New camera and lens in hand, you hurry to your favorite birding spot to try out your new gear.
The image in the viewfinder looks stunning, and the camera’s autofocus is locking onto the eye of the bird with ease.
But, when you get home and open up Adobe Lightroom, you realize that most of them are fuzzy, out of focus, or simply lacking the sharpness you would expect from a modern mirrorless camera paired with a decent lens.
You might be wondering why your photos look soft.
Well, in my experience, here are some of the most common reasons why your bird photos lack sharpness:
- The Lens
- Motion Blur
- Shutter Shock
- Shaky Hands
- Insufficient Light
- Camera Settings
- Distance to Bird
It can be tricky to figure out which of these is the main reason reason for your soft shots but, not to worry, there are things you can do to counter these issues and ensure that you get sharper photos on your next outing.
Alright, let’s get into how you can take sharper photos of birds.
1. Use a Quality Super Telephoto Lens
The focal length and quality of lens can affect the sharpness of your bird photos.
In general, your photos will look sharper if the bird/subject is filling the frame of your shot.
Telephoto lenses allow you to fill the frame of your shot from a distance, reducing the need to crop in latter in post-processing (which reduces resolution).
If you are shooting on a full-frame camera, 400mm is, realistically, the minimum focal length for taking quality bird photos.
Yes, you can use a 200mm and get shots of larger birds like pelicans, geese, seagulls and other birds that are not skittish around people, but in most cases the 200mm is not long enough.
On a APS-C camera body, like the Canon EOS R7, a 200mm lens becomes more viable as a birding lens due to the 1.6X crop factor of the smaller sensor, which turns the 200mm into the equivalent of a 320mm lens.
But, even on an APS-C body, a 200mm will feel inadquate in many situations, especially when trying to photograph small birds.
On a cropped sensor camera, like the Canon R7, a zoom lens like the Canon RF 100mm-400mm F 5.6-8, provides an ideal 160mm-640mm equivalent, making it one of my favorite combos for bird photography.
This allows you to fill the frame of your shot, reducing the need to crop in latter in post-processing (which reduces resolution). As a general rule, your photos will look sharper if bird/subject is filling the frame of your shot.
2. Use a High Shutter Speed
Birds move a lot, especially small birds like finches, bushtits, and humming birds.
If you are not using a high enough shutter speed, your photos will have “motion blur” or “camera blur,” both of which occur when a camera’s shutter speed is too slow and cannot freeze the motion of the subject.
This causes a blurring effect, which typically destroys any detail on a subject like a bird.
Motion blur is sometimes used for artistic effect in street and landscape photography, but for wildlife photography it’s not desirable (unless that’s your thing).
If you are shooting a stationary bird, one that’s just resting on a branch, you can get away with fairly low shutter speeds (1/250 is not crazy), but if the bird you are trying to photograph is jumping around, starting with a shutter speed of at least 1/1000 will improve the sharpness of your photos dramatically.
Depending on how much light is available, increasing your shutter speed to 1/2000 or 1/2500 is wise for photographing birds in flight.
You may need to go up to 1/4000s or faster if you are trying to freeze the motion of a hummingbird or a swallow in flight.
In general, a higher shutter speed is going to improve the sharpness of your images.
However, be mindful of how much light is available because you may end up with very noisy or underexposed images if you are using a high shutter speed and not paying attention to your aperture and ISO.
3. Use Full Electronic Shutter Mode
Shutter shock refers to the micro vibrations that travel through a camera when the shutter mechanism is engaged at the beginning of an exposure.
The vibrations caused by opening and closing of the shutter curtains can create softness in images, especially on longer telephoto lenses and at low shutter speeds.
Read my article on shutter shock if you want to learn more about how to eliminate or reduce it.
One way to avoid it is to use full electronic shutter mode, which doesn’t use any moving parts to capture an image (but also has a downside if your camera doesn’t have a stacked sensor).
4. Use Image Stabilization
We all shake to some degree when handholding a camera, and heavier cameras and longer lenses increase how much we shake.
Luckily, many mirrorless camera have image stabilization (IS) built into the body, and many lenses also have stabilization that can be turned on by pressing a switch.
If you have shaky hands or plan on handholding a large telephoto lens, be sure to use image stabilization.
At high shutter speeds, image stabilization is less useful but I tend to keep it on anyway.
Where image stabilization is shines is video.
If you enjoy taking handheld video of birds, getting a camera with decent image stabilization is worth it.
5. Pay Attention to the ISO
Another area in which mirrorless camera dramatically outperform their DSLR counterparts is ISO range.
If you have a modern mirrorless camera, don’t be afraid to crank up the ISO in lower light situations.
But, while a higher ISO allows you to use faster shutter speeds in lower light, the tradeoff is often a noisy image.
On my Canon EOS R7 I’ve been able to shoot at ISO 1600 and even 3200 without losing much quality or sharpness.
However, if you want your bird photos to be the sharpest they can be, seek out lighting conditions that are bright but not overly harsh (middle of the day sunlight tends to cast shadows and wash out images).
I find that overcast mornings and afternoons typically have the best light for getting sharp bird photos.
In general, start with the lowest possible ISO and increase as needed.
Note: editing software has also become super effective at removing noise, so don’t be afraid to push your ISO a little higher.
6. Stop Down Your Aperture
A wide aperture (like f/2.8 or f/4) allows more light to hit the camera’s sensor, which means you can use higher shutter speeds without introducing significant amounts of noise (low iso = less noise).
But, many telephoto lenses are at their sharpest at f/8 or even f/11.
This extra sharpness at lower f-stops is even more apparent when using teleconverters, which, oddly, generally produce sharper images when stopped down.
So, if you have one of the “affordable” bird photography lenses, like the Canon RF 400mm, stop down the f-stop to increase the sharpness of your bird photos.
7. Use Continuous Autofocus (AF-C)
Most mirrorless cameras offer a continuous autofocus mode (also known as AF-C or servo AF).
This mode tracks moving subjects and adjusts the focus in real-time, making it indispensable for capturing sharp images of birds, especially in flight.
Autofocus technology has come a long way; yes, there is still lots of room for improvement, but the amount of sharp bird in flight shots I can get with my Canon R7 compared to my old DSLR is truly remarkable.
If you want sharper shots, use subject tracking.
8. Turn on Eye Tracking
Turning on animal/bird eye detection or eye tracking is like unlocking a cheat mode in a video game.
When you autofocus in this mode, a tracking box will jump to the eye of the animal/bird and track it.
This doesn’t mean every shot will be sharp (sometimes the focus still misses), but it significantly increases the amount of shots where the bird’s eye is in focus.
9. Shoot in Burst Mode
Mirrorless cameras often boast high frame rates.
For instance, Canon’s EOS R7 has a frame rate of 30 fps in electronic shutter mode and 15 fps in mechanical and electronic first curtain modes.
Using the continuous or burst shooting mode to take several shots in rapid succession increases your chances of getting that perfect, sharp shot, especially when the bird is in motion.
10. Get Closer to the Bird
Getting closer to your subject is an underrated way to increase the sharpness of your bird photos.
In general, the closer a subject is, the better the camera sensor can pick up details and render a sharp image.
A common mistake is thinking that a longer lens will produce sharper images because the bird fills more of the frame.
While an 800mm lens may let you see details that others lenses would miss, the image is still going to be relatively soft if the bird is far off in the distance.
But, not all lenses will allow you to get super close to your subject (if that’s even possible).
For instance, Canon’s 800mm F11 has a minimum focus distance of 6 meters, which is nearly 20 feet.
This means that if you try to focus on a bird that is close by, say around 15 feet away, you will not be able to focus on it.
So, to get the sharpest bird photos, reduce the distance between your camera and the bird, but be mindful of your lens’s minimum focus distance.
11. Steady Your Camera as Much as Possible
Even with image stabilization, for the sharpest shots, use a tripod or monopod.
If you’re shooting handheld, maintain a good posture, and tuck your elbows in to steady the camera.
12. Modify Color & Contrast
This technique is something I learned from Jan Wegener’s YouTube channel.
Instead of using “sharpening” in Lightroom, it may be better to adjust colors and contrasts within your image, which will make the photo look sharper, even if the actual sharpness remains unchanged. Check out his video for more details:
13. Understand Your Subject
Familiarity with bird behavior can give you an advantage.
Knowing when and where birds are likely to be active can help you anticipate the best moments to shoot.
In many instances, a bird will return to the same perch over and over again.
Predicting where the bird will be is incredibly helpful for timing shots.
14. Practice
Lastly, like any skill, practice is key.
Spend time in nature, understand your gear, and learn from every shot.
Over time, you’ll develop the skills and technique to consistently capture sharp and stunning bird photos.
Conclusion
Taking sharp bird photos with a mirrorless camera requires understanding how your camera works as well as which settings are best for your specific situation.
Having enough reach with your lens is also important as well as knowledge about editing photos in software like Lightroom.
All of this can be overwhelming for the beginner but, if you apply the tips provided in this article, the sharpness of your bird photos should improve significantly.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.
As always, keep birding.