BG OK?

[James Babbitt]

• Canon EOS R5
• RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
• ƒ/4.5
• 145mm
• 1/3200s
• ISO 2500
• Jim and/or Deb Babbitt
• Sat, 08 June 2024 8:15 AM
• 2024
• DxO PureRAW 4

This shot of a Black Kite was taken with an R5, 100-500 (at 145), SS 1/3200, f/4.5, ISO 2500, EC -0.3 (a mistake on my part). Cropped from top and R to eliminate skyline on top of ridge. Processed with DXO PR 4, PS with BG slightly down and bird slightly up. Because of the skyline I had to crop a little tighter than I wanted. Even though the BG was a long ways off, I was suprised it was not blurred as much as I expected. Would you blur it more?

 

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi James techs look ok, -0.30 you wouldn't notice it, but may have zoomed back to 100 instead of 145mm and cropped a little more. If you have to use DXO then turn off all sharpening, it over sharpens terribly. Composition wise I don't mind it, as the wing is in the treeline, slightly banking and flying into the space you left which is good.

Overall it does appear quite saturated and contrast blacks dominating, if you can separate the scene into three layers, BKG, Subject, FG and treat them as individuals then it will create a nice layering effect where the subject will then have more prominace.

Even though the BG was a long ways off, I was suprised it was not blurred as much as I expected. Would you blur it more?

With this lens you will never achieve the smooth, buttery backdrops compared to the a prime fixed, plus mirrorless does suffer from heat haze too, far more than DSLR.

TFS
Steve

 

[Phill Luckhurst]

With this lens you will never achieve the smooth, buttery backdrops compared to the a prime fixed, plus mirrorless does suffer from heat haze too, far more than DSLR.

TFS
Steve

Not sure how the removal of a mirror would have an effect on heat haze? It seems to be an issue for me whatever body I use.

 

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi James .. a very nice banking pose of the BK.
I do not mind that much the " busy " BG ... but do understand one might like a smoother BG more ( including myself ) . In cases like this I would rather lower the contrast in the BG over using any kind of blur .
Colors do look nice contrasting with the Kite and the green/yellow backdrop and FG .... like taken in nice sunshine
I thought the R5 does allow cropping ... so why not making a vertical crop ??

TFS Andreas

 

[Steve Kaluski]

Not sure how the removal of a mirror would have an effect on heat haze?

It does Phil, I can assure you, when standalone shooting a subject or from a vehicle. The issue is you cannot see it until you review your images, and adding a TC amplifies it too.

 

[Phill Luckhurst]

It does Phil, I can assure you, when standalone shooting a subject or from a vehicle. The issue is you cannot see it until you review your images, and adding a TC amplifies it too.

I am sure it is more visible with a longer FL, that makes sense. But compare say my 90D and R7 which are similar sensors and there is no difference. A higher density sensor will reveal it more and I wonder if that is what you are seeing in any comparison? An interesting discussion either way though but maybe a subject for elsewhere in these forums.

 

[James Babbitt]

Hi James techs look ok, -0.30 you wouldn't notice it, but may have zoomed back to 100 instead of 145mm and cropped a little more. If you have to use DXO then turn off all sharpening, it over sharpens terribly. Composition wise I don't mind it, as the wing is in the treeline, slightly banking and flying into the space you left which is good.

Overall it does appear quite saturated and contrast blacks dominating, if you can separate the scene into three layers, BKG, Subject, FG and treat them as individuals then it will create a nice layering effect where the subject will then have more prominace.



With this lens you will never achieve the smooth, buttery backdrops compared to the a prime fixed, plus mirrorless does suffer from heat haze too, far more than DSLR.

TFS
Steve

Thanks for your thoughts. Unfortunately there was a distracting skyline above the trees on the R side; that led to a different crop than I would have liked. Not sure about the heat haze. I realize there are many factors that come into play to produce haze, but on this morning at 8 AM, it was still cold outside (sunrise in Spain, even during the summer, is about 7 AM. Our cameras were very cold also as they had been outside adjusting to the temperature for some time.
I will work on the "layered" effect you bring up.

 

[James Babbitt]

Hi James .. a very nice banking pose of the BK.
I do not mind that much the " busy " BG ... but do understand one might like a smoother BG more ( including myself ) . In cases like this I would rather lower the contrast in the BG over using any kind of blur .
Colors do look nice contrasting with the Kite and the green/yellow backdrop and FG .... like taken in nice sunshine
I thought the R5 does allow cropping ... so why not making a vertical crop ??

TFS Andreas

Thanks for your thoughts. Unfortunately the skyline above the trees on the R side would have made a vertical crop problematic. Because of that, I had to crop differently than I wanted.

 

[Steve Kaluski]

Not sure about the heat haze. I realize there are many factors that come into play to produce haze, but on this morning at 8 AM, it was still cold outside (sunrise in Spain, even during the summer, is about 7 AM.

James not knowing the time of day, I was only adding into the mix 'thoughts', so adding the above does help, but if you want to know more about Heat haze, drop me a line.

 

[Arthur Morris]

A few thoughts, James. The reason the bushes look so butt ugly (too much in focus) has everything to do with the fact that you were working at 145mm and not much to do with the other stuff mentioned above. Period. Assuming a distance of about 6o feet, the total d-o-f would be 14 feet. Had you been working at 500mm, it would have been only 6 inches in front of and behind the bird.

Secondly, I have been using mirrorless since 2017. I had a problem with heat shimmer exactly once in the past seven years. So unless the physics of light in Europe are different from the physics of light on this side of the planet, I am pretty sure that mirrorless has nothing to do with it.

with love, artie

 

[Steve Kaluski]

Secondly, I have been using mirrorless since 2017. I had a problem with heat shimmer exactly once in the past seven years. So unless the physics of light in Europe are different from the physics of light on this side of the planet, I am pretty sure that mirrorless has nothing to do with it.

Hi Artie, having come back from Africa a few months ago and used this lens a lot, heat haze was an issue, not only from shooting from a vehicle (waiting several minutes for things to cool down) but also, from static locations. I can't speak for other brands, albeit there was a good YouTube article that was posted using Nikon, but Canon did flagged this up way back in an article in 2021.

The lens is good, but for me, you cannot get the same bokeh as a prime fixed.

 

[Arthur Morris]

Another reason I quit going to Africa. I used the 100-500 for six months and made lots of smooth buttery backgrounds. They are much more a factor of the distance from the subject to the background than the rather small wide open aperture. I am confused as to how mirrorless or a lens can influence heat shimmer.

with love, artie

 

[Steve Kaluski]

Hopefully the info I sent you was helpful, and that I wished Rudy W was still around from Canon, he could have explained a lot more I bet. A big mistake IMHO no longer having him around.