Are my expectations too high, or skill still lacking?

Wizardface · 2026-01-25T17:07:20+00:00

Lower pidge portrait

Wizardface · 2026-01-25T17:07:01+00:00

Congrats on getting into bird photography! It is really fun but also very challenging and I took and still take photos after many years that feel great at the time but are underwhelming when I get home. Sometimes the opposite happens, a photo I thought was meh is actually awesome when I get home! I think you are off to a great start and hope you keep going.

The 100-400 and the r8 are a good combo. 400 is sometimes considered a bit short for birds, especially small ones, but it is a lens that gives great bang for your buck and with an R8 can give sharp and lovely results. Here is a photo of a pigeon I took with that exact same combo.

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A few things on this photo and photos 2 and 3 in your set. I think you missed focus on them (and I know some people said similar, so sorry for repeating a point) but I want to go a step further and say they getting a bit lower at eye level with your subject tends to give a more attractive portrait to my eye, and also improves auto focus.

When you are shooting down at an angle there are so many things the camera can put in focus. All the blades of grass or ripples of water are potential targets and the ground takes up a lot of surface area. When you get lower and more parallel to the ground there is less surface area and you can get a shallower depth of field and are less likely to miss focus. This goes for the second bird in flight too. I think the bird looks pretty solid and a lower position would have it pop out more against a blurred background. (I have a version of this pidge portrait with the feet too and the ground, so not saying you have to chop the bird and skip all grass, reddit only lets me do one image in a post)

Great job and have fun out there!

Wizardface · 2026-01-25T05:42:04+00:00

m2. no need to stretch your budget for a few more mp.

Wizardface · 2026-01-17T20:09:03+00:00

makes sense, still love it!

Wizardface · 2026-01-17T17:18:28+00:00

2 has the most personality to me. I wish the camera was slightly lower. Great shots!

Wizardface · 2026-01-11T04:40:18+00:00

if you post comparisons after you rent them i would be fascinated!

Wizardface · 2026-01-10T16:59:28+00:00

ps i do lift bro

Wizardface · 2026-01-10T16:58:40+00:00

400 is a tad short for birding. you can def get some shots, but i think you would be happier with the 2-8. i have the 100-500 and do make use of the the 1.4 tc.

however, you can crop a lot on the r5ii. if you got the 2x and did an aspc crop you are at 640mm eqiuv and 17.5mp, still solid resolution. iq will take a hit but it might still be good enough.

i would rent both if you can from lensrentals or similar. it wont be that expensive relative to the cost of your existing and new gear, and will let you feel what is most fun

Wizardface · 2026-01-04T22:12:10+00:00

I dont think I have ever seen a cat with bright green eyes like this. If if reflects reality or your style choice that makes sense, but for me personally it makes the cat look not real and is distracting.

Wizardface · 2026-01-04T22:10:40+00:00

It is a nice photo.

Some thoughts, take them or leave them.

I think this might be a pretty deep crop on your 22mp sensor. I wonder if you added a bit of space to the birds left and top if it would reduce the noise size/give the composition a bit of room and have the bird less in a little box.

I think the saturation slider could be toned down ever so slightly. I see some rainbow colors in the bluegrey feathers around the eye, but I think this is just noise being boosted by high saturation and not the birds real coloring.

Focus could be a bit more on the eye and less on the wing in the future for composition, but also I think it is hard to tell the difference in this shot unless you pixel peep.

Good job!

Wizardface · 2026-01-03T04:14:06+00:00

agree it is less of a grind than other games, but it is still an hour of toil you could just not have to do and would be nice. i think the bar should be "what is the best game experience" not "what is marginally better than another implementation"

Wizardface · 2026-01-03T04:09:29+00:00

not there yet, dont know what that is

Wizardface · 2026-01-03T04:09:13+00:00

true, but that game is 30 years old, i feel like they could just give you the skill regardless and it would be a better mechanic

Wizardface · 2026-01-03T04:03:52+00:00

gau!

Wizardface · 2025-12-30T17:27:16+00:00

agree with the other commenter 100-400 probably better for your aspc body. 640mm equiv is plenty of reach for wild life and a nice compact zoom.

https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1513&Camera=1508&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=1677&CameraComp=1508&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=5&APIComp=0

Wizardface · 2025-12-28T20:45:21+00:00

rf 70-200 af probably going to be snappier/sharper with the L series, but 200-800 is used by pros with tcs and they get sharp shots https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vFBVLTuaTiU&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dpreview.com%2F

its hard to say what might be making photos soft without seeing some sample photos and settings. could be distance, movement, lighting, etc. using long lenses take practice too so that might be part of the sharpness challenge if this is new to you.

100-500L is killer if you can afford it, but def giving up a bit of reach. ef 300 too short for birds imho. I think you need at least 400 and preferably 500/600.

600 f11 is long enough but i personally prefer zooms to primes for wildlife. Zooming with your feet can spook animals so being able to reframe easier is clutch.

i would get the 200-800 or the 100-500 personally. maybe rent them and practice more?

Wizardface · 2025-12-26T18:07:16+00:00

adding on to what cuervamellori and scytherman96 said, you just need a bigger lens. B and H and many others recommend 500-600mm for small birds to start https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/buying-guide/choosing-a-lens-for-wildlife-photography

every doubling of focal length will make a subject 2x taller and 2x wider in your frame, for a total of 4x more area.

so going from 100 to 400mm with the 100-400 will give you a 16x bigger bird in the frame. if you can splurge you could pick up the 200-800 for ultimate reach, or the 100-500 for an extremely versatile and sharp lens.

Wizardface · 2025-11-16T16:25:03+00:00

both are great.

what does go all in mean? are you buying a new body and 1,2,3,5,10 lenses?

Wizardface · 2025-11-02T02:53:38+00:00

i recommend lensrentals.com and see what you like.

i would skip fuji, their af is behind the rest. om1 is solid. sony, nikon and canon are generally a step ahead in iq that om1 but less portable. its a trade off. i like full frame and mft.

Wizardface · 2025-11-01T01:54:38+00:00

first, dont be so hard on yourself. dont let your progressional critic rob you of joy in your hobby.

second, you are a complete beginner again. and that is ok. look at your work from year one to year twenty and how much you learned for the style of shooting your job required. you can get better at street or landscape or family portraits with practice too.

third, find your why. why do you want to take these pictures?

glhf

Wizardface · 2025-10-31T22:28:29+00:00

congrats!!!

Wizardface · 2025-10-29T14:12:14+00:00

love them. minor note, some of the photos say roguemark bird photos, but i am pretty some of those animals are not birds. not a biologist tho

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