Recently watched a UK channel talking about this very thing ('Wildlife Photographer UK' Ashley Barnard). He took the lens hood off and the heat haze was gone from his images. The distortion was from the different temperature in the hood to the outside cold. Thought I'd just share this with you Duade.

Another great video. Thank you Duade. I have been taking photographs for 62 years. It is the experience of photography that matters to me. To have a, lovely, photo of a bird or animal I saw is what matters. Cheers Judith

These honest videos are absolutely great... Someone like me who is on a budget, these videos are very important so I can really make a decision on where my money goes without just looking at specs on paper

Steve Perry has an excellent video on haze caused by the lens hood as well. If you don’t let your gear acclimate to the outside temp for about 10-15 minutes when there are big swings you can actually have a temp difference right in front of the glass. Worth checking out and it’s a great explanation

I'm really glad you didn't scrap the video and turned it into a teaching moment! Thanks Duade! Can't wait for the full review!

As well as wildlife I do quite a lot of aviation photography and heat haze is a real problem when trying to shoot aircraft landing or taking off. A case in point is when I was on holiday in Australia last September, I visited the observation area for Perth Airport and the heat haze was so bad O could only shoot aircraft as they took off and where ate least 50 metres up. I was using an R6 with the RF 100-500mm

Hello Duade, I have been living in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain for two years. I moved here because I can observe one of the largest bird migrations in the world (the pre-breeding one from Africa to Europe and the post-breeding one from Europe to Africa). To give you an idea...around 400,000 birds of different species come and go. I have the opportunity to photograph many of them and I can confirm that what you say in this video is true. Heat haze affects the sharpness of photos. In my case, not only at ground level, due to thermal currents (which are the birds' elevators to gain height) many photos come out with Heat haze but at heights of 100 meters. It is clear that the proximity of the sea and the thermals cause Heat haze. Thanks for your videos!! Greetings from Spain. David!

I live in Spain and this happens to me all the time, specially when photographing over water surfaces. The APSC format makes you try longer distances, which compounds the problem. You just have to be aware of it and try to be closer and avoid certain situations or times of day. Very tricky!

You went to the trouble of taking a lot more shots with the 200-800 on the R7 because a lot of your viewers have that camera. That, in itself, is remarkable and an example of what makes your channel so wonderful. You provide some very practical advice, as well as inspiration - and some really nice images to look at. I live in Texas. We get some ridiculous heat haze. But what you're describing, with the air layers, we refer to as a "temperature inversion". We usually see it in the cooler months, and usually in the mornings. And, yes, there are weird issues with light being reflected. So much so that the top layer of air can act as a reflector, and somewhere in between there is a lensing effect. We were driving very early one morning and I looked out over a bay that I have known since childhood. I could see fishing boats heading out, on the back side of a spoil island, and they seemed oddly magnified in size. Then I realized... I have looked out at that scene my whole life. That island sticks up too far to see the water on the other side. I couldn't possibly be seeing what I was seeing. Then I realized that the boats looked much too large, considering the distance to them. I could make out the people in them clearly, as if I was looking at a magnified image. The light from off of the water was striking the bottom of the inversion layer and being reflected back down to our eyes. If you've ever shined a light onto water at night, you know that the water surface reflects a lot of that light, and only a portion goes into the water. What most people don't know is that the bottom side of the water does the same thing. If you use an underwater light for fishing, a lot of its light will be reflected back down by the surface layer. For people who missed it, you had a shot of a swan where you said the AF "grabbed the eye". So your focus distance was perfect, but the light reaching your lens was scattered, and the shot was "soft". But not the kind of soft we usually think of, because that usually has to do with focus, depth of field, etc. What you had was light from the same spot on the subject striking your lens at different locations. That's from light being reflected and refracted within that inversion layer. Not to sound like a broken record, but the ISO issues you had in that early morning time is exactly what I have tried to warn people about with the 200-800. Humans love early mornings and late evenings, and we love to take photos during those Golden Half Hours. I still think that a LOT of enthusiastic amateurs are going to be disappointed when they see the images they are getting in those hours. Or maybe the images will be good enough for them. If they're shooting mostly stationary subjects and able to slow the shutter sufficiently. But you (and Jan) specialize in birds, and for birds that lens is a bit of a hard sell for me, for the reason I just stated.

OMG! Fantastic insight! I can think of a dozen or so times I was unable to get sharp images without any thought of heat haze (or any visible shimmer) but from what you've shared with us I can now see that's what it was! I am now signing up for membership :)

I've had photos ruined by heat haze early one morning when shooting low level shots of a bird that was only 4 or 5 metres away. I didn't want to have my tripod extended because I would be looking down on the bird so I dropped it down to 0.5 metres. A great viewpoint but I nearly cried at the results. It was a spring morning with strong sunshine but the ground had been frozen overnight.

heat haze Duade is the story of my life, i go to the desert and larks, buntings and babblers are all over me, but all shots and way less than what i get in my garden shots, so i learnt to hold my camera until one lark or something decide to come close about 5 meters or less then i take shots. yes if you stay quite birds will come to you even if you don't use camouflage. and yes car shots during summer time all bad specially if the bird far. thank sa million for answering all my questions about the problem. i live in Jeddah on the Red sea.

Very interesting video! Just one minor point. It is not because the ground conducts heat that you see heat haze. It is because of the hear capacity of the ground. It can hold the heat overnight. So while the ground stays relatively warm, when cold air from above hits the air warmed by the ground, you get heat haze.

Thanks Duade! I encountered this yesterday. As I was driving away from a location I noticed a hawk, pulled over, shot a couple of frames through the open passenger-side car window and the difference in temperature spoilt the focus. I also got this on a cold morning shooting low over a river with large boulders. I think you're right about the haze coming from a temperature difference and it's amplified as you zoom in. In this case, chimping your shots pays off.

Oh god, so good to know this, very many of us think that the gear is the problem.. thanks for this precious information !!!

Hi Duade, I'm a hang glider pilot. We look for thermals. There's another factor which could greatly affect the amount of "heat" haze you have and that is relative humidity of the air mass. The dryer the air, the more evaporation you're going to have from the lake. Moreover, moist air is lighter than dry air. So the dryer the air above, the easier it is for the moist layer on top of the lake to rise upwards. So, my guess is that a warm lake with cool, dry air on top of it, is the worst situation for low photography through that layer.

Interesting! Thanks for the info Duade

Lots of heat haze at the Grand Canyon. In fact, every time I went I experienced it. UNTIL ... I went in the winter - then, it was beautiful !!! Also happens a lot in Florida.

Thanks, that was my big fear!! Here in Italy there is a lot of humidity. In summer it is the most beautiful period because many birds of prey migrate from Africa to us. At the end of July and August there are young and adults (birds of prey) who put on a show. But temperatures of 35/38 degrees in the swampy area are difficult. This is why I prefer to arrive at night, hide in a photography shed and take photographs with very close subjects in the first 3 hours of the day. I use canon r/ and 100-400II sometimes with ext 1.4. This video was an excellent confirmation of a big doubt of mine. Thank you.

Hey Duade, it would be interesting to see if standing shots also suffered as much as laying down at water level. Also, if a polarising filter would help clean the image up in such conditions. As other have mentioned, if the temperature of the lens hood played a part for near lens distortion. Maybe a follow up video testing all three options is in order 😁

Your videos always make my day better thanks so much for all the work you put in to them 🤙 And I'm pretty new so I haven't experienced heat haze 😁

Brilliant topic. I think the term heat haze is misleading because as you point you, it is heat difference, air disturbance. I do a lot of my photography on a large peatland, and the atmospheric disturbance is terrible at times. I''ve had similar problems over water. These problems even occur when it is freezing, but usually when there is direct sun. I've suddenly thought, there's something wrong with my AF, my lens, shutter shock or whatever. I think the most reliable guide is to look for the plane of focus elsewhere in the image. It's clear with that Coot on your photo, where the vegetation on the sharpest plane of focus, is also fuzzy. If you see, some sharp detail on the plane of focus, elsewhere, your focus is off. On the same peatland site I mention, you will get sharp photos of flying birds at the same time you can't get anything sharp on the ground. I've still to decide whether the 100-500 or 200-800mm to go with my R7, as I'm still using the 100-400mm mkII.

I've experienced this in cold temperatures and warm temperatures, in cold temps, removing your lens hood helps and it's also equally important to let your lens adjust to the temp outside.

I like your idea of aiming into the air to beat the temperature "lensing." If it would not disturb the birds, you could also stand up to minimize the optical path directly through that mushier layer above the water. I've got a repeatable lens testing regimen I do at 12 feet up in the air, aimed at sharp targets 250 yards away. I learned pretty quickly that high humidity will also soften focus. When the sun came out and gave you some clarity it may have been the sunshine burning off a condition of near dew-point humidity at the surface of the pond.

Excellent reminder, thanks Duade! Fabulous video!

hey duade, your description of how heat haze is produced is pretty much spot on. Air acts no different to a fluid. Hot air is less dense than cold air and therefore rises, not mix with the cold air. light will behave differently through different air densities in that it will distort or bend the light ever so slightly as we see on hot days. The higher the focal length, the more pronounced this will appear. Its a big issue for large telescopes and observatories, hence why some observatories are located on a tall mountain (mauna loa in hawaii comes to mind) because the heat haze or any form of mirage is greatly reduced from the thinner air. I work in environmental and do alot of field work in the west australian goldfields and pilbara but i also get an opportunity to take photos for work. it gets bloody hot there (30-40+) and so photographing a target is impossible at 30 meters and above. the only way to lessen is to get as close to the target as possible so light has less distance to travel and lower the focal range. bit tricky but patience pays off eventually

It's so good having this info that you and Jan provide. Helps so much. Thanks.

I shoot with the R5 and RF 100-500 combo and I have experienced this on a few wildlife shoots. Like you, I was shooting early morning in a wet environment. I could not sort out the root cause and it left me pretty frustrated. After each failed shoot, I would set up in the backyard and try to make sense of what was happening. I had presumed that I had somehow made adjustments in setting unintentionally. Thanks for this video. I will be more careful about the weather conditions when I head.

Atmospheric haze is a common phenomenon in most places. The extra reach of super telephoto lenses just exacerbates the effect. Take the Hood off! @ 06:38 this is one scenario that can be affected by having a hood on. I realize that ‘joanhuggett’ has already posted a comment on this, but I am just reinforcing it, if you will. I have experienced this, and didnt fully understand it until I read about it from ‘Steve Perry,’ a noted and very talented Wildlife Photographer. I continue to be amazed by your Photography skills, and your knowledge of your subjects! Cheers! 👍

I experienced the effects of heat haze yesterday on several occasions while shooting a juvenile Swamp Harrier perched on a log on the ground. As soon as it took off and went above the foliage background into an area of sky as the background. Once with a sky background, my shots were tack-sharp!

This explains a few things that I've experienced when using my longer lenses. Thanks for this, Duade.

Thank you for this video. I live in the desert, in the Southwest US, and I’ve experienced this a few times with the RF 100-500. I was stumped as to what was going on until now.

This is so interesting. I have never realised it was heat haze but it makes so much sense now. I am in South Africa and middle afternoon is very hot so I will often be affected by it. I was once in a wetland area and all my shots were soft and i actually took the lense back but we then came to the conclusion it was shakes or something but this makes a lot of sense! Thank you!

I experienced soft shots on my R7 a year ago with my Sigma 150-600, and it took me a month to understand that it was because of the new firmware. Thank God I found a solution on KZfaq! My point is, it's not always the heat haze. Sometimes, it's just Canon.

A lot of people are quick to blame heat haze but unfortunately I think part of the issue is the lens coating and only 3 elements are UD. This may also explain the issue some have encountered with highlight bleed and white birds looking rather hazy especially when using an APS-C body. I'd like to see a comparison how this lens stacks up to the RF 800mm f11, 100-500mm with 1.4x and the Sigma and Tamron 150-600mm in this regard. I'm guessing it might perform better than the 800 f11 but is on a similar level to the Sigma and Tamron (I had the G2 which was rather hazy in some situations until you stop down to f9, but going to f11 diffraction kicks in). Pangolin Photo Safaris has a review of this lens with a sample comparison with the 800 f5.6 and it's clear that the latter handles heat haze much better. 60X spotting scopes can also handle heat haze quite well, at least for viewing with the human eye but I find that digiscoping is a struggle due to the alignment and fighting between the autofocus of the smartphone and the manual focus of the scope.

I am very much a novice photographer and do not have the lens referred to in this video, but much of my comment relates to the subject - heat haze. Last year I was in the Kruger Park in South Africa and a friend remarked that many of his shots were soft, whereas mine appeared to be sharper. I noticed that he was taking shots across the bonnet of his car, and I suggested that the heat coming off the bonnet was causing "heat shimmer" and thus causing his shots to be of a poorer quality. Also, he was using a tripod affixed to his vehicle and while filming he had the car idling and this would also cause significant shake. In this video Duade also mentions exhaust fumes which is very interesting. I have also taken note of the lens hood issue - thanks.

You may have just solved my issue. I've been searching for answers with soft images of wild horses. I live in New Mexico and we have wild horses that stay out in the sage fields of the desert. I photographed them many times with no issues. Recently I got a new camera, the R8, and I went out shooting them again, twice. Both times the images were soft. On playback, the focus box shows the focus nailed the eyes. I thought, maybe the animal detection wasn't working right or something, but I bet it was a heat-haze. Weird to think that could happen as it was so cold, but after watching your video it makes sense. I know the camera can nail focus because I pick up eagle eyes at 50 yards. Interesting video. Thanks. My issues were with the 100-400 5.6-8 on the R8. Previously I used this lens on the R7 with no issues, but I'm guessing it was just better atmospheric conditions.

The contrast between those early photos and the sharp swamphen is insane - great video!

I was aware of heat haze, but not on the level you explained and showed. My 180-600Z usually sharp tack, was really soft on some low-light shots, couldn't give it a reason. I don't use the hood but stuck a 120€ protection filter in front. Removed it, no more haze, and sharp shot even without the hood. You have to understand... as you did and demonstrated ... the real reason for what's happening, instead of judging the situation "by simple defaults" ... Too many opportunities to take it wrong !!! Heat Haze, Damaged lens, Hot Hood, or a bad copy of the filter .... A great thanks ( as per usual ) to you for sharing your Joy.... both in success and in mystery mistakes !!!!

Have an R7 and contemplating upgrading to the 200-800. Very useful video, thank you Duade

Great problem solving! Thank you

Hi Duade, I live in Kazakhstan and when I go out in the steppe, heat haze is the bane of my existence!! It was cathartic to hear you discuss it. I try to get shots before the sun starts heating up the ground. It's hot and dry here like in much of Australia (I think...have only been to Sydney :-)

Hi Duade, your timing is impeccable with this video. My friend and I just came back from Hattah last weekend and experienced nothing but heat haze. Admittedly not the ideal time to visit the mallee, but unfortunately came away with about 2000 useless shots! Lesson learnt!😢

Thanks for video, I wait everytime new video from you :)

This reminds me when I first got my Canon 300mm F2.8LIS and the converters I was doing some experiments pixel peeping and seeing awful blur it was supposed to have been Canons sharpest lens. I did eventually figure it out after being devastated for all the money I had spent. It was UK winter freezing outside I was nice and warm inside with the conservatory door open shooting targets outside. I was relieved when I figured it out and went on to enjoy my lens for years even with the 2xII and 1.4xII. All I had to do was just go outside and it was all tack sharp from the garden.

Yes I get heat distortion fairly frequently, when shooting early mornings at the beach or any kind of water. It’s not all the time but certainly happens when I have a really nice shot otherwise. And that’s with the r7 and the 100-400, it happened so much at first I thought the lens or the camera body was defective but the sharp pics are really sharp, and after experimenting I figured out I what it was. There’s a few national wildlife refuges that have wildlife drives where you’re prohibited from getting out of your car, so I’ll stretch that rule in certain cases by turning the car completely off, and leaning halfway out of my window haha.

Doing quite a bit of aviation photography in the, this is a massive issue when shooting planes on the ground. Runways are notorious for getting hot very quickly and with jet exhausts, etc the whole thing can quickly turn into a hazy nightmare.

I always love your detailed review of the photography gear be it new lenses, or camera bodies. I hope you will test the RF 200-800 mm on the R6 Mk.2 as I am looking forward in future to have this combo. Hoping for a detailed video from your end. Keep up the good work. Cheers...!!!

The other day I was outside photographing in -20C. The sky was cloud free and the sun was shining. The sun reflecting on the snow covered ground made all my shots blurry. I was laying in the snow photographing foxes with my 200-600mm. The auto focus was struggling and none of the pictures was sharp. I also recorded some video and the footage got that wavy blurry look like a hot day on the beach. Great video as always, keep it up!

I have experienced this on cold mornings in florida. Did not realize this was the reason. Thanks for pointing this out.

Thanks for highlighting an important problem, especially with a long lens on a crop sensor. In northern Canada, morning temperatures of -20C are not unusual for most of the winter. As a result, I find that a lens hood creates a lot of haze as I move from inside the car, presumably because the hood traps warm air in front of the lens, where it can take a long time to equilibrate. Steve Perry has done some nice comparisons with and without a lens hood to illustrate the phenomenon. In addition, trying to lean on the car hood to stabilize the camera can create a lot of haze when the engine is warm. These may be more problematic in cold climates, but they're very real.

Great information and super helpful in explaining this frustrating phenomenon! Thanks Duade!

The overlaid comment about winter shooting is accurate. When shooting from a vehicle in cold to very cold temperatures you can't have the heat on or none of your shots will turn out and you can't just turn it off before you begin to shoot. It must be off for quite some time, maybe even opening windows for a while to allow the temperature to drop sufficiently. It is the same problem experienced during the summer with heat shimmer. It is uncomfortable so you have to dress for it but I've come to expect that is just part of the game here in Canada during the winter. I learned that the hard way.

Anything over 600mm effective focal length will exacerbate the scenario. In Africa on safari the advice I got all the time was keep it below 600mm. It’s incredible how close the animals come toward you and with my 3 months in Africa back in 2014 my 100-400 and 7DMKII combo worked great as the efl is 640 but didn’t often need it unless it was for small birds. Loads of info on the internet about 600+ and heat haze and this new generation of lenses all have the same issue

Hey there Duade, a very common problem here is Aus, it will give you a lot of grief around water in particular, shooting out of windows of cars and anywhere there will be difference from ground temp changes IE shooting from the shore over reeds then water... longer lenses will make it worse for sure, only way I have dealt with it is to get closer and use a shorter focal length

Such a great video! Thanks a bunch for expanding on this. Im looking at going to that same combo, R7 +200-800 and i hear/read so much bad about it, but this makes complete sense and makes me feel better about considering that combo

Thanks for this video Duade, I had been mystified why some shots I took of a Wedgetailed Eagle feeding on the roadside in South Australia were so bad, the bird was soft and the dry grass background unbelievably messy. Now I know, heat haze! Keep up the good work!

An experience similar to the guy from Holland, a very cold UK winter's day and stopped the car to get out and take a few shots of Mandarin ducks on an iced-over lake, using the roof and beanbag for support. All were rubbish by even my modest standards which I blamed on the RF600 f11(a handy scapegoat for my many limitations!) until I learned from Simon d'Entremont that - as you rightly say - I was shooting through a heat haze caused by the warm car and, no doubt, a second one rising from the water. Great vid as always!

Great video!! I've never had this issue, but I'll store this away in my memory for when it happens. Thanks for sharing your experience with us!

Heat haze is a common occurrence for me, even in the Pacific Northwest. There is definitely a sweet spot during the day when you can shoot over water or sand, or other surfaces that may reflect/store heat. Like you found, shoot other things until the temperature evens out.

Very interesting! I would not have thought of this! Thanks for sharing. My lens arrives next week! Can't wait to test it out! Jodes.

Fascinating explanation, great video, thanks for posting

I had the same experience when photographing in Pilansberg National Park. My 100-400 mkII suddenly started giving soft shots on my 80D. Switched to the 40D aka “the tank” - same problem. Contemplating a probable expensive repair to the lens I notice the heat shimmer on the dam where the Elephants were bathing and having a great time in the water. Quick test with the 100 Macro confirmed the heat haze. I was very relieved and everything returned to normal later in the afternoon when everything cooled down.

Great video of an important topic mate. Here in Brazil we have a lot of heat haze, so it's a problem i know very well. But i am sure there are many out there that have been thinking that it is the equipment that was the problem. So this video will for sure be of very good help for many. Wishing you a wonderful weekend. Cheers, Bjoern

I live on a rather large lake in British Columbia, Canada, and also had a similar experience. While I was unsure why my pictures were soft then, I blamed myself. Using the Canon RF 800mm telelens on an R7 body but today after your video I understand why. We have sweltering summers here and yes the air temperatures vs the lake especially in the morning are similar to the conditions you have explained I find your segment to be very educational. Thank you, three thumbs up, Warner M

I hadn't thought of heat haze being an issue like that before. Interesting and worth keeping in mind.

We were quite excited to go on a winter wildlife cruise here in the Boston Harbor. Temperature was a brisk 21F. I thought at first I just didn't have good enough practice shooting birds on the shore from a fast moving boat... but then I saw some of my captures of the lighthouse. So much mirage that the lighthouse looked like it was on an island floating in the air. All other images stationary objects had the tell-tale wavy lines - every straight line in the image wasn't motion blurred; it was the hazy wiggle of heat. The water temp must've been significantly warmer than the air. 4,500 images shot that day, not a single keeper. My only solace is that there was really nothing I could've done, other than put my camera back in my bag and enjoy the birds through my binoculars.

Great video and very useful information. I remember shooting a sandpiper last summer in similar conditions (early in the morning when the ground was warm and the air cool) and being very disappointed that pretty much all the photos were soft and couldn't figure out what I had done wrong. I thought heat haze was more a middle of the day issue (or shooting from a warm car on a cold day) but now I know better. Thanks for sharing this valuable piece of information.

Duade, I had a situation like this recently in Kentucky, U.S. I was sitting near my bird/wildlife garden pond on a very cold winter day photographing birds coming in to the water. Air temperature was 7º F, or -14º C. The little pond has a heater in it that keeps the temperature around 34º F (~1º C) to prevent it from freezing over. I got some crazy heat haze on every single photo I tried to take of birds visiting the pond. Like you, I had always thought it would happen in the summer, but this time it happened on a very cold winter day!

Currently back in the UK and took some early morning shots. The ambient temp was 2 degrees C but I could clearly see water vapour in the air as it started to evaporate from the frosty land. This gave me the exact same results as you had with heat haze. 150 shots all soft.

Heat haze happens late in summer for me, same as you said, when temperatures change between night and day, typically and unfortunately when the lights gets at its best. There is one more thing and thats focal length, going "too long" in also not good, because you can get that haze or air shiver more often because of that. So I think 500-600 is sweet spot for full frame. Thank you for video :)

Very interesting Duade - Thanks.

Been there, done that, still feeling the pain from it! Australia's last Grey-headed lapwing sighting nearly ended up a washout for me due to heat haze, my first ever twitch to boot! Every shot that was more than 10m ended up horribly blurred from heat the heat differential between the air and ground.

Great information thanks for your thoughts.

Duade, I'm glad you made this video. a couple weeks back exactly the same happened to me with the Sony A6700. I was backlit in my situation and a wide open lake on a cold morning as well. I finally just thought that I need to get more familiar with my new camera, as I usually use a full frame camera as well. Right after I noticed my soft photos I went on the other side of the lake where there was more shade that covered the lake and all my photos were sharp.... so your observation makes more sense to me!

Great video on heat haze, Duade! I definitely encounter heat haze in some of the classic situations you described, but the most surprising to me was up in the Alaskan arctic in summer. My buddies and I kept encountering focus issues and heat haze way more often than our typical shooting to the south. Weird things happen with 22 hours of sunlight!

No limit of learning new things for photography. Thank you very very very much...

Thanks for sharing this video Duade!! Just ANOTHER obstacle us photographers have to contend with......

Seeing your samples of heat-haze-affected shots and knowing the struggles I encounter with my own I can see the similarities clearly. I live in Florida, USA and the weather here today was beautiful except for the temperature (~5C) in the early morning. Out of 400 images taken I quickly purged half due to focus issues and I had a lot of difficulty with finding the intended target. My go-to combo is the R5 with the RF 100-500, I occasionally switch to the RF800 f11but encounter so many soft shots I’m really discouraged a lot.

Excellent video and information!

That's very cool - contemplating something fundamental about the Universe through the medium of photography. Yep, i've had this exact problem too, and at the same time of day, and in the same environment, and only last week, through an Oly 300 f/2.8 'Big Tuna', and i thought it was me. All the best from across the ditch.

Hey Duade! I find it amazing how well our eyes work compared to a camera's AF. Maybe one day, with AI, a lot of distractions that ruin a shot now will be eliminated or greatly reduced. I may be picking up this lens in a few months, so I'm excited to see that great results can be had under the right conditions. Until autofocus gets almost as good as our eyes, we will all need all the advice like this you've been giving the photography community for all of these years! Thank you!

Nice video! I experienced morning heat haze rather often in winter after cold nights (~-15°C vs -5°C) here in southern Germany. Haven‘t experienced it on summer mornings, but sure could imagine it happening with temperature differences of ~15°C between ground temperature and the air on some summer mornings…

Duade, This video is a gift for any wildlife photographer, who uses long lenses in diverse weather conditions. You may have prevented several 200-600mm photographers from thinking something was defective in their RF camera or the lens. Also, several of the contributors' comments added to some other ways to try and avoid the haze. Best of continued quality images to you and thanks for your programs.

Great, honest video. Thank you

Also the lens is for full frame bodies so the circle of light resolved is to cover a full frame sensor so the crop sensor doesn't pick up a significant amount of the light, reducing image quality and increasing noise. You need to times the aperture by 1.6 to get the real light being transmitted to the crop sensor.

Hi Duade, greetings from South Africa . I really enjoy your channel. We experience heat haze in the Kgalagadi (Kalahari desert) South Africa all time. And something we get often - just like you Aussies. After 9am in Summer it is insane as it is often 30 deg C by then... Someone once told us to just keep the shutter button down and pray and maybe one will get through between the waves... not often, but sometimes... We actually just stop shooting anything further away that cannot fill the frame , besides record shots after 9am. light is gone anyway. I look forward to trying the lens hood trick..... To your point about APS-c and Zoom...back in 2017 we got 7dmk2 and 100-400 because they were supposedly the best Wildlife combo...Had amazing sightings and rubbish shots. All soft in mild conditions. Traded them in for 5D4 immediately. Massive improvement and have stayed Full Frame since then. also learned that for somewhere like Masaai Mara , where one goes to the animals...it would have been fine, But in kgalagadi , where on emust remain on roads and spends all the time shooting at max focal length, it was less than ideal ... Someone else we know got amazing Lion kill shots (sold to BBC) and swears by 7d2 and R7, but he puts them on a 500 f4. I firmly believe that the best combo I had ever shot with was the 1DXmk2 and the EF100-400... They were made for each other... So the rule we use is: never put a zoom on a crop if you want decent SHARP shots, unless you fill the frame and have enough speed and no haze. prime on Crop and Zoom on Full frame... best remains prime on full frame. This is just our lived experience, though the 100-500 on an R5 and the new lensblur slider are becoming ever more compelling. We judge a lot of wildlife/bird pics at club and salon level and the zoom lens on APS-C images are obvious after a while. and R7 will never give the R5 quality... Sadly - with birds and wildlife for competition - Gear matters!! the Big glass and top end bodies will always win the day. all the big competitions publish the camera and lens details... Almost always high end gear...

Thanks. I wouldn't have expected the haze then either. I have encountered it frequently on sand at the beach. Often the salt spray makes shots a mess as well. Sometimes above water in marshes too. All of which is why a lens this long isn't on my wish list.

Another really good informative video. In Scotland, we don't get much in the way of heat haze, I must admit. But even less light and the R7 really struggles with noise as you say. And that's with the exposure nailed on......

Great video Duade. Makes total sense and explains why the higher shots (moon, birds in flight) weren't suffering as much.

Many of us will remember the hero (usually Clint Eastwood) riding off into the shimmering setting sun in Sergio Leone westerns. Looked kind of cool in a movie. Not so much in a photograph! Heat haze, heat waves, atmospheric disturbance, whatever you call it, it's not always obvious, but this phenomenon has ruined more photos than I can count! The more magnification, and farther the subject, the worse it gets.

This primarily happens to me when photographing birds on ponds or lakes, any season but mostly in summer around noon. It’s quite the photo-buster and avoiding weather conducive to it has been my only solution. Also filmed a snowstorm recently through an open window from inside, and the resulting warm air escaping definitely diminished the quality of footage.

Wow, how convenient this video was, because at the moment I watched it I was traveling to Chile for birding. I photographed for a few days in the Andes mountains and as it is summer here, the temperatures and sun are very strong throughout the day and the areas are very open, which makes it difficult to get close to the birds. Most of the species I photographed here had problems with heat haze, as I couldn't get close enough, but when I could, the photos with the Sigma 150-600 and the R7 were perfect and full of details. I had never photographed before in a location where it was so difficult to get sharp shots as it is here.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Duade! I am so glad that you have provided this video to show us that we / I am not the only one that can go out and not seem to get any sharp or otherwise great bird photos. I have been struggling at times with my R7 and R5 with the highly praised RF 100-500L lens and had similar results no matter how many various camera settings that I have tried based on many different "how to" videos on KZfaq. I will definitely not give up now knowing that heat haze can get us in surprising ways, and also great feedback from the comments supplied by your viewers about taking off the lens hood if there are difficulties in getting sharp photos. I have always used my lens hood, not only for sunny lens flare concerns, but also for general protection against lens damage due to knocks, minor drops, etc. Thanks again for your insightful and comforting videos.

Hello from the United States; I share heat haze/distortion with our workshop attendees as most are unaware of this condition and often blame the gear. Lens hoods can cause this distortion, too. The air temperature inside the lens hood is different from the atmosphere. The only time I use a lens hood is for side light situations. Also, the more magnification, the more prominent the heat haze, and the higher the resolution of the image sensor, you will see this distortion. This happens in extreme cold, too. I've been reviewing this lens with the EOS R5 & EOS R3

Make a video of comparison between the rf 100-500 and 200-800

I am surprised to see this video exactly when i noticed this ohenominal ladt week when i went to shoot flamingoes with new 100-500. I was disappointed with the soft images and initially blamed the gear, only later realised heat haze was killing my pictures. Thanks a ton for a video as it confirms my speculation. I arm from India and even though it is winter it gets hot gere

Hi Duade, definitely struck this problem in the early morning in Brisbane lately in swampy areas. Temperature around 25°C and relative humidity around 90%. Day temperatures in the low 30°‘s C means ground warmer early than air. So much for the golden hour. Better a few hours after sunrise. It makes you think of using these super long lenses these days when looking for reach as opposed to just filling the frame. The new OM 150-600 is 1200mm FFE, up to 2400mm FFE it’s a 2x TC. For me 800mm is about as much as you generally want to go unless really good conditions. It’s funny how we are talking about this with the heat of summer and our friends on the other side of the World have the same problem with the cold. I have noticed similar issues if shooting across a light coloured path into a grassed area swampy or not. The shimmer off a warm path can be really impactful even over a short distance.

Great advice

Here in Northwest Arkansas, there always seems to be humidity. It always seems that it can be a fight to get those sharp images at certain times of day. We get very hot, 90 F to 110 F during the summer, along with that humidity.