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Photo Forum / Digital Photography / DSLR Cameras / July 2007Tried some new settings
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deserttraveler/ Went to the cabin for a few days. I tried some different settings that we have discussed here. I think I came up with some aha moments, and some pretty nice pictures. These are four of the nicest, but I got lots of nice clear shots. Moral for me: Learning how to use a camera is as important as the brand name. Maybe even a little more. Steve > http://www.flickr.com/photos/deserttraveler/ > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Moral for me: Learning how to use a camera is as important as the brand > name. Maybe even a little more. Very nice photos. Scott >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/deserttraveler/ >> [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Very nice photos. Nice hummingbird shots, but um, not shot with a DSLR so a bit off topic here, no? Shutter priority 1/1000 sec f/3.5 (flash?) > Nice hummingbird shots, but um, not shot with a DSLR so a bit off topic > here, no? Shutter priority 1/1000 sec f/3.5 (flash?) They were shot with a Sony DSCH1. Don't know if that qualifies for your club, but I'll still continue to read the group, as I will be getting a better camera soon. I've just been reading and learning. Reading about cameras and learning about some of the people in here. In the meantime, I'll try not to be a bother. Steve >>Nice hummingbird shots, but um, not shot with a DSLR so a bit off topic >>here, no? Shutter priority 1/1000 sec f/3.5 (flash?) [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > cameras and learning about some of the people in here. In the meantime, > I'll try not to be a bother. That's OK, this is a good place to learn about technique too, I hang out in the 35mm group to get tips from the film shooters. So what setting changes worked for you?  SignaturePaul Furman Photography http://www.edgehill.net/1 Bay Natives Nursery http://www.baynatives.com > That's OK, this is a good place to learn about technique too, I hang out > in the 35mm group to get tips from the film shooters. So what setting > changes worked for you? The main ones were: I quit trying to use the manual focus feature. I would take a tape measure, measure to that spot where I thought the bird would be, then set up something the same distance from the lens on the porch, and set the distance manually and lock it in. It was always just a little out of focus. I slowed down the shutter speed, at times down to 1/250. I reduced the flash level. I used program mode more. I changed my focus setting from Single to Monitor and continuous. I could focus on the end of the feeder and leave it there on the tripod, and it would stay focused. When the bird got there, I would swing to the bird, and focus again if he stayed there long enough. I bought an AC supply so that my camera does not time out nearly as much, and I don't have to change batteries frequently from using the AF features and the LCD screen. When I went on this trip, I was having problems getting good shots and didn't know why. Twice last week, I had the D40x and credit card at the same time, but didn't spring for it. I decided that I needed to learn more about using an advanced camera, and not just buy one. This trip showed me a few things that I hadn't known or considered before. Maybe next time I get to Ritz Camera Shop, if they have the D40 with the two lenses, I may just take one home. My wife can't understand owning TWO cameras, but that's another story. In the meantime, I'm learning about staging the feeders to get the birds where I want them, and making little things to do exactly that. I'm also having a lot of fun and getting some decent pictures. I can't wait to show these hummer photos to my smartalecky SIL who just got a D80 and a bag full of lenses to shoot 4 year olds playing soccer. Thanks for all the information everyone posts here. It really helps because I am still learning every day. Steve >> That's OK, this is a good place to learn about technique too, I hang out >> in the 35mm group to get tips from the film shooters. So what setting [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > > Steve Nice shots! I've learned that sometimes using the automatic settings are best. I was doing some interiors and was going nuts trying to get things exactly the way I wanted them. Fed up, I finally se my D70 to Auto, with an 800 flash bounced off the ceiling, and all of my shots were perfect. You could see out the windows and lamps that were on looked lit. >>> That's OK, this is a good place to learn about technique too, I hang out >>> in the 35mm group to get tips from the film shooters. So what setting [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] >> Thanks for all the information everyone posts here. It really helps >> because I am still learning every day. > Nice shots! I've learned that sometimes using the automatic settings are > best. I was doing some interiors and was going nuts trying to get things > exactly the way I wanted them. Fed up, I finally se my D70 to Auto, with an > 800 flash bounced off the ceiling, and all of my shots were perfect. You > could see out the windows and lamps that were on looked lit. The auto modes on many modern digital cameras are now so good that will often do a better job than many photographers, even those with many years of manual film SLR experience behind them. Not always, but often. They will also do it very quickly. What this means is that you can do three very useful things with these auto modes. The first is to use them when you're in too much of a hurry to be able to sort out all the problems yourself. The second is to use them as tutorials -- find out how they did it when they do well, and learn. The third, having discovered where their native "intelligence" is still lakcing, e.g. in the right degree of over or under exposure you want for a particular purpose, to use the specific auto mode which allows you to nudge the one parameter you need to nudge. Only one parameter? Of coure if you want to nudge more than one parameter you can if you want simply drop by stages into full manual mode, using the native "intelligence" of the camera's auto modes to first get close to what manual settings you need. Lots of would-be "expert" DSLR photographers have a superstituous distaste for the auto modes, regarding using them as reserved for beginners and idiots. They're failing to exploit a good deal of the useful potential in the auto modes, which is particularly silly when the auto modes are sometimes capable of doing a lot better than the photographer. The same goes for autofocus. A lot of folk will discover cases where autofocus fails dramatically to get it right, and abandon it for manual focuss methods without ever discovering how to use the various autofocus modes. In some cameras some of them will even set hyperfocal distances for you. There are also tricks well short of full manual focus in which you can exploit some the camera's autofocus capabilities to help it out. For example, if it's too dark for it to autofocus properly, you could hit the the object required to be in focus with a strong torch beam just to allow it get the focus right, then use that in the low light setting. In other words, you can get a great deal of speed, utility, and often education, out of exploiting the "intelligence" of the camera's auto modes. SignatureChris Malcolm cam@infirmatics.ed.ac.uk DoD #205 IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK [http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/] > They were shot with a Sony DSCH1. Don't know if that qualifies for your > club, but I'll still continue to read the group, as I will be getting a > better camera soon. I've just been reading and learning. Reading about > cameras and learning about some of the people in here. In the meantime, > I'll try not to be a bother. One way to be less of a bother when posting about your P&S would be to sneak in reference to DSLRs in your message. One might have been to ask if DSLRs could in any way help to take pictures of hummingbirds that would be more difficult if using your DSC-H1. There may be no ways that DSLRs could help, or someone might say that the best time of day to take those photos is when the sun is so low that most P&S cameras focus much less accurately with small objects that don't fill most of the frame's autofocus area under low light conditions. In any case, you're welcome to join rec.photo.digital, which is intended to cover your camera as well as DSLRs. It's also inhabited by many of the people that visit this newsgroup. I don't know if you'd consider that to be a plus or a minus, but I think they're both worth the subscription cost. :) > One way to be less of a bother when posting about your P&S would > be to sneak in reference to DSLRs in your message. Very soon, I shall own a D40x, and will close the loopholes. In the meantime, I'll keep reading and learning. A D40x IS a DSLR, right? Steve > Very soon, I shall own a D40x, and will close the loopholes. In the > meantime, I'll keep reading and learning. > > A D40x IS a DSLR, right? Not really. The D50 is the *only* DSLR. <g> i.e., you'll never win. Besides having to worry about posting in the right newsgroups, you'll also occasionally stumble into camera brand and even a few camera model chauvinists. :) > Very soon, I shall own a D40x, and will close the loopholes. In the > meantime, I'll keep reading and learning. > > A D40x IS a DSLR, right? Yep, you can tell because there is no LCD live preview, you are forced to look through the viewfinder. I think your Sony actually allows focusing with the focus ring on the lens, I recall looking at a similar model, it's a pretty nice camera. You might also have the option to zoom in the LCD in the viewfinder to manually focus which is only possible on one or two of the very latests DSLRs. Maybe keep the Sony for a while or sell it & get a D80 instead, you'll love the bigger brighter viewfinder & either one is not much bigger than the Sony. A second P&S for a DSLR owner should be pocket sized. SignaturePaul Furman Photography http://www.edgehill.net/1 Bay Natives Nursery http://www.baynatives.com >> Very soon, I shall own a D40x, and will close the loopholes. In the >> meantime, I'll keep reading and learning. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > the viewfinder to manually focus which is only possible on one or two of > the very latests DSLRs. I feel slightly vindicated. Yes, you can manually focus in the LCD, but it is with the toggle switches, and not by rotating the barrel. Back and forth. Back and forth. In the meantime, your moment is lost. Maybe keep the Sony for a while or > sell it & get a D80 instead, you'll love the bigger brighter viewfinder & > either one is not much bigger than the Sony. A second P&S for a DSLR owner > should be pocket sized. Ah, yes. Now to decide on a P&S. I really do like the Sony for that in automatic mode, and I use it a lot in my work photographing property, but that is only VGA file size, and it the content is the most important part of the picure. I really am wrestling with the 40 vs. the 80 decision. > I really am wrestling with the 40 vs. the 80 decision. If you possibly can, go to a store that has both and hold them. >> I really am wrestling with the 40 vs. the 80 decision. > > If you possibly can, go to a store that has both and hold them. I did that last week, and the 80 wins hands down. I have big hands and long fingers (or so I've been told ;-), but the 40 felt very small and cramped. The 80 filled my hand a lot better. Now, once again, I'm leaning towards the 80. Steve |
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