@@PangolinWildlife Yes, it actually will serve as a guide. I’m usually so focused on shooting at as low an ISO as possible, I tend to shy away from stopping down for greater DOF.
Not really, but only because I am shooting birds with a Canon R7 and the Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5 - 7.1. I usually shoot wide open and everything is in focus because it is such a small f-stop already on the crop sensor body it is equivalent to f/11 in depth of field. If I were shooting with an F/4 prime on a full frame camera I would stop down.
I recently came back from Chobe and the Okovango Delta with Pangolin, and I gained more knowledge about photography while I was there, than I had in 3 years, I can honestly say these guys will make you a better photographer
You can apply this same tutorial to sports photography, or your kids runnin around the local park, shooting wide open will isolate players/ subjects and get rid of bad backgrounds, while using a closed down app. will help with goal line melee keeping more players in focus. Or players coming in for a tackle. Nice one Charl.
Wide open on my RF 100-500 lens at 500mm is 7.1! I'd love to be able to shoot at 2.8 or 4 in the dark winter conditions we have here but last year in Botswana I did find myself using f11 a lot especially for the bigger animals.
Thank you Charl. I still hear you suggesting me to stop down on our last trip together , since I was too much in love with my f4😂. Barbara from Switzerland
Although I don't do a lot of wildlife photography specifically, the first question someone should probably ask is if he background or surrounding elements are important to the photo or not -- do they add or take away from the subject. Then make your aperture selection based on that question. Of course, sometimes it's for a matter of speed (you need a faster shutter speed, so you open up the lens to let more light in, while keeping ISO as low as possible, then that's a bit different ,but I feel the same question should still be asked anyway). That being said, for most lenses, I tend to try to stop down a bit regadless (so on a 1.8 lens, I like to stop down to f/2 just for good measure, even though there may not be as much of a different, than going to say 2.8, but some lenses are not entirely sharp wide open anyway, and even stopping them down 1/3 or 1 stop can mean sharper photos in some cases. High-quality primes generally don't have this issue as much, but some of the consumer zooms can suffer from this, and benefit from stopping down a bit for this reason. I mean I could probably shoot all of my lenses wide open (I have actually) without any real image quality loss, but I figure stepping down a tad (1/3 of a stop) doesn't hurt in 95% of cases I'm shooting in anyway (since I don't really do widllife, but more so landscape, travel and portraiture, where small amounts like that may not make a huge difference from a DOF standpoint, but might from a sharpness standpoint, and in most of the cases super fast shutter speeds like 1/2000s are not necessary for what I shoot).
I love big huge prime lenses and I love playing around with all of the blur and the beauty, and then I jump up to 5.6 or 8 because it's just too limiting at 1.8
Same question here. I struggle in the morning low light. I’m fairly new, so still learning. The distance to the subject effecting the DOF is interesting to me. I do understand the distance to the background greatly affects the bokeh. F7.1 is already considered stopped down! I shoot wide open in the early hours, until I can get to F8, which is my preferred aperture for most of my photography. Sometimes I pull back to about 430mm to get to 6.3. I’m not sure if that is buying me much. Still testing that. No monster prime in my future. I doubt I would like the weight anyways. The 100-500 is a light sharp versatile lens with some macro type features. It keeps me in the Canon family!
Charl thank you for the video...I have had this stuck in my mind for about 4 months...this is the first video that clears the air....Cheers and to the whole team....I follow all of you for the past 3 years... could you please share a video on choosing the right camera format as well ..I have a trip planned in December... mainly large mammals in Kaziranga....I have a Nikon d500 + 200:500mm and a Sigma 70-200 f2.8.....i am in search for a full frame DSLR but don't know if it will benefit at all....as of now I don't do big prints but just don't know if a full frame is indeed required for big prints or am I good with the current gear....love from India
My 3 lenses S line Nikon are all GREAT at Wide Open >> No good buying a lens of say only F4 and its only sharp from F8 > My 180-600 is F6.3 wide open and I Never change that Setting >> faster/Brighter than the Oposition 100-500 f7.1 telescoping lens
@@PangolinWildlife all of them, I’m not very good on African birds as I live in Australia 🇦🇺 I’m a keen bird photographer and I just like to know. Thanks
Will this be changing your mindset to shooting wide open from now on?
@@PangolinWildlife Yes, it actually will serve as a guide. I’m usually so focused on shooting at as low an ISO as possible, I tend to shy away from stopping down for greater DOF.
Not really, but only because I am shooting birds with a Canon R7 and the Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5 - 7.1. I usually shoot wide open and everything is in focus because it is such a small f-stop already on the crop sensor body it is equivalent to f/11 in depth of field. If I were shooting with an F/4 prime on a full frame camera I would stop down.
I recently came back from Chobe and the Okovango Delta with Pangolin, and I gained more knowledge about photography while I was there, than I had in 3 years, I can honestly say these guys will make you a better photographer
Thank you so much for your feedback and review of our photo safaris. Hope to see you again soon.
Pangolin Wildlife Photography, This is great! I liked it and subscribed!
Great to hear. Thank you.
Thank you team Pangolin for elaborating small things in photography in a big way…
You are welcome
Charl, nice tutorial. I appreciate the insight. Very helpful
You are welcome
Thank you Pangolin team- very helpful as always!!! Miss you all!! Big hugs.
Thanks Eiko. Hope you are well
Great video
You can apply this same tutorial to sports photography, or your kids runnin around the local park, shooting wide open will isolate players/ subjects and get rid of bad backgrounds, while using a closed down app. will help with goal line melee keeping more players in focus. Or players coming in for a tackle. Nice one Charl.
Absolutely. Good point well presented
Thank you again. All the tips you gave helped greatly on my trip to Ol Pejeta and Mara.
Thats great to hear. Thank you. Hope to see you in Botswana!
As always another great pangolin video! Thank you, Charl!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks so much for sharing another wonderful video like always, for me f8 always works wonders ❤
Wide open on my RF 100-500 lens at 500mm is 7.1! I'd love to be able to shoot at 2.8 or 4 in the dark winter conditions we have here but last year in Botswana I did find myself using f11 a lot especially for the bigger animals.
Guess you need to come back!!
Thanks for this very informative video!!🦁
Glad you enjoyed it!
Love this channel. Always well presented with great content. Many thanks.
Thank you Charl. I still hear you suggesting me to stop down on our last trip together , since I was too much in love with my f4😂. Barbara from Switzerland
Haunted by Charl!! Excellent
😂@@PangolinWildlife
Thank you Charl for this valuable information. Regards and keep well.
You are very welcome
Great advice. Thank you.🥰
Glad it was helpful!
Great video, Charl! It's funny that you make this video now. I have recently been playing with this as of late. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks very useful tips and informative
You are very welcome!
Thank you Charl, I hope to learn much more from you during my next visit in december. Theo
Not long now!!!
Wow. Thanks! I needed to hear this.
Great tutorial and some food for thought
Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks Charl, I learned a lot from you when we were there in April
Delighted to hear it. See you again soon?
@@PangolinWildlife We're looking forward to it
Thanks Charl. Hopefully you will notice the effect of this tutorial when we meet in South Luangwa next year.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
yes, for sure and thank you for the tips
You are so welcome!
Although I don't do a lot of wildlife photography specifically, the first question someone should probably ask is if he background or surrounding elements are important to the photo or not -- do they add or take away from the subject. Then make your aperture selection based on that question. Of course, sometimes it's for a matter of speed (you need a faster shutter speed, so you open up the lens to let more light in, while keeping ISO as low as possible, then that's a bit different ,but I feel the same question should still be asked anyway). That being said, for most lenses, I tend to try to stop down a bit regadless (so on a 1.8 lens, I like to stop down to f/2 just for good measure, even though there may not be as much of a different, than going to say 2.8, but some lenses are not entirely sharp wide open anyway, and even stopping them down 1/3 or 1 stop can mean sharper photos in some cases. High-quality primes generally don't have this issue as much, but some of the consumer zooms can suffer from this, and benefit from stopping down a bit for this reason. I mean I could probably shoot all of my lenses wide open (I have actually) without any real image quality loss, but I figure stepping down a tad (1/3 of a stop) doesn't hurt in 95% of cases I'm shooting in anyway (since I don't really do widllife, but more so landscape, travel and portraiture, where small amounts like that may not make a huge difference from a DOF standpoint, but might from a sharpness standpoint, and in most of the cases super fast shutter speeds like 1/2000s are not necessary for what I shoot).
Thanks 👍
I love big huge prime lenses and I love playing around with all of the blur and the beauty, and then I jump up to 5.6 or 8 because it's just too limiting at 1.8
Very informative!!.
Glad it was helpful!
In order of DoF you could try a M4/3 camera for wild life photography: you could gain one or two stop of light and maintain a good DoF
Good point. Thank you.
hello, what about the aperture when you shot with the rf 100-500 who open a 7.1 at 500mm?
Same question here. I struggle in the morning low light. I’m fairly new, so still learning. The distance to the subject effecting the DOF is interesting to me. I do understand the distance to the background greatly affects the bokeh. F7.1 is already considered stopped down! I shoot wide open in the early hours, until I can get to F8, which is my preferred aperture for most of my photography. Sometimes I pull back to about 430mm to get to 6.3. I’m not sure if that is buying me much. Still testing that. No monster prime in my future. I doubt I would like the weight anyways. The 100-500 is a light sharp versatile lens with some macro type features. It keeps me in the Canon family!
Charl thank you for the video...I have had this stuck in my mind for about 4 months...this is the first video that clears the air....Cheers and to the whole team....I follow all of you for the past 3 years... could you please share a video on choosing the right camera format as well ..I have a trip planned in December... mainly large mammals in Kaziranga....I have a Nikon d500 + 200:500mm and a Sigma 70-200 f2.8.....i am in search for a full frame DSLR but don't know if it will benefit at all....as of now I don't do big prints but just don't know if a full frame is indeed required for big prints or am I good with the current gear....love from India
Very nice video idea. Will add that to the list!
@@PangolinWildlife Cheers
👍👍👍
My 3 lenses S line Nikon are all GREAT at Wide Open >> No good buying a lens of say only F4 and its only sharp from F8 > My 180-600 is F6.3 wide open and I Never change that Setting >> faster/Brighter than the Oposition 100-500 f7.1 telescoping lens
Any chance you could identify the birds in your photos.
Any one in particular? let us know the minute when it appears and we can assist.
@@PangolinWildlife all of them, I’m not very good on African birds as I live in Australia 🇦🇺 I’m a keen bird photographer and I just like to know. Thanks
👏
But, but, but... have you any idea what i paid to get these 2s and 2.8s?🤣
Oh I feel your pain!
😂😂😂
Having a 2.8 lens is great but you shouldn't be married to it. It's those low light moments when you really need 2.8, not for every single photo
Absolutely