I am a total newbie and am off to shoot some schoolboy cricket tonight, from about 6pm. I plan to have a go using the manual mode and on advice already received I am setting up as follows:- ISO 200 - Aperture f4 (I am using a Sigma 70-200 f2.8 with a 1.4 teleconverter attached) speed 640 - A1 Servo - Centre Point metering - Continuous Drive. I have been out into the garden and have pointed the camera at the grass and with the button half pressed I notice that the metering bar is not static but is constantly moving from the plus side to the minus side, is this how it should be? Amongst the many tips that I have read there was one whereby the setting were as per mine as given above but then the tipster went on to say that they then usually under expose by 1/3 or 2/3 of a stop. In order to achieve this am I right in thinking that I would just push the speed up to 800 or more leaving the aperture as wide as possible. I am using a Canon 50D by the way. Any help forthcoming before 5.30pm will be gratefully received. Many thanks. (Experts please go easy on me, I am a complete novice)
Having a stab at 'Manual'
- Thread starter Bluenose
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- Rob
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To be honest, if you are a complete novice i would stick it on shutter priority
and keep the shutter speed above say 1/320 sec. Unless you really insist on
it being on manual, if thats the case you'll have to adjust for the lighting
conditions on the day
and keep the shutter speed above say 1/320 sec. Unless you really insist on
it being on manual, if thats the case you'll have to adjust for the lighting
conditions on the day
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- Tim
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Whether or not shooting manual will prove easy depends very much on the lighting conditions - i.e. cloud cover. If it is fragmented and continually changing you may end up chasing your own tail. If you have steady, even light then manual should work well.
Metering off deep green grass at around -2/3 would be a good place to start, although you might struggle to find deep green grass at this time of year. If it is dried out and going pale then try metering the grass at around 0. Fire off a test shot or two, preferably including something white (cricket clobber) in the frame and check that your whites are heading towards the right hand side of the histogram, but also check your preview image and look for highlight warnings (you have enabled those, haven't you?) to make sure you do not go too far.
If you need to adjust a little then feel free to do so. Once you have your settings dialed in you should be good to go for a while until/unless the light changes. If you can shoot with the light coming from behind you it will make things much easier all round.
If nobody is wearing whites, and depending on the exact tone of the grass, you may even be able to push the exposure a little higher still, perhaps even ending up with the grass at +1 on the meter.
Another metering options, if you want something more consistent and reliable than grass and all its tones, try spot metering from your own outstretched palm at around +1 to + 1 1/3 and set a manual exposure there. I'm assuming you have white skin. If you have dark skin (not tanned white, but dark) then you might want to ease back a little on the metering.
As always, periodically check your exposures and adjust if need be. You can easily fire off a test shot in between the moments of action and just check that everything is where it should be.
If you are fortunate enough to have plenty of light (direct, clear sunshine) then at f/4 and 100 ISO you should in theory be able to shoot at 1/1600, so I'm not sure you will need to push the ISO too high too early in the evening, unless the light is cack. Since 1/800 ought probably be enough for most shots, you may find you can shoot at 100 ISO for quite a while before needing to go higher.
Good luck. Have fun, and if the light is playing silly buggers there's no harm in reverting back to good old Av/Tv mode (probably with evaluative metering) and letting the camera do the work.
Metering off deep green grass at around -2/3 would be a good place to start, although you might struggle to find deep green grass at this time of year. If it is dried out and going pale then try metering the grass at around 0. Fire off a test shot or two, preferably including something white (cricket clobber) in the frame and check that your whites are heading towards the right hand side of the histogram, but also check your preview image and look for highlight warnings (you have enabled those, haven't you?) to make sure you do not go too far.
If you need to adjust a little then feel free to do so. Once you have your settings dialed in you should be good to go for a while until/unless the light changes. If you can shoot with the light coming from behind you it will make things much easier all round.
If nobody is wearing whites, and depending on the exact tone of the grass, you may even be able to push the exposure a little higher still, perhaps even ending up with the grass at +1 on the meter.
Another metering options, if you want something more consistent and reliable than grass and all its tones, try spot metering from your own outstretched palm at around +1 to + 1 1/3 and set a manual exposure there. I'm assuming you have white skin. If you have dark skin (not tanned white, but dark) then you might want to ease back a little on the metering.
As always, periodically check your exposures and adjust if need be. You can easily fire off a test shot in between the moments of action and just check that everything is where it should be.
If you are fortunate enough to have plenty of light (direct, clear sunshine) then at f/4 and 100 ISO you should in theory be able to shoot at 1/1600, so I'm not sure you will need to push the ISO too high too early in the evening, unless the light is cack. Since 1/800 ought probably be enough for most shots, you may find you can shoot at 100 ISO for quite a while before needing to go higher.
Good luck. Have fun, and if the light is playing silly buggers there's no harm in reverting back to good old Av/Tv mode (probably with evaluative metering) and letting the camera do the work.
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Choosing you exposure settings before leaving the house is not exactly the best plan, every cricket ground is different and every day has different lighting conditions which will change during the shoot. I would advise sticking to shutter priority until you have a better grasp of what your trying to achieve, diving in the way you are has the potential to lead to serious disapointment and frustration.
n1kcy
Special.....Extra Special
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What he said!
I don't see how you can know exactly what settings you are going to use before you actually get there, sure you can have a rough idea but if you use those settings and the pictures start coming out wrong would you know what to do to fix them?
I would bank a few shots early on in one of the automatic modes, (personally I would go for AV mode and choose the lowest setting, as this will ensure the fastest possible shutterspeed), then once you have a few safe shots in the bag, then try manual mode.
Good luck
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Your approach is like suggesting that someone trying to learn to swim should start out only by paddling. If Geoff wants to give manual a go then more power to him. What will he learn by shoving the thing into Tv mode? Not much at all. If it goes tits up on him then at least he will have tried. If he starts out in Tv mode and stays there then he will have moved not one inch closer to his goal.
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Consistent and accurate exposures in light that is itself consistent, rather than exposures that leap all over the place depending on the composition and content of the shot.
If the lighting is constantly varying then that is a whole different ballgame, as I already mentioned in post #3.
Hi Alex, and other responders, No no I wasn't trying to set the metering before I left home, I merely went into the garden to experiment to see what the camera gets up to when half pressing the shutter button and was just surprised to see the meter tooing and froing! Some really interesting replies for which many thanks to all who took the trouble. I really want to get to grips with shooting in manual but if I'm struggling to produce anything worthwhile I'll shift over to AV, which I may have to do anyway unless I can quickly get to grips with how to set -1/3 or -2/3!! Thanks again everyone.
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Cricket sounds just the subject for manual, with players moving between light grass backgrounds, shady trees or even the white screen. That will send the exposure meter all over the place, when the light is actually constant and therefore so should the exposure be.
Set the correct exposure, by whatever means you like, then lock it in manual. It won't change even if the subject does. But you have to keep an eye on it, because it won't change even when the light does, and then of course it should.
Beware the light fading during the evening, or clouds coming over, and be ready to shift exposure by tweaking either the shutter speed, or f/number, or ISO to suit.
Easiest way to monitor this is to find a reference target that remains constant, and in the same light as your subject. You see pros doing this a lot by pointing their long lenses at an area of grass or tarmac, to check that nothing has changed. Grass/tarmac is quite handy because it's usually a mid grey tone so always somewhere around the middle.
It doesn't matter what tone it actually is, so long as you know how the meter reads it when you've set the exposure correctly and note any shift. So long as the shift remains constant, the light has not changed, so the exposure remains correct. If there is a change, adjust the controls so that it's shifted back to the same place, and your know that correct exposure is restored.
Example. Set correct exposure by taking a few test shots and refering to the histogram etc. Select your reference target and take a reading off that (spot metering is often handy for this) and note the reading. It doesn't matter what it is, but let's say it's +1.3.
As the evening progresses, keep checking back on the target and if it moves away from +1.3 as the light fades, down to +0.3 perhaps, adjust one or more of the controls (ISO might be favourite in this situation) so that it goes back to +1.3.
Set the correct exposure, by whatever means you like, then lock it in manual. It won't change even if the subject does. But you have to keep an eye on it, because it won't change even when the light does, and then of course it should.
Beware the light fading during the evening, or clouds coming over, and be ready to shift exposure by tweaking either the shutter speed, or f/number, or ISO to suit.
Easiest way to monitor this is to find a reference target that remains constant, and in the same light as your subject. You see pros doing this a lot by pointing their long lenses at an area of grass or tarmac, to check that nothing has changed. Grass/tarmac is quite handy because it's usually a mid grey tone so always somewhere around the middle.
It doesn't matter what tone it actually is, so long as you know how the meter reads it when you've set the exposure correctly and note any shift. So long as the shift remains constant, the light has not changed, so the exposure remains correct. If there is a change, adjust the controls so that it's shifted back to the same place, and your know that correct exposure is restored.
Example. Set correct exposure by taking a few test shots and refering to the histogram etc. Select your reference target and take a reading off that (spot metering is often handy for this) and note the reading. It doesn't matter what it is, but let's say it's +1.3.
As the evening progresses, keep checking back on the target and if it moves away from +1.3 as the light fades, down to +0.3 perhaps, adjust one or more of the controls (ISO might be favourite in this situation) so that it goes back to +1.3.
Hello Nicky, very kind of you to enquire as to how I got on with my 'project'. I am a bit tied up at the moment as we have a gaggle of relatives down from Lincolnshire for a couple of days and I don't want to appear rude so I will just leave you with my thanks for the moment but would be really pleased if you will have a look at one or two of the shots I have taken and to offer your thoughts on them. I will get back to you as soon as I can, so keep your eyes peeled. Thanks again. regards, Geoff