Kingfisher Perch Battle

Nice action shot! Love that mouth wide open.

Interesting action, but for my taste the quality just isn't there even at this small web size. That said, I'm amazed that such ISO values are even possible and I'd use it if it was the only option to document something rare.

Richard,

I agree with your assessment.

I think the Mark IV is superb up through ISO 800. After that there is a noticeable drop off in quality and naturally it drops off at an increasing rate. 2500 will not yield superb results but it can at times give the best result from a palette of poor options.

I posted this as an example of what it does and doesn't do. Hopefully its interesting.

I also agree that ISO settings over a certain value on the Mk IV are not good for high IQ results. What percent of FF is this shot? This is one example where posting the crop size would help people assess what is happening with the camera. If this is FF then for sure that setting is not going to work for high IQ, but if this is 40% of FF then that has to be taken into account. I have just started "testing" my Mk. IV and I have found that if you shoot FF or close to it ISO 1250 is still pretty nice. Some BG NR is needed on dark BG areas, but so far I have found that the higher ISO performance of the Mk. IV far surpasses the 7D I was using. But it should given what it costs vs the 7D.

Ron, You make a great point. This is probably 75% of FF.

Peter

Nice action, and I think this is very acceptable. Also, I feel the Mk IV is good to ISO1600 or thereabouts. My default Mk IV ISO is 800, and rarely do I go below that.

Photo techs aside, this is an interesting behavior shot. I would feel lucky to get a decent photo of even one kingfisher, let alone 2 interacting. Did spark and interesting discussion. Thanks for sharing.

Wonderful action here Pete !

KC said "Also, I feel the Mk IV is good to ISO1600 or thereabouts. My default Mk IV ISO is 800, and rarely do I go below that."

I completely agree. ISO 800 is my default setting also. At that point I see no drop off in quality. With the Mark III my default setting was 400. Above 800 one can see some fall off and under many circumstances 1600 is workable (although not as good as 800) Above 1600 the fall off becomes ever more radical.

Peter

Great action shot and comp.. Ron

A great action shot, I like how I can see the front of one bird and the back of the other
Well done.

Geoff.

Techs aside I really like the interaction between the two birds in this image Peter. Kingfishers are fiesty birds and this shows that well.

Great action, Peter. I love the "poses" in this one. The high iso doesn't seem to have hurt the quality much.

Really sweet interaction here Peter. I think you maximized the opportunity with your techs - you needed all the depth of field and shutter speed you've got here to capture this, well done.

Great behavior Shoto Peter!!!

Ken Archer