Setting a personal ISO limit for our bird-in-flight photography takes some experimentation in the field and in post processing. I’ve found that my personal ISO limit can shift over time as I get more accustomed with my camera gear and how to work with my files in post. This article shares twelve new images from some additional high ISO testing I did this weekend. It also discusses where I’ve currently set my personal ISO limit for my OM-D E-M1X when photographing birds-in-flight.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

I’ve been shooting with Olympus gear (now OMDS) since June 2019. Right from the outset I used ISO-6400 as my personal ISO limit when photographing birds-in-flight. As long as I didn’t underexpose my images ISO-6400 gave me acceptable results. Obviously it’s a good idea to always shoot at the lowest ISO value possible given lighting conditions, as well as aperture and shutter speed requirements.

I initially did all of my noise reduction with DxO Prime. After Topaz launched DeNoise AI I played around with that software as well. It became apparent that DxO DeepPRIME and Topaz DeNoise AI were both very capable noise reduction functions.

Rather than assess them on an either/or basis I experimented using both programs in a complimentary fashion. I found that using DxO DeepPRIME at the front end of my process… with a maximum setting of 15… gave my files a good start with noise reduction without losing too much detail. I choose to use DxO PhotoLab as my primary RAW processor as I like the automatic camera/lens corrections as well as features like Microcontrast and the DxO Smart Lighting Spot Adjustment.

After making my typical adjustments in DxO PhotoLab 4 (usually with one of my custom presets), I export a DNG file into an old copy of PhotoShop CS6. I make some basic adjustments in CS6 and use the Nik Collection as needed. It is set up as a plug-in to CS6. I finish my files using Topaz DeNoise AI which I also have set up as a plug-in to CS6. On occasion I finish my files using Topaz Sharpen AI if the ISO values are not too high, and the noise not too severe.

If you’ve been checking the EXIF data as you’ve been reading this article you have noticed that the last few images were captured at ISO-16000. Under specific shooting situations, this is my new personal ISO limit when photographing birds-in-flight.

Obviously using a M4/3 camera at high ISO values like ISO-16000, presents a few challenges. I do my best not to underexpose my photographs at this ISO level. Results tend to be best when I slightly overexposure my images. The photograph above and the next three that follow are consecutive captures from the same Pro Capture H image run.

All of the photographs in this article were shot through my kitchen window which overlooks a pond I built about 15 years ago. My wife and I keep it running 7/24 all year round so the birds have access to water throughout all four seasons. The pond, combined with our bird feeders, enables us to attract a good variety of birds into our back yard throughout the year.

This week my wife hung a couple of suet cages adjacent to our pond. They were immediately mobbed by sparrows and a few other species. We anticipate that the addition of these two suet cages will significantly enhance our back yard birding during colder months. The image above is one of my favourite captures from the weekend. Even though it’s just a sparrow leaping from one branch to another I really love the precision of this moment.

Having an ongoing population of small birds in our back yard attracts predatory birds, especially in the late fall. For the past seven or eight years a sharp shinned hawk, as well as a Coopers hawk, visit our back yard in the late fall and early winter. They usually arrive about mid-November and depart in late December. The sharp shinned hawk is especially skittish and I’ve never been able to capture any images of it in flight.

One of the reasons that I’ve been experimenting with high ISO values for birds-in-flight with my E-M1X is that I struggled getting images of the sharp shinned hawk with my Nikon 1 kit. The sharp shinned hawk often visits our yard later in the day when the light is rather poor and outside of the practical limitations of my Nikon V2 and V3 bodies.

It was very dull and overcast on Sunday. Amazingly while I was doing my high ISO test images the sharp shinned hawk arrived in our back yard. Not only that… it flew in closer to the house than it has ever been in the past… landing on a statue of a great blue heron we have next to the pond.  It was only about 7.2 metres (~23.6 feet) away from my vantage point in my kitchen!

I immediately shortened the focal length on my M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS zoom lens to allow for the hawk’s wing movements when it took flight. I acquired focus on the hawk’s head and only had to wait a few seconds before it took flight. I fired off my Pro Capture H image run of 15 photographs in 1/4 of a second… then the sharp shinned hawk was gone.

The photograph above was the last image from that Pro Capture H run. I was absolutely thrilled to have captured this photograph! If I hadn’t been willing to push my E-M1X to ISO-16000 I would not have been able to capture a usable image from this rare photographic opportunity.

There is a good learning point from this experience. Regardless of the camera gear you may own, never accept what someone else tells you is ‘not possible’ with your camera equipment. Test it out yourself. Push your camera, and push yourself in post. You may be pleasantly surprised with what you discover.

Technical Note:

Photographs were captured handheld using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. All images were captured in my back yard, photographing through my kitchen window. I used my standard Pro Capture H settings: Pre-Shutter Frames and Frame Limiter were both set to 15. A frame rate of 60 frames per second was used, along with a single auto-focusing point. Images were produced from RAW files using my standard approach in post. This is the 1,230 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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