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mjb123

mjb123

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Ok I've just been out with my camera trying to take some pic using the manual settings, I took my dog for some action shots in water, fast moving water, I even saw a kingfisher but didn't even get a chance to touch my camera before it flew off!! Problem is I'm struggling to get good images..
What's a good starting point for taking good pics, what would be a good all rounder setting, the weather was odd today very windy so 1min it was bright sun the next overcast so getting exp right was difficult!! Camera is can 450d with tamron 18-270!!
Any comments will be much appreciated I'm expecting to be pro I just want to make the most of my equipment!!
 
As a recent beginner to using full manual myself, i found it easiest to practice with aperture priorty first, then shutter, and then use full manual once i'd got a basic grip on those,

I dont think there really is one good general setting for most situations while using full manual. But i'll wait to see if one of the more experienced guys or gals here will prove me wrong:nuts:
 
it takes practice and as for general settings , light can change quickly , unfortunatly it is not possible to give general settings.

if its an SLR one trick i use is set the camera to auto press the shutter half way. Take the reading ie f8 ast 250

then set the camera to manual

set the speed 3 setting down to about 125 or whatever it should be

this should give you better images

Cheers Steve
 
If the lighting is changing quickly then I dont see any reason to shoot in manual..

I like shooting in manual for X number of reasons.. But never for the sake of it.. If light is changing quickly it makes more sense to shoot in a mode that can keep up.. like AV or somehting..

I would encourage you or anyone to learn to shoot in manual. It helps you understand the camera better.. But manual has its place and quickly changing light isn't one of them :)
 
I would be very interested in this reply too, Im a new Nikon user (I have a D3 - possibly running before walking!) but I sometimes have problems having sharp images. I mainly take equine photography and I'm aware that because of the winter events will be going indoors rather than outdoors, so its going to be even more difficult

D
 
A general setting to use for out doors is A mode. Put your ISO up to 400 that way your shutter speed wont drop to low (but keep an eye on it, as a basic rule your shutter speed should not fall below 1/80s if shooting hand held.)
Also if your using a long lens you may get camera shake, has your lens got VR, IS, OS (vibration reduction)?? as this would help with that when using the long end of the lens.

Dee 000 - for shooting horses use shutter priority mode, you need a high shutter speed to freeze the movement. always focus on the horses head (nearest eye). If shooting in low light ie an indoor arena try shutter 320, F2.8, ISO 800. if they are still dark, boost your ISO.

Lyn
 
I would certainly advise using Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority when initially learning to use a DSLR.

In these two modes, the camera figures out the correct exposure for you - and in most cases does a reasonable job. What you do is control the 'feel' of the shot.

Shutter Priority is used when you want to specifically control the speed of the shot - such as to freeze high speed action, or to get the right amount of motion blur on a planes propeller, for example.

Aperture Priority is used when you main concern is controlling how much of the image is in sharp focus - use a large aperture (low number) to isolate your subject with the rest softly blurred or a small aperture (larger number) to get the bulk of the shot in focus.

Since the camera is figuring the exposure, you get the majority of shots reasonably exposed, and so can more easily learn the effects of different number for shutter and aperture.

Once you know the effects they will have you can try setting both yourself in manual mode :)
 
Jellycat said:
A general setting to use for out doors is A mode. Put your ISO up to 400 that way your shutter speed wont drop to low (but keep an eye on it, as a basic rule your shutter speed should not fall below 1/80s if shooting hand held.)
Also if your using a long lens you may get camera shake, has your lens got VR, IS, OS (vibration reduction)?? as this would help with that when using the long end of the lens.

Dee 000 - for shooting horses use shutter priority mode, you need a high shutter speed to freeze the movement. always focus on the horses head (nearest eye). If shooting in low light ie an indoor arena try shutter 320, F2.8, ISO 800. if they are still dark, boost your ISO.

Lyn
Click to expand...


I was advised to use the following by a professional equine photographer:

Auto ISO on the D3 (which is set up to a max of 3200)
aperture f8
shutter speed 500+

Unfortunately I dont have a lens with my new camera that has f2.8, I think the widest it opens is f3.5

D
 
I went straight into manual :D

Watching youtube videos on Aperture, Shutter SPeeds, ISO really helps you to be able to use manual.
 
All very helpful, I'd like to upload a couple of photo's how do most people do it! All my photo's are on iphoto on my mac!!
 
mjb123 said:
Ok I've just been out with my camera trying to take some pic using the manual settings, I took my dog for some action shots in water, fast moving water, I even saw a kingfisher but didn't even get a chance to touch my camera before it flew off!! Problem is I'm struggling to get good images..
What's a good starting point for taking good pics, what would be a good all rounder setting, the weather was odd today very windy so 1min it was bright sun the next overcast so getting exp right was difficult!! Camera is can 450d with tamron 18-270!!
Any comments will be much appreciated I'm expecting to be pro I just want to make the most of my equipment!!
Click to expand...

Unless you unsderstand the Exposure Triangle (lens aperture, shutter speed, and ISO - check the tutorials on here) there is no point in using manual.

There are two schools of thought on learning the basics - put it on manual and learn by your mistakes (there will be a lot) or put it on an auto mode, get good results, then try to understand what the camera is doing and why. I suggest the latter ;)

So put the camera on P (ISO400, or auto ISO if you have it) and start taking well exposed pictures. They may not always turn out the way you want in other ways, so that's why you need to understand what's going on.

When you've got a better handle on that, try Av (aperture priority). And when you're happy with that, have a go at manual. Most experienced folks tend to use Av most, and manual, but there are no rules. You can get exactly the same result using any mode you like, using the compensation controls, locks and overrides. They're all just different routes to the same end - what works best for you.
 
The first question we should be asking you (and the most important) is, do you understand how aperture, shutter speed and ISO work with each other to make the exposure triangle?
 
I never used the exposure triangle as a learning method because it never worked for me.
I like the 'sausages of light' not least because it also hints at depth of field.
 
Phil V said:
I never used the exposure triangle as a learning method because it never worked for me.
I like the 'sausages of light' not least because it also hints at depth of field.
Click to expand...

Curious as to what this is??
 
mjb123 said:
Curious as to what this is??
Click to expand...

If you imagine that a camera requires a sausage ( of light) to create a correct exposure. The sausage travels at a constant speed.
When the shutter opens the sausage comes through the aperture to the sensor, when the shutter closes it cuts it off. So if the shutter is open for a long time at a small aperture you'll have a long sausage of light weighing the same as one from a wide aperture fast shutter speed. One sausage will be short and fat and one will be long and thin. But they're the same weight of sausage ( exposure), the long thin one has the greater depth of field.

high iso requires less weight of sausage than low iso, but the same principles apply. And if you need lots of dof and you can't make a long enough sausage at 200iso, then just turn up the iso so the camera needs lower weight of sausage where you'll still get the length.
Oddly the analogy also stretches to panning techniques if you visualise it.

I can't remember where I first heard this but I've used it for years.
 
Phil V said:
If you imagine that a camera requires a sausage ( of light) to create a correct exposure. The sausage travels at a constant speed.
When the shutter opens the sausage comes through the aperture to the sensor, when the shutter closes it cuts it off. So if the shutter is open for a long time at a small aperture you'll have a long sausage of light weighing the same as one from a wide aperture fast shutter speed. One sausage will be short and fat and one will be long and thin. But they're the same weight of sausage ( exposure), the long thin one has the greater depth of field.

high iso requires less weight of sausage than low iso, but the same principles apply. And if you need lots of dof and you can't make a long enough sausage at 200iso, then just turn up the iso so the camera needs lower weight of sausage where you'll still get the length.
Oddly the analogy also stretches to panning techniques if you visualise it.

I can't remember where I first heard this but I've used it for years.
Click to expand...

LOL Another version of that is filling glass of water, where the length of time the tap is left running is the shutter speed, how much the tap is turned on is the aperture, the size of the glass is ISO, and the water pressure is the brightness of the prevailing light.
 
HoppyUK said:
LOL Another version of that is filling glass of water, where the length of time the tap is left running is the shutter speed, how much the tap is turned on is the aperture, the size of the glass is ISO, and the water pressure is the brightness of the prevailing light.
Click to expand...

Am I the only one not blunting on here?
 
malo50 said:
Am I the only one not blunting on here?
Click to expand...

See, I prefer to see it in terms of bicycle gear ratios...

The amount of light is represented by torque, the aperture is the gear ratio and the amount of time you have the shutter open is the amount of rotation on the primary crank.

You have lots of different ways of moving 10m forward, just as you have lots of different ways of arriving at an exposure value.

Or something like that.

Or possibly it's really a triangle. ;)
 
Phil V said:
If you imagine that a camera requires a sausage ( of light) to create a correct exposure. The sausage travels at a constant speed.
When the shutter opens the sausage comes through the aperture to the sensor, when the shutter closes it cuts it off. So if the shutter is open for a long time at a small aperture you'll have a long sausage of light weighing the same as one from a wide aperture fast shutter speed. One sausage will be short and fat and one will be long and thin. But they're the same weight of sausage ( exposure), the long thin one has the greater depth of field.

high iso requires less weight of sausage than low iso, but the same principles apply. And if you need lots of dof and you can't make a long enough sausage at 200iso, then just turn up the iso so the camera needs lower weight of sausage where you'll still get the length.
Oddly the analogy also stretches to panning techniques if you visualise it.

I can't remember where I first heard this but I've used it for years.
Click to expand...

I can actually visualise that better than I have before, thank you :)
 
Yeah go to aperture priority mode and fix ISO to say 200.
In good light that will leave you capable of taking images.

You could take a number of shots of the same scene with different apertures, later review the relation between shutter speed and aperture, it may help your understanding.

I personally don't use manual unless I'm doing something that the camera won't cope with - typically night or very low light shots.
 
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