Blazing fast shutter speeds and high ISO are the way to go.

After studying the EXIF data of pics of birds in flight, it dawned on me that blazing fast shutter speeds and high ISO are great at relieving camera shake and freezing motion.

I also realize it is best on bright sunny days.

Hack

Here's the EXIF for this pic, notice the shutter speed and ISO

Manufacturer: Canon
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Date: 01/04/2010 5:40:15p
Aperture: f 5.6
ISO: 3200
Shutter speed: 1/3200 s
EV +0.67 EV
Program: S - Shutter-priority auto
Metering mode: Spot metering
Flash: Not fired, Compulsory flash light
Zoom: 300.0 mm Real
Resolution: 3888 x 2592 Pixel
Exposure mode I: Auto exposure
White balance I: Auto white balance

Forgot the pic.

Hack

The Chickadee had just left the feeder.

Now, I realize that it you have a telephoto lens without image stabilization, then high shutter speeds and high ISO's will help stop camera shake.

Manufacturer: Canon
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Date: 01/04/2010 5:13:18p
Aperture: f 5.6
ISO: 3200
Shutter speed: 1/2000 s

Program: S - Shutter-priority auto
Metering mode: Spot metering
Flash: Not fired, Compulsory flash light
Zoom: 250.0 mm Real
Flash:: Not fired, Compulsory flash light
Date last Modification: 01/04/2010 5:13:18p
Exposure mode I: Auto exposure
White balance I: Auto white balance
Scene capture type: Standard

House Finch about to collide with a Brown-headed Nuthatch.

Hack

Manufacturer: Canon
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Firmware: Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 Windows
Date: 01/04/2010 5:10:55p
Aperture: f 5.6
ISO: 3200
Shutter speed: 1/2500 s

Program: S - Shutter-priority auto
Metering mode: Spot metering
Flash: Not fired, Compulsory flash light
Zoom: 300.0 mm Real
Exposure mode I: Auto exposure
White balance I: Auto white balance

It looks like you are getting a good deph of field with that f 5.6. A lot more that I can get. If I don't shoot with at least f 8.0 then part of the bird is out of focus. My camera has a lot of noise even at an ISO of 1600. I have a good noiseware but it destroys some of the sharpness.
I don't have any light in my yard when the leaves are on the trees. I would never be able to get any shots without a lens stabilizer.

I usually shoot at f 8.0 but if it is a really dull day I will go with 5.6. If I shoot over ISO 400 I get so much noise it hurts my ears and I am much too lazy to use noiseware.

Hack..you know more about the 40D than I know about it and I've had mine for almost 2 years. I am a slow learner...but I do know how to delete!!! Keep sharing your tips...I am learning a lot!

I find that a tripod produces good results, I,m going to get a remote for the camera which will help even more with image stabilization. I run AV mode almost all the time on sunny days I lower the ISO (sometimes too much) which also lowers my shutter speed(good for still shots though not flight, for flight shots Ive been bumping up the ISO which raises the shutter speed, but I want a slower shutter speed to capture more detail.

Here's some shots of Elvis to show some difference in detail with a high ISO and a 1/500 shutter speed, or you can just read the exif. First shot is the original with nothing but a re-size. He is 35 feet away.

Cropped but still holds detail.

And cropped more, I owe this to a tripod, settings, and good light.

Here's a B-c C, not as bright a day (as Elvis's is) with decent detail but 1/800 shutter speed 200 ISO. I think if I had a slower shutter speed I wouldv'e got more detail like Elvis, this bird was only 9.5ft away.

When I finished typing that last post, I went out to the patio to grab something, looked outside and there were 4 Whitetail Deer out back 2 were bucks the other 2 I couldn't see too well, they have been coming through every night, I got a few shots but haven't checked them yet, if there decent I'll post them in the Wildlife Forum.

I would agree with the others and not push the ISO to the max. It introduces to much noise and software correction makes the image soft. In my experience, the image degrades with a 40D between 400-800 ISO. It is also common for most lens to be there sharpest at about 2 stops below wide open. I try to stay within these parameters if lighting permits. Most of my planned in flight shots would be at 1/1000-1/1600 shutter speeds. If I wanted faster shutter speeds I would go with a flash setup.

The general guideline for shutter speeds needed to prevent camera shake would be 1/ the focal length, such as using a 300 mm lens, you need 1/300 shutter speed.

Oh...I could never learn all this stuff! lol

f_chisolm, I'm still experimenting with various exposure settings. Today, I didn't use Tv nor Av - I used M. With the pics from yesterday, I saw fro the EXIF data I was using Tv (shutter priority) mode, and setting fast shutter speeds. I had set the camera to H - that it 3200 ISO setting, but may try 1600 on a sunny day.

Burd_Fotos is right about the tripod, it helps a lot. My problem is that unless I have the tripod / camera trained on a feeder, I find it awkward to have the tripod hanging off the camera as I try to swing the camera around for a shot of a bird that landed on a limb. Oh, that cropped pic of Elvis looks sharp - were you using the tripod?

chris8796, I have also heard of the general guideline for shutter speeds needed to prevent camera. I also read on some Photography forum of using even faster shutter speeds helped reduce image blur due ot camera shake.

nanny_56, it just looks like a convoluted bunch of info. Its really not the bad.

Hack

I'm learning a lot from this thread Hack, thanks. I now have a tripod and just got a remote in the mail but haven't tried them out together yet. Thanks everyone for your suggestions which I'm anxious to try out.

ducbucln, thanks, I also have a tripod and a remote, but I use it mainly for Macro stuff.

Hack

beautiful pics. I really enjoyed looking at them all.

Hack

I too am interested in getting in flight shots. Well, really I look for action, which obviously includes in flight shots. In fact, almost every time I take a shot I am trying to anticipate movement. And I use AV mode nearly all of the time. In fact, the only time I use TV mode is when I am inside, and using a flash because I don't want the shutter to be too fast and open and close before the image gets back to the camera. I rarely, if ever use M.

Obviously, the closer you are to the bird, the faster your shutter has to click. Since most of my shots are inside 15 feet I have to have fast shutter speeds. I would prefer to stop him in flight even if it means increased noise. I have deleted far more blurred wing shots than I have shots with high noise. In any event, I have found that the Canon DSLR's, and in particular the 40D and the 1D Mark III, handle high ISO very well with relatively little noise.

I try to focus on the closest eye and will sometimes keep a shot if the head and eye is sharp, even if some or most of the rest of the bird is OOF or the wings have motion blur.

Another worry is depth of field. Often if you shoot wide open, especially at f/1.8 to 2.8, at a distance of 10 or 15 feet, the DOF is only an inch or two so if you are trying to get two or more birds, perched or in motion, parts of one or both will be out of focus.. That happened to me with the shot I got of the bluebird on the holly branch just before Christmas. Three times I caught her as she plucked and ate a holly berry but the DOF was so shallow that as she reached for the berry her head and the berry were slightly OOF.

Here is the best of the three shots. I did all I could to improve it but was still disappointed with it.