Went for a walk and managed to take a photo of a bird I hadn’t been able to photograph yet: A Spotted Flycatcher!

Its German name, Grauschnäpper, translates to “Grey Snatcher” — probably because it likes snatching flies and other insects!

  • Hotchpotch@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I’d have guessed it was a larger aperture due to the isolation of the bird (Freistellung). Does this effect come from the long focal length?

    Larger apertures aren’t that sharp with this lens, unfortunately.

    Even at the center?

    I’d love to photograph birds too, but i don’t have the patience :) So i keep doing cows and trees and other slow moving stuff. Rocks are cool too.

    • mjohanning@beehaw.orgOP
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      1 year ago

      Yeah, anything above f/8.0 tends to be a bit too soft for me at 600 mm. At the lens’ lowest focal length of 150 mm, using f/6.3 tends to yield the sharpest results. Also remember that the larger the aperture, the smaller the number (f/6.3 is a larger aperture than f/8.0).

      The effect is greatly exaggerated by the focal length, yes. The background is mostly trees that are like 20 metres away.

      And yeah, photographing birds can be a bit tricky. So fast!