# Tracking Birds?



## DMITPHOTO (Sep 1, 2012)

I've been shooting a lot of birds lately and one problem I've been having is keeping them in focus while flying. I have tried al servo, regular etc, and once in a while I'll hit in spot on, but usually in a burst out of 15 photos 3 will focus on the bird lol. Is there a technique or tip anyone might have for all those fast birds out there ?

using mono pod or ball head w/ 500mm sometimes with 1.4 or 2x extender


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## canon816 (Sep 1, 2012)

DMITPHOTO said:


> I've been shooting a lot of birds lately and one problem I've been having is keeping them in focus while flying. I have tried al servo, regular etc, and once in a while I'll hit in spot on, but usually in a burst out of 15 photos 3 will focus on the bird lol. Is there a technique or tip anyone might have for all those fast birds out there ?
> 
> using mono pod or ball head w/ 500mm sometimes with 1.4 or 2x extender



Are you using center focus point? If you are using any type of zone focus then your camera might be grabbing on to whatever is within other focus points, especially if the birds are smaller or farther away.

Using such a long lens can take a lot of practice. When I went from 300mm to 600mm I was like a monkey with a match problem at first. Not saying you have not spent lots of time behind the lens, but for me I just had to practice practice practice.... and still getting better at it.

Also a small tip on getting BIF into your viewfinder is to orient the knob on your lens hood so it is directly centered on top of the end of the lens barrel. This way you can look over your hotshoe over the knob and line it up with a bird. Then just tilt the lens up just a tad while looking into the view finder and you will find it much quicker. The sooner you find it, the easier it will be to track.


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## DMITPHOTO (Sep 1, 2012)

canon816 said:


> DMITPHOTO said:
> 
> 
> > I've been shooting a lot of birds lately and one problem I've been having is keeping them in focus while flying. I have tried al servo, regular etc, and once in a while I'll hit in spot on, but usually in a burst out of 15 photos 3 will focus on the bird lol. Is there a technique or tip anyone might have for all those fast birds out there ?
> ...



Just the single center focus point. And the knob is actually a fantastic tip!!! Thank you! I will just keep practicing


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