[Ironwood]

It certainly helps to have the right plants to attract them, much easier than chasing them around the countryside.

[Ozzie_Traveller]

Very interesting device Phil. So the red dot lines up with your center focus point I take it. How accurately does it correspond to the focus point, do you end up with many out of focus shots?....

G'day mate

Like all precision equipment, the device has 2 adjusters - up/down & left/right [you can see one of them [capped] at the top rear of the brightness setting dial
As far as AF responsiveness, it will vary depending on camera type etc. With my mirrorless Panny, I get about a 85% hit rate - but others using traditional dSLRs get almost a full 100% hit rate. I shoot at 5fps mostly but vary it up to 12fps for some things, or down to 2fps for others. It's a case of "it depends on the subject"

Also I swap the device between the 2 main cameras that I use and there is slight differences between each hot shoe alignment, so I always do a test shot onto something fixed - if the test shows the lens at 500mm is 'high' for example, I make a mental adjustment 'low' when actually following birds. Overall it works a real treat and allows me to shoot dozens of frames of BIF without having to drop the camera to ask 'where-the-hell-has-it-gone' all the time

Hope this helps
Phil

[avkomp]

I have photographed many genres over the years, but these dayss I am mainly a nature photographer, but especially birds and bif in particular.

for bird photography, reach is probably king. I personally try to get as close as possible but sometimes that isnt enough. 500 and 600mm are generally the weapons of choice for bird photography and often nature in general. I try to shoot as close as possible to full frame.
you need to know your subject as it will help you know what the bird is likely to do and you can prepare accordingly.
light behind you and early morning and late afternoon usually gives you the best results.
know your equipment. this will ensure you use it correctly.
imho manual settings work better overall. my theory is that in BIF for example if you have exposure set manually then all the camera has to do is focus.
sometimes I use other settings like aperture priority and compensate as required. experience and practice gives you an idea how the camera will work and give you good results.

as for birds in flight, I am not sure you need any gizmos to help you. you wont go out and nail BIF but if you go somewhere where there are repeatable targets, even seagulls etc
you will practice your panning skills and improve. I only use a single AF point or sometimes 9. the single point and usually in the centre gives best results but takes practice to master. this ensures that the camera focuses where you want and not where it thinks you may want.
as for focusing, you are better to start with the lens set further away rather than closer, this means you will be able to pick up a target easier in the viewfinder and track it
I bump focus, that is to say I press to focus when the target is under the active point. I keep doing so as the target comes into range and then shoot as appropriate.
if you have a limit switch on your lens, use it. lost focus will re acquire quicker.
if you have burst settings use that too. you will increase chance of a nice wing position.
my flight work wasnt good initially but with practice and learning from errors, my flight work is probably as good as anyone's these days.
I shoot sports etc for practice too at times, even the local dog park will give you practice in tracking and shooting fast moving targets.

little birds on the ground or branches, you not necessarily able to do anything about it. thornbills for example rarely stay still so you need to have focus set at about where they are and either try to frame them when they stop or if they go to the same branch again and again, focus there and hope they go again.
sometimes burst can help sometimes not.
wrens are twitchy little things but twitch and stop. you shoot then.
I often double tap small birds if I can in case the close an eye or something, but you can decide that based on what you are observing.
hope that makes sense

[Grumpy John]

Thank you Stephen for a short, but detailed guide to bird photography.

[Isac]

Thanks for taking the time to give your views and tips Stephen - much appreciated and I'm sure some will get out and give your methods a go.

[Grumpy John]

Not all my bird shots have been total disasters.

Pamamaroo Lake, near Broken Hill N.S.W.
Now you see us...................


now you don't.


Taken at Sawtells Inlet, Tooradin Vic.


Adelaide River, Darwin. Taken from the deck of the jumping croc tour boat.

[Isac]

Nice work John. Last one is a cracker of a shot - it's all about timing!

[avkomp]

I meant to also add that to be ready for the unexpected. sometimes something cool may happen in front of you
was watching this kooka in case it took flight so I had the lens where where was going to be enough room for the wings etc, when the noisy miners came in to harass. because I had the exposure ready for a flight shot and focus on kooka, luckily I was able to fire of pix and get this:

d4 200-500 1 /1250 f5.6 iso 1600 best part of full frame

[Isac]

Very cool shot and good exposure Stephen. Great expression on the kookas face, like he's thinking "Any closer and you're lunch!!". Thanks for the tips.

[Grumpy John]

Thanks to everyone who contributed valuable information to this thread. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has benefited from it.