINIMUM, the faster the better. so i tried 1/1000th minimum and it looked waaaaaaaaaay better. i am now tweaking around what the best setting are, and yes, MONOPOD should be a must actually, but sometimes you need to be fast and then handheld is the only option. could you recommend some "LIGHT" monopod that can hold the Sony A7iii wth that lens? its already heavy and i dont want to carry a 20kg tripod/monopod additionaly :-D
@@FortbloxNET Agree everyone has a different setup. I can't see 1/500th working for most situations. The 1/lens length is ok for a 50mm or 100mm but when you get up to 600mm it's a different story. At this length you have more areas to be concerned about. The angle of view is much narrower with a 600mm so when panning you're covering a much greater distance. This plus birds in motion, haze etc. will be of issue too. I've used a monopod with a gimbal and that combo works pretty good. A little awkward but gives you a lot of flexibility. I use an older Manfrotto monopod that takes a beating.
I hear many photographers complaining about the Sony Menus, I have found they are no more complicated than other cameras I have owned (Nikon, Canon, Pentax), it just takes time adjusting, to a different layout.
I agree that it takes time with any brand but SONY and some others (Olympus) are much more complex by design. I'd say Canon has one of the easiest menu systems.
@@DavidReidPhotography I should have added, an EXCELLENT presentation for shooting Alpha cameras for wildlife.
@Brian Gaquin Thanks... hey @sonyalpha have a spare 600mm I can borrow
Proofs in the pudding . Thanks 😀
That's for sure!
I agree with most of the settings, except your upper ISO cap, which is far too restrictive and will get you alot of underexposed images of birds in the shadows, or when it's an overcast, cloudy day. Also I'm getting perfectly fine results using even ISO 25600 and fixing the noise in post.
Thanks for your feedback. I can't say I've had that kind of success with any of my SONY bodies. But noted and I'll give it a try next time to see if I can get some low noise images at that ISO.
Hi I have A99II with 70-400SSMG2 lens Im strugguling make sharp images :(
Hello, Although I've never tried that lens I suspect you'd have some of the common issues found in the 200-600mm lens. I would try shutter speeds 1/2500 and greater with a monopod on a very bright and sunny day. Good luck!
@@DavidReidPhotography ok.I have tried 1/2500 s iso auto bracket between 400-3200 locked on target extendable Flexi spot f5.6 but with handheld I will try with tripod .
Maybe I missed it, but it appears you debunk aperture priority at the outset but never explain why it failed for you! What shooting mode to you use if not aperture priority? Full manual? I have found full manual except for auto ISO works well where I select a shutter speed and aperture (almost always wide open) and let camera choose ISO. And the new AF animal tracking on my A9 is excellent. For me a sharp image is paramount; hence I use at least 1/1600 particularly because most of my shots are at 400mm and camera movement is my biggest problem. (I'm 78 years old and not as steady as I used to be!)
Sorry if I missed explaining why. Basically shutter speed is critical for birding or almost anything when shooting with a long lens. Letting the camera pick that in order to have a specific aperture often results in many blurry images. I think when you are looking to get the best shots you can you have to go to manual and control each (ISO, Shutter speed, Aperture) independently. Maybe the next best think is shutter priority. Agree with you on the shutter speed and having a steady hand. I often use a monopod to help with that.
@@DavidReidPhotography Thanks...just what I said...go to manual and choose shutter speed, aperture...then I let the camera choose ISO. For me aperture and shutter speed are most important parameters for you to control.
unable to follow settings, not clear, thanks
Thanks for your feedback. Sounds like I need to write a block post to help out with that.
Only 4x zoom optical....too less for far birds dude
Thanks for the comment. That all depends on how you look at bird photography. I've even shot birds with a Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM. Sure not something I do a lot but it is possible. No matter what lens you have there are birds always out of reach. kzhead.info/sun/lsmKpriQmYGljHA/bejne.htmlsi=Z3m1SmSrxhOCESQU
That iso range is too low
Nikon p1000 is better
It is, in what way?