Wildlife settings

[mikison]

Hi, hope you're all doing good!

I've set my A9 wildlife settings based on the Mark Galer suggestions, it mostly works well for me. My typical settings using my 200-600 are:

Aperture priority
Auto iso with max 12500
Auto iso min SS 1/1000

I shoot quite a lot of owls, so often the light poor. I sometimes find that without noticing that my SS falls to a point that I'm not gonna get a decent sharpness due to camera shake. This can especially be the case when using the 1.4x tc. Sometimes I only notice when I get the photos in my pc and see they're blurry. I know I should check my settings but they can fluctuate in this mostly Auto mode.

I'm tempted to move to back shutter priority with Auto iso which will typically force the aperture to it's widest for standard UK light conditions. Maybe even manual but again with Auto iso.

Any thought? What works best for you?

 

[iamdlewis]

Mark Galer is a long time photographer and I personally believe that he still carries some technical baggage from days long gone and is more high end lens dependent. Mark's setup carries an exposure triangle priority of Aperture -> ISO -> Shutter Speed when in reality with the sensors and software ISO is far less important that Aperture or Shutter Speed.

Try switching to a Shutter Speed Priority for action with an ISO range with a base of like 400 or 500 because I bet you shoot wide open the vast majority of the time for such shots. For "bird in tree" try going Manual with ISO just set to Auto or again Shutter Speed Priority with a lower base value in the ISO range, because again I bet if you look 90+% of your shots are wide open (especially if you use the TC).

Things could be different for you if you are using the 400 f2.8 or 600 f4 (lesser so with this lens from what I see of most photographers that post photos) where you can step down the aperture and still maintain a good shutter speed and lower ISO.

 

[Soundmike]

Hi, hope you're all doing good!

I've set my A9 wildlife settings based on the Mark Galer suggestions, it mostly works well for me. My typical settings using my 200-600 are:

Aperture priority
Auto iso with max 12500
Auto iso min SS 1/1000

I shoot quite a lot of owls, so often the light poor. I sometimes find that without noticing that my SS falls to a point that I'm not gonna get a decent sharpness due to camera shake. This can especially be the case when using the 1.4x tc. Sometimes I only notice when I get the photos in my pc and see they're blurry. I know I should check my settings but they can fluctuate in this mostly Auto mode.

I'm tempted to move to back shutter priority with Auto iso which will typically force the aperture to it's widest for standard UK light conditions. Maybe even manual but again with Auto iso.

Any thought? What works best for you?

Hi, hope you're all doing good!

I've set my A9 wildlife settings based on the Mark Galer suggestions, it mostly works well for me. My typical settings using my 200-600 are:

Aperture priority
Auto iso with max 12500
Auto iso min SS 1/1000

I shoot quite a lot of owls, so often the light poor. I sometimes find that without noticing that my SS falls to a point that I'm not gonna get a decent sharpness due to camera shake. This can especially be the case when using the 1.4x tc. Sometimes I only notice when I get the photos in my pc and see they're blurry. I know I should check my settings but they can fluctuate in this mostly Auto mode.

I'm tempted to move to back shutter priority with Auto iso which will typically force the aperture to it's widest for standard UK light conditions. Maybe even manual but again with Auto iso.

Any thought? What works best for you?

Hi I've recently purchased a 1.4 teleconverter for my A9II 200-600mm combo but never use it in low light as the extra stop makes almost unusable. I've recently become more relaxed into letting the birds come to me especially in low light mainly for owls in the 7.30pm to 9.30 period. Ive always used manual and have had mixed results,went out a few nights ago to try aperture mode for my local barn owl but guess what it was a no show having previously seen all week . Anyway I will report my findings when I've tried Aperture mode ,also I may bite the bullet and buy a 70-200 f2.8 which seems to excel in low light. Someone on a separate topic on here mentioned a friend who was terminally ill and pushed him in to buying a A1, life is too short and I try to get out two or three times a week catching up with nature . Thanks to everyone who post the amazing bird shots in what is an amazing art form .

 

[mikison]

Mark Galer is a long time photographer and I personally believe that he still carries some technical baggage from days long gone and is more high end lens dependent. Mark's setup carries an exposure triangle priority of Aperture -> ISO -> Shutter Speed when in reality with the sensors and software ISO is far less important that Aperture or Shutter Speed.

Try switching to a Shutter Speed Priority for action with an ISO range with a base of like 400 or 500 because I bet you shoot wide open the vast majority of the time for such shots. For "bird in tree" try going Manual with ISO just set to Auto or again Shutter Speed Priority with a lower base value in the ISO range, because again I bet if you look 90+% of your shots are wide open (especially if you use the TC).

Things could be different for you if you are using the 400 f2.8 or 600 f4 (lesser so with this lens from what I see of most photographers that post photos) where you can step down the aperture and still maintain a good shutter speed and lower ISO.

Yeah I think i shoot literally 100% wide open. This was one of the reasons I thought to just go manual but leave aperture wide open.

I certainly don't have the cash (or muscles) for the 400 f2.8 or 600 f4.

One benefit of shooting in Shutter Priority is the better control over Shutter Speed, with the A9 you only get 500, 1000 or 2000 with Auto iso min Shutter Speed.

I'll probably set a couple of the modes to Shutter Priority and also manual and see how I get on.

I also thought to allow a little higher in the Auto iso max, what with Topaz etc you can get away with some really high iso settings these days!

Cheers!

 

[Brownie]

Shoot Auto ISO in Manual. Choose your own settings. Or shoot full M and leave the Auto ISO alone. Best thing about digital cameras is that trying different settings is free. Once you get used to M you'll never go back., it becomes as intuitive as anything else.

 

[iamdlewis]

Once you get used to M you'll never go back., it becomes as intuitive as anything else.

I thought so too but at least for me and BiF I find that I get better results in SS priority. This is most likely because I shoot in a lot of places that have areas of shadow and direct sunlight in short spans or because the areas have limited shooting location options and the sun tends to be to my side. I just found that first seeing the bird, possibly changing memory selection, then locating it in frame and then changing the SS for the bird type doesn't leave much time for me to check to see if the ISO is low enough that stepping down the aperture would still give a good triangle.

BiT and other stuff is usually M with auto ISO.

Best thing about digital cameras is that trying different settings is free

Anybody that says the days of film was better never had to shoot a sporting event, a cultural event (non-sports or sport like), "journalistic" (non-sport/cultural) and still life on the same roll.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Hi Mikison,David et al
If your aim is to improve your photography and photographic technical understanding, like many 1000's of photographers
before, in my opinion you should go with manual and set your shooting parameters accordingly.

There are no shortcuts to learning your craft.

Presets in aperture and shutter priority are fine if your genres are fixed, along with environmental conditions, but as a multi genre photographer,
Including the more demanding genres of sports actions and wildlife, manual shooting will reinforce your technical understanding, your ability to
Quickly change your settings and ensure a degree of photographic success.

An opinion which others may or may not agree to, but most of the current professional photographers around the world have developed their skills
By transitioning from or completely omitting A,P,S settings in favour of Manual mode........

 

[Brownie]

Given that, P would seem to be a better choice.

 

[iain clyne]

In low light I set my aperture and shutter speed a auto iso and just watch I don’t under/over expose.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

What Brownie said. Mark Galer - aaaaaagh!

 

[iamdlewis]

If your aim is to improve your photography and photographic technical understanding, like many 1000's of photographers
before, in my opinion you should go with manual and set your shooting parameters accordingly.

There are no shortcuts to learning your craft.

I completely disagree that going manual is the only way to learn or the only way that you should photograph things. Also that using A, S, P or any other automatic mode isn't a shortcut.

This started off with discussion about a Mark Galer (a very good and industry respected professional photographer) camera setup that uses Aperture priority, settings he says he uses. I don't think any of us would say that Mark is taking shortcuts and that his craft has suffered because he uses Aperture priority or really any of the other dozens of professional photographers that you can find that also use priority settings. The camera is a tool and the art of photography isn't about using the tool in specific methods but in a way that allows the photographer to capture the image they want. If you want proof of this go take two images, with one being A, P or S and the other manual matching the settings and see if one is better than the other (hint they will be the same).

Using S, A or P (but defiantly not SAP) can actually show a better understanding of the camera and allow the photographer to concentrate on the things that actually matter in the form of photography they are doing. For instance unless I decide that I want some specific style shot I will shoot BiF in S because the times in which I am going to be able to shoot at something other than wide open with the lens that I have will be fairly rare and may only be acceptable in a limited area for where I am at. Using S allows me to focus my attention to the things that are most important, like keeping the subject in focus, in frame and understanding what the environment it is heading towards is rather than checking to see if my ISO is low enough to allow me to change aperture. Since stripping metadata from an image doesn't change the quality of the image, why does it matter what capability of the tool were used in capturing it.

Just so you know, I first learned photography with a light meter, my allowable camera adjustments were aperture and shutter speed because once I put in that roll my ISO was set for the next 12/18/24/36 images and autofocus was telling your subject to move. Be happy for all the shortcuts we have like autofocus, priority settings, adjustable automatic light meter settings, zebra, focus metering, auto ISO, grid lines, bracket shooting, adjustable frame rates, color profiles and especially instant photo reviewing as all of these things have only expanded the world of photography not held it back.

 

[Slug]

I completely disagree that going manual is the only way to learn or the only way that you should photograph things. Also that using A, S, P or any other automatic mode isn't a shortcut.

This started off with discussion about a Mark Galer (a very good and industry respected professional photographer) camera setup that uses Aperture priority, settings he says he uses. I don't think any of us would say that Mark is taking shortcuts and that his craft has suffered because he uses Aperture priority or really any of the other dozens of professional photographers that you can find that also use priority settings. The camera is a tool and the art of photography isn't about using the tool in specific methods but in a way that allows the photographer to capture the image they want. If you want proof of this go take two images, with one being A, P or S and the other manual matching the settings and see if one is better than the other (hint they will be the same).

Using S, A or P (but defiantly not SAP) can actually show a better understanding of the camera and allow the photographer to concentrate on the things that actually matter in the form of photography they are doing. For instance unless I decide that I want some specific style shot I will shoot BiF in S because the times in which I am going to be able to shoot at something other than wide open with the lens that I have will be fairly rare and may only be acceptable in a limited area for where I am at. Using S allows me to focus my attention to the things that are most important, like keeping the subject in focus, in frame and understanding what the environment it is heading towards is rather than checking to see if my ISO is low enough to allow me to change aperture. Since stripping metadata from an image doesn't change the quality of the image, why does it matter what capability of the tool were used in capturing it.

Just so you know, I first learned photography with a light meter, my allowable camera adjustments were aperture and shutter speed because once I put in that roll my ISO was set for the next 12/18/24/36 images and autofocus was telling your subject to move. Be happy for all the shortcuts we have like autofocus, priority settings, adjustable automatic light meter settings, zebra, focus metering, auto ISO, grid lines, bracket shooting, adjustable frame rates, color profiles and especially instant photo reviewing as all of these things have only expanded the world of photography not held it back.

Totally agree, I've come from the same background where everything was manual with light meter assistance (including focus distance) and the ISO was fixed to the film you put in the camera.
Practice, practice, practice and get to know the limitations of the camera you're using and work within them.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Each to his own....as individuals we are not all on the same journey.

However I maintain very few professionals use A,S,P on a regular basis.

The idea that a photographer cannot multi task and in fact have his composition
in mind long before presenting his camera, at whatever required settings, to
take the shot is a foreign concept to me.

 

[MeowZzz]

At the end of the day, most wildlife I can only get so close to (i.e., not all that); therefore the aperture is wide open, because a piece of glass I could stop down whilst getting telephoto images from is not in my hobbies budget right now.

So now I only have two left to choose from in the exposure triangle!

Presence or absence of image stabilization decides the shutter speed (though I found myself @ 1/90 on a 300mm without it last week, handheld) --- unless it is dusk, and then wth, give it a go anyway. (My dSLR with manual focus lens has none)

ISO is decided by the quality of the glass and time of day --- the Sigma does not do very well above 3200 as pertains IQ, whereas my 300mm prime does alright

I'll sometimes set WB to save a bit of time in post

Whether I have the ISO set in an auto range (e.g., 100-3200) depends on which camera --- changing the ISO or using Exp Comp on the A9ii is slow for me (unless someone has a faster way? (current = right of control-pad-wheel, or hold down C2 and thumb-dial it). However, on the A7iv I have ISO set to the far right thumb dial and find it super fast to WYSIWYG-judge the light this way whilst my eyeball is still inside the v/finder and do not even look at the meter anymore

The reason for setting a range on the ISO is to stop it from having a panic attack and suddenly giving me 25,000 or somehting daft where 800 was likely enough!

I further set the AF-On as a panic button to give me instant AF-C, hi continuous, auto ISO and 1/500th --- so whatever manual mode, or even manual focus I am in, if I have an oh sherlock moment, I just hold it down and fire off a volley and hope one gets in focus! lol

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Thanks....

 

[Matthias]

Try switching to a Shutter Speed Priority for action with an ISO range with a base of like 400 or 500 because I bet you shoot wide open the vast majority of the time for such shots.

Interesting discussion, lots of information here!

Out of curiosity, why would you choose a base ISO of 400 instead of just 100? I always thought 'the lower the better'.

Thanks!

 

[spudhead]

Hi, hope you're all doing good!

I've set my A9 wildlife settings based on the Mark Galer suggestions, it mostly works well for me. My typical settings using my 200-600 are:

Aperture priority
Auto iso with max 12500
Auto iso min SS 1/1000

I shoot quite a lot of owls, so often the light poor. I sometimes find that without noticing that my SS falls to a point that I'm not gonna get a decent sharpness due to camera shake. This can especially be the case when using the 1.4x tc. Sometimes I only notice when I get the photos in my pc and see they're blurry. I know I should check my settings but they can fluctuate in this mostly Auto mode.

I'm tempted to move to back shutter priority with Auto iso which will typically force the aperture to it's widest for standard UK light conditions. Maybe even manual but again with Auto iso.

Any thought? What works best for you?

Hi, hope you're all doing good!

I've set my A9 wildlife settings based on the Mark Galer suggestions, it mostly works well for me. My typical settings using my 200-600 are:

Aperture priority
Auto iso with max 12500
Auto iso min SS 1/1000

I shoot quite a lot of owls, so often the light poor. I sometimes find that without noticing that my SS falls to a point that I'm not gonna get a decent sharpness due to camera shake. This can especially be the case when using the 1.4x tc. Sometimes I only notice when I get the photos in my pc and see they're blurry. I know I should check my settings but they can fluctuate in this mostly Auto mode.

I'm tempted to move to back shutter priority with Auto iso which will typically force the aperture to it's widest for standard UK light conditions. Maybe even manual but again with Auto iso.

Any thought? What works best for you

Yep I know what works for me, but most do not want to know so less said the better, I look a lot at peoples metadata on shots on here and other forums and there is a pattern to peoples photo journey and many seem to like to take the easy route ie tie the cameras hands which in fact is the hard route because the results speak for them selves.

 

[mikison]

Yep I know what works for me, but most do not want to know so less said the better, I look a lot at peoples metadata on shots on here and other forums and there is a pattern to peoples photo journey and many seem to like to take the easy route ie tie the cameras hands which in fact is the hard route because the results speak for them selves.

I'm probably gonna try manual with Auto iso. Mostly aperture will be fixed to wide open, so I'll primarily just work with shutter speed with a bit of exposure compensation as well.

When you're shooting fast subjects and/or at longer focal lengths in low light then SS and ISO are pretty much the only two variables. Using the Mark Galer set up, if think I've been guilty of let the camera do to much of the thinking. I've only used the method the last couple of years, previously using either manual or SS priority, so I'm going back to my earlier self!!!

 

[spudhead]

I'm probably gonna try manual with Auto iso. Mostly aperture will be fixed to wide open, so I'll primarily just work with shutter speed with a bit of exposure compensation as well.

When you're shooting fast subjects and/or at longer focal lengths in low light then SS and ISO are pretty much the only two variables. Using the Mark Galer set up, if think I've been guilty of let the camera do to much of the thinking. I've only used the method the last couple of years, previously using either manual or SS priority, so I'm going back to my earlier self!!!

ok so I hoped you would see that the answer was in your first post, you were well on the way to having worked it out, the a9 in my experience does not like slow shutter speeds given all the factors we have here in the UK poor light and the flat skies etc. I think the a7 series is a bit more forgiving on the shutter speed side I know I can shoot slower on the old a73 I have, anyway give it a go and its not perfect but you should be able to find a balance after a while

 

[iamdlewis]

Interesting discussion, lots of information here!

Out of curiosity, why would you choose a base ISO of 400 instead of just 100? I always thought 'the lower the better'.

Thanks!

The primary reason is denoise tools and that I really can't tell the difference between and ISO 100 and one with 400 that has gone through denoise tools. My Topaz copy is a couple versions old now so it could be even better now.

 

[Brownie]

Interesting discussion, lots of information here!

Out of curiosity, why would you choose a base ISO of 400 instead of just 100? I always thought 'the lower the better'.

Thanks!

The main reason is that 400 isn't that much worse than 100, and it would allow the user to shoot a smaller aperture without giving up shutter speed.

But there's another aspect, and I'm not sure everyone is aware of it. Sony cameras use a dual range sensor (amplifier). That means there are two 'native' ISOs on each camera. The chart below shows the read noise for the A7 IV and the A1. Notice the drastic drop at 400 and 500(ish) respectively? That's the second range kicking in. On the A 7 IV, ISO 400 is almost identical to ISO 125. On the A1, it's about the same. Note too that the noise on the A7 IV is lower @ ISO 400 as compared to the A1, but by the time the A1's second range kicks in they're viritually identical, the slightly better A7 IV performance due to the larger pixel sites.

What does this mean? Learn where your camera's second native ISO kicks in and use it to your advantage.

 

[Matthias]

@Brownie and @iamdlewis : Thank you so much for explaining! Learn something everyday I looked up the A6300 and there is a drop at ISO 400 as well. This is very useful and I will experiment a bit on how to incorporate this in my settings.

On topic though, for wildlife I have 2 saved settings. One is for smaller wildlife and/or moving wildlife which is basically Shutter Priority setting. The other setting is for bigger wildlife and/or slow moving or more predictable, that is manual mode with auto ISO (capped at ISO6400). For both of these settings the aperture is always as big as possible.

 

[Brownie]

@Brownie and @iamdlewis : Thank you so much for explaining! Learn something everyday I looked up the A6300 and there is a drop at ISO 400 as well. This is very useful and I will experiment a bit on how to incorporate this in my settings.

On topic though, for wildlife I have 2 saved settings. One is for smaller wildlife and/or moving wildlife which is basically Shutter Priority setting. The other setting is for bigger wildlife and/or slow moving or more predictable, that is manual mode with auto ISO (capped at ISO6400). For both of these settings the aperture is always as big as possible.

Something else we can see (here's the 6300) is that noise at 400 through 650-ish is lower than ISO 300, and 800 matches 400.

How much this affects your photos is for you to decide. The A7RIII isn't supposed to be that much different than the A7 IV in theory, but in practice it's obvious. When it gets dark out at the track I put the A7RIII away.

 

[Matthias]

Something else we can see (here's the 6300) is that noise at 400 through 650-ish is lower than ISO 300, and 800 matches 400.

How much this affects your photos is for you to decide. The A7RIII isn't supposed to be that much different than the A7 IV in theory, but in practice it's obvious. When it gets dark out at the track I put the A7RIII away.


View attachment 39964

I guess I will be shooting more at ISO400

It would be nice though if there is a setting to tell the camera to jump from ISO100 directly to ISO400.

 

[Brownie]

I guess I will be shooting more at ISO400.

It would be nice though if there is a setting to tell the camera to jump from ISO100 directly to ISO400.

Not sure about the 6300, but I think you can assign an ISO speed to a function button and toggle back and forth. Don't quote me on that, but do check into it.

 

[Matthias]

Not sure about the 6300, but I think you can assign an ISO speed to a function button and toggle back and forth. Don't quote me on that, but do check into it.

Thanks for the tip! Will look into this

 

[Gaz]

Mark Galor’s recommendation is so people like me can get the shot.

Im currently using Auto ISO SS min 4000.

I use aperture priority but I also generally use the Sony 135mm GM at F1.8 for max light. This way, my SS is doing burnouts.

It’s a different story with the 200-600 G lens. Enough light is always the challenge (unless there’s white cockatoos ), so it makes sense to let ISO dial up to whatever is necessary to get the shot. I use Auto ISO min SS 2000 but for this lens, change the ISO range to allow ISO to max out if needed. Aperture priority sets aperture wide open…. SS is 2000 if there’s enough light.

Mark Galor’s approach ain’t all that bad is it?

 

[Brownie]

Mark Galor’s recommendation is so people like me can get the shot.

Im currently using Auto ISO SS min 4000.

I use aperture priority but I also generally use the Sony 135mm GM at F1.8 for max light. This way, my SS is doing burnouts.

It’s a different story with the 200-600 G lens. Enough light is always the challenge, so it makes sense to let ISO dial up to whatever is necessary to get the shot. I use Auto ISO min SS 2000 but for this lens, change the ISO range to allow ISO to max out if needed. Aperture priority sets aperture wide open…. SS is 2000 if there’s enough light.

Mark Galor’s approach ain’t all that bad is it?

It really boils down to giving a man a fish/teaching him to fish, right? There's nothing wrong with using someone's presets to get started, but at some point, it benefits you to branch out.

 

[Gaz]

It really boils down to giving a man a fish/teaching him to fish, right? There's nothing wrong with using someone's presets to get started, but at some point, it benefits you to branch out.

Back in the war, we never had these fang-dangled Auto ISO min SS features but I like it!

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Hi Gaz,
yes Mark Galer's settings are instructive but bear in mind he is not a wildlife shooter at heart.

He also is a Sony Ambassador and has a number of conflicting interests which may not favour any particular shooting Genre....
he makes his living from supporting Sony products.

In my experience as a learning experience, if your favoured genre is landscapes, cityscapes, action, wildlife or otherwise take on board
an alternate view from others who have a demonstrated professional genre preference in line with your favoured genre.

As regards your ISO setting at 4000, if you are using lightroom and/or photoshop and I imagine, Capture One or other software, I believe
you can get away with ISO 5000 max and recover noise comfortably in post processing as necessary.

On the question of the 135mm and f1.8 and burning out highlights, in the middle east i cannot use f1.8 and generally have to close down the
aperture and up the shutter speed to avoid highlight blow out....iso noise is generally not an issue in high ambient light conditions.

As regards the 200-600mm again in a high ambient light environment the issue, as i find in the middle east, in more about managing aperture
and shutter speed to avoid highlights blow out rather than the challenges of avoiding high noise.

Occasionally when i shoot with my 200/600mm against a dark background I experience the same issues as you find with limited light.

Suggest you also take on board Mark Smiths and Steve Perry youtube videos as regards wildlife/bird focussed offerings where you will find.

Hope this helps.......
conflicted views as to Mark Galers settings/philosophy in a number of areas.