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Julian Keeler
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Julian
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:cuckoo: I am going snapping some go karts racing this morning, I am taking my 18-200 vr lens. Its an outside race track, sunny yet cloudy, fairly bright (not me sadly:help:) Is there a particular setting I should try instead of auto mode?

I am trying to find out how I set the memory bank up so I dont have to keep remembering stuff which I am no good at anyway.

At the moment I have bits of paper with me for various things I have taken so far.
 
Hmm - not a Nikon user so don't know their terminology

You need , I would say , to set it to using Shutter Priority - that's where you set the shutter speed and the camera does the rest .

For me as a Pentax user that's Tv setting on the wee wheel.

Hopefully someone will be along before you go that can give you the actual Nikon info.

Enjoy your morning :D
 
camerassassin said:
Hmm - not a Nikon user so don't know their terminology

You need , I would say , to set it to using Shutter Priority - that's where you set the shutter speed and the camera does the rest .

For me as a Pentax user that's Tv setting on the wee wheel.

Hopefully someone will be along before you go that can give you the actual Nikon info.

Enjoy your morning :D
Click to expand...

Cheers (what is ya real name)?
 
I'm Anhelyna [ near enough to my real name ]

And a bit like you - I'm trying to recover from the death of my husband last year .

I got my Pentax last December - still struggling with it but my pics now are streets better than they were with my Kodak P&S .

I've tons to learn but have learnt that you do not need to use manual settings all the time . I stick mainly to Av [ Aperture Priority ] and use Tv when necessary.

I don't get out as much as I should do but I enjoy using my baby :) I now also have a new P&S too - an Optio P70 and if I head into Town for shopping, meeting a friend etc , that comes too .
 
camerassassin said:
I'm Anhelyna [ near enough to my real name ]

And a bit like you - I'm trying to recover from the death of my husband last year .

I got my Pentax last December - still struggling with it but my pics now are streets better than they were with my Kodak P&S .

I've tons to learn but have learnt that you do not need to use manual settings all the time . I stick mainly to Av [ Aperture Priority ] and use Tv when necessary.

I don't get out as much as I should do but I enjoy using my baby :) I now also have a new P&S too - an Optio P70 and if I head into Town for shopping, meeting a friend etc , that comes too .
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that, and Im pleased to meet you!:thumbs:
 
Julian,

I am assuming 3 sisters?

Never been there before, even though only down the road.

WOrk on shutter priority, and you'll have to get good at your panning. Have a look at a few of the motorsport threads, and make a note of the shots you like and see what shutter speed they are taken at.

Have a good day, looks like a blazing hot one. post em up later, no excuses!
 
lawrie29 said:
Julian,

I am assuming 3 sisters?

Never been there before, even though only down the road.

WOrk on shutter priority, and you'll have to get good at your panning. Have a look at a few of the motorsport threads, and make a note of the shots you like and see what shutter speed they are taken at.

Have a good day, looks like a blazing hot one. post em up later, no excuses!
Click to expand...

Hiya Lawrie you assume correctly, I had never been before until recently, panning I have difficulty doing but I am experiementing with various techniques. So shutter priority is "S MODE" yeah??

I have been copying some exif details from various motorsport images off here.
 
If you can't Pann, then up your shutter speed. That will catch them in the action. You may then need to add background blur in PP if you want that look.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of 99, Wear Sunscreen.....
 
Hi Julian,

Id use auto or Program (if Nikon use that term) take a pic or meter it and see what exposure the camera is happy with - take a mental note of these settings!

Then I'd suggest going to Manual and transferring the shutter speed, aperture and ISO settings exactly and you will in effect get the same result - try it and see!

Now the fun part, maybe quicken the shutter speed by one stop, but increase/open the aperture by the equivelent - that should freeze the action depending of course upon the initial metering values, leaving the exposure correct.

Next try the 'stop' going the other way, slowing the shutter and decrease the aperture - that should give you a blurred motion shot with the same effective exposure. Now try and pan the camera to match the kart to see if you can capture a sharp kart but with blurred background.

As a beginner myself, I dont mind blowing away a dozen shots in manual - 'chimping' the settings - I think its the best way to learn.


Enjoy your day mate !

Andy
 
Hi Julian, glad you've decided to get out there and try it. Not having a DSLR or a Nikon for that matter, any help I could give would be limited. What sort of shots are you looking to get. As you are in your chair, are you able to get panning shots? Or are you just looking to get some head on shots? I normally play with my settings once I get trackside. I'll start off with around 1/250 or 1/200 for panning for head on shots I'd be looking at 1/400 or 1/500, I normally let my camera take care of the rest.
I'm probably being as much use as a chocolate tea pot and in the heat we're in for today, that will be of no use today. :lol:
Hope you have a great day out regardless Julian don't get sunburnt or heat stroke and I'll be looking forward to some shots in the motorsport section. Don't be frightened to post up the pictures, they're a friendly bunch in there and should be able to give you pointers of how to improve etc.

This link is to Matt Sayles website, a TP member, it will give you an idea of what sorts of shots you could get.
http://www.mattsayle.co.uk/gallery/2010/motorsport/MBKC Three Sisters 28.2.10/
 
Julian

Don't try too hard today :)

Set a reasonably fast shutter speed and make a note of 2 others to use - one faster and one slower .

Write those values down on a piece of paper and give them to your 'pusher' and ask for them after you have taken 3 or 4 shots . Change the shutter speed then to either the faster or the slower , doesn't matter which and take another short series , then change the speed again for a short series . The go back to the very first one you tried.

DO NOT REVIEW ANY SHOTS WHILE YOU ARE OUT

once home download them to your computer , don't look at the EXIF Data yet . Decide which pics worked and which didn't , see if you can spot why they worked or didn't THEN look at the Data and you'll get an idea of how to vary your shutter speed - ie which will freeze movement and which will blur movement - both have their good points. Next time you are out you will have a better idea of what speed to use for go-kart racing :)

The you repeat this sort of experiment with other things :)
 
I keep getting confused regarding settings like 1/250 and iso settings are they 2 different enterties? I really am getting frustrated at the brain not holding in information already given.
 
Wheels said:
I keep getting confused regarding settings like 1/250 and iso settings are they 2 different enterties? I really am getting frustrated at the brain not holding in information already given.
Click to expand...
1/250 is your shutter speed this would be for a panning shot, car/kart should be sharp with wheel motion blurr and back ground blurr. The iso settings are likened to the film speed of a 35mm film camera, ie 100, 200, 400 etc.
As you are working with a remote shutter release button, do you still have the ability to prefocus the camera ie if you lightly pressed the shutter button half way down instead of fully. My bridge cameras will let me know if I'm on the wrong iso setting by the live picture in my view finder going to dark or too bright.
 
1/250 or similar - fractions are fractions of a second, so the higher the number, the shorter the shutter speed.
 
Leave ISO out of it at present - this is what I've been told to do.

1/250 is your shutter speed - that's what you are working on today .

I'm still learning to walk - no intention of running yet :) if you see what I mean.

Your camera will do a lot of the work for you - stick to using the easy stuff for now - setting your aperture most of the time you are out but today because you are taking shots of things that move you need to use your shutter speed .

Today forget EVERYTHING except your shutter speed - just use/ set that
 
As I imagine the panning is going to be a bit of a problem for you, I'd set the shutter speed at around 1/400 to 1/500. Your shots are more likely going to be head on or slightly angle on shots and if you shoot at 1/250 your liable to get a lovely sharp background and blurred kart.
 
As a fellow Nikon 300 user Julian, who has just spent yet another afternoon doing motor sport (lawnmower racing) I would say as you can't pan you are going to have to go for much faster shutter speed 1/500 minimum but more like 1/1000.

I don't use auto ISO but these cameras can happilly cope with a higher range so 800 is perfectly acceptable if needed.

I would also disagree, you do need to check the monitor to make sure exposure is correct they may don't have auto P mode is as close as you get and you need to check the options are right
 
ISO
ISO is how basically how sensitve the sensor is to the light hitting it.
The bigger the number the more sensitive or brighter the pic will be, however this increases 'noise' - which appears as a 'grain' on your shot
ISO 100 200 400 800 effectively a 1-stop jump on each number and gets progressively sensitive but more noisey.

Shutter Value
1/250 is a shutter speed, how long the shutter is open in whole or fractions of a second.
each value here is a one stop jump, progessively opening longer/brighter.
1/1000- 1/500- 1/250- 1/125- 1/60- 1/30- 1/15- 1/8- 1/4- 1/2 - 1second

Aperture Value
Is the width of the aperture in the lens, relative to the focal length, in 1stop increments
1.0 1.4 2 2.8 4 5.6 8 11 16 22 32
The simpliest way I look at aperture is as a fraction ie.

f2, replace the 'f' with a 1 = 1/2
f4 = 1/4
f8 = 1/8

You can see that 1/2 is bigger than 1/4 - bigger is wider, therefore f2 is a brighter aperture. This also effects Depth of Field but thats another story;)


I'm only a beginner too, so whilst there will be better technical explainations, these get me by lol :bonk:

Andy

ps...i should point out that although f2 to f4 looks like a halving or doubling in arthmetic, it not a havling or doubling of light. I read on here that you multply or divide the fnumber by 1.41 to get to the correct 'stop' - or doubling halving of light
 
hehe - I went round chanting to myself for the f stop - 'bigger hole , smaller number :)'

Still trying to get something as easy for shutter
 
Some of these posts are even confusing me and I thought I knew this stuff.

Just stick to one thing at a time. Today learn about Shutter Priority (S), then when you're happy with what faster and slower shutter times do, move on to the next setting.
 
Hooray - my sentiments exactly :)

I was beginning to think it was just me that was muddled.

Snag is there are so many folk here with lots of knowledge who are trying to help Julian [ sorry Julian not trying to do the unforgiveable thing and ignore the man in his wheelchair and ask his 'pusher' if he takes sugar in his tea :D ] that many are forgetting that he's just had his new shiny wonderful kit for a few days and is still getting used to it.

Julian , you need to take baby steps here - one stage at a time . Today your task is Shutter Priority and NOTHING else.
 
camerassassin said:
hehe - I went round chanting to myself for the f stop - 'bigger hole , smaller number :)'

Still trying to get something as easy for shutter
Click to expand...

How about '1000 times faster than 1' . . . '500 times faster than 1' . . . '250 times etc etc . . . you get the point :shrug:

CJS

PS, Wheels is probably out now doing his thing? so the question will not confuse him.

I'm not a motion man, but as he wont be panning. The shots may sometimes be of carts coming towards the camera, would 'continuous focus' be a good idea as well as the high shutter speed?
 
Guys,

are you referring to my posts? Id rather redit, be corrected or remove them if they arent helping!

cheers

Andy
 
Not at all - they are helpful and will probably help Julian a lot - once he's home and seen what he's done today.

They've cleared a few ends up for me too :D
 
Wheels said:
:cuckoo: I am going snapping some go karts racing this morning, I am taking my 18-200 vr lens. Its an outside race track, sunny yet cloudy, fairly bright (not me sadly:help:) Is there a particular setting I should try instead of auto mode?

I am trying to find out how I set the memory bank up so I dont have to keep remembering stuff which I am no good at anyway.

At the moment I have bits of paper with me for various things I have taken so far.
Click to expand...

The stupid man is the one who doesn't ask!

May I recommend a notebook? If you are anything like me, you lose the bits of paper! :lol::lol::lol:
 
the notebook thing was almost the first thing I was told by the friend that started me on this stuff .

The instruction was " get a small notebook and keep it in your camera case. Never ever forget it . You can put lots of wee notes in it and learn from your experiences that way " He still checks that I have it :D .
 
AndyB1976 said:
ISO
ISO is how basically how sensitve the sensor is to the light hitting it.
The bigger the number the more sensitive or brighter the pic will be, however this increases 'noise' - which appears as a 'grain' on your shot
ISO 100 200 400 800 effectively a 1-stop jump on each number and gets progressively sensitive but more noisey.

Shutter Value
1/250 is a shutter speed, how long the shutter is open in whole or fractions of a second.
each value here is a one stop jump, progessively opening longer/brighter.
1/1000- 1/500- 1/250- 1/125- 1/60- 1/30- 1/15- 1/8- 1/4- 1/2 - 1second

Aperture Value
Is the width of the aperture in the lens, relative to the focal length, in 1stop increments
1.0 1.4 2 2.8 4 5.6 8 11 16 22 32
The simpliest way I look at aperture is as a fraction ie.

f2, replace the 'f' with a 1 = 1/2
f4 = 1/4
f8 = 1/8

You can see that 1/2 is bigger than 1/4 - bigger is wider, therefore f2 is a brighter aperture. This also effects Depth of Field but thats another story;)


I'm only a beginner too, so whilst there will be better technical explainations, these get me by lol :bonk:

Andy

ps...i should point out that although f2 to f4 looks like a halving or doubling in arthmetic, it not a havling or doubling of light. I read on here that you multply or divide the fnumber by 1.41 to get to the correct 'stop' - or doubling halving of light
Click to expand...

That’s an excellent post for any beginner to copy/paste then print out for there little piece of paper/notebook :thumbs:
 
Cheers camerassassin,

I know my posts were a bit rambling, a bit technical and I aint no authority on the subject haha...so no offence taken if anyone corrects me!:thumbs:
 
camerassassin said:
Hooray - my sentiments exactly :)

I was beginning to think it was just me that was muddled.

Snag is there are so many folk here with lots of knowledge who are trying to help Julian [ sorry Julian not trying to do the unforgivable thing and ignore the man in his wheelchair and ask his 'pusher' if he takes sugar in his tea :D ] that many are forgetting that he's just had his new shiny wonderful kit for a few days and is still getting used to it.

Julian , you need to take baby steps here - one stage at a time . Today your task is Shutter Priority and NOTHING else.
Click to expand...

Confused . . . I have been at it 20 years and still get confused!!! . . . My dyslexic brain holds me back!! I crack a problem (understand) then a few weeks later, cos its information in isolation, that little section of memory goes into dormant mode:bang: Very frustrating, so I keep it simple, dont try to get to deep, which means I use regularly, what I know, one of the most frustrating things is/was remembering which button for which function . . .

:thumbsdown: by the time I had sorted it out in my mind, usually by trial and error, the moment had long gone! Hens I used 'P' mode an awful lot, then someone explained manual, choose ISO, aperture and match the meter in the view finder to '0' with the control wheel . . . a lot of faffing about!!! and if the light is not right . . . :bonk:

Look for an easy way round is my motto, one that I can remember . . . :thinking: Set ISO, choose Aperture or Shutter priority, fits the bill, an element of control but no faffing, however always leave the camera in 'P', just in case one needs an instant picture.

All very well, but it did not get over the 'remember the button' problem. An upgrade from D80 to D90 . . . really confused me! to much information that I could not compute. Could not go back to D80, info screen was to small for me to read.

I went back wards to a D5000, a D90 in sheep's clothing, with an information presentation that is 'simple, for me' aimed at entry level understanding . . . but has much of the function of the D90, cracked it, all I get confused with now, is which button to press to to access the information screen:lol:

Sorry, a bit of topic, but useful I hope? . . . CJS
 
I've posted on the other thread - but it needs to be said here as well .

Congratulations - 4 good pics there and 2 lessons learnt today .

So when are you off out again - taking the camera [ albeit a N.... :) ] with you ?
 
take a reading off your hand...set the manual settings for that
then use the +/- clicker to adjust
 
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