Lens progression advice, please

[nomad63]

I will give it a go in trying the lower shutter speeds; as you say, it may be worth having a few slightly blurred shots, rather than noisy sharp-shots, as it really is a compromise between the shot being less sharp/crisp, or losing highlights and details in too much noise...

[nomad63]

RobDickinson said:

Nice, we usually only need the basic exif

1/1000th f6.3 iso 9000.

The results look good, but the bird is static so you likely could have got the same shot at 1/250th ?

f6.3 is near wide open ( thought the nikor was f5.6?) that wont make much difference.

Sometimes with cameras whole ISO stops work better, ( 1600,3200,6400, 12800) so that might have been better at 6400 and pushed a little in post (which is what the camera is likely doing internally anyhow).

Apart from possibly getting away with a slower shutter speed though thats fine, and the results look good. Sometimes you have to embrace the noise

LOL, encyclopaedic version of Exif now deleted

Yeah, the newest version of this lens, the AF-P, is now f4.6 - 6.3 - why, I`m not sure, so the lens was wide open when I shot it.
I will bear in mind though re the whole ISO stops...

Like you say, a slower shutter-speed would have been much better, but I was always conscious of him moving off just as I hit the shutter. I do know compromises have to be made though, but again, you`ve really made me think about relying too much on the exposure meter now, or auto-ISO, which can only be a good thing.

Maybe need to rely more on the what the histogram is telling me - and my eyes LOL; we`ll see.

Turning in now bud, work beckons as always.

Many thanks again Rob, much appreciated.

[nomad63]

Gad-Westy said:

Some great advice here from the chaps as usual. Just to clear up any confusion (I know Rob is a Canon man and may be bewildered by the murky world of Nikon lenses), the lens linked to earlier, the Nikon 70-300 VR f/4.5-f5.6 is a few years old and is a full frame lens, and very nice it is too.

The lens you have bought nomad63, is the brand spanking new 70-300 AF-P DX lens as you say. It's not a new version of the above as such as it is a DX lens but from what I gather it is very good and probably a lot lighter than the FX version too. Sounds like it's working out nicely.

Edited by Gad-Westy on Friday 20th January 16:19

Cheers bud; cleared that up very nicely for me thanks, and yes, the lens is brilliant - can`t wait to get out with it again now !

[nomad63]

Simpo Two said:

The logical error nomad63 made was to think 'Birds move very quickly therefore I need a high shutter speed' - whereas I think you'll find that whilst they make sudden fast jerky movements, in-between those they are fairly still. So the main factor in the shutter speed is the focal length of the lens, and our old friend the reciprocal rule (plus a bit for a crop sensor). In this respect VR can help significantly.

Actually I said this on page 1, just after I suggested the 70-300VR

Yeah, absolutely Simpo - you did mention this at the start, and you`re quite right. My main reason for setting s/speed that high was in case they move off, but when thinking about it logically, they move off so quickly (especially the small ones) when they go, you`ve a job to keep up with them anyway !
Probably better just to concentrate on getting a good, quality shot when they aren`t moving, rather than to try and cover every scenario !

Again, good food for thought this one Simpo, and sometimes it just needs somebody to offer a different view-point to make you re-think something again...

I`m also aware of the focal length + crop factor, so I`ll be sticking to that one for when they`re stationary, which will no-doubt make the ISO tumble !

Thanks again mate; really appreciate all the advice.