Long Eared Owl

This owl got me into nature and wildlife photography 4 years ago and I finally got a shot of it flying towards me in low light and busy background.  I have had less then 10 chances for this in all those years.

I tried with my first dslr, the 450D, then the 50D and now the 7D on a 400mm F5.6 L and the 300mm F2.8 L is.  Every time the autofocus failed to lock, even if I was a 100% sure I had the center point on the head.  This is one of the most difficult shots for both man and machine.  Low light, busy background, low contrast bird, waiting patiently and only 3 seconds to react, lock, track and shoot.  For panning shots all camera's are capable enough.

Many reviews and guides that explain how use the 7D for birds in flight advise to set the tracking sensitivity to slow.  This way, the camera doesn't lock too soon on to other objects.  I thought I tried all combinations of the setting until I came across the review of Alex Sukonkin. I tried his settings and it worked first time the same evening!  I had 3 frames in focus that gave me the luxury of more wing positions.

300mm F2.8  1/640  iso1600

It isn't my best shot yet, I still have to make that one, but it's big step forward.
I got back from the Vosges yesterday with many gigabytes of landscapes and wildlife after 120km of hiking so next up is the summer Vosges trip report.

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