The previous image I posted of this same bird was taken with a 100-500 mm lens at f/7.1 (wide open for this lens). This lens has a minimum focusing distance (MFD) of about 1 meter and this bird was about 5 meters away.
This second image is the same bird on a different perch, but was taken with a 600 mm f/4.0 lens at f/5.6. Virtually the same background. This lens has a MFD about 5 meters and this bird was located only a short distance beyond that.
Background looks totally different.
Country Ecuador
Location Birdwatcher's House near Mindo, EC.
Gender Male
Age Adult
Activity In or By Water
- Created Timestamp08/20/2022 16:28:45
- CameraCanon EOS R5
- Aperture5.6
- CreditJim Babbitt
- Focal Length600
- Iso4000
- Shutter Speed1/400
Love the two pics of the Toucan Barbet – will be featuring them in an upcoming GBP Notes. Thanks for all your comments about the shots to inform us about bird photography techniques.
As I was preparing a post about your two Toucan Barbet photos I was unsure how the difference in the MFD of the two lenses contributed to the differences in the shots. I know the difference in the aperture changes the depth-of-field but what does the MFD do? Thanks.
It does not affect the DOF. In the original image (taken with the 100-500 lens) the bird was too close for the 600 to focus. I had to wait for it to move to another perch further away. That is why I chose the 100-500 for the first. When the bird is further away from the lens, the BG has to be 2x further away than the distance difference to the bird to have the same amount of blur. So if using the same lens and aperture, if the bird is 10 feet away for the first shot and 15… Read more »