Nuthatch ready to jump!

[Steve Foss]

Then I lose autofocus on my zoom, buzz, and I'm not a good enough photographer to capture sharp images of a fast little bird like that at close distance without AF.

[buzzsaw]

 Originally Posted By: stfcatfish

Then I lose autofocus on my zoom, buzz.

Who needs AF? Hee hee You just pre-focus on that perch brotha.

[Steve Foss]

I dunno, buddy. With a DOF of about an inch, tough to get it right. Plus it wasn't a rigged perch this time. He just landed on a twig close to me and I got him just before he took off. Even when I'm shooting a rigged perch I use AF because I have more success with that than manual focus.

MD and Jay, here are some examples of a typical shot with the 100-400 at 400mm and f8 and iso400 from my backyard blind with the perch set just outside the lens MFD. This is full frame. Even the smallest birds that come to the feeder will take up half a frame at this distance. The first two are from the feeder perch setup (male and female purple finch). They are baited shots, because I have a single perch tacked above a single tray feeder, pulling in all other feeders and all other perches when I'm shooting.

In the last I laid down just outside MFD to capture this stunned brown creeper. In the first two, note the creamy bokeh because of the close subject distance and distant background.

[MN Shutterbug]

Can't beat a controlled environment for perfect photos. And these are perfect.

I hear you regarding manual focus. When I was younger, I had no problem with manual, but since bypassing 40, AF is necessary. I believe most others that have passed that point, would agree.

[MN Shutterbug]

 Originally Posted By: finnbay

Jay,

You will not be able to open it wider than 4.5

I'd like to add, at 400mm , you won't be able to open wider than 5.6. However, I'm not sure at what point in the focal length, that it changes to 5.6. I'd guess somewhere between 200mm and 300mm.

[Steve Foss]

Thanks, XT. My eyes, they ain't what they used to be. Good lenses and DSLR bodies combine to offer a much better autofocus than what was available years ago.

I DO, however, favor manual focus for any number of group portraits, landscape and macro work, but then I rely on the red blink of the focus point to tell me when I've nailed focus, and I chimp on the back of the camera shamelessly to make sure I've got just what I need.

No time for that when the birdies are winging it around, though.