I have Canon 1100D with 55-250mm lens, Can I take good photographs of BIF flying birds?

I have taken some great BIF shots with my 450D and 55-250mm

Some tips:

1. Turn off the IS - it is supposed to have auto pan detection but I don't trust it!

2. Select centre focus point only and set AF mode to servo

3. Set metering mode to spot

4. Shoot with the subject centre frame and crop to get best composition

5. Use aperture priority with aperture at f/5.6

6. Set ISO to give shutter speed faster than 1/200th

The autofocus on the 55-250 is OK but isn't the fastest on the market on a dull day. On my last shoot it kept up very well with Gannets but struggled with Puffins!!

Good luck!

Some people !

The short answer is, 'Yes,' - if you know what you're doing.

Tracking a moving subject is difficult, and correct exposure can give you all kinds of entertainment, but what you want to do is perfectly feasible with a manual 35mm SLR or a rangefinder, so your DSLR should be more than capable.

Learn to use your exposure lock, and take a meter reading from the ground, and look up panning.

You won't get it right first time, but work and persistence will pay off - then you can rub Rose's nose in it.

Generally speaking, you have a really begginer SLR camera with the included (crappy) kit lenses.

You will not be able to take good photographs of anything but if you were asking wether the photos would be still or not it all depends on what weather and condition you are shooting under. Make sure it's a bright sunny day that you go shooting.

The lenses which you have (which also came in the kit) is not suitable for taking pictures of birds in the wild and neither is the camera body. The auto-focus is sluggish and by the time the focus is set, the bird would have moved or flown away.

Great cheap camera for beginners though!

I echo Andrew. Any lens around that spec would be reasonable for that job. But don't expect every shot to be perfect. Be thankful that you are working digitally, thus you can hone your skill at no expense.

Here are some pictures taken by a friend recently with a Canon 600D and EF-S 55-250mm IS.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/peggy_killen/sets/72...

The 600D is reputed to have better autofocusing than the 1100D.

The flock of 17 snow geese was a pretty long distance away. We were uncertain at the time whether they were geese or gulls, but the picture shows enough detail to confirm their identity.

As Andrew says...the camera is more than capable of doing what you want, the problem for you is...are you up for the task..?

Successful shots of 'anything' are all down to the photographers 'technique' and 'skill'...it takes lots of patience, practice and perseverance.

I'd advise anyone that finds 'autofocus' too slow, to switch the camera to manual focus and try that way...I very rarely use the 'autofocus' option on any of my cameras...I'm still trying to work out how any images were razor sharp before they invented 'autofocus'...sport and wildlife photographers were creating publishable quality images for years before 'autofocus' was even thought of.

Getting a BIF is not all that difficult, after all I get some. Your camera and lens are capable. What you need is to learn how to adjust your camera, aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Or you can just put it in Sports mode and learn to track your subject.

Don't waste your time thinking of buying 1100D. I've used it. I own a 550D! So you can trust me on that. Just because you get an extra lens don't compensate. 550D lets you take Full HD videos as well. You're obviously not going to use the two lenses you're entire life. You will eventually need an upgrade. So buy the 550D with the kit lens. Learn everything you need to know. When you realize what you're missing out on then you can go for an upgrade on lenses. I started out with 18-55. I needed a zoom lens later for programs so I bought a 70-300 IS. Then I started clicking Portraits. So I use 50mm 1.8. Then I started clicking for Fashion shows, using 24-70mm 2.8 now. So depending on your use you need the lens. But if I had to do all this with 1100 D. It would have been tougher. If you ask any expert, they would compare camera bodies and not the lenses.