Birds and Butterfly with Canon EOS 6D Mark II

Capture birds and butterflies with the Canon EOS 6D Mark II—exploring autofocus precision, full-frame image quality, and field techniques for detailed wildlife photography.

Experimenting with the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM prime lens paired with the Canon EOS 6D Mark II

Purple Heron in Flight : Above Woodbridge Island

"Suspended in blue silence, the purple heron - unaware of his own majesty - offered me a pulse-moment: a glimpse of freedom, framed by the impermanence of being." - Vernon Chalmers

Shooting at 400mm with the Canon EOS 6D Mark II (Full Frame) body
Looking out the window this morning I viewed a relatively cloudless blue sky and a moderate south-easterly wind. For my regular photography hike, down the Diep River, Woodbridge Island, right up to the edge of the Table Bay Nature Reserve I decided to pair the Canon EOS 6D Mark II with the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens. With the objective to experience the focal range a little different than with the effective crop-factor of the Canon EOS 7D Mark II paired with the same lens. I decided that the 6.5fps, 26 megapixel sensor (for improved cropping), better low light performance and 45-Point AF system should assist in some way when photographing more / less the same birds at the same distance as I would with the EOS 7D Mark II. 

It took a while getting use to the slower AF and reduced fps. Other than that is was quite a pleasant experience with a few image to show what this pairing is still capable to deliver comparing to 'faster' and modern Canon EOS bodies.

I enjoyed photographing the butterfly - and this while the camera was set on my birds in flight settings. The butterfly was tiny between the wildflowers, but Zone AF delivered in-flight and through the many obstacles when perched. I also had an opportunity in attempting a bee in flight with my stock birds in flight settings. 

Note: the Minimum Focus Distance (MFD) of the Canon EF 400mm is only 3.5 meters - so it was quite a challenge to capture the bee in flight.  

Birds in Flight / Perched Birds (Butterfly / Bee) List

• Purple Heron in Flight (Top)
• Speckled Pigeon in Flight
• Grey Heron in Flight
• Egyptian Goose in Flight
• Red Bishop Perched
• Southern Mask Weaver Perched
• Cabbage white butterfly In-flight / Perched
• Bee in Flight

Speckled Pigeon in Flight : Above the Diep River, Woodbridge Island

Grey Heron in Flight : Table Bay Nature Reserve Woodbridge Island

Egyptian Goose in Flight : Table Bay Nature Reserve, Woodbridge Island

Red Bishop : Table Bay Nature Reserve Woodbridge Island

Southern Masked Weaver : Table Bay Nature Reserve, Woodbridge Island

Cabbage White Butterfly in Flight : Diep River Woodbridge Island

Cabbage White Butterfly : Diep River Woodbridge Island

Bee in Flight : Arnhem Milnerton

Location: Diep River, Woodbridge Island, Table Bay Nature Reserve

Canon Camera / Lens for Bird Photography

• Canon EOS 6D Mark II (Full Frame)
• Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
• SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB 200 MB/s

Exposure / Focus Settings for Bird Photography

• Autofocus On
• Manual Mode
• Aperture f/5.6
• Auto ISO 250 - 1000
• Shutter Speeds 1/2500s
• No Image Stabilisation
• Handheld

Image Post-Processing: Lightroom Classic (Ver 14.5)

• Minor Adjustments (Crop / Exposure / Contrast)
• Noise and Spot Removal
• RAW to JPEG Conversion
  
  

Birds and Butterfly with Canon EOS 7D Mark II

All Images: Copyright Vernon Chalmers Photography