Nikon D70 HELP!
| Thread | Last Poster | Posts | Last Post | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archive through November 20, 2005 | Jack Kessler | 100 | ||
| Archive through August 13, 2005 | Berny | 100 | ||
| Archive through June 08, 2005 | Berny | 100 |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4288 Registered: Dec-03 | You are most welcome, Jack. Now keep practicing. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 14 Registered: Jul-05 | Berny, Sorry, yesterday was family day - couldn't get to the computer. ;-) About your question: Are you asking me what I think determines exposure? I THINK the answer lies somewhere in the amount of light alloted to the main subject? That is, too much light means overexposed and too little, you get underexposed. Now, please tell me the RIGHT answer...LOL Concerning Auto Exposure/Focus lock with depressing of the shutter button halfway - I guess I KIND OF knew that. That is, most cameras lock FOCUS that way - as did my last camera. However, weird thing is, when I first got my camera, I tried it repeatedly, but whenever I moved the camera, it would RE-FOCUS on whatever I was pointing it at, even though I was depressing the shutter button halfway. However, tried it the other day after reading your messege, and it worked. Not sure if I had a wrong setting or what, but cleared up now. "You can program it to lock either focus or exposure separately, or both together (the default). " First off, which do you recommend is best - together or separate? Second, so if I understand correctly, Spot metering is the only one that you actually you can (or would) do separately as Matrix and Center automatically either measure the whole view or the center of the view respectively? Is this correct? Also, judging by Jack's experiment, Matrix is best left for regular pictures with a slew of colors in the entire shot (like a point and shoot snapshot), Center is better to correctly expose the main subject when it is in the center of the shot, and there is a wide contrast between the subject and background, and Spot is best for more dramatic, artistic effects? Lastly, going with Jack's example set up, say for artistic reasons, I want to METER the background, but FOCUS on the roses - how do I do both? What are the steps involved. Boy, after the last few days of reading info from you and Jack, I am coming to respect my camera more and more everytime I look at it. Hopefully, sometime in the future, I will be able to say the same for my pictures. It's really all so overwhelming, considering we have been talking about only ONE option - Metering - the last few days. Haven't even touched on Focus Area, WB, ISO, etc. etc. :-( But still very interesting. MUCH THANKS, KB |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4296 Registered: Dec-03 | Yes, that was my question. Shutter speed and Aperture determine your exposure. A combination of both. Not just aperture. To set focus lock, make sure that your camera is set to Single Focus and not Continuous. Check your menu and make the adjustments. Continuous Focus is used when you are tracking a moving object. I usually do both exposure and focus together. You can always adjust the focus manually if you are using the kit lens or if you are using the newer lenses that has M or A/M focus capability. You can do all metering separately. Readings tend to change as you have probably observed. If you want to meter the background and focus on the roses, you can use the exposure lock button and focus manually. When using the P mode, you can set the focus to manual. Meter the scene using spot meter on the area you want and then focus the subject. And yes Matrix is best for regular pictures, for now. The more you practice the better you'll get at which metering to use. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 15 Registered: Jul-05 | Running thoughts here... So, according to your post above, I should probably set (via Custom Settings Menu 15) the AE-L/AE-F setting to AE only - that way I can first meter where I want metered by the AE-L/AE-F button, then while holding that button, I can focus on whatever I want and recompose the photo (if need be) by holding down the shutter release button halfway. Is this the best method? |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4297 Registered: Dec-03 | It is a good method. However, the best method is one which works best and fastest for you. That is why you have a myriad of AE/AF lock combinations. I lock both and adjust focus if necessary. I find that this method works best for me, I meter on an area then, if I want to recompose and adjust focus, I adjust the lens until the subject that I want to emphasize is in focus. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 16 Registered: Jul-05 | So you start with Auto Focus and then, if you need to re-focus, you switch to Manual? Or can you lock focus to start with even if you are in Manual Focus mode? Well, I THINK I have metering basics down (in theory, anyway). If you feel it is time for us to move on, then what comes next? Focus Area? ;-) KB |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4300 Registered: Dec-03 | Hmm, try this. Go to your menu #15 and set the AE-L/AF-L to Auto Exposure (AE) Lock Only. When spot or center metering, choose an area where you want to measure the light values and then hold the shutter release button half-way. Once you get a reading and the camera sets the exposure values, hold down the AE-L/AF-L button. From there recompose and re-focus (which should not affect your exposure values) and shoot. Practice that and see how comfortable you get with the procedure. What type lenses are you using? |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 17 Registered: Jul-05 | Nikon AF Nikkor 28-80mm 1:3.3-5.6 G This is one of them that came with my kit. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4302 Registered: Dec-03 | I see, this lens is not equipped with the A-A/M feature. So you have to set your camera to AE Lock only, so your camera can hold the meter values and you can re-focus on the subject. How is the practice coming along? Give it a few more shots and then we'll go into the focus modes  |
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Kevin in Japan Unregistered guest | >I see, this lens is not equipped with the A-A/M feature. Well, I'm poor. :-/ Anyway, practice is slow due to time restraints, but am trying to play with it little by little. Tried it at work a little during lunch break, but couldn't really find the right set up to put it to the full test. Would like to set up a similar shot (deep color subject with plain, white background) as Jack did just to see if I get the same effects he did. This way, I will KNOW I must be doing something right... |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4305 Registered: Dec-03 | I'm just saying that you have to make adjustments regarding your focus locks. The Auto-Manual/Auto feature is just a newer added convenience. You can actually refocus the lens manually after the camera focuses automatically without damaging the mechanism. I still have to get used to it. Keep practicing. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 18 Registered: Jul-05 | Yes, I know, I was joking - well, I AM poor, but that is beside the point as I had no control over the lenses I got in the kit. LOL :-) That WOULD be a nice feature though, and quite useful in several situations. Tell me, when metering (let's take Jack's example of a vase of red roses against a white background), obviously if I want to meter the red rose petals, I would have to zoom in first, and then take the meter reading. But how about if I want to meter the white background? Do I have to zoom all the way in, or just point the spot meter at the background and halfway push the shutter release regardless if the roses are in the frame or not? |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4307 Registered: Dec-03 | No zooming involved. Assuming now that you have the "Auto Exposure Lock Only". You can do exactly what you just stated. You learn well grasshopper Meter the background by doing the halfway shutter release. Hold down the AE-L button. You can now let go of the shutter button. You can now re-focus on the roses by using the halfway push on the shutter release. You will notice on your viewfinder that the shutter speed and Aperture remain the same while the lens focuses automatically. Now take the picture. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 19 Registered: Jul-05 | Done and done! :-) Well, after uploading some pics I took this weekend of my son, I DEFINITELY think it may be time to move on to FOCUS AREA (that is, if THAT is indeed the problem) because several of the shots were blurry. I wrote about this problem to you before (July 26) and you instructed me to make sure that I was using DYNAMIC focus. That is what I use now, but still several of my pics turn out blurry (always seems like they are the best of the bunch too!). Maybe I need to up shutter speed, I don't know. At anyrate, I think I got metering down and understand when, why, and how to use. When you are ready to move on, oh fearless leader, I will follow. ;-) Much thanks, KB |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4309 Registered: Dec-03 | Well then, let us tackle the focus issues. Blurry shots or out of focus shots? There is a difference. Blurry shots - usually happens when the subject is moving. Tell tale signs: main subject being blurry and the rest of the scene is in sharp focus. It also happens when the camera or photographer is not steady. Tell tale signs: things in the picture are showing streaks of movement as opposed to fuzziness. Solutions: try a steadier hand, use a tripod, increase shutter speed. For your D70 go to the menu and set focus to AF-S (single). This means that the lens will focus one time on a stationary object and keep it in sharp focus. Out of Focus - usually happens when the subject is not focused properly, they do not appear sharp in the viewfinder. Tell tale sign: overall fuzzy appearance. No streaks of movement. Solution: make sure that the subject appears sharp in the view finder. Look on the left bottom corner of your viewfinder and check for a green dot that lights up when your subject is in focus. check the picture of the D70 viewfinder that I posted above. Your Auto Focus areas are those five squares, make sure that one of those are areas are lighting up to indicate which part of the frame will be in sharp focus. In DYNAMIC MODE, you can move around those five little squares by using your scroll button. See if you can navigate that first. Go to P-Mode. Set your AF to AF-S. Look for areas that have varying distances between them and see if you can frame it. Now try to focus on different subjects by using the square grids. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 20 Registered: Jul-05 | Okay, well the post back in July were about group pics and some of the members being out of focus. Definitely out of focus, not blurry shots. The pics of my son however, have both. Some, I admit, either my hand was unsteady, or he moved. I want to be able to have nice, clear shots of him, even if he moves a bit (as kids do). That is one of the reasons I gave up on the P & S camera I had. I couldn't get a good shot of him to save my life. Some other pics of him, he was just standing there and for whatever reason, the shot of him is out of focus - sometimes the background or another object IS in focus. That is why I think I need to understand Focus Area better, perhaps. Not sure what you mean by: "In DYNAMIC MODE, you can move around those five little squares by using your scroll button. " Which "scroll button" do you mean? Main command or sub-command? And, do you mean that while composing the shot I can do this, or I have to select first? Cuz I just tried it and nothing seemed to happen. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4310 Registered: Dec-03 | The Scroll button is the to the right of the LCD. It is the one you use to navigate the menus. The 4 way rocker switch. When you move the scroll button, the focus area changes or switches to the different little squares on your viewfinder. You'll see this change when one of the square is highlighted or in bold. Check the manual for a visual. Whatever subject is in this area of the square, the camera will put a sharp focus on that subject. Practice moving the focus area around. Let us practice on this first then we'll tackle the blurry pictures of your son. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4311 Registered: Dec-03 | Page 66-69 of your manual |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 21 Registered: Jul-05 | Ahhh, figured it out. Had focus lock on (the switch below the scroll button). Did that a couple weeks ago cuz I noticed that squares OTHER than the center were somtimes highlighted and didnt know why. SO I reset the camera and switched it to "L". Okay, so got that movement (exercise) down then. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4312 Registered: Dec-03 | So now let us deal with why your son is out of focus. I'm sure you have figured out by now why sometimes your son is out of focus and the rest are in sharp focus, right? You are probably focusing on another area of the frame. So let us look at other reasons why some shots are blurry due to movement. It has a lot to do with shutter speed. First, tell me the shooting mode that you are using when you took those blurry pictures of your son. P,S,A or M mode? If you want to freeze movement, you want a high shutter speed. So now, I want you to put your camera on Shutter Priority Mode (S). Experiment with different moving objects and see the effects. Start with 1/60 and move up incrementaly to 1/250. Direct your camera to an electric fan (if you have one handy, if not use something that has constant movement). Make sure that you and the camera are stationary. Then let me know of the results. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 22 Registered: Jul-05 | 1) I tried various modes in my shots: Auto, P and A. 2) The picture gets darker the faster the shutter speed due to lack of light (I did not use flash) I know that the higher the shutter speed, the more light you need - thus the Aperture needs to be adjusted, right? |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4313 Registered: Dec-03 | For the purpose of these lessons we will not use the severely incapable Auto modes of the camera I really hate those things. Let us concentrate on the S Mode, Shutter Priority. Although the Shutter and Aperture values are interwined, a higher shutter speed is not necessarily light dependent. Don't think in those terms, it will cramp your photographic thinking. What if there is adequte light? Will the photograph loose its brightness due to a higher shutter speed? Think about how you want to capture the subject. Do you want invoke the feeling of movement or do you want to see the details in a frozen shot? Do the exercise and get back with the results. And this time make sure that the light source is bright enough to preclude the use of the speedlight. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 23 Registered: Jul-05 | Sorry, I MEANT that I used those three modes on the pics of my son. On the experiement, I only used S mode, as instructed. LOL anyway. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4314 Registered: Dec-03 | What subject did you use? After this, you shouldn't even be thinking about using any of the Auto modes, except the Programmed Auto |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 24 Registered: Jul-05 | And, this time, when I take pics of my son, 99% of the time I want a detailed, frozen shot. The feeling of movement shots are nice too, but those are more for artistic purposes and will attempt them in the future, when I am more confident on my regular photo-taking abilities. That said, upon further experimentation, with the slower shutter speeds, the feeling of movement is the result. With the faster ones, the pic is overall clearer (sharper) - i.e. frozen in time. This, is not a difficult concept. However, choosing the Shutter Speed, AND the Aperature, AND the ISO, AND the WB, etc. is a great wall I cannot seem to fathom climbing. ;-) |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 25 Registered: Jul-05 | I used people milling around the office (yes, I am at work - lol) and went outside on break and snapped a few passing cars. Oh, and my electric desk fan. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 26 Registered: Jul-05 | More observations: I went to the break room and spun a coin on the table. Using S-Mode, I set the shutter speed up to 1/1000. Unfortunately, even with the light on, there wasn't enough light (LO appeared in Aperture area of the LCD screen), so I had to use flash. Apparently, 1/500 is the highest shutter speen possible with the built in flash (at least, in this situation cuz that is the highest it would let me go). In Dynamic it was impossible to focus on (I could not get the coin to spin perfectly in one spot) so I changed to Closest Subject - and got some perfectly clear "frozen in time" shots. Heck, I even puposely moved my hand when taking the picture on a few, and they came out clear. This, I believe, is the best option for me when taking pics of my ever-constantly moving son. Of course, this would involve using the flash. If I do not want to use the flash, that still remains a problem. Nonetheless, I am beginning to see the light (no pun intended). ;-) |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4315 Registered: Dec-03 | LOL! What a great way to look busy Here is a generalized table of shutter speeds to freeze movement. http://www.silverlight.co.uk/tutorials/compose_expose/speeds1.html Again it comes down to practice. Now when you are on Shutter Priority, the Aperture values are going to be automatically determined by the camera. So make sure that you are metering properly. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 27 Registered: Jul-05 | LOL! I do what I can... Yes, well, as mentioned previous, since Matrix seems to be the best in overall situations, I will leave it set there. But now at least I can somewhat recognize the times that call for Spot or Center. Tell me, for Closest Subject, does it focus ONLY on the subjects that fall within the focus circle in the viewfinder? Is that why Dynamic is best for group pics, or what? Also, ISO is a WHOLE 'nuther ball game. Me thinks it be best for me to leave it set at 200 - until I experiment with that more. Whew. SO many things to think about just to take a pic...lol |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 28 Registered: Jul-05 | Also, although I know you DESPISE the pre-set programs, they ARE a good way for beginners like me to learn. That is, take the "close up" mode. I can at turn it to there when taking a close up to see what shutter speed and aperture the camera determines the photo needs. That, at least, can give me a starting point. From there, I can turn it to P/A/or M and play around from there. Without seeing the cameras interpretation of the needed settings, I wouldn't know where to start. That would be okay if I were doing an experiment, but in situations where I don't have time to take fifty pics, it gives me a place to start, no? |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4316 Registered: Dec-03 | Believe it or not, the best way for beginners to learn is to ignore the Auto mode and go directly to P mode. The only thing you need to determine is if you need a flash or not. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 29 Registered: Jul-05 | Really? Even for things such as Night Shots, Night Portraits, Action Shots, etc? I have tried the P mode in these circumstances with and without flash, and got better results from the pre-sets. Not arguing, just citing my experiences. KB |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 30 Registered: Jul-05 | Question - Sitting here in my fluorescent light-filled office, why is it, if I am in S-Mode (no flash) and I up the SS to anything over 15 or 20, even if I focus on something near a light or a light itself, the F-stop area on the LCD reads "LO" I ASSUMED that meant low light, but I am pointing it right at the light. No understand. KB |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4317 Registered: Dec-03 | Belive it or not the P mode is the best way to learn. The Auto mode are all pre-set, for those times when you really don't want to do anything else but point and shoot. The P mode teaches you to use exposure compensation. As for the LO reading, what meter mode are you using? If you are using Matrix metering, it is just telling you that the light values averaging in the frame is too low to adequately expose everything else in the frame by using the chosen shutter speed. It can take a picture of the light itself but the surrounding areas will be under exposed. Try using spot metering and see what you get. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 31 Registered: Jul-05 | Yeah, the Spot Meter changes things. Sometimes it says "Hi" (if I am pointing at the light, and sometimes "Lo" if pointing completely away, and sometimes it gives an F-Stop reading. Hmmm, I will play around with P mode a bit more and see how I do... |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4318 Registered: Dec-03 | When the camera indicates "HI", it is metering a very strong light source and could lead to "blown Highlights". During situations like that you may want to speed up your shutter speed or narrow down your aperture or you may need a neutral density filter (more on this later). If your f/stop(aperture) reading is already at wide open, it will indicate a "LO" if the area you are metering is too dark to make an apropriate exposure. If it indicates "HI" it means that the narrowest aperture (maximum stop down) is not enough to prevent blown highlights. |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 237 Registered: Sep-04 | Let me jump in again. The reason your shutter would only got to 1/500 when using flash is that is the fastest the camera can synch the shutter with flash. Here is where ISO comes in; to increase your shutter speed for the same aperture with the same light, increase ISO. For example, if you needed flash to get a fast enough shutter for the coin shot at ISO 100, you could change ISO to, say, 400 or 800 and get the same exposure without flash. I agree with Berny, to learn you have to use the manual settings & not use the P&S modes as a crutch. Without being forced to make a decision on the exposure & see how it turns out you really aren't involved in the process enough to learn anything. I'll even go a step further and say IMHO it's even preferable to switch to shutter or aperture priority so you are in complete control of at least one part of the exposure--you now HAVE to figure out what will make the exposure you want. I think while you are doing these experiments (wish more new DSLR users would go to this effort!), you are maximizing what you are learning. For metering, like Berny said the LO is indicating the overall frame is underexposed (remember when I said the matrix metering is trying to get the whole frame to 18% gray?). Spot metering changes things a lot, now all the camera is using to try and make 18% gray is the area within the spot meter area, so it cannot get that light down enough (and, BTW, the rest of the frame is probably black or nearly so). |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 32 Registered: Jul-05 | Okay, point taken on learning is better in P (or S or A) mode(s). I played around with it last night after work, and was able to see the effects of different settings. In fact, I can really see now how the use of metering before the shot (without using flash), can basically give you a pic that LOOKS like you actually DID use a flash. I am getting more and more comfortable with my "pre-metering" capabilities. However, I JUST meant that by using the pre-set modes, one can at least get a starting point. So, forget about SS and Aperture for a sec, and let's talk about flash. Now, if my camera did not have the pre-set modes, I probably would NEVER have discovered that for a night portrait, you would need Slow Sync Flash. Perhaps there IS another way to get a great night portrait shot (than with using the Slow Sync Flash), but from what I got not only from the camera, but various info souces from the web, that is the way to go. I just meant that for a total beginner, the presets at least get you in the ballpark. That said, from now on, I will deal only with P, S, A, or M modes, as I am now "thinking" more before my shots - thanks to all the wonderful info (tutorials) I get from you guys. Got a quick Q: Berny, you said that one actually CAN manipulate the shutter speed and aperture in P mode. Do you mean the multi program (P*) settings? OR just in plain ol' P mode? If the latter, how? When I turn the sub-dial, nothing happens. And when I turn the main dial, it just puts me in the muliprogram (*P) and changes the SS/A set values. Thanks, KB P.S. What is your nest tutorial on? Or, do you still have some experiments for me on the Focus Area issue? (^_^)v |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 33 Registered: Jul-05 | Another Q: Although, little by little, I am learning how to control all camera functions to fit each individual situation, my wife is not (and knows nothing about, nor is interested in learing, how to effectively use it. "Full Auto" is fine with her.) We gave away our P&S camera to her parents, so she is forced to use this one - hence her always turning to AUTO. However, when taking pics of our son (sitting, playing, etc.), or group pics of friends, family, etc., sometimes her shots are either blurry or out of focus as well. Not always, but sometimes (always seems as thought the "best" shots are the ruined ones :-( ) So, would it be best to just leave her to continue using AUTO and deal with the lost shots, or perhaps, whenever I am not using the camera, leave it set on say, S mode with a certain SS already dialed in (a faster one, obviously, to assure a clear pic even when hand or subject movement occurs), and tell her to use the flash when she feels need be? Or, do you have different solution? Also, for these situations, what Focus area and Metering should be used? I really want her to be able to take as good of pics as possible with the camera, without having ot teach her everything that I am now learning (mainly cuz she is not intersted in that). Or, should I buy a cheap P&S for her home use? (last option due to costs) Much appreciated, KB |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4324 Registered: Dec-03 | Yes in P Mode you can maniupulate the shutter speed to a certain degree, but not as much as when you are in Shutter priority, Aperture Priority or Full Manual. You can do that by doing what you just did. It functions more as exposure compensation. You'll notice that in the viewfinder when the bars go from - to +. You do this when you want more or less light to fall on your sensor. As for your better half, just leave it on full Auto or show her how to use the other Auto Modes on the camera. If you leave it on Shutter Priority, would she know what to do if the shutter speed has been accidentaly changed? She'll more than likely just put it back on Auto anyway. However, here is one thing I learned. If she is not interested in photography at all she is less likely to use the "big" camera and will not be apt to pick it up and shoot away. If you get her a cheap point and shoot, she is more likely to bring it with her all the time and take pictures just because it is so convenient. You'll get more pictures that way And as soon as she starts wanting more out of her pictures, she is more likely to want to learn the "big" camera. In Auto mode, you cannot change the metering. The camera determines that. The focus are needs to be changed via the menu. For point and shoot folks, they usually center every subject so the best thing is to put it on single area auto focus and not Closest Subject. Be aware though, that everytime you move out of the Full Auto mode the settings re-set back to "Closest Subject" Focus. As for the next tutorial, what else do you want to learn? The White Balance setting? It is pretty much pre-set on your camera. I like using the Shade setting. It gives the photos a nice warm look. The other settings are there to make sure that the colors appear natural in differing light. Use the Auto WB setting only if necessary such as ever changing light situations. I won't even bother with the pre-set white balance because most of the lighting situations are covered by the pre-sets. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 34 Registered: Jul-05 | Gotcha, I'll try that. Well first, a couple more basics: 1) Regarding the light that comes on and shines on the subject in poorly lit situations (forget the name of it and don't have my manual with me), does that affect the meter reading? I mean, if I am in a poorly lit room, and want to focus on something dark in order to lighten up the scene a bit, when I point toward the metered area the light comes on cuz of the poor lighting conditions. Won't that screw up the meter reading - making it lighter than what I want metered? 2) In spot and/or center weighted metering, exactly which part of the viewfinder do I use for metering? The dead center "square" within the circle, or where? How do I know exactly what is being metered, and when? It's all a bit confusing cuz when I meter and area by halfway depressing the shutter button, it of course tries to focus too, lighting up the current focus area in red. 3) For center weighted, what is the advantage/disadvantage for 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, or 12mm? 8mm, I guess, is the default. Thanks, KB |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 35 Registered: Jul-05 | "For point and shoot folks, they usually center every subject so the best thing is to put it on single area auto focus and not Closest Subject." Actually, she can take pretty good pics (composure-wise) sometimes, just has some out-of-focus shots (as do I) now and then. And, she just doesn't really want to have to "think" so much when shooting - just...point and shoot - no adjustments necessary. Which do you usually use? Single, Closest, or Dynamic? Of course, I realize it all depends on the situation but...just curious. In fact, I guess that is one of the things we never really covered. I now know the difference (basically) of the three, but not which is best in what type of situation. Come to think of it, that is pretty much my whole problem with the DSLR use: I KNOW what ISO is, and the diffs of 200 and 1600, but when to use it? I KNOW the diffs in focus area, but when to use which? You get the picture. So, according to your last post, the WB presets are actually useful and pretty accurate? Then that, at least, is not too tough to figure out. I guess, like I told you long before, I am a "learn by situation" kind of guy. The exercises you explained (showed), had me do, and the explanation of the roses by Jack, pretty much summed everthing about Metering up right there for me. Easy-peasy-Japaneasy. Okay, well, still learning but...I sure as heck understand alot more about Metering than I did prior. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4329 Registered: Dec-03 | That is good to know. Now all it takes is the experience part, and I am sure that you are eager to apply your new techniques As far as Auto Focus Modes, I always use "Dynamic". One reason being, I can always just leave it in the center and not bother with it at all. Most of the time my subjects are not in the center, from there I can just move the focus grid to either left or right and not have to adjust and re-compose. There are situations when you have multiple subjects in the frame and you just want to capture one particular object in sharp focus but do not want to change the composition, so you move the focus grid. It is really not too much of a situational thing, it is mostly a convenience. I never use the "Closest Subject" mode, the focus area just moves around too much and sometimes it focuses on an area i really don't want in focus. Specially annoying in a crowd when some background people are closer to you and the hot chick you want a picture of is 5 or 6 people away. In closest subject focus, the focus grid changes to the closest person next to you and the hot chick is fuzzy. Very annoying! |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4330 Registered: Dec-03 | Now let us go on to the ISO. For general picture taking in regular or even dim light I almost always use ISO 200. It produces the almost no noise or "grain" in the dark areas of the photo. The higher ISOs are used if you are in a dimly lit area and you don't want to use flash. This brings up the sensitivity of your sensor to capture the light that is available in the scene. You can practice this by putting your camera on a tripod (only for the purpose of this exercise). Focus on a dimly lit area with a dimly lit subject and set it to Aperture Priority. Make sure that the light source is not in the frame. Set the Aperture wide open and Matrix metering. No flash. Frame your subject and shoot at different ISOs. Start with 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000 and 1600. Compare the results. Pay particular attention to the dark areas on higher ISO settings. Go! |
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Bronze Member Username: JackkesslerPost Number: 16 Registered: Jun-05 | Though my inclinations are generally contrarian as a matter of course, I have to agree with Berny and Chris Laudermilk. The pre-sets are the -sumer end of 'prosumer'. The D2X, D2H, and the new D200 don't have them - only P,S,A, and M. (That, and the price, tells you something about the market the D200 is designed for.) The D70 is just too good and powerful a camera to use as a point-and-shoot, even if it will let you. It is the difference between taking pictures and letting the camera take pictures for you - which is what is meant by point-and-shoot. If any reasonable snapshot is good enough, then definitely use the point and shoot features. They will save you time and aggravation and are generally pretty good. If you have some idea of what you would like your picture to look like BEFORE you take it, then you have to learn to use the P,S,A, and M modes to make the picture on the chip look like the one you had in mind. I long ago promised myself that I would never become preachy because I hate it when others do it, but I have to deliver this sermon in order to persuade myself. Learning to think of everything at once (exposure, white balance, depth of field, shutter speed, ISO even file size if storage is an issue, and so on) is hard and I am struggling with it also. I think it must be like driving a car. After a while it becomes automatic and one does not have to consciously make all those decision. But one has to work on them in order to not fall into point-and-shoot 'ride-the-bus' driving. The moral (to get really preachy) is that one has to take lots and lots of pictures and listen to Berny. |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 239 Registered: Sep-04 | Yes, the D2X, D2H, and to some extent the D200 are aimed at the pros. On the Canon end of things, you will see the same thing in the 1D, 1Ds, and 5D--PASM only (or as Canon terms it P, Av, Tv, M). By the time you're spending that kind of money they assume you know what you are doing (though this hasn't held completely true). For focus, I find that I am now leaving it in the single select mode where I specify which AF sensor to use--I have become a bit of a control freak there. On the lower light shots it's almost a necessity as dark areas with no contrast will foil any AF system, so you have to find some contrasty spot for the camera to focus on. After a while it becomes second nature & takes a split second to pick the focus point. The ISO settings give us digital shooters a third variable in setting exposure--at least moreso than when we used to shoot film where you were stuck for the whole roll. Basically the way I look at it is if you cannot get an acceptable shutter speed with the lens wide open, it's time to bump the ISO up until you can. For much of my shooting, I'm all the way up to ISO3200 with the trusty 50mm opened up to f1.8 and my shutter speeds will hover right around 1/50-1/100; without that ISO setting I would have to use flash or blow off the session. The drawback of higher ISO as Berny alluded to is noise. The higher the ISO, the higher the gain on your chip and noise becomes more apparent. Some cameras (cough-20D-cough) handle it extremely well, while others like most P&S have trouble with it. The good news is there are some wonderful software packages that work magic and can deal with most if not all of the noise. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 36 Registered: Jul-05 | Berny, I will play with the ISO today at work whilst sluffing off. <('o')> LOL! However, above I posted two separate posts in a row and you might have missed the first one as your reply directly addressed the second. Here it is again: Well first, a couple more basics: 1) Regarding the light that comes on and shines on the subject in poorly lit situations (forget the name of it and don't have my manual with me), does that affect the meter reading? I mean, if I am in a poorly lit room, and want to focus on something dark in order to lighten up the scene a bit, when I point toward the metered area the light comes on cuz of the poor lighting conditions. Won't that screw up the meter reading - making it lighter than what I want metered? 2) In spot and/or center weighted metering, exactly which part of the viewfinder do I use for metering? The dead center "square" within the circle, or where? How do I know exactly what is being metered, and when? It's all a bit confusing cuz when I meter and area by halfway depressing the shutter button, it of course tries to focus too, lighting up the current focus area in red. 3) For center weighted, what is the advantage/disadvantage for 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, or 12mm? 8mm, I guess, is the default. Much appreciated. KB |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4337 Registered: Dec-03 | 1.) The light that comes on is called Focus-Assist. It helps the lens focus on subjects that is poorly lit. And it does not affect the meter reading. 2.) Look at the illustration that I posted above. The metering area for spot is dead center. The center weight is inside the circle. 3.) There are no advantages for the mm size. It just gives you a general idea of how much of the spot you are metering. I leave mine at 8mm and I don't mess with it. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4357 Registered: Dec-03 | Kevin, How goes the practice? |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 37 Registered: Jul-05 | Sorry for the delay in response. Friday was a company holiday and I spend ALL day and ALL night preparing for a Thanksgiving Dinner Party I was giving for 12 Japanese and Western friends. IT went off without a hitch, but then yesterday I was completely exhausted. Just got back to work today and feeling a bit better. As for the practice with ISO, I found the obvious: The higher the ISO, the more grainy the picture, however, not as much as I expected. The D70 must handle it relatively well? What I do not understand is, how does one CHOOSE between say 200 ISO and 400 (or even 600) in a particular situation? I hear that the 200 is the best overall to go with in "normal" situations, but sometimes the lighting difference is so subtle, how does one just "know" that "in this situation, I better dial it up to 400 (or 600)"? Same with the range from 400-800, 600-1000, etc.? Definitions and functions I basically know. It is the situational stuff I am lost in (yes, yes, I know; "practice, practice, practice".) LOL! At least now, thanks to you guys, Metering and, to some extent, Focus Area, I am able to "see" the situation for what it is and choose more accurately. KB |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4361 Registered: Dec-03 | Kevin, You say you do not understand how to choose between ISO settings? Keep in mind that the ISO settings control the sensor's sensitivity to light. Consider this... You have assessed the situation and you have made a conscious decision to use the available light, You take the shot but the shutter speed is too slow to get a sharp picture. If you increase the shutter speed, the photo is now too dark, but you have struck a balance that will let you take a handheld photo and considerable sharpness. You have opened up the aperture to its maximum, but the photo is still too dark. What do you do? |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 242 Registered: Sep-04 | I answered that question in my last post, when the lens is wide open & you still cannot get an acceptably fast shutter speed, you bump the ISO up until you can. BTW, there is a solution to the noise with software. The best noise-reduction software packages are Noise Ninja, Noiseware, or Neat Image. I use Noiseware myself. Off topic, you guys would have been amused with my sister & I on Thanksgiving; we both had our cameras with us (my 20D & her D100) & traded for a while. It was kind of like two monkeys trying to figure out rocket science. LOL |
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Kevin in Japan Unregistered guest | Berny, Perhaps I should clarify. I guess what I meant was, though we DSLR users have the luxury of reviewing a pic and then tweaking the camera to clean up the next one (providing all conditions being equal), how about for those who are using plain ol' film SLR cameras? They have to know which film to use in a particular situation and cannot check to see if they are right until way later. Also, what about the situations where there is no time to review and tweak? When things are happening so fast that you want to get the best shots possible out your initial judgement and setting of the camera based on the situation? I guess that is what I have really wondered all along. How do I know which ISO setting (or, focus area, aperture, ss, etc. as the case might be) is best in a given situation? In answering my own question, I suppose the only "magic" way is through taking thousands and thousands of pics in every situation you can think of, so that it becomes second nature and you just "know" that in a give shot, ISO should be, for example, 600, SS - 1/30th, Aperture - F whatever, Focus Area - Dynamic, etc. etc. etc.) WHEW. Just so much to think about when one wants to take a decent pic of something NOW! Hard to get the mind around. LOL! |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4371 Registered: Dec-03 | Kevin, No worries, I was in the same boat. While using film I used to debate about ASA/DIN (film type as determined by sensitivity to light and speed)all the time. I only used ASA 800 or 1000 only after determining the situation prior to the event. On the fly decisions is a matter of experience and how you assess the situation and how you read the meter. This can also be handled by the camera automatically if you set the ISO to Auto. You can do other tweaks manually. Again this one goes with experience and the only way to get experience is to shoot constantly. |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 244 Registered: Sep-04 | This is one of the big advantages of digital: you get to choose the ISO setting on a per-frame basis. With film you have to make a judgement on what the conditions will be for that entire roll (and, of course have the appropriate film in your kit at the time ;) ). Digital allows you to make the choice just before you shoot. Better yet, if you shoot RAW, you now have 2 stops of adjustment available on top of that. If you expect things to move quickly, one thing to do is take a few test shots before the action starts & get a good idea of your settings. Then fire away without worrying too much. |
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Kevin in Japan Unregistered guest | Chris (and Berny), Good point. A few test shots prior to the main shooting would give one a good idea, however, especially when dealing with ISO, it is hard (if not impossible) to actually see any noise due to high ISO on the little LCD screen. One can only really see if the pic is bright enough or not. At any rate, I suppose once one shoots enough in various lighting situations, they come to just "know" when to use a particular ISO setting, and how bright the pic will be vs. how much noise they will get. Then can choose their preference -a brighter pic with a little extra noise, or a little darker pic that will be clearer. Chris, what did you mean by "if you shoot RAW, you now have 2 stops of adjustment available on top of that"? I have only messed around with RAW a little. As you know, I use Mac (not that it matters, as I COULD buy a 3rd party software) and the iPhoto 5 that comes with the OS package. It "handles" RAW which I really didn't understand until recent (and not so sure I'm 100% yet). Apparently, it "reads" the RAW pic, and makes a copy of ITS interpretation of it (different, I guess, from other software packages that actually take the ORIGINAL RAW pic off the camera). The pic is still in RAW form (that is, it is saved and labeled "RAW"), and can be manipulated and then the tweaked photo can be saved as a jpg. I guess what it boils down to is that since the iPhoto RAW pic is its own intepretation, there is a little quality loss as compared to the RAW photos of other softwares - but still better than the highest quality jpg setting photos of the camera. Again, I THINK this is what it means. I am really interested in dealing with RAW photos. I like the idea of it being the "digital" equiv of a negative. The highest detail/quality pic possible - and then one can go from there to detail it to beauty. I just don't want to have to pay an extreme amount of money for the software. I mean, I think the enhancements that iPhoto does are actually quite good - at least for what I need them for (for now). But since I have never used RAW in any other software, I have not been able to compare a true RAW photo with an identical one with the iPhoto's interp. to see if there is really much difference or not. Would be interesting. Anyway, sorry for the ramble, but I would appreciate any insight into RAW quality and working with RAW that you might have.... KB |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 245 Registered: Sep-04 | No problem. You will have to shoot a little at the differnet ISO settings to get a feel for the noise you will be getting. After a while you will know where you should be & the camera will essentially let you know if you got it right (shutter speed about where you want if you hit it, too slow if you set ISO low, & too fast if you set it too high). The preview is realy only good for general review like is it completely blown, is the composition basically ok. Remember that the histogram is only luminance and will not show individual blown channels (this is what spending the thousands of dollars the top-line pro DSLRs gets you among other goodies). RAW is a whole other can of worms. It is what the name indicates: the raw data directly from the sensor with no processing done by the camera. This means you have to use conversion software to arrive at a final image file (usually TIFF, JPG, or some will go to PSD). I'm not sure what Nikon packages with their DSLRs & know that they sell a converter separately. Photoshop CS & CS2 have Adobe Camera Raw available (v 2.4 & 3.2 respectively now), there is also Phase One Capture One. I think that new Aperture program is now hitting the shelves & is a RAW converter (don't hold me to it though, I'm paying very little attention to what it actually is, being a Mac-only package). I'm not sure what else is available on Mac (I know Bibble & the Pixmantec packages are Windows only). What you can do in the conversion program somewhat depends on what it offers. All of them will allow you to make exposure adjustments, usually by +/-2 stops, you can make white balance adjustments and set the white and black points. The better ones will allow you to set your curves adjustment, crop, and straighten the image. You should also be able to adjust each of the channels individually, so a single blown channel can possibly be fixed. The biggest advantage is that all this adjustment happens BEFORE the final image file is created, so all these changes are non-destructive. The downside is you will have the RAW file (in your case a NEF probably about 6MB in size) and have to spend some computer time to convert the files. In my workflow, I use a viewer that can read my RAW files, delete the really bad ones, and tag the ones I want to spend the time on--this usually boils down to 10-25% of the shots taken. Here's a good article to start you off: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/u-raw-files.sht ml They have several there & a google search will keep you busy for months. Once you've played with it for a while & know what's involved, it's up to you to decide if it's worth the extra effort for dealing with that format. |
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Lynn Kay Unregistered guest | I use my D70 for an itty bitty children's portrait business out of my home. The lenses I have work great for that. Recently my grandmother passed. I did not inherit the rings, but I would like to photograph them and some other jewelry for a heritage album. I have no other need for a Macro lens right now (nor the money). Am I better off with a close up filter or extension tubes? What brands? I saw some "Bower" stuff and "Asian" stuff I never heard of. Does that mean it is crummy? Thank you. P.S. The lenses I currently have: the 18-70 Nikkor that came with the kit (67mm), 70-300 Nikkor (62mm) and a 28-85 Nikkor (62mm). P.S. If someone already answered this, can you give me the approximate date. I have read through a bit of the archives already -- good stuff though, thanks! |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4413 Registered: Dec-03 | Go here http://www.tabletopstudio.com/documents/jewelry_photography.htm http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/19002.html For close up filters I would go with Tiffen or Hoya. If you are not going to be holding on to these filters you can go with cheap ones like Quantaray or the ones made for Adorama. Have you tried renting the lenses? |
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Kevin in Japan Unregistered guest | Hey Berny (and others). Got a couple Qs for ya all: Then 10th floor condo I live in is located on top of a hill overlooking the city in a valley, with mountains in the back ground. Last night was a very clear night, and I noticed the moon (not full) was just above the crest of the distant mountains. The moonlight couple with the lights from the valley silhouetted the mountains nicely, so I thot that would make for beautiful pic. As the moon was soon going to disappear behind the mountains, I whipped out my D70, zoom lens, and tripod, set the quality to RAW and largest size, spun the dial to the preset "night landscap" and clicked away. __________________________________________________ EDITOR'S NOTE: Now, before I go on, let me explain that, the REASON I used the much hated (lol) preset was, were I to adjust the cameral myself for the occasion, after numorous trial and errors, by the time I got it right (assuming I could), the moon would have completely disappeard and I would have been left with only a couple, if any "decent" pics. -------------------------------------------------- After viewing the pics on the computer, I noticed the following: 1) On several of the pics, there seemed to be a reflection (a blurry one) of the moon. Could this be due to the filter I have over the lens? If so, any way to correct it without removing the filter? 2) The pics seemed a bit grainy - especially when zoomed in on even in the least bit. Is this normal for night shots? Any way correct this? 3) So I do not have to use the preset for these types of shots in the future, any good "rule of thumb" to remmeber for them? Is P, S, or M best? How about Aperture/Shutter Speed/etc.? Much thanks, KB |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4426 Registered: Dec-03 | 1.Unless I see an actual picture and your EXIF data a more thorough evaluation will be difficult. What kind of filter do you have over the lens and why? Remove the filter, it is not necessary, if you are to use one get one from nikon. It is a thin mount and will not affect your images. What was your aperture setting? What was the shutter speed? 2. If it is grainy, check your ISO setting. If it is still grainy at low ISO, check the long exposure noise reduction on the menu. 3. Try a manual setting. f/11 or f/16 @ 1/200 or 1/250. Focus manually. What lens are you using? |
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Kevin in Japan Unregistered guest | Wow, that was fast! Hmmmm...I knew this would be a problem. Unfortunately, I left the camera and pics at home today, so I will have to post the info later. I thought (hoped) the answer might be a little simpler so I didn't bother to bring the stuff. Well, a friend of mine who likes photography (he studied in in HS and was head of the HS Album team) recommended using a filter to protect the lens from getting scratched. Side note: Funny thing is, though he knows more than I do about using an SLR camera (or, at least KNEW more - prior to me "studying" on this forum), at this time he uses only a P&S - thought he is envious of my D70. HE is just too cheap to buy one. :-) I bought the filter at a photo shop in the Philippines when I was there on business in August. It is not a Nikon filter, but the shop was a professional shop which sold mostly Nikon (some Cannon and others) and that was the only brand of filter (can't remember the name) they sold, so I assumed it was the next best thing to a Nikon filter. I used teh 300mm lense. I could possibly upload some of the pics either tonight or tomorrow if you would like to see them. They are in RAW tho - a bit large, no? |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4427 Registered: Dec-03 | With the D70, a filter is not necessary. If you just don't want it to get scratched, keep the lens cap on until you are ready to use it. Some say that the filter protects the lens just in case it gets dropped! If you drop your lens...you have more problems to worry about, specially if it is attached to the camera. The protection offered by the filter will be the same as keeping the lens hood on the lens. RAw is a bit large, you might want to convert to jpeg at about 600 size. |
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Kevin in Japan Unregistered guest | AH HA! If by "lens hood" you mean that black-colored dealie with the wavy-type edge I often see (on the street, on the internet, in magazines, etc.) the D70 and other DSLR cameras have on them, I do not have. Did not come in my kit. Was it supposed to, or is that just an option that people normally buy? I always wondered where they got it from and what it was for. Is it just for protection, or does it have another purpose? |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4428 Registered: Dec-03 | The hood should have come with your 300 mm lens. The lens hood usually comes with the lenses and some don't come with one at all. You can purchase it separately. The lens hood helps prevent lens flares. It was not meant for protection. |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 249 Registered: Sep-04 | A moon shot is a difficult one. My thoughts are you are likely seeing lens flare; in other words, since the lens was pointed directly at the light source there is some bouncing around inside the lens elements--yes that can also include the filter. This is why lens hoods are used, the protection is a nice side effect. This might be fixed in PS with the healing brush. The shot sounds like a fun challenging one. Here is what I'd try: use aperture-priority or full manual & try different exposures. For best results I would take two exposures, one to get the best exposure for the moon and the seecond for the mountians & sky. Then in PS I would optimize each for it's part of the image and merge the two. No, it's not cheating, it's using the tools available to you (don't think the giants of photography...cough-Ansel Adams-cough...didn't do that in the darkroom). Now shooting in RAW you have done yourself a favor in that you can try and develop two versions to come up with those two exposures (max of 4 stops different from each other), while the might not be "perfect" for the purpose it will work. I have done that a couple of times with some success. I would expect a night shot to be somewhat grainy. Grab some trials of noise reduction software. Noise Ninja, Noiseware, Neat Image, anf Grain Surgery are what comes to mind. The first three are the big dogs in that field & I use Noiseware. What the noise reduction mode is for is to deal with hot or stuck pixels; the camera will take the shot, then take an identical "black frame" shot which is used to detect the hot pixels and filter them out in the actual image. The effect you will immediately notice is it seems to take forever to take the shot as the camera is taking two identical exposures. |
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KeithVLK Unregistered guest | Just a quick question...is the SB800 compatable with the D70, or is the SB600 the "goes" with the D70 |
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KeithVLK Unregistered guest | Just a quick question...is the SB800 compatable with the D70, or is the SB600 the one that "goes" with the D70 |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4464 Registered: Dec-03 | They are both compatible with the D70. The SB-800 and SB-600 is compatible with all Nikon cameras old and new. No such thing as "goes" with the D70. Both speedlights will work well with any Nikon. Of course, the marketing is geared towards the SB-800 as it costs more than the SB-600, but they both work great. So take your pick and you'll be happy with either one. |
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keithVLK Unregistered guest | thanks berny...keithVLK ps...sorry for the double post |
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Unregistered guest | Berny, I recently purchased a D200 - it came in the mail today. I'm having the same problem that someone above had with their D70, but I didn't see an answer. Inside shots come out wonderful. However, when I try to go "outside" and take a picture - I get "ERR" every time. The shutter releases, but the picture doesn't come out. I'm using the lens that came with the camera (a 18-70 DX) and this only happens in "P" auto mode. The other modes (A, M, and S) all work fine for outside shots. Any ideas as to why the camera doesn't work for outside or bright shots in the "P" mode? I'm very frustrated at this point and I'm just going to send the thing back, but I really want to try it again and it worries me that the camera can malfunction like this. Thanks! |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4991 Registered: Dec-03 | Sounds like a camera problem. Try this (from Nikon) Remove all accessories from the camera. Install a freshly charged battery into the camera. If your Nikon camera offers resets such as the two-button reset or a hardware reset please follow those instructions provided in the product manual. I haven't encountered a problem like that. Is it really bright outside when this happens? You may have to stop down manually. |
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Unregistered guest | my d70 images have some spots.although i change the lens , same spots appear on the image. i don't know how it appears. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 6584 Registered: Dec-03 | Clean the lens or you could be a candidate for a sensor cleaning. Do a google search on "Nikon D70 sensor cleaning". |
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Unregistered guest | thanks berny |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 6587 Registered: Dec-03 | Roy, Make sure that you do not use any canned compressed air, they may be contaminated with oils that you DO NOT want on your sensor. |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 293 Registered: Sep-04 | If the sopts don't move & stick around even with a lens change, that sounds a lot like sensor dust to me. Take a look here: http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning He has a very throrough page & a good set of products if you choose to purchase from him. I recently got one of the packages & am quite happy with the results. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 38 Registered: Jul-05 | Berny - Long time no write. Been swamped at work and barely enough time to even take pics of my kid. Damn shame. :-P Anyway, got a couple questions for ya - if you would be so kind: 1) What is the best setting to use for photographing lightening? Figure BOTH daytime and nightime lightening. 2) I've heard (or read) somewhere that some photographers go by the philosophy that they are not photographing objects; but rather, they are photographing light, and how it is reflected by various objects. Would you agree with that statement? I ask because it struck me as an interesting way to look at photography (coming from someone who has NEVER taken a photography class). I mean, I think sometimes people are so caught up with the objects in the picture, thought they "compensate" or "adjust" for the light, that's as far as it goes. They don't really consider it past that. Just thought it was an interesting (dare I say profoundly abstract?) way of looking at taking a pic - and was curious on your take. Regards, KLB |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 6903 Registered: Dec-03 | Kevin...How ya doin'? Haven't read from you in a while. Life kind of took over, huh? Oy, it happens! Lightning is best taken at no wider than f/16 stopped down if the exposure is going to be a lot longer. Manual focus and set it to one point in the horizon. You also need a tripod to steady the camera for the long exposures, of course. Set the shutter to bulb anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on the interval of lightning in your area. And make sure you and you gear are sheltered properly Photography - it actually means writing with light. Painting with light, if you would. And yes even your eyes see light being reflected by various objects, hence no reflection no light and you are in total darkness, don't you think. That is why there are various lighting methods and techniques to shine light on your subject and manipulate the way it reflects back to your lens. So yes, I do subscribe to that thinking. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 39 Registered: Jul-05 | Bern - Thanks for the reply. Yeah, life took over. LOL You still in Korea? Think I'm heading there for a little R&R next month or in May. I mentioned that I hardly even get any pics taken of my boy anymore. But I have been forcing myself recently to try anytime I get a chance. Photographing kids is TOUGH! Especially in crowed play areas. The other day, we took him to a litte indoor playground in a mall. I must have took 30 pics in about a 15 min span and maybe 1 or 2 turned out "decent". Anymore, when I go out with the wife and kid, I rarely take the smaller "usual" lens with me. I take my zoom lense cuz I like to fill the picture, and it's much easier to do that with the bigger lense. Sometimes it proves to be too much (like at the indoor playground), but usually I can back up enough to compensate. At home (or when I know I will be in a confined area), I usually use the shorter lense. Kid just moves to darn much for zoom in those situations. Might snap a pic of his elbow if I'm lucky. Anyway, any advice on this? I was looking back at some of the posts (questions) I had and the answers you and a couple of the others replied. Man, I forgot a BUNCH of stuff. I just do not have the time recently to keep at it enough for it to become second nature. Meter, area, F-stops, WB, shutter speed, etc...WHEW! It's just all too much for my little processor to handle. LOL! Maybe some day it'll all fall together. Cheers, KLB |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 6947 Registered: Dec-03 | Kevin, Yup, I'm still in Korea...so where are you heading? I know what you mean about kids flitting about. Very hard to capture. But I think what you have is just wanting to get snapshots of your kid at play. And what is happening is that your artistic instinct is taking over the "just a snap shot" mentality. This is the time for you to let the camera take over. Put it on full auto and you should be fine. After all, those moments with your kids are indeed snapshot moments. Leave the artistic thinking when the shots are planned. You need to separate them Full auto or use the sports feature of the camera. They are there just for moments like these, so relax and shoot away. It is better to capture the moment on automatic than not to capture at all. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 40 Registered: Jul-05 | Bern - Good advice. Guess I was "overthinking" a bit. ;-) I will probably head to Seoul - as I usually do. Would like to go to Pusan, but I am quite comfortable going to Seoul now. I got all my favorite areas and restaurants and stuff. Guess though I like adventure (traveling to new places, etc.) I like the comfort of familiarity as well. :-) Where did you say you were staying? |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 6959 Registered: Dec-03 | Gunsan...its still very cold out here we just had snow yesterday. |
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New member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 1 Registered: Mar-06 | One "feature" of the D70 is it's ability to talk to other Nikon strobes. This has not been a problem when my strobes are my Alien Bees. But the other night a friend and I were out testing and we plugged a Wein Peanut XL (photo slave eye) into a Vivitar 285HD strobe. When I tripped the shutter button I could actually see the Vivitar flash go off before the mirror flapped up. So of course the slave was tripping too early. Q1: was this tripping of the slave rig because the camera was trying "communicate" with Nikon strobes that didn't exist? Q2: why don't my Alien Bee strobes trip until the flash goes off which illuminates my photograph? Q3: how do I tell the D70 to not try to "communicate" as I currently don't have Nikon strobes as slaves. Thank you. Terry Thomas... the photographer Atlanta, Georgia USA PS The D70 is my second digital camera. I have had a Konica-Minolta DiMage A2 for two years but needed a camera which would accept wider and longer lenses. So got the D70 used from a friend who moved up to a D200 since it would work with the many Nikon lenses I had for my Nikon film camera bodies. |
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New member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 2 Registered: Mar-06 | To: Kevin In Japan Reading your posts bring back to mind fond memories. Was stationed at Tachikawa Air Force Base for two years from 1966 - 1968. Often hopped on the Chou Train Lines and went into Shinjuku and downtown Tokyo. Got to know the guys at the Nikon factory's service department very well. They'd often clean my gear while I waited or walked the neighborhood taking photos. Several times they escorted me across the street to the Nikon factory where I saw camera bodies and lenses being made from "scratch". One modification I made to my Nikon F bodies actually made it onto production cameras. At the time the F bodies had grooves cut into the film advance lever. When shooting sports without a motor drive in cold weather these grooves cut into one's stiff dry cold skin. So I built up a thick layer of clear fingernail polish over these grooves. On one trip to the repair facility they asked why I'd done this. When I showed them my sore thumb they understood. Later camera bodies didn't have the grooves in the metal, they had a smooth black plastic end applied to the film advance lever. You're welcome. Another Nikon factory story. On one tour in July we walked by some women on the second floor of the factory. They were sitting at what looked like wooden picnic tables next to the open windows trying to get a breeze of fresh air. Overhead was one 100 watt light bulb illuminating the room while flies buzzed around as the women chatted happily. I thought they were having lunch. Nope. They were hand assembling 8mm fisheye lenses! Yikes!! Got to Iwo Jima to photograph a couple dozen very old civilians who came to visit their ancestral grave sites. Prior to WWII they had been fishermen and their families living on the island. Then they were sent back to the mainland by the military when the island was prepared for war. Since they were getting old and dying they requested the government allow them one last visit to their family graves. They brought Shinto and Bhuddist priests who blessed the graves. They were very touched to discover that for 40+ years since the war the US soldiers had kept the civilian grave sites clear of jungle and weed growth. Terry Thomas... the photographer Atlanta, Georgia USA |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 41 Registered: Jul-05 | Bern - Snow huh? Guess I won't be coming anytime soon then. LOL! Terry - Thanks for the stories. Quite interesting. When was the last time you made it back to Japan? I've been here 8 years and can hardly believe how things have changed in that time. Can't even imagine how they've changed since the late '60s. I've seen some wild stuff here - though I doubt that Nikon assembles their lenses in the same manner now. LOL! Japan's a strange place but, in these 8 years, it's become home. I still miss many things about the U.S. OF COURSE, however I do believe that if I were to move back, the culture shock I would experience would be far worse than what I did moving here in the first place. Cheers, KLB |
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New member Username: ShellystewPost Number: 1 Registered: Mar-06 | Hi - I found this site when I googled Nikon D70 help... I'm hoping you may be able to answer a question for me. When I turn my camera on - or off for that matter, the power light (near CF door) blinks. The LED screen on top is "dead" and nothing works. The light will continue to blink until the battery runs out. I'm hoping I have some simple switch set wrong and it's nothing major. Obviously I'm clueless about the camera - I turn it on and take great pictures. Any advise for me? Thanks In advance. Shelly |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7130 Registered: Dec-03 | Hello Shelly, I am sorry to hear about your dilemma. Unfortunately, you may have a defective camera. Go here and click on "Service Advisory for D2H-D70-N55". Nikon will fix your camera for free, even if it is already out of warranty. You have to send it in. http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1 |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7131 Registered: Dec-03 | http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1 See if this link works. |
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New member Username: ShellystewPost Number: 2 Registered: Mar-06 | Thanks for your reply. The link you provided describes my problem exactly. I'll send it in- I'm sorry to hear it's not a setting I need to change...but sounds like I will get it fixed for free. Thanks! |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7136 Registered: Dec-03 | I hope it turns out well for you |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7261 Registered: Dec-03 | ?? |
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New member Username: DenykoclarkPost Number: 1 Registered: Apr-06 | how can i take pictures in black-and-white? |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7442 Registered: Dec-03 | Use black and white film. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7443 Registered: Dec-03 | But seriously, you cannot take black and white pictures with the D70. It is done after you download to the PC. |
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New member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 3 Registered: Mar-06 | After you get back to your PC use the free graphic viewer IrfanView. www.irfanview.com One of it's many features is to convert digital files from full color to grayscale. And it can do this as part of a batch process which means it will do it to a selected group of files. |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 303 Registered: Sep-04 | There's actually a number of ways to take an image to B&W depending on the editing software you have. In Photoshop you have many options from the simple 100% desaturate to pre-made actions that run the image through a complex series of filters to approximate different types of B&W film or to get Duotone, Tritone or Quadtone looks. Now in my favorite RAW converter there is a plugin available to do the same at conversion time. I've lost literally hours playing with converting images. Take a look in your image editor & see what it has available. |
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New member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 4 Registered: Mar-06 | Chris, How 'bout sharing the name of your favorite RAW converter? |
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New member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 5 Registered: Mar-06 | While we are on the subject of converting a digital image to mono / B&W here's one trick I use. In the old Hollywood days like the 1920s film wasn't panchromatic. So photographers had to put makeup on folks to compensate. If they didn't men's skin looked very ruddy. Sometimes I simulate this situation on an older man's portrait when I've lit it strongly from the side with a fairly hard light source so there are lots of shadows and folds in the skin. I open my RAW image in the free program IrfanView and use the red color correction slider so the whole image has a reddish tone. Then I use the option to convert the image to grayscale. End of trick. Save the new version in a non-compressed TIFF and then open that in Photoshop for any additional work. I've attached one example. For this portrait of Polish director Marek Kedzierski I wanted to create an image such as the ones by Karsh of Ottawa. I lit it with 2 Alien Bee 800WS strobes and one gold fabric reflector close to the subject's right side. In the examples I've attached to this note the first image is the full color portrait (converted from the digital RAW file). The last is the final image after I've used the above described IrfanView procedure then extensively edited the result in Photoshop CS. Contact me if you'd like me to email you more samples of this. Terry Thomas... the photographer Atlanta, Georgia USA |
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New member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 6 Registered: Mar-06 | One other point about the lighting, I used grids over the Alien Bee strobes to make the lighting more contrasty and directional. The key/kicker light was to his right side, almost at a 90* angle and the brightest portion aimed at the reflector, not at his head. This way most of the light thru the grid hit the reflector then bounced into his face as fill. Some light did hit the side of his head and therefore that acts as a combination key/kicker. This trick allows one light to be both key/kicker and fill. Sorry the examples didn't load as attachments. I'll try again. (Is there some trick to uploading attachments?) Terry Image 1: original color image Image 2: converted to reddish tone then mono with IrfanView Image 3: final portrait All images Copyright 2006 Terry Thomas; Atlanta, Georgia |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 304 Registered: Sep-04 | Pull up the help. The codes on this forum software are a little screwy. BTW, the converter I prefer is Bibble Pro. On their support forum they have a 3rd party plugin section where you ought to be able to find the B&W plugin; it's called Luma Lab & is by a user who goes by Trax. While he still calls it an alpha release it works nicely. Here's an example I really like the results of: http://64.81.80.185/photography/portfolio/Portraiture/slides/20051119-142418-20d -8769_vbwsf.html |
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New member Username: BecauseyouloveBucks county, Pennsylvania Usa Post Number: 1 Registered: Apr-06 | I just acquired a nikon d70s. one thing that is terribly frustrating...i cannot find a way to use flash exposure lock and exposure lock (without flash) without going back to the setup menu to make the switch. i love the el lock button setting. but the the fv lock setting flash won't lock. so if i switch to the fv lock, then the el exposure lock (without flash) is disabled. this is ridiculous in my little mind. is there any way to have an exposure lock that works for both avail light and flash? |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7481 Registered: Dec-03 | Are you shooting on full manual when you do this? |
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New member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 7 Registered: Mar-06 | Chris Laudermilk: I took a look at this forum's help. Really don't see anything that can help me with why my image attachments aren't showing up. Berny or anyone else have some suggestions? Thanks. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7493 Registered: Dec-03 | Terry, Make sure that the file you are trying to upload is the right size. Put your text in before you upload attachments or verify that the attachments have loaded before adding text. Do not link, do a direct upload. |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 305 Registered: Sep-04 | Here is the URL for the help section: https://www.ecoustics.com/bbs/board-formatting.html#images However, trying it, once your hit the Upload button and send the file, the forum gives you the code: \popjpeg{number,Upload} already dropped into the message. For example:  |
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New member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 8 Registered: Mar-06 | Berny, I saw nothing about a size restriction. (Although, I'd expected to see one.) What is the size restriction and where is it mentioned? Save some Kimchee for me! Terry |
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New member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 9 Registered: Mar-06 | OK, I'm not sure if I understand so will try what I THINK I'm supposed to do. Here goes. Sorry but after I selected the 3 images I wanted the web page said there would be code added to my message and that I could cut & paste the codes to insert them into the text wherever I wanted. Nope. No codes have been inserted into my message. And if there is a size restriction as Berny mentioned there was no error message saying "Sorry too big" or anything like that. Not cool. |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 306 Registered: Sep-04 | What file format? I'll bet it has to be a JPG. |
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New member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 10 Registered: Mar-06 | Chris: Yes I tried to upload JPG files. Terry |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 307 Registered: Sep-04 | Not sure what the problem might be. If you can host the images elsewhere, you could just post a link to them. |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 11 Registered: Mar-06 | Chris: Berny said, "Do not link, do a direct upload." Besides, these aren't hosted anywhere as one is the original and the second an intermediate version. So I don't want them all too public. "Know what I mean, Vern?" Terry |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7546 Registered: Dec-03 | Try just loading them up first. Do not do any cutting and pasting and see if you have the ability to actually upload your pics. I think the limit is 600 or 400 pix |
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New member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 1 Registered: May-06 | Hi Berny, Could you please advise what settings I should use to make the image sharper. I'm using a D70 and all my pictures appeared not so sharp even on a tripod. I tried a couple settings but not much different. I would like to know from your opinion before messing further with custom setting. Thank you very much. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7911 Registered: Dec-03 | More info please. Lens, aperture, shutter speed. What is your experience with photography? Sample pics with EXIF Data will help. |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 12 Registered: Mar-06 | Oanh, First are you sure Autofocus is turned on? There are two places to control this on the D70. One is a switch on Nikon's autofocus lenses and the other is on the camera body. Make sure both are in the Autofocus position. If they are both on I'd test the camera and lens. My favorite way is to place the camera on a tripod at a 45 degree angle to a brick wall. Put a small piece of black or white tape on a brick. Or find a mark or scratch on the wall. But in any case there needs to be a point where you are going to focus then later on your computer examine that point in high magnification. By putting the camera & lens at a 45 degree angle you will be able to tell later if the camera is focusing in front of or behind the mark. Place the camera about 3' away from the wall so you can be as close to the point of focus as possible. This will magnify any focusing errors. For this test you might want to try both manual focus and autofocus to be sure that both are working properly. Set the ISO to the lowest number setting on the menu, set the color balance to what ever is illuminating the wall. Set the exposure to "A" and use a wide open setting like f4 so depth of field doesn't mask any focus errors. The camera should pick a fairly correct shutter speed. On a different piece of white tape use a black fine point Sharpie or similar to make notes. Then stick them next to the focus point so later they will be in the image as you examine it via your computer. I also make notes on a sheet of paper for each frame. Then use a remote tripper or self timer to make the exposure because you don't want your finger to wiggle the camera. For a second series of photographs put the camera and tripod facing the brick wall at a 90 degree angle. But this time you can be 5 to 8 feet away. Again use a fairly wide open aperture like f4 and shoot the wall at various zoom settings. Use both manual focus and autofocus. You may find your white tape focus point needs to be larger since you are further away. When finished remove your tape and/or any marks you made on the wall. Later back on your computer enlarge each image to see if there is a problem. Make notes on your sheet next to the exposure information about the results. Save the sheet for future tests as something to refer back to. If there is a problem take the camera and lens with the test results to a good camera repair shop or send it to Nikon. Your tests will help them fix the issue. From time to time I do this with all my cameras from digital to 35mm to medium format and 4x5. A few tests are cheaper than finding out the hard way that your images are soft. Terry Thomas... the photographer Atlanta, Georgia USA |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 13 Registered: Mar-06 | Oanh, I forgot one thing about the lens/camera tests. Do not shoot at JPG. Use RAW. The reason is your tests need to be as high resolution as possible without any camera processing. If you would like to additional tests using JPG to see if the computer in the camera has a problem, that might be a good idea since you know or think your images are soft. Also, check the lens and any filters to be sure they are clean. I use Zeiss lens cleaning fluid. I spray it on a clean Q-Tip and gently clean the glass surfaces. Never EVER apply lens cleaning fluid to a lens. NEVER. The reason: if you apply too much fluid it can get inside a lens and cause many problems over time. Again, always apply a tiny bit of the fluid to a new Q-Tip then use that for cleaning. Terry Thomas... the photographer Atlanta, Georgia USA |
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New member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 2 Registered: May-06 | Hi Berny & Terry, Here is my EXIF info Camera: Make: Nikon Model Nikon D70 Image: Exposure time 1/60s F/3.5 Exposure program: Automatic Max eperture value: f/3.5 Metering mode: Pattern light source: unknown Flash: Flash fired, auto mode, return light detected Focal lenght 28mm Subsec time: 843 Subsec time original 80 Subsec time digitized 80 Colorspace sRGB Pixel X dimension 3008 Pixel Y dimension 2000 Sensing method: One-chip color area sensor Scene type: A directly photographed image CFA pattern (00,02,00,02,02,01,01,00) Custom Rendered Nomal process Exposure mode Auto exposure White Balance: Auto white balance Digital zoom ratio: 1 Focal length in 35mm: 42 mm Scene cature type: Standard Gain control: None Contrast: Normal Saturation: Normal Sharpness: Normal Subject distance range: unknown Miscellaneous: Exif version: 2.2 FlashPix version 1.0 File source: DSC Terry, Thank for your instructions. Definitely I will try that out and see if my D70 having any problem. Berny, I'm an amateur in this area, my expertise is near bottom. Much of my time spent reading this thread. Have fun... Oanh. |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 14 Registered: Mar-06 | Oanh, You didn't mention you were using flash in your first posting. From what I read in the EXIF information you supplied your lens is at a medium wide angle setting (28mm) yet your flash exposure was so dim the camera had to open up the lens to the maximum (f3.5). This means you were far away from the subject. (You didn't supply the distance to subject from the EXIF so I have to guess.) Here is what I think: it was dark so you were forced to use flash. The subject was at a medium to far distance. Result: the camera couldn't "see" well enough to focus so your images are soft or out of focus. On the menu turn on Focus Assist and a small light from a very bright white LED will shine on the subject. Within reason, this will help the camera focus in dark situations. Nikon also makes a small device that sits in the hot shoe and sends out even more Focus Assist light. Don't know the part number. A friend has one, I'll ask him next time we meet. Don't be afraid to change the menu. Any changes can be undone. Just keep notes on what you did and the results. Learning by experience is the best teacher. I've been a photographer for more than 45 years and am still learning! Oh, now that I know you may have an issue with flash, do the tests I described with continuous light then at night do them with flash. You will learn a lot about the limits of your camera and flash. Terry Thomas... the photographer Atlanta, Georgia USA |
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New member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 3 Registered: May-06 | Hi Terry, Is there a quick way to copy those EXIF info? Last time I have to type up the whole thing in this post. I used ACDSee product to view it, but cannot copy & past. Above EXIF is just one among many hundred pix. Its overall sharpness about the same kind of soft whether with or w/o flash. It probably enough for today. On weekend, I will try your methods. Thank a bunch, Terry. Oanh. |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 15 Registered: Mar-06 | Try: EXIFRead to read and copy EXIF information. Website: http://www.tawbaware.com/exifread.htm Author's Description: EXIFRead is a small freeware utility that extracts image information from EXIF/JPG files. Many new digital cameras (including the Nikon Coolpix 900, Fuji MX700, Kodak DC 260, and Minolta 1500) create image files that store information about the image and the camera that took it. Information about shutter speed, aperture, focal length is typically included. EXIFRead will extract and display all the information that it finds in the file. The information that EXIFRead displays can be copied to the clipboard and saved as a text file. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7921 Registered: Dec-03 | OVN, Read the discussions above, particularly the ones with Kevin Brooke, and practice. It is really hard to determine the cause of your results. It could be camera error, such as the dreaded back focus issues, or technique. If you have tendency to use the camera as a point and shoot i.e., using the Automatic Mode all the time, you will be highly disappointed. The focus points are dynamic and if you are not paying attention it will always focus on the closest subject all the time, hence throwing the rest of your scene out of focus. This is what I can gather from your EXIF data. The aperture value of 3.5 and at that automatic setting, the speedlight activated defaulting the shutter speed to 1/60. I would agree with Terry's assessment of the probable shooting situation. But my question is, are there any areas of the photograph that are in sharp focus at all? Take a look at the picture you took and re-assess. Pay very close attention to your picture and really look at areas that are in sharp focus. If there are sharp areas of focus in your photograph, you have to re-evaluate your shooting method. Get out of the "AUTO" mode. You may want to use the P-Mode of the camera and use a speedlight when prompted by the camera. Pay attention to the focus grids on your viewfinder, the one that flashes red indicates the area of your scene that will be in sharp focus. |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 316 Registered: Sep-04 | ^^^^ Very good advice. I agree with them--it sounds like full auto mode & a subject out of the flash's reach. This thread had a lot of excellent information to go through. |
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New member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 4 Registered: May-06 | Dear all, Thank you very much to help me out. I did attemp in various ways or combinations, even in manual method. All pictures taken on tripod of course but all of them are not sharp. From last week, when I read the book you guy recommended "Understanding Exposure", it was a big surprise to me that the camera had the electronic light meter which help us to correct exposure. Before that moment, I was just an idiot, completely ignore those indicator + and - with the 0 in between. Now I am more comfortable using the manual mode adjust either aperture or speed to make a correct exposure. Even try to step up/down 1/3 to view the effects By looking at the pictures in that book and comparing with mine, I realize that mine are no as sharp as they are. So what would be wrong with the setting? That is all I could tell where I'm coming from and would like to listen to your advices. I'm pasting here another 2 EXIFs info taken last weekend. First EXIF: Filename : DSC_0001.JPG JFIF_APP1 : Exif Main Information Make : NIKON CORPORATION Model : NIKON D70 Orientation : left-hand side XResolution : 300/1 YResolution : 300/1 ResolutionUnit : Inch Software : Ver.1.02 DateTime : 2006:05:07 16:34:54 YCbCrPositioning : co-sited ExifInfoOffset : 216 Sub Information ExposureTime : 1/13Sec FNumber : F3.5 ExposureProgram : Manual ExifVersion : 0221 DateTimeOriginal : 2006:05:07 16:34:54 DateTimeDigitized : 2006:05:07 16:34:54 ComponentConfiguration : YCbCr CompressedBitsPerPixel : 2/1 (bit/pixel) ExposureBiasValue : EV0.0 MaxApertureValue : F3.5 MeteringMode : CenterWeightedAverage LightSource : Unidentified Flash : Not fired FocalLength : 28.00(mm) MakerNote : Nikon COOLPIX Format : 28410Bytes (Offset:848) UserComment : SubSecTime : 10 SubSecTimeOriginal : 10 SubSecTimeDigitized : 10 FlashPixVersion : 0100 ColorSpace : sRGB ExifImageWidth : 3008 ExifImageHeight : 2000 ExifInteroperabilityOffset : 29250 SensingMethod : OneChipColorArea sensor FileSource : DSC SceneType : A directly photographed image CFAPattern : 8 Bytes CustomRendered : Normal process ExposureMode : Manual WhiteBalance : Auto DigitalZoomRatio : 1/1 FocalLength(35mm) : 42(mm) SceneCaptureType : Standard GainControl : None Contrast : Normal Saturation : Normal Sharpness : Normal SubjectDistanceRange : Unknown ExifR98 ExifR : R98 Version : 0100 Thumbnail Information Compression : OLDJPEG XResolution : 300/1 YResolution : 300/1 ResolutionUnit : Inch JPEGInterchangeFormat : 29388 JPEGInterchangeFormatLength : 8918 YCbCrPositioning : co-sited Second EXIF Filename : DSC_0004.JPG JFIF_APP1 : Exif Main Information Make : NIKON CORPORATION Model : NIKON D70 Orientation : left-hand side XResolution : 300/1 YResolution : 300/1 ResolutionUnit : Inch Software : Ver.1.02 DateTime : 2006:05:07 16:39:02 YCbCrPositioning : co-sited ExifInfoOffset : 216 Sub Information ExposureTime : 1/3Sec FNumber : F22.0 ExposureProgram : Manual ExifVersion : 0221 DateTimeOriginal : 2006:05:07 16:39:02 DateTimeDigitized : 2006:05:07 16:39:02 ComponentConfiguration : YCbCr CompressedBitsPerPixel : 2/1 (bit/pixel) ExposureBiasValue : EV0.0 MaxApertureValue : F3.5 MeteringMode : CenterWeightedAverage LightSource : Unidentified Flash : Not fired FocalLength : 28.00(mm) MakerNote : Nikon COOLPIX Format : 28024Bytes (Offset:848) UserComment : SubSecTime : 90 SubSecTimeOriginal : 90 SubSecTimeDigitized : 90 FlashPixVersion : 0100 ColorSpace : sRGB ExifImageWidth : 3008 ExifImageHeight : 2000 ExifInteroperabilityOffset : 28864 SensingMethod : OneChipColorArea sensor FileSource : DSC SceneType : A directly photographed image CFAPattern : 8 Bytes CustomRendered : Normal process ExposureMode : Manual WhiteBalance : Auto DigitalZoomRatio : 1/1 FocalLength(35mm) : 42(mm) SceneCaptureType : Standard GainControl : Low gain up Contrast : Soft Saturation : Normal Sharpness : Normal SubjectDistanceRange : Unknown ExifR98 ExifR : R98 Version : 0100 Thumbnail Information Compression : OLDJPEG XResolution : 300/1 YResolution : 300/1 ResolutionUnit : Inch JPEGInterchangeFormat : 29004 JPEGInterchangeFormatLength : 8651 YCbCrPositioning : co-sited Regards, Oanh. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7928 Registered: Dec-03 | I really want to see a sample of these unsharp pictures...I'm intrigued. What lens are you using? |
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New member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 5 Registered: May-06 | Hi Berny, I tried to upload the image but I ended up with this message: Error Your uploaded image exceeded the maximum dimensions of 600 x 600. Please shrink your image to be smaller than these dimensions. What are other possibility? Should I cut & paste the pix to a smaller size to have it goes thru? Should I shrink it as prompted? HELP, Pls Oanh. |
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New member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 6 Registered: May-06 | Hi Berny, I tried it anyway. I open the pix with EXIF file name: DSC_0004.JPG , cut in the center where the focus was and saved in 800x600 Let see if it goes thru this time. Oanh. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7931 Registered: Dec-03 | What lens are you using? |
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New member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 7 Registered: May-06 | Sorry, it's coming across. Here is my email address Oanhnguyenv@yahoo.com. If you email me, I will reply to you and will send it via yousendit.com, the original pix 1.3 MB. Oanh. |
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New member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 8 Registered: May-06 | I'm using Tamron zoom lens 28-300mm f/3.5 |
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New member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 9 Registered: May-06 | I tried to cut & paste another smaller size to see if it's coming thru.  |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7932 Registered: Dec-03 | That's a tight crop. Looks like you are using a very high ISO. There is a lot of grain/noise on that picture. Also...I would not expect a lot of sharpness with that lens. Have you tried using Nikon glass? I don't think it's a back focus issue nor dirty lens, not even lighting...I think you have lens problem. Try a different lens and see if you get a different result. You really cannot use that lens and expect very sharp results, it will definitely be on the soft side. I don't think that the lens is out of focus at all, what you are seeing is the limitation of the lens. |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 16 Registered: Mar-06 | You mention the file is 1.3Mb. That's a lot of compression from the camera's potential 5Mb or so. What happens when you shoot RAW? BTW, I shoot everything RAW then use IrfanView to compress to whatever size I need, if at all. Didn't see any mention of ISO in the EXIF information you sent. By the way, my D70 software is 2.0 while yours is 1.02 - not anything wrong, just different. Next time the camera goes in for service, ask for an upgrade to the newest software version. Good thing you are using a tripod as a 28-300 lens is a handful! Berny is right, it could be the lens not the camera. Have you gone to a camera store and tried other lenses? Terry Thomas... the photographer Atlanta, Georgia USA |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7937 Registered: Dec-03 | We shouldn't get him started on shooting RAW...post processing might discombobulate him some more LOL! OVN...concentrate on shooting, composition, exposure, aperture, shutter speed. Know the essentials of shooting first. Shoot JPEG and concentrate on getting your pictures right, the first time. Worry about post=processing later...much later. Update your firmware as well. Go to the Nikon USA website. If you haven't registered your camera with Nikon, I suggest you do so immediately. Support really helps out. When you get to the update page, make sure that you follow the instructions to the letter. Good luck. |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 317 Registered: Sep-04 | No need to introduce another variable. One other thing: All that EXIF really isn't necessary. What we really need to know is aperture, shutter speed, ISO, did it use flash, what lens @ what focal length. Most of the rest is technical information about the file format & not relevant.
That's the last app I would think to use for RAW conversion. Have you tried any of the "normal" converters? |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 17 Registered: Mar-06 | About IrfanView: It does a lot of what I need done. When I dump my chips to a hard drive I use IrfanView to manually go thru each image and get rid of any I don't want to keep. Then I use it to rename the files from the Nikon names to ones of my own devising. Then again in batch mode I use it to convert all my "keeper" files from RAW to highly compressed JPGs to use to send to clients to review via email or CD. If needed while doing the batch conversion I can also insert my copyright information. It will do many other cool things like lossless rotation of JPGs or create stand alone slide shows. Sure there may be other "normal" converters but for a lot of what I need it works very well. And isn't that the point? Terry Thomas... the photographer Atlanta, Georgia USA |
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New member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 10 Registered: May-06 | Hi all, Probably that lens is the culprit period. I will try to get a hand on Nikkor lens then. Oanh. |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 18 Registered: Mar-06 | Oanh, I looked at the file you sent me. Exif data shows: 1/3 second f22 1600 ISO Manual control I don't think the image is soft. I sharpened it with IrfanView and it doesn't look as bad as I thought. A couple ideas. Unless you really need ISO 1600 cut back to 800. Which is my default setting and I shoot a lot there. Next, open up your f stop from 22 to something more like f5.6 or so. This will give you a faster shutter speed. Since your lens is a 28mm to 300mm zoom you will need a faster shutter speed. Another thought: use the lowest ISO you can while still getting good photographs. Don't buy a Nikon lens yet. Learn to control your camera. Practice. Practice. Terry Thomas... the photographer Atlanta, Georgia USA PS Almost forgot. On the lower right area of the image I could see what appears to be "hot bits". These are pixels that are always turned on. Unlike specks of dust these can't be cleaned off. One more thing to add to your list of items to be repaired. To find these bits set your ISO to a small number, put the camera on a tripod. Set the camera to full auto and photograph a flat-lit neutral color like a gray wall. Even if you photograph a white wall the autoexposure will make the result gray (because that's how light meters work). These hot bits should stand out plainly with a minimum of magnification with a free utility like IrfanView. Terry |
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Bronze Member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 11 Registered: May-06 | Hi Terry, The ISO I set in Custom Menu is 200. But when shooting, I always see the ISO Auto blinking in the Viewfinder & Control panel. I'm not sure if it's a correct setting and what ISO number is applied on the actual shot. I did not put any filter on top of the lens. Are you sure that you don't see the edge of each object kinda soft in the image? Oanh. |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 19 Registered: Mar-06 | Oanh, Try what we discussed earlier: lowest possible ISO put a tripod 15 feet from a sun-lit brick wall camera on tripod aimed straight at the wall self timer to trip the shutter Shoot different zoom settings at both manual and autofocus. Use IrfanView to examine & magnify the images. What do you see? Terry |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7969 Registered: Dec-03 | No disrespect intended...you guys are making this waaay too complicated. Terry, I think you are approaching this problem at your level of experience. You have to realize that this is OVN's first Digital SLR. He told us that in the beginning, he does not have any prior experience with photography. Go to a camera shop...try out a lens...it will cost you nothing but time. Take pictures with the lens you borrowed and compare it to the lens you are currently using. Then decide where the problem lies. |
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Bronze Member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 12 Registered: May-06 | Hi all, On this weekend, I will take time to troubleshoot my camera with Terry first reply, then make evaluation from there. So far we're scattering a bit more variables and would end up nowhere. Have fun and be cool, Oanh. |
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Bronze Member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 13 Registered: May-06 | Hello, I found another interesting analysis on D70 in this link http://www.focustestchart.com/chart.html Oanh. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 7981 Registered: Dec-03 | OVN, You really should stop right now. You are concentrating waaaay too much on the other things. You really need to concentrate on taking photography and learn about the basics. I have been accused on this forum for being a bit condescending towards people that just got a hold of a shiny new toy with which they have absolutely no experience and expect museum quality pieces. You are missing the entire point, take pictures and learn from there. You are concentrating too much on finding faults and flaws on your camera when you have not even begun to experience how it is to take pictures. Get your butt off the D70 internet search and take some pictures. Heck, you probably don't even know yet what to look for in a properly taken photograph. Believe me, you won't learn it by comparing pictures on the internet. Photography is a personal and hands-on experience. Don't blame the camera just yet. Take a step back and grab your camera, you will not learn by thinking something is wrong with your camera. What the heck have you learned by reading multiple analyses about the D70? You certainly haven't learned anything about photography, now have you? You are already troubleshooting a camera you really haven't extensively used and from what you have written you absolutely have no idea what you are doing. Sorry if I seemed condescending again, but you are admittedly a beginner and have no other experiences on other lenses besides the ones you own. Learn...gain experience...use other lenses...compare results with other photographers in real time...not the ones on the internet...and again stop trying to find fault with the camera, take a look at your technique...look inside before you look outside. |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 321 Registered: Sep-04 | I hit the Photozone database & it looks like there's argument on both sides. Definitely learn to use the equipment, the EXIF shows really odd settings. Why 1/3 shutter with f22? That virtually guarantees a poor image & when you add in ISO1600 it's just that much worse. I can't think of a situation I would use anything like that setting. Reading Understanding Exposure will help, as will getting out in the field and using the equipment instead of measurebating. On the flip side, that lens has awful feedback at Photozone, so it's not going to produce the best images. But I'm sure it can do better, running it on the ends of it's abilites (shortest focal length, stopped all the way down) is going to make it look as bad as possible. Try some daylight shots in the middle ranges like f8-f11 in the middle of the zoom range. |
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Bronze Member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 14 Registered: May-06 | -Remember the Human -Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life -Know where you are in cyberspace -Respect other people's time and bandwidth -Make yourself look good online -Share expert knowledge -Help keep flame wars under control -Respect other people's privacy -Don't abuse your power -Be forgiving of other people's mistakes -Image critique: please comment on the image but not on the photographer or his equipment. First thing first. Should any one of the above outline be consider here? Second. Following all of you guy advices, I'm able to obtain acceptable images. I changed ISO Auto to OFF. Shooting in between f/8 to f/11 instead of f/32 with ISO 200 in the same test conditions. That's all it takes. Oanh. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 8017 Registered: Dec-03 | What image? I have to make a comment on the person using the equipment. You are concentrating on the wrong areas, but you don't seem to get it. Again, you are missing the point. I think you are getting way to sensitive. But if you are a photographer and you wish to present your photos for critique, better learn how to handle both the good and the bad. It only serves to improve your technique and your learning experience. Let me address your concerns. I am putting into account the human side of the photographer. The side looking for fault in equipment and not the photographer. You just tooko it the wrong way. I am merely pointing out the things you should be contrating on. The place in cyberspace is irrelevant. You asked for advice and you got it. You just got offended when I pointed out what you were doing. What is it about people's time and bandwidth that was not respected? I do not need your approval about making myself look good online. Again I just tried to steer you in the right direction, but you were looking the other way. Sharing knowledge is a good thing and that includes knowledge about areas where you may be going wrong. How can you avoid mistakes if all you get are praises because people are careful to hurt your feelings? How are you going to grow? I don't see a flame war, only you not being able to handle a critique. Not once has anyone invaded your privacy. No one here has real power perceived or otherwise. There is no mistake, only the appearance of you finding fault with equipment and not the human side operating the equipment. |
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Silver Member Username: ClaudermilkPost Number: 325 Registered: Sep-04 | Sigh. Ok, off to better spend my time... |
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Bronze Member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 15 Registered: May-06 | Me too, sighhhhhhhhh Should we be cool like a pro / as supposed to? Oanh. |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 42 Registered: Jul-05 | You guys make me laugh! LOL! Berny, great advice as always. Take a look at the photograher first, not the equipment. Considering the minute defect ration of the millions of cameras and pieces of equipment sold vs. the defect ratio of beginning photographers, makes sense to me. Just wanted to check in and say "hey", and was entertained as well reading the immediate above posts. I'm still laughing. Anyway, stay cool - like a pro is supposed to be. LOL! Best regards kev |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 8104 Registered: Dec-03 | Hey Kevin...What's going on, man? How have you been? I take it you've been taking plenty of pictures! How is the Land of the Rising Sun? cheers |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin_brookePost Number: 43 Registered: Jul-05 | Hey. Nah....very little time recently. Of course I try to take plenty of pics of my son, but even those have been lacking some. Actual pics for practice have been almost non-existent recently. :-( Hence, I fear I have not improved much. But I DO occasionally re-read some of our posts just to keep me thinking and on top of things for the next time I DO break the camera out. Heading to NY & Atlanta from June 6th - 11th for biz, then turn around 2 weeks after I return and head BACK to the U.S. for a much anticipated R&R. 3 WEEKS! I can't wait! Hoping to take oodles of pics then (family, friends, partying, etc.) Japan is alright - after 8 years, I'm pretty used to it. I'm sure after a few weeks back home, I will once again be longing for sushi again. I can only take so much greasy fast food anymore. :-P How have you been? How's the land of Kimuchi? I'm still wanting to make it back over there if I can ever find the time. No more cold and snow there now, so I'm ready. Anyway, later on for now. I'll keep on practicing...(someday I would like to actually show you some of my shots - just for critiquing. Don't worry, I won't cry. LOL) Kevin |
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New member Username: CmsmiamiPost Number: 7 Registered: Oct-05 | Nikon 18-200 VR AF-S DX Lens.. where can I find one to purchase? It is impossible from where I am I have tried all the online stores, local photo shop has me wait listed. In a month and a half i have moved from #25 to #6...........very frustrating and I am not willing to shop ebay. I feel it is too risky Any suggestions?????? |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 20 Registered: Mar-06 | cmsmiami, It would be very helpful if you said what country you live in... For now I'll assume the good ol' USA. Try: KEH Camera (ask for Arthur) or the Ritz Camera chain. I've had no problems with either. If you try the dealers(?) in New Yawk be very careful - there is a reason many are known as residing in "Crooklyn". With that said a friend bought a D70s from Abe's of Maine and had no problems. Get the official Nikon warranty for your country. If you do live in the US get a US warranty as this is a complex lens (what ones aren't these days) and if it needs service you don't want a gray market product. Same advice for anyone in any country - be sure you receive the correct Nikon warranty paperwork for your country. Check with dealers in Hong Kong but you won't get a US warranty card so if service is needed you'd need to send back there or Japan. When I was in the US Air Force I often went to Nikon's service department in downtown Tokyo across from the central train station and the one at the factory. I received excellent service in both locations. |
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Bronze Member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 16 Registered: May-06 | Hi everyone. It has been away for a while playing with my camera. I'm coming back here seeking critique on my work at the link below. Your comments & critique needed. http://www.flickr.com/photos/oanhnguyen/ Ovn. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 9641 Registered: Dec-03 | Nice work Oahn! |
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Bronze Member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 17 Registered: May-06 | Thank Berny. Most of my shots are candid ones. I still feel a lot more challenges ahead, but will learn by practice more or shooting more. Regards, Oanh. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 9757 Registered: Dec-03 | Watch your exposures. I see a tendency to overexpose and clip highlights. Good candids, though. |
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New member Username: MagaDE United States Post Number: 1 Registered: Aug-06 | I too am having CHA problems, but i can still read the images on the camera, just can't download them. I have the infamous lexar 1 gig card. Is there anyway to retrieve the images? the light on the camera stays green and doesn't blink. I will certainly purchase a new card but i have a job due in two days and i need these images. thanks B |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 21 Registered: Mar-06 | To recover images from bad chips or ones I've mistakenly formatted, I very successfully use: Photo Recovery for Digital Media the version I have is: 3.5.1.7 www.LC-Tech.com Sales: Sales@LC-Tech.com Support: Support@LC-Tech.com USA Phone: 727-449-0891 Ask for Dave and tell him I sent 'ya. I'm not sure of their current pricing but if memory serves me it's something like $50US. Well worth it. By the way, I recovered images I shot six weeks ago and I format the chips after every shoot! Wow! Terry Thomas... the photographer Atlanta, Georgia USA TerryThomasPhotos(x)gmail_com See some of my work here: http://www.psychopathia.com http://www.pushpushtheater.com |
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Platinum Member Username: Project6Post Number: 10210 Registered: Dec-03 | You don't come here enough Terry We could use your insights. |
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New member Username: MagaDE United States Post Number: 2 Registered: Aug-06 | Thanks Terry, i'll send it out tomorow. Is this something that happens or is there an issue with my camera that needs correcting. this sucks, i had to contact my client and inform them of delays. That costs me. By the way thanks for the link to your work, that one is pretty crazy. Rock on. |
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Platinum Member Username: Project6Post Number: 10217 Registered: Dec-03 | Kevin, that CHA error is usually a memory card fault. I have had that happen to 1 of my cards. What you can do is format it with your PC to FAT. Re-insert the card to your camera then re-format again. The card which gave me that problem was replaced by Sandisk for free. |
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New member Username: MagaDE United States Post Number: 3 Registered: Aug-06 | Berny, my card is not even being read by my computer, can i still recover files if that is the case? Thanks |
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Platinum Member Username: Project6Post Number: 10268 Registered: Dec-03 | Brian, First make sure that the card is definitely unreadable. Have you tried other cards on your reader? |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 22 Registered: Mar-06 | Here is another thought: Eliminate all variables. Try the card on: a. someone else's camera - same make & model! b. someone else's computer Then I'd say if you can't see anything it's pretty well hosed. Did you contact Dave at the PhotoRecovery software firm? He eats and sleeps these issues and writes code to fix it. Brian, yesterday I sent Dave a description of your problem and your email address so you may be hearing from him. Terry Thomas... the photographer Atlanta, Georgia USA |
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Bronze Member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 18 Registered: May-06 | I agree that they're more or less overexposed. This is one of them for example: http://static.flickr.com/73/216184909_7ce088ab00.jpg Under the conditions of no time to prepare, no tripod available, must shoot or loosing it, I will try to compensate it -1/3 EV. Do you think that would help? Berny. What would be your advice? Terry. Oanh. |
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Platinum Member Username: Project6Post Number: 10458 Registered: Dec-03 | Before you do any of that...what metering mode were you using? |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 23 Registered: Mar-06 | Wow, this is a difficult subject. The white dress is pretty well blown out, at least on the JPG I viewed. Shooting digital is like shooting transparencies - you've got to have detail in the highlights. At least with film negatives you could overexpose the highlights and recover something. In this kind of uncontrolled situation you might want to favor exposing for the highlights then in post-production bring up the shadow detail. Also a good idea why you should have a decent portable flash with you - to fill in the shadows. Hope she sang as good as she looks! Terry [I've just gotta get back to Japan for an extended photography trip before I'm too old!] |
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Bronze Member Username: OvnBurbank, CA USA Post Number: 19 Registered: May-06 | I use spot metering ( 90% of the time ). Flash is a plus in this contrasty scene, I forgot this alternative way. BTW, she had a pretty sweet voice. Oanh. |
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Platinum Member Username: Project6Post Number: 10515 Registered: Dec-03 | That could be why you are blowing the highlights. Time to experiment with matrix metering |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 24 Registered: Mar-06 | Dropped in to see what's going on. But I see that the last installation was from Bernie in August 2006. Since about the same date I've been busy shooting homes for sale for Realtors. Not much money per house but at the end of the month it sorta adds up. If I have better paying commercial work, that comes first. A few weeks ago I picked up an international corporation which owns many businesses! Just finished shooting about 60 executive portraits with the D70 kit lens. It really shows the need for an f1.8 or f2 85mm for portraits. So I've been bidding on some on eBay. Maybe I should just take the hit and buy one new. Also last August I was forced to move out of my tiny old apartment because they are knocking it down to build a zillion dollar retail/living complex. I moved into a 4 bedroom home and have dedicated the master suite to act as my studio space. Now I'm considering converting the living room to a second shooting space and making the dining room a reception/sales area. What have you guys been doing for the past year? |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 25 Registered: Mar-06 | Oh, I forgot to add that I've used Google's free web page service. It's here: http://TerryThomasPhotos.GooglePages.com Terry |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 26 Registered: Mar-06 | Can anyone tell me how to use the infrared remote control to trip the D70 shutter? I bought it used and didn't get the D70 manual Nikon prints. I've looked at the menu on the back and tried to guess at the settings but so far ... nothing. ::: Update: I found a nice Nikkor 85mm f1.8 lens on eBay and bought it. It's great to be able to see to focus at f1.8 instead of somewhere around f5.6. Also have been using money from the corporate work to buy a lot of gear including 4x5 via eBay. Terry |
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New member Username: 3boysmomPost Number: 1 Registered: Aug-07 | Hi everyone Hoping someone could help me...I was shooting some photos this morning on my D70 - I've used it several times over the weekend. After shooting in Auto mode for about 15 frames, I wanted to see the playback on one of my shots. I pressed the "arrow" playback button and the hourglass icon showed up instead of the image! Then the message read "No memory card found"... THere were about 120 frames left on the card. I turned the camera off and on again - no luck. I turned it off, removed the card and reinserted it, turned camera back on - nothing. Where it should read how many photos I have left, it's just blank. Ideas?? |
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New member Username: 3boysmomPost Number: 2 Registered: Aug-07 | OK, I've fixed it...in case this happens to you. I tried turning it on/off again...it blinked "CHA" this time. I went and looked it up in my D70 manual - it said "error accessing card" or it could be "card has not been formatted" (which it has). SO, I turned it on/off again, and it came back up perfectly, with 122 frames remaining. Not sure what happened!? Any ideas?! |
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Bronze Member Username: AtlantaterryAtlanta, Georgia USA Post Number: 27 Registered: Mar-06 | Lisa, Your card seems to be unstable. One suggestion: a. format the memory card when it's in your computer's chip reader b. format it in your computer again c. format it in your camera Doing this *might* fix the card. The reason is the computer's formatting is different from the camera's. So when you put it in your camera it formats the chip "correctly". (From then on, ALWAYS format it in the camera.) Test the chip extensively after following my instructions. If it then gives an error contact the place you bought it and/or the manufacturer. Most brand name chips I've purchased have a "Limited Lifetime Warranty". Now you have to find out what the limits are and how they define lifetime. (I once was at a computer hardware seminar when during the presentation the representative said the product had a "Lifetime Warranty". I raised my hand and asked what they defined a lifetime as being. He said, "Five years." ! ) Terry Thomas... the photographer Atlanta, Georgia USA http://TerryThomasPhotos.GooglePages.com |
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New member Username: StonestairsPost Number: 1 Registered: Jul-12 | The monitor on my Nikon D70 is suddenly showing a magenta/blue image which appears pixellated. The image quality of the photograph taken is unaffected. Assuming the image is RGB - it's missing its G. The pixellation is a bit worrying though. As far as I know it has not been subjected to heat or shock. Where I am is very humid, however. Any ideas anybody? |
