I've been trying out video using my 7DII and uploaded one to Vimeo this evening - testing things out!!!!





Digging Corella

https://vimeo.com/128352900 .


I hope the link works!


I've tested it and the link does work. I'm not sure why there is so little detail in the feathers, so will have to keep trying as the weather allows.

Hi Sonja,

Yes, the link does work! I've not tried shooting video with my 7DII yet - don't have a serious tripod, which I think must be an essential.

Rob

I like the digging Corella shot. If it had gone on digging much longer, it might have needed a mining license.

You might find that Photoshop will bring back the feather detail in the shot. It's surprising how much you can do to video clips using it. Adobe seems to be working towards an eventual merge between it and Premier Pro. Lynda.com has quite a few training lessons about using Photoshop for video clips. Some of these are free to see, but Lynda also gives you a free one month introduction to their courses. So you can see if you find them useful without any obligation to join.

I personally find it easiest to shoot with my DSLR in 1080 format and then make the movie clip in 720. I use the difference to allow panning and zooming in post production. Post production panning is extremely smooth and you know where the bird is heading, so things come together more easily.

Professional nature photographers shoot with "Red" movie cameras these days , which allow you to shoot at 9000. They crop the results down to 1080, so you get wonderful footage like you see in "Yellowstone." For mere mortals, video cameras using 4000 format are getting to be a similar price to most DSLRs and indeed some DSLRs have this movie format too. This makes bird video clips very temping.

Still images show you one moment perfectly, while a video clip captures interesting behavior quickly and clearly.

Yes, a tripod is essential, Rob, and also an appropriate head. I've been using my still shots one loosened, but it's not really satisfactory - can't control it well enough!

I haven't ventured into the technical "stuff" yet, Les, was just trying it out, but will now. I've only got an old version of Photoshop as I don't use it much and I don't think I can export the video to it. My husband has just bought a drone and is learning to use Premiere so I might end up with that if I keep doing video - time will tell! Thanks for all that information though.