Quote Originally Posted by M_Six View Post
Got to the lake about 4PM and hung around waiting for the eagles to show. It was the first really nice day we've had this year, so the lake was busy with fisherman, including two couples near me with kids who screamed and cried the entire time I was there. But I digress.

The eagle showed up at about the same time as the last time I was at the lake, right around 5PM. I took other shots of loons and gulls and so on, but I wasn't happy with them at all. I have to say my technique with the 7D/400-5.6 combo needs work. I'm quite disappointed in my captures. The 7D does not lend itself to major cropping like the 6D does. And sadly, I was pretty far away from all the action, like 1/3 to 1/2 mile. None of my shots today were really crisp. Overall, a big letdown. I was using the tripod and gimbal head, so I can't blame hand-holding. I probably should have taken the time to switch to the 6D just for comparison.

Anyway, here are some shots. The big culprit in all of these was the lack of reach. Most are crops in the 80-90% range.
Good self-assessment...you definitely are too far away to expect much detail, even with an 800mm lens. I don't know the location so maybe there is no other way.

With the 400mm f/5.6 I would say you need to be within 100 feet or closer to really get detailed images, just a guess on my part. I'm sure there is a way to calculate it exactly.

Nice to see Eagles though.....