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Best Camera Settings for Bird Photography • Landscape Photography
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BY JASON POLAK | 30 COMMENTS
LAST UPDATED ON NOVEMBER 24, 2023 • Portraiture
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• Advanced Tutorials
Imagine that you’re on a beautiful beach and you see an unusual bird fly towards
you. The sun is low in the sky and golden light washes over delicately patterned
wings. You raise your camera, unsure of what settings to use. When you get back
home, you realize the shots are blurry and overexposed – and worse, the Make Every Hour
pictures have just enough detail to identify the bird as a Far Eastern Curlew, a
species you’ve been trying to photograph for years. How can you avoid this
Golden Hour
disaster?

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House Finch, Nikon D500 + Tamron 150-600 G2 @ 400mm, ISO 3600, 1/250, f/7.1 PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIALS

In bird photography, there are some commonly used camera settings that are a
great starting point for almost any situation. No matter how rushed you are, you
should be able to capture good, sharp images of birds. Below, I’ll introduce these
PHOTOGRAPHY LANDSCAPE
settings and when to use them. BASICS PHOTOGRAPHY

Table of Contents
1. Shutter Speed
2. Aperture
WILDLIFE MACRO
3. ISO PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY
4. Metering
5. Camera Modes
6. Should You Use Back-Button Autofocus?
7. Raw vs JPEG
8. Autofocus and Burst Mode COMPOSITION & BLACK & WHITE
9. Conclusion CREATIVITY PHOTOGRAPHY

Shutter Speed
Shutter speed is the most crucial variable for bird photography because birds are
NIGHT SKY PORTRAIT
almost always moving, and you need a fast enough shutter speed to freeze that
PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY
motion. But in the opposite direction, you also want to use the longest shutter
speed possible because there is never enough light! The right shutter speed for
a stationary hawk perched on a branch at sunset may be something like 1/200
second, but if it takes off, you’ll need closer to 1/2000 to avoid blur.
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The best shutter speed also depends somewhat on your focal length and how
close you are to the bird. To simplify matters, I have created the following table. It
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gives good starting points for a recommended shutter speed for focal lengths of
about 500-600mm (full frame) and the bird taking up most of the composition:

Situation Safe Recommendation Typical Range I Use

Perched, still birds 1/400 1/40-1/640

Walking or slowly moving birds 1/800 1/500-1/1500

Running and darting birds 1/1200 1/800-1/1500

Birds in flight, slow 1/2500 1/2000-1/3200

Birds in flight, fast 1/3200 1/2500-1/8000

These values are typical, but not universal, and there is room for
experimentation. For example, I specified a huge range for perched birds
because different species behave differently. Owls and herons can stay very still.
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For rarer birds, I always start with a safe value, and if I have time, I will start taking
risks. If your shutter speed is risky, you will increase the probability of getting at
least one sharp shot if you take a series of multiple photos in a row.

Once birds start moving, you need to use a faster shutter speed. I recommend a
starting value of 1/800 for slow-moving birds. Such birds often pause, and you
want to get them at around that time. Keep in mind that certain bird species,
such as rails, have quick twitches like tail-flicking even when they are walking
slowly, so if you are photographing such a bird, you’ll need to use even faster
speeds.

Ring-billed Gull, Nikon D500 + 500mm f/5.6 PF @ 500mm, ISO 450, 1/2500, f/5.6

With birds in flight, I’m almost always at 1/2500-1/3200 for larger birds and
1/4000 or faster for smaller birds. However, with larger birds in flight, you can
also pan at much slower speeds such as 1/250, following the bird as it flies. This
creates a dreamy background with motion blur that is worth exploring.

Birds in flight is a genre on its own, and if you’re interested in it, I highly
recommend my friend Libor’s guide, How to Photograph Birds in Flight with
Sharp Results.

Aperture
If the aperture mechanism of my birding lens were broken and stuck wide open, I
probably wouldn’t even notice. Maybe it seems sacrilegious how little I care
about changing aperture, but there’s a good reason for that. There never seems
to be enough light to use the fast shutter speeds I need, so I think it’s helpful to
shoot with my aperture wide open whenever possible.

Stopping down for depth of field does makes sense, but from my experience,
when a bird is in the optimal pose and the eye is sharp, the depth of field wide
open (f/4 or f/5.6) is already good enough. For larger birds, I have noticed that on
some rare occasions I do stop down, such as shooting ducks when the body is in
a slightly different focus plane than the head.

American Robin, Nikon D500 + 500mm f/5.6 PF @ 500mm, ISO 1800, 1/400, f/5.6

With some lenses, stopping down one stop can improve sharpness, but the latest
supertelephoto primes are typically near or at their maximum sharpness wide
open.

Therefore, my recommendation is to shoot wide open and only stop down when
necessary to get more depth of field. Personally, over 95% of my shots are wide
open.

ISO
There are two ways to choose the ISO. You can use Auto ISO (then fine tune it
with exposure compensation), or else choose it manually. In practice, as long as I
have easy access to a dial to change the exposure compensation, I find Auto ISO
to work well. This is especially true with mirrorless cameras where the exposure
preview is immediately apparent through the electronic viewfinder.

However, there are some situations where you can use true manual mode. If you
are in one place where the light is fairly constant and you are not varying your
shutter speed either, such as by a river shooting birds in flight, you can set the
ISO manually. The reason why this can be worthwhile is that some birds have
very small spots of bright feathers, and the camera may suggest different
exposures based on which direction the bird faces, when you’d rather the
exposure settings remain constant. By fixing a safe ISO value, you can avoid the
camera metering somewhat randomly.

A “safe” ISO is one that doesn’t blow out any important highlight values. You can
determine this ISO value by photographing the brightest birds at the beginning of
the shooting session and finding an ISO that doesn’t overexpose them. However,
this comes with the caveat that your scene will slowly get brighter if you are
shooting in the early morning, and you may gradually end up with overexposed
images.

If your camera has an overexposure indicator (such as the “blinkies” on

overexposed areas), this can be helpful to watch – whether directly in the EVF on
a mirrorless camera or when reviewing your images on a DSLR.

Metering
If any of the three variables above – shutter speed, aperture, and ISO – are set
automatically by the camera, you will be relying heavily on the camera’s metering
system to determine the proper exposure. Even if you’re setting all three values
manually, the meter will still appear in the viewfinder to tell you whether the
camera estimates you are over, under, or properly exposed.

I tend to use spot or center-weighted metering for most bird portraits since these
tend to produce the most consistent exposures for me. Different cameras meter
differently so you might need to experiment a little. Matrix/evaluative metering is
usually the most advanced and hands-off metering system on a camera, but I
tend to prefer the predictability of spot and center-weighted for my bird
photography.

A quick-moving Black-capped Chickadee, Nikon D500 + 500mm f/5.6 PF @ 500mm, ISO 3200, 1/800,
f/5.6

Regardless of what metering mode you use, I also suggest having exposure
compensation very easily accessible so that you can adjust exposure quickly
(though it only affects your exposure one or more of shutter speed, aperture, or
ISO is set automatically by the camera).

If you have a mirrorless camera with zebras or highlight warnings, I highly

suggest using them. This will help you with using exposure compensation.

Finally, I can get exposure pretty close following these methods, but in unusual
situations, I always err on the side of caution. Bird photography does not usually
require intense shadow lifting in post-production, so slightly underexposed shots
will not suffer much. In most modern cameras, it makes little difference to the
end result if you underexpose your images by a stop (or even multiple stops) and
correct the exposure in post, compared to using a higher ISO in the first place.

Camera Modes
Given that the optimal shutter speed can vary wildly in bird photography, you
need to be in a camera mode that allows you to control shutter speed. I
recommend full Manual Mode – or Manual Mode with Auto ISO and exposure
compensation – to make quick adjustments.

Mallard, Nikon D500 + 500mm f/5.6 PF @ 500mm, ISO 1600, 1/500, f/5.6

The only downside to Manual Mode + Auto ISO is that if suddenly the light
becomes too bright so that there is overexposure at base ISO, the camera has no
way to compensate automatically. In this case, there are two solutions. The first
solution is to recognize what’s happening and use a faster shutter speed. The
other solution is quickly switching to aperture priority mode and setting your
widest aperture, at which point the camera will set base ISO and a good shutter
speed.

Some photographers actually shoot in aperture priority mode for almost all their
bird photography for this reason. They’re still able to control the shutter speed
via a careful dance with Auto ISO, but this is a more complex technique
(discussed in detail in Nasim’s article How to Photograph Birds, under the header
“Camera Settings.”)

As for Shutter Priority mode, I would not recommend it for bird photography even
though it may be tempting. The reason is that in brighter light, if you forget to
change your shutter speed, the camera can stop down the aperture too much.
Most modern birding lenses are sharpest at or near wide open, and I would not
want to lose sharpness – not to mention the shallow depth of field I like – by
letting the camera stop down to something narrower like f/11.

Should You Use Back-Button Autofocus?

Back-button autofocus refers to assigning the back AF button, usually labeled
AF-On, to initiate autofocus, and (usually) disabling autofocus from the half-
press of the shutter button. Is this useful in bird photography?

For DSLRs, I feel the back-button autofocus is very useful, and I use it instead of
half-pressing the shutter button on my D500. It can be useful to press the AF-On
button to initiate focus, shift the composition a little, and then take my photo. In
cases like that, I do not want to activate autofocus by pressing the shutter
button.

House Wren, Nikon D500 + 500mm f/5.6 PF @ 500mm, ISO 2200, 1/1000, f/5.6

On the other hand, with the latest mirrorless cameras, the autofocus systems
have very intelligent tracking and can follow a subject across almost the entire
frame, rather than a small portion in the center of the viewfinder. This reduces
two of the big reasons to use back-button autofocus exclusively. I also find it
ergonomically more comfortable sometimes for low-angle shots (like birds on the
ground or in the water) to press the shutter button to focus rather than using a
button on the rear of the camera.

Whether this is worth keeping half-press autofocus available is up to you, but I at

least recommend familiarizing yourself with back-button focus if you’ve never
used it before. I do tend to leave half-press autofocus enabled these days, but
only after I know the benefits of using back-button.

On some cameras, you can even get the best of both worlds by programming the
AF-On button to focus in a different mode as half-pressing the shutter button,
making it very quick to switch autofocus modes. So, it’s absolutely worth learning
the details of AF-On and practicing with it for a while even if you plan to keep
half-press autofocus enabled.

Raw vs JPEG
Bird photography is very unpredictable, and at times, you will need to squeeze
every last drop out of your files. That’s why I recommend shooting in Raw. Raw
makes it easier to change white balance in post-processing. It also makes it
easier to reduce noise if you were shooting in low light conditions – very common
in bird photography. I use custom noise reduction techniques in post-processing,
and I feel much safer knowing I have the best starting point in a Raw rather than
JPEG file.

Double-crested Cormorant, Nikon D500 + 500mm f/5.6 PF @ 500mm, ISO 200, 1/500, f/5.6

Even with a properly-exposed shot, I still like to manipulate tone curves to bring
out the subtle gradations on the subject itself, and this is where Raw shines.
JPEG files can look perfectly good unedited, but they’ll quickly start to show
compression artifacts as you edit them more and more.

For more a more detailed comparison, I suggest consulting our article on Raw vs
JPEG.

Autofocus and Burst Mode

I can only scratch the surface of autofocus since each camera is different and I
am not an expert in every camera. With birds, I find it crucial to be in continuous
autofocus mode all the time for tracking movement.

Almost every camera system will have a continuous autofocus mode with some
way of selecting or tracking a subject. Newer mirrorless cameras like the Nikon
Z9 and Sony A1 often have animal eye AF modes that actually do work for birds,
so I suggest experimenting with those.

Chances are, you will also need to switch between a couple different modes from
time to time, so it is worthwhile to program a few buttons near your right hand to
do this. Nasim’s article on Autofocus Modes can introduce you to some of the
different options if you aren’t already familiar.

Caspian Tern, Nikon D500 + 500mm f/5.6 PF @ 500mm, ISO 360, 1/3200, f/5.6

Burst mode or high FPS mode instructs the camera to keep taking shots as long
as the shutter button is held down. The rate of shooting is typically between 10-
30 frames per second if you have a camera geared toward wildlife photography.
This mode is useful for action shots, especially birds in flight. The only downside
is that you might take more images than you realize (or intended) and thus end
up with thousands more shots to go through at home. To save space on my
memory card, I will often turn it off if I’m not photographing birds in flight.

Conclusion
This article has covered the most important settings for bird photography such
as shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and metering modes. I recommend starting out
with these safe values, but also experimenting, especially with common species
of birds that you see all the time. The most challenging of the group is shutter
speed, but it’s something you’ll learn a lot more about as you practice with
different types of bird, as each species behaves differently.

Camera settings alone won’t guarantee a good bird photo, and you still need to
capture a good subject with an interesting composition and skilled post-
processing. But settings are the first step in bird photography and one of the
most important.

If you have any questions about these or other camera settings for bird
photography, feel free to ask in the comments below.

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FILED UNDER: PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIALS

TAGGED WITH: APERTURE, AUTOFOCUS, BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY, BIRDS IN FLIGHT, CAMERA SETTINGS, ISO,
SHUTTER SPEED, WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

About Jason Polak

Jason Polak is a bird and wildlife photographer from Ottawa,
Canada. He has been interested in photography ever since he
received a disposable film camera as a small child. His career as a
mathematician led him to move to Australia in 2016, where he started seeing
colorful parrots. A few casual shots with a lens completely unsuitable for
birds got him hooked, and now wildlife photography is his biggest passion.
Jason loves to show the beauty of animals to the world through photography,
and one of his lifelong goals is to photograph five thousand species of birds.
You can see more of Jason's work on his website or on his YouTube channel.

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30 COMMENTS Newest

Steve
June 19, 2024 1:21 pm

Hi
On Nikon Z9. For birds in flight this is Do you believe that keeping the image stabilization
engaged when by standards you may not need it over 1/2000 second will cause you any
problems. Such as a slower auto focus or images not as sharp as they should be because the
IBIS is making adjustments while you’re panning and the focus is changing so quickly.?

0 Reply

Sue
April 18, 2024 2:10 am

Thanks for the great article

0 Reply

Qutub Wali Khan

December 11, 2023 6:22 am

What is your advise of setting for those who have camera Model D3100 and
18-55mm OR 55 – 200mm lenses. Cameras and lenses are very expense due to the rate of
exchange with dollar.

0 Reply

Mats
January 22, 2023 4:04 pm

Why did you remove my long and well written input on the subject?

-1 Reply

Mats
January 20, 2023 7:57 am

The ONE best help I received several years back was learning the exposure compensation
table for subjects vs background. It’s quite simple once you get a hand on it, logical. And, it’s
increased my number of keepers ten fold.
There are lots of these tables presented in different ways, but here is one.
mikeatkinson.net/Tutor…posure.htm (at the bottom of the page)

0 Reply

John
June 2, 2022 11:00 am

Great article. Thanks.

0 Reply

Kim Kjaersgaard
March 31, 2022 6:16 am

Hi Jason,
Years ago I was in a hide next to a riverbank in the Amazonas. At one point a large group of
small parrots arrive for eating clay of the riverbank. I knew at some point they would get
spooked and take off in various directions. I had no clue about which settings would be best
for the moment. I guess that slutter speed as high as possible would recommendable, but
what about Aperture and otter settings, what would recommend.

Thanks
Kim

0 Reply

Jason Polak
Reply to Kim Kjaersgaard March 31, 2022 7:20 am

Good question. If birds are eating, I would put them in the category of “Walking or slowly
moving birds” that I put in the chart and go with a safe value like 1/800 or if they’re really
quickly doing things, 1/1250. That plus using bursts should get you some great shots. As
for aperture, I pretty much always set the lens to as wide open as I can, especially for
darker situations. So if your lens is sharp wide open, leave it wide open. I typically always
use auto ISO as well, and adjust the exposure compensation as needed. For AF, I would
just use something that prioritizes closeness like Group AF or single spot, or use bird eye
AF if your camera has it and it works well.

0 Reply