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Archive 2014 · New to D3s - looking for best methods. Want advice...

  
 
kattz
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · New to D3s - looking for best methods. Want advice...


Hello,

I have been shooting with Nikon for, well, years and years. I am not a pro, but I'm not a, what is that term, "pixel-something-or-other"...

I've shot with the F1, F3, F4s, F5, and then the D2H and the D2Hs. I have experience with processing my own BW and color print and slide film. I have a lot of experience with digital post-processing.

Now, I have a new (to me) D3s purchased under the advice of a friend at Nikon. I was going to go the full monty and get the D4s, but was advised against it.

My question revolves around shooting at higher ISO values and the proper lighting, especially on large indoor subjects; the B-52G aircraft at the US Air force Museum as an example.

I've noticed that when using flash on the hot shoe and set up for TTL and aperture-priority, or TTL/BL and aperture priority, I'm ending up with pictures that are bright in the center and dim further out. I didn't have this problem with my D2H or -Hs, nor with film.

I have Thom Hogan's book and the manual, and am digesting that slowly. However, I'm finding that without multiple flashes and the Nikon CLS, my pictures do not please me.

Please see the attached image. This was taken at the Barber Motorsports Museum in Alabama. My original photos made much of the detail and tires/wheels dark and muddied. Only with the SB900 on the camera and a SB-R200 at each corner of the display could I get what I was looking for.

With the D2H and D2Hs, the trick to making those cameras image beautifully was to set metering EV to -1/3 stop and then proper lighting and then they worked flawlessly, producing great depth of color and proper exposure every time with or without the flash.

Is there some secret to the D3s body as well, or just trial and error? Please look at the sample and say what you will.

Regards,

Kevin



© Kattz 2014




Dec 28, 2014 at 10:50 PM
lorac
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · New to D3s - looking for best methods. Want advice...


I had a D700. Would love to have a D3s, but too heavy for me. D3s even better high iso performance than the D700. I see iso 640, not that high. For more detail in the darker areas don't be afraid to crank up the iso to 1600 anytime for starters, 3200 likely ok and possibly higher. See what you can get with natural light before adding flash.


Dec 29, 2014 at 01:00 AM
Almass
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · New to D3s - looking for best methods. Want advice...


.


Dec 29, 2014 at 04:02 AM
gfinlayson
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · New to D3s - looking for best methods. Want advice...


Bear in mind you've moved from a crop to a full-frame, so your flash has to cover a wider area at the same focal length. Are you letting the flash set its zoom based on FL? If so, try a wider manual zoom setting on the flash and/or flip down the retractable diffuser.


Dec 29, 2014 at 05:35 AM
Rob UK
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · New to D3s - looking for best methods. Want advice...


Hi Kevin,
I use D700's so almost a D3, and If I was taking the above image I would have definitely dialled in a minus exposure comp, maybe more than -.3? and used a higher ISO to help with the ambient exposure.

Also I found that TTl and aperture priority could be a little inconsistent, I found I was happier with shooting manual and having the flash set to aperture mode, so I would be exposing for ambient and letting the flash figure out its own thing, it worked for me anyway.
I also wondered if you are aware that you can change the illumination pattern of the SB 900?

They are standard, centre weighted and even

http://cdn-10.nikon-cdn.com/pdf/manuals/Speedlights/SB-900_en.pdfhttp://cdn-10.nikon-cdn.com/pdf/manuals/Speedlights/SB-900_en.pdf

It explains this at D-24 in the manual, I haven't really experimented with them though.

Hope this helps



Dec 29, 2014 at 08:28 AM
kattz
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · New to D3s - looking for best methods. Want advice...


Hmm... thanks. I need to RTM on the SB900, as I just got it recently. Thanks for the help, guys.

Kevin



Dec 29, 2014 at 04:00 PM
AnnJS
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · New to D3s - looking for best methods. Want advice...


Set the camera to Manual mode then set the shutter-speed to be slow enough to expose the distant areas correctly for your purpose at your chosen aperture.
Adjust the flash to provide suitable fill-in for the foreground. You can try TTLBL although I usually prefer to set my flash settings manually too.

The D3S is perfectly usable up to 6400 ISO (and even beyond that) but be careful not to underexpose because the Nikon default meter settings underexpose by about 0.7EV (if you are shooting RAW) which results in noisy shadows. You have nearly 2.0 EV more headroom in the highlights than the in-camera histogram indicates.



Dec 29, 2014 at 04:21 PM
kattz
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · New to D3s - looking for best methods. Want advice...


Thanks, Ann. That's the kind of info I knew about my D2Hs. Appreciate that. Now I need to experiment a little!

Kevin



Dec 29, 2014 at 09:09 PM





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