Shutter Speed.

spannersatcx

I've been shooting birds recently, with a camera! with a 100-400 zoom on a 1.6 crop body, to get anything decent I'm upping the shutter speed to 1/2000 to 1/3000 to try and get the shot!, that's birds in flt mind you.

TaurusDevil

Canon EOS 350D with a Canon 70-300mm

snerkler

Does the lens have IS?

As mentioned shutter speed without IS should be at least 1/(focal length x crop factor), with IS it depends how good the IS is as to how many stops it can help with.

Also remember that you might need a higher shutter speed to freeze the motion of the subject. For example, birds often need 1/1000 or higher. For wildlife (including BIF) 1/1000 is my go to shutter speed, usually using my 150-600mm on 45.7MP FF. I mentioned the MP as this can also have an impact on how much it shows motion blur and therefore affect shutter speed. In theory the greater the pixel density the more blur/camera shake it will show and therefore the greater the shutter speed you need.

TaurusDevil

No, no IS.

snerkler

Then use the rule 1/(focal length x 1.6). So for 300mm use 1/480 (or whatever’s closest higher than that).

However, some people can shoot slower than this rule whilst some people need to shoot faster.

TaurusDevil

Just been out to get some moons shots. Nothing but a white ball no detail!

snerkler

That’s most likely your exposure settings. If you’re getting a bright white ball it suggests you’re overexposing the image. Do you understand the principles of exposure?

spannersatcx

I took some of the moon last night, using a tripod, think I was using around 1/250  will have a look later to confirm.

TaurusDevil

No i don't

shotokan101

Digital Photography Tutorials

also recommend the Understanding Exposure book by Bryan Peterson - really easy read too

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Exposure-Shoot-Photographs-Camera/dp/0817439390/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=