£970 for batteries...

[Trackside]

...well, that's all I went into Jessops for, a couple of batteries for my Dynax 505Si.

Am now the proud owner of a D70! Went for a 70-300mm zoom to go with the standard 18-80mm that was in the box. Having read what you guys say about the Nikon, it didn't take much convincing by the very helpful staff in my local (Milton Keynes) branch!

Going to the Britcar racing at Snetterton tomorrow and really looking forward to it! :bounce:

Will post anything that looks half decent...

[406]

Welcome to the Clud (sic)

[simpo two]

Trackside said:

Am now the proud owner of a D70! Went for a 70-300mm zoom to go with the standard 18-80mm that was in the box... Going to the Britcar racing at Snetterton tomorrow and really looking forward to it!

Tee-hee: we'll have V6GTO on board at this rate
You've got quite a demanding task on for Day 1 - my advice for a hassle-free day would be:

1) Set WB to Auto
2) Set ISO to AutoISO

That's two things you don't have to worry about
Next:

3) Set aperture rings on lenses to minimum and lock. (If your 70-300 is a 'G' lens it won't have this)
4) Make sure you have the central AF sensor selected and locked (switch on back)
5) Select AF-C (in menu) if you want the focus to track with the subject.
6) For motorsport I'd use Shutter Priority (S); use high speed to freeze action, or about 1/125 to get nice panning shots. Keep the action smooth; long lenses very easily give camera-shake.

Now go and read as much of the manual as you can before morning! (and take it with you)

Have a great day

[Trackside]

Thanks for that Simpo. I'm definitely taking the book with me (which I have been reading since about 6pm!).

[Tall_Paul]

Good choice! I've had my D70 for a few days, and have taken 1089 shots so far!! The camera is very easy to use, I just had a quick flick thru the manual, the other smaller booklet cover most things, and i haven't looked at either for a whule!

I look forward your first shots being posted!

Which 70-300mm lens did you get? was it the G lens (no aperture rings & about £100-£150) or the more expensive one (about £200-£300)? I'll be looking to get a tele-zoom some time soon, so it'll be good to know how it performs.

Cheers
TP


>> Edited by Tall_Paul on Saturday 21st May 23:54

[Trackside]

Tall_Paul said:

Which 70-300mm lens did you get? was it the G lens (no aperture rings & about £100-£150) or the more expensive one (about £200-£300)? I'll be looking to get a tele-zoom some time soon, so it'll be good to know how it performs. Cheers TP

It was the better one, £249. I was surprised that it's actually lighter than the 18-80 lens that the body came with.

Now, if only it stops raining in Norfolk...

[Tall_Paul]

cool, let us know how you find the lens, as i need to see if the extra £150 is worth it!

Cheers
TP

[dcw@pr]

simpo two said:

6) For motorsport I'd use Shutter Priority (S); use high speed to freeze action, or about 1/125 to get nice panning shots.

i can't believe there are people out there who use shutter priority for anything apart from panning shots. If you use aperture priority then set it to wide open, or maybe a stop down if there is plenty of light and your lens is fast enough. The camera has a lot more control over shutter speed than it does over aperture (6 stops vs. 19 stops) so there is a much smaller chance of the exposure being wrong on aperture priority. Also, apart from panning shots, it is the aperture which controls how the photo will turn out, so you really need to be thinking about this primarily!

admittedly there are a few other types of pics in which the shutter speed is the primary control, but they are few and far between.

IMHO

[simpo two]

dcw@pr said:

admittedly there are a few other types of pics in which the shutter speed is the primary control, but they are few and far between.

Had to read that a few times but I think you're agreeing...!
I certainly use 'A' most often for extra control. In fact, I'd quite like a camera with two extra buttons - one sets it to max aperture, the other to minimum.

[white_van_man]

i was using shutter priority at silverstone last weekend and i got some good results from it, i havent tried using the apature priority i will try that at the next race i go to

[dcw@pr]

simpo two said:

I think you're agreeing...!

no I'm not! I would never use S to freeze the action in a picture, I would still be on A and using the correct aperture. If you're on S and the light changes you can either be left with a tiny aperture and a huge DOF (pic looks crap), or with the camera running out of aperture so it is underexposed (pic looks crap)

simpo two said:

I certainly use 'A' most often for extra control. In fact, I'd quite like a camera with two extra buttons - one sets it to max aperture, the other to minimum.

really, that's interesting. what do you use minimum aperture for? Don't think I have ever set anything below f/8 or possibly f/11

[beano500]

Well it's all a matter of personal preference isn't it? I tend to use aperture priority even if I am intent on controlling controlling shutter speed. And I certainly agree that, in the heat of a moment, there's a certain "safety" in aperture mode.


Actually, apart from a few times using extension tubes or non-auto lenses, I've almost exclusively had my D70 on A....

...I certainly haven't got a clue what all the funny symbols do when you go past the "Park" mode...


...at F4 (it seems) whatever lens is on!



Although I think I used F2.8 the other day

[simpo two]

dcw@pr said:

no I'm not! I would never use S to freeze the action in a picture, I would still be on A and using the correct aperture. If you're on S and the light changes you can either be left with a tiny aperture and a huge DOF (pic looks crap), or with the camera running out of aperture so it is underexposed (pic looks crap)

I'm thinkning of the specific task of motorsport, where (for instance) I want a panning shot with the car sharp and the b/g blurred. DOF is not important to me; as I'm probably using a long telephoto there won't be much anyway. What controls the amount of speed blur I get? Not aperture, but shutter speed.

Mind you at this point I'd like to point out that's what I'd do, but motorsport is your profession so I'll stop arguing here

simpo two said:

I certainly use 'A' most often for extra control. In fact, I'd quite like a camera with two extra buttons - one sets it to max aperture, the other to minimum.

dcw@pr said:

really, that's interesting. what do you use minimum aperture for?

For max DOF, where I want as much as possible to be sharp and shutter speed is of no consequence. In such cases I might turn off AF and guess the hyperfocal distance with DOF preview to help. However, the 'max aperture' button would get used more, not just for situations needing shallowest DOF, but for ensuring max shutter speed in low light.

>> Edited by simpo two on Sunday 22 May 10:23

[tinman0]

simpo two said:

6) For motorsport I'd use Shutter Priority (S); use high speed to freeze action, or about 1/125 to get nice panning shots. Keep the action smooth; long lenses very easily give camera-shake.

1/125 for panning shots? thats the girly setting.

be a man and try 1/30

I tend to prefer shutter priority to be honest. always have.




>> Edited by tinman0 on Sunday 22 May 11:43

[simpo two]

tinman0 said:

1/125 for panning shots? thats the girly setting.

You're right - 1/125 would freeze a VW Golf

[dcw@pr]

simpo two said:

I'm thinkning of the specific task of motorsport, where (for instance) I want a panning shot with the car sharp and the b/g blurred. DOF is not important to me; as I'm probably using a long telephoto there won't be much anyway. What controls the amount of speed blur I get? Not aperture, but shutter speed.

i think we are arguing slightly at cross purposes here - i agree that for panning photos S is the way to go, what I was disagreeing with was you original statement "For motorsport I'd use Shutter Priority (S); use high speed to freeze action". My point is I would never use S in a situation where I wanted to freeze the action.

simpo two said:

Mind you at this point I'd like to point out that's what I'd do, but motorsport is your profession so I'll stop arguing here

actually, although it's how I found PH, motorsport photography probably makes up less than 5% of what I do.

simpo two said:

For max DOF, where I want as much as possible to be sharp and shutter speed is of no consequence. In such cases I might turn off AF and guess the hyperfocal distance with DOF preview to help. However, the 'max aperture' button would get used more, not just for situations needing shallowest DOF, but for ensuring max shutter speed in low light.

I find that in the cases where you want a large DOF, one tends to be using a wide angle lens. as a result you can normally get almost infinite DOF with f/11. I try to never go below this as you start to lose quite a lot of sharpness to diffraction. YMMV

[rex]

1/125 for panning shots? thats the girly setting.

be a man and try 1/30

I tend to prefer shutter priority to be honest. always have.


Got this at 1/25 at 110mm. Binned the other 50-70 though

[tinman0]

i did about 20-30 frames like that at GTI Festival last month and I'd say I only fluffed 4 or 5. i even made a women in a Passat Estate doing it for fun look fast.

the reason i use transvestite mode on my canon is because if the shutter speed goes too low and you havent noticed you get blur and the frame is wrecked. this is especially important for unexpected shots where you havent gone through your "checklist for a perfect shot".

if you do get the frame but the aperature hasnt given you the depth you originally wanted, the frame is still unusable but the "DOH" is that much quieter.