D7000 questions and discussion

rctneil

Please don't flame me for these questions. I am merely asking, that is all.

1. I visited Blackpool Pleasure Beach last Saturday as an excuse to satisfy my obsession with riding Roller Coasters and to grab an opportunity to shoot some photos of the rides and the park using my new camera. I tried a different variety of shots and most of the shots I took of the trains moving around the track came out blurred.

I looked into using Shutter Priority mode when I got back and have been having a play about with it. My shots using it at first and setting the highest shutter speed possible came out dark. I understand that I need to increase the ISO to compensate but I thought on SP mode you set the shutter speed and it set appropriate settings for the others itself? Maybe i'm wrong.

When I did increase the ISO, it did help but not amazingly. What do the H0.3, H0.7, H1.0 and H2.0 ISO settings mean?

If I am going to be out shooting shots of coasters again in the future, how are you meant to know what ISO to use in the spur of the moment to work with the fast shutter speed you choose in SP mode? This is only if it isn;t meant to choose it for you.

2. I have attached a quick release plate onto the tripod mount of the camera and also use that as an attachment point for a quick relase point for my strap. Due to the quick relase plate being attached, I can no longer stand the camera up on it's bottom as normal. I ahve therefore reverted to standing it on it's left side resting the front at an angle onto the tip of the lens. Is this safe and ok to be doing? If not then how am I meant to stand the camera up on a surface? Maybe I should never put it down! :-)

Anyway, I hope you guys can provide some useful information! I was very impressed with the battery usage on it the other day. Used it constantly all day took 695 shots and it only depleted by 1 bar!

KnockKnock

Hi - I'm not quite sure how you're shooting, but making some assumptions...

1) turn on auto ISO, let it go up to H1.0. That's 1 stop faster than ISO6400, so presumably 12800. Most people seem to find ISO3200 pretty good on the D7000, but if you're shooting in daylight, and noise is mostly seen in shadows, you won't notice it as much. So 6400 would probably be good and H1 would allow you to get even faster shots.

2) hand-hold your camera at all costs. The roller-coaster car will transmit far more vibrations to the photo than if you hand-hold. The human brain is pretty good good at vibration correction. Like carrying a full glass of water up a flight of stairs. I hear chickens are even better.

And yes, you have the idea right, gotta shoot in shutter-priority. I'd want at least 250th or faster. Finally: post your examples here!

Msmoto

@ rctneil

I cannot be certain how much photo experience you have. But, shooting from a moving roller coaster is not an easy task. The lens used is critical. A VR lens in active mode will help. Use a shorter focal length, less than 35mm. You need to establish the light level before getting on the ride. Set the camera on Manual, determine the f/stop and shutter from what you expect as results. For example, if you are interested in a lot of blurred photos, wild colors at night...on a coaster I would suggest 1/60 or 1/125 will give you this...only guessing. shoot from 1/60 up to 1/500, look at the results and then shoot some at the speed which gives you what you want. ALWAYS, have the camera strap around your wrist, arm, somewhere attached to you so the camera cannot in any circumstances get away from you accidentally. It will kill someone if ti were to hit someone on the ground.

Ue Auto ISO, H1.0 as the highest, set Iso so you can shoot at your shutter speed and f/stop as you have determined works for you.

If the above is confusing to you, no problem. But, I think you will get more from your camera if you take a photography course at a local technical school if possible. Or, join a camera club and ask questions.

Let us know if you have more queries.

rctneil

Hello,

I'm not going to be shooting from the rides. Been to more than enough parks to know that is not safe unless prearranged. I'm more shooting photos of the rides from an off-ride location.

How do you set the ISO to be in auto but still have still have the camera in SP mode?

What do you guys think about the quick release plate issue?

Neil

Msmoto

P 170 in manual... Auto ISO
P 69 Shutter Priority
If shooting handheld, the plate is optional. For a tripod, it makes attachment and removal easy.
Good for switching from landscape to portrait mode.
In shooting the rides, I might try 1/125 sec and make certain you pan the camera with the motion of the ride. Follow one person as you release the shutter. Use 5 FPS and bursts of about one second.

Good luck.

Sato

Shutterspeed depends on the lens used, I'd say double the focal length (= amount of mm) or triple it.
With an 250mm lens 1/500 or faster shutterspeed should be enough, And keep in mind AF isn't great at tracking things that come speeding in your direction so you might want to pre-focus on the track and take a quick burst of shots as the train passes the bit of track you focused on.

These are just the guesses of a fellow amateur, Whether this will give the results you seek remains to be tested.

As to your other question, Depends on the lens. If the front of the lens doesn't extend while zooming and/or rotate while focusing it's safe to place it down as you described.
If not, I wouldn't recommend it as it puts unnecessary strain on vital and possibly fragile parts of the lens.

(In other words, With most Prime lenses it's safe, With most zoom lenses it's not.)

Msmoto

I think in general, the inverse rule is well taken. If one is shooting a roller coaster and wants a sharp focus on the riders, blurred background...then some experimentation is in order....actually for the objects moving toward you, continuos servo focus the camera will follow the object and actually predict where it will be to maintain sharp focus. The technique involves pressing halfway down on the button after you have found the objet and maintaining the focus area on the subject. I would use a 9 point dynamic area for the AF-C and it should go well.

Here is an example of this technique:

The bike is moving toward me at about 50 mph
Your D7000 should do the same thing. This was shot at 1/1000 sec, but for another look...

This is shot at 1/125 sec



Have fun...

spraynpray

@KnockKnock:

" Like carrying a full glass of water up a flight of stairs. I hear chickens are even better."

Now THAT was funny!

The point about joining a camera club? I have to say that most clubs want new members to be up to speed on basics before they join so I would say go to a camera basics workshop for a day if you tube and reading the manual are not your thing. I have a friend who went off and did that and he improved greatly. After that, practice and don't concentrate on gear too much as it distracts you from learning!

Gab

Hello,

I'm not going to be shooting from the rides. Been to more than enough parks to know that is not safe unless prearranged. I'm more shooting photos of the rides from an off-ride location.

How do you set the ISO to be in auto but still have still have the camera in SP mode?

What do you guys think about the quick release plate issue?

Neil

When you use Auto iso I suggest using the Aperture Priority mode. Every time you set up auto iso on the d7000 you will need to set a minimum shutter speed and maximum iso, so in essence it will behave the same way as shutter priority, just it will set the iso automatically instead of the aperture, which is much more useful to me most of the time.

Msmoto

@ Gab

I think this is a good point, the minimum shutter speed in auto ISO. However, if one desires the panning effect, blurred background, my experience suggests fixing the shutter speed using manual mode, as the light may increase and the shutter speed will increase in this situation.

However, all of these settings, modes, all ten million of them, LOL ( , are used as the photographer becomes familiar with them. There are several different ways to get similar results.

I can easily get confused in all this, so do not get discouraged. My suggestion would be to write down on paper a series of settings you want to try. Then, go out and test these, download to your computer, evaluate what you have, then decide what works best for you.

Re: Camera clubs...yes, most of the folks are fairly advanced. But in one of our clubs, members do instructional sessions with members and several actually teach at a technical college, so the club is a good resource for the learning process. It is all about having fun, sharing our mistakes, and learning.

spraynpray

"But in one of our clubs, members do instructional sessions with members and several actually teach at a technical college, so the club is a good resource for the learning process. "

I am that person in my club. :-B

rctneil

Is there a quick way to turn Auto ISO on and off without having to go in menus?

I enabled auto ISO and tried shooting in SP and still get dark shots.

In AP I get better shots. Do I just make sure I set a low f number to enable me to get the fast shutter speeds and freeze motion shots?

By the way, I am booked in for a DSLR basics day at the end of Feb but there is no harm in trying some beforehand is there?

spraynpray

You can move auto ISO onto your 'my menu' and then put 'top item in my menu' onto a programmable button or put it directly on one of your programmable buttons to get to it quickly if that is what you want.

rctneil

Just took a series of shots in SP and auto ISO turned on but the ISO didn't move from 3200! I took 3 shots with differing shutter speeds. I'm really annoyed that I can;t just get it to take a non dark shot in SP mode with auto ISO.

I'm thinking I have the minimum S speed and max ISO wrong. Any more thoughts?

Neil

Ironheart

What are your settings from the dark photos? Please provide f/stop, shutter speed and ISO that were actually recorded when the photo was taken.

Also, if you take a photo during the day, outdoors, in the sun, you should be at f/16 1/100 at ISO 100 and the picture should be very close to properly exposed.

rctneil

At the time I was indoors in a room with a slightly yellow glow. Just trying different settings. I get dark photos but if I shove it into auto and take shots, I get really nicely lit photos!

Ironheart

Right, so look at the exposure data on the photos that are black vs the ones that came out okay. If you post that data we can help you. Need f/stop, shutter speed and ISO...

rctneil

Ones that came out correctly from Auto modes are:

1/60 @ f3.5 ISO 800
1/50 @ f5.3 ISO 5600

and the dark ones are:

1/500 @ 4.8 ISO Hi2
1/500 @ f5.6 ISO 3200
1/500 @ f4.8 ISO 3200
1/1000 @ f4.8 ISO 3200

I understand and appreciate the relationships between the 3 triangle points of photography and it's all well and good understanding it but where i am getting stuck is understanding what the camera is doing with those 3. As when I set something to try it out and expect a certain result I end up with something totally different.

Basically I was to be able to take motion freeze photos so have been trying in SP mode at a shutter of 1/500, From being in SP mode I assume the aperture will auto adjust and want the ISO to do the same but from my limited trials, this has not been the the case.

Kind regards,
Neil

Ironheart

So the SP mode will allow you to fix the shutter speed, and vary the f/stop and ISO... to a point. If the display flashes "Lo" or some other type of message it means that there isn't enough adjust-ability to capture the image. 1/500 is a pretty fast shutter speed, especially for indoor use. If you look at the "concert photography" thread you will see that folks are pushing up against the usable ISO limits at anywhere from 1/125 to 1/200 at an f/stop of f/2.8 to f/4. Your f/stop is smaller (larger number) and your speed is higher.

You need to drop your speed to take indoor pictures, or get a lens that can open wider (lower f/stop number) or raise your ISO (see the 5600?) or some combination of all the above. Or use a flash ;-)

rctneil

I know it doesn't help messing about with settings indoors. Lets say I go and try to shoot photos of some roller coasters over the next few days outdoors. I guess the auto aperture and ISO settings will change quite a lot compared to what they are setting themselves to now?

What settings would you reccommend for Min SS and Max ISO?

Msmoto

Here is a shot in a very well lighted auto show, much brighter than most houses inside.
24mm lens, 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1100



My suggestion might be to purchase a low cost light meter and actually measure the light and exposure readings separate from the camera. Then you will begin to understand what exposure settings will be correct. In the above shot, I could have increased the ISO to 2200 and shot at 1/320 sec. Or at ISO 2200 at f/8 for 1/160 sec. Or lowered the ISO to 500 and shot at f/4 for 1/160 sec.

The message is that one must grasp the relationship between ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. If you increase ISO by doubling, you can decrease the amount of time the shutter is open by one half. Or, keep the shutter speed the same and decrease the size of the aperture opening on the lens, which is a higher f/stop.

These are easily confused as the smaller the size of the lens opening the larger the number…huh? Yes.

And, the shutter speeds…bigger number in the denominator is a smaller amount of light to the sensor.

In your camera are many settings. In Auto ISO, this is either on or off. When "on" the maximum must be set. Also, a minimum shutter speed can be set. All these are very confusing when attempting to use the camera.

You are doing exactly the correct thing by taking a course. And, understand, everyone on this forum has been in your shoes at one time or another.

rctneil

Brilliant, I appreciate all the help tonight guys. I am off to ride some coasters this weekend so will post some sample shots from how I get on. If I am not to embarrassed to show of my results!

By the way. Just enabled Easy ISO setting to all the unused dial to control ISO but when ISO is set to auto, I change the ISO using the unused dial and it shows it but as soon as I half press the release, it shoots back to the auto ISO. Is this correct or should Easy ISO override?

Neil

Msmoto

If Auto ISO is enabled "ON" then it will be functioning even though you change the primary ISO setting. To have a specific ISO setting which remains fixed you must disable Auto ISO "OFF".

Ironheart

Just to help clarify I've placed the Exposure Value (EV) numbers next to your exposures. The EV is derived from the triple of f/stop, shutter speed and ISO. Indoors at night with average light is a 5 EV. A well lit interior at night is a 6 EV. A bright sunny day is 15 EV. (BTW I'm using a chart from the first hit on a google search of "exposure value calculator" or http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm)

From your note above:

1/60 @ f3.5 ISO 800 = 6.5 EV
1/50 @ f5.3 ISO 5600 = 6.5 EV

and the dark ones are:

1/500 @ 4.8 ISO Hi2
1/500 @ f5.6 ISO 3200 = 9 EV
1/500 @ f4.8 ISO 3200 = 8.5 EV
1/1000 @ f4.8 ISO 3200 = 9.5 EV


So you can see why your photos are dark. You are exposing as if you have a much brighter scene than you actually have (each EV step is double or half the amount of light).
The correct exposure would be 1/500 sec @ f/2.4 ISO 3200 which is a EV of 6.5

rctneil

Just a quick question. Just had a quick go with the camera indoors but with great lighting. I had it in SP mode with Auto ISO on and max sensitivity at 6400 and min SP at 1sec.

Every single shot I took used 6400 ISO. Why is this? Have I set something wrong? The ISO being set doesn't seem to change depending ont he light conditions?

Msmoto

f/stop? if you can, post a photo for us to see with the exposure data.