Sorry for the newby type question but I did not see a beginers forum and its been many years since I had a decent camera and P&S has knumbed my memory.
I just purchased the D70s w/ package 18-70 lens as well as the 50mm 1.8 (which I wanted for portrate type photos. I have only had time for a few pictures and I've been trying to get some decent shots in front of the Xmas tree w/ light and blurring the lights/background and keeping my daughters sharp. I have been keeping the subject around 4-6' infront of the tree and when I shoot in the low f range it is very difficult to get a sharp picture....even the ones that are not blurred look extremely soft and not in focus. Flash is the Nikon built in flash and pictures are after dark so the rooms are pretty dark. ISO setting were anywhere from 200 - 800. (I took a lot of "sample" photos with a bowl of fruit this evening to get a feel for the f settings - from 1.8 thru 22)
Is there not enough light with the low f setting?
What adjustments do I need to make to keep the subjuct in sharp focus but blur the background (portrate style photos)?
Thanks....I'm sure many new questions will follow.
You can have a look at :
www.dofmaster.com
This will allow you to calculate DOF. Do not forget that you will have a VERY shallow DOF is you shoot fully open. To get reasonable results, if I shoot portraits, I usually close down to f2.8 or even 3.2 to get the whole face in focus (if the shooting distance is short, like 3 to 5 feet).
Open your aperture wide such as 1.8 or 2.8 and that distance should get background blurring.
What are your shutter speeds? They should be at least 1/80th sec with your 50mm lens (greater than the focal length 1.5 x 50 =75)
That should get rid of camera shake.
Do you see the focus confirmation, what is your focus set on AF-S AF-C etc? Does it look sharp througth the viewfinder?
Try and post a pic or email me one and i will have a look, preferably raw or jpeg straight from the camera
phatnev wrote:
Since we're on DOF and such, can someone explain AF-S and AF-C, I've read my manual but I don't quite get it
AF-S) Camera will focus and lock as long as you have the shutter button depressed halfway (Single)
AF-C) Continuous AF. If you depress the shutter button half way, camera will focus, but never truly locks, but will continue to 'hunt' as the subject distance changes.
I posted some sample pictures above. When I use Apt prioriety w/ flash the shutter speed is fixed at 1/60. Should I switch to manual?
Also what is the difference between AF-S and AF-C. The manual does not do a good job explaining this.
Thanks of the advise...I am doing a lot of testing and reading to try and get myself back up to speed quickly. I would like to eventually set up a small home studio.
rcorrington wrote: Andrew,
You wrote: "They should be at least 1/80th sec with your 50mm lens (greater than the focal length 1.5 x 50 =75)"
I don't understand this comment. What is the relationship between shutter speed and focal length, exactly?
Thanx in advance.
-r
It's kind of a "rule".... for all intents, to get sharp shots handholding the camera, the rule of thumb is 1/focallength. If you go less than that (and some can), you probably won't get sharp images.
What is your flash setup? You could be in balanced fill mode which will not necessarily give you enough light. Try a shot in P mode as a test and check the exif data. #3 and 4 can be much brighter if the flash in putting out full power. Are these shot with the 50?
phatnev wrote:
Are there advantages to both? I'd be curious to know when both are best utilized, I think I have it set to AF-S right now
Sure there are. If you're shooting fairly static subjects, AF-S is better/easier to work with. If you're trying to track a moving subject, AF-C is the way to go. In AF-C mode, the camera is using "focus tracking", where it is guessing where your subject is going and making it's best attempt to keep the subject in focus. It works really well.
Michael, I have the 50mm f1.8 like you do and although this lens is quite sharp at 1.8 to f2, , it is far sharper and has a better DOF at f5.6 to f8. Also, if you don't have steady hands, i suggest mounting your camera on a tripod and you will see a great improvement in the sharpness of your images.
All shots are done on the D70s 50mm 1.8D lens. Flash mode set at TTL. Auto focus -s, single area focus, 3-d color matrix.
I can now see that the lack of sharpness is caused by camera shake....as I have been getting older my hand are not as steady anymore. Confused about the lighting though. Just seems like some of the photos are overly dark. I will take more test photos and adjust different setting for experimentation and education.
In my experience, the D70 tends to underexpose low-light shots. When I had mine, I frequently used +1/3 or +2/3 exposure compensation for indoor shots with the built-in flash.
Try some outdoor shots with lots of shutter speed (and no flash) and make sure you can get sharp photos with that lens.
Thanks, I just took a few quick shots (of my file camnet) adjusting the flash output and I can see the difference. I will take some more tonight of the kids.
Another question on downloading files and photo numbers.
Everytime I down load files ds0001, 0002, 0003 and delete the photos from the card. When I take new pictures the file numbers start over at 0001, 0002, ect. So when I go to download again I already have files with these names. How do I get the camera to not start files numbers at the beginning every time?
Under the custom settings menu, set the 'File No Seq' to 'On'. That way file numbering will continue from the last number used. You won't encounter a problem until you roll over after 9999.
Also, some download programs rename the files as they are downloaded. Make sure this feature is disabled and the original filenames are maintained during download.
main problem imho is focusing. # 1 is front focused, #2 is nearly accurate to slightly front focused and properly expoed against a dark background, # 3 is accurately focused but under exposed due to white shirt and not the least, by very little of that dark background, # 4 & # 5 are back focused, # 6 & # 7 are focused on nose/ cheeks, not eyes. Prosessionals doing portraits with 50 mm lenses use manual focus , af is too unreliable at very narrow dof for the efffect one desires.
Thanks for the info on each picture and from everyone. This clears a lot up for me. I will impliment your suggestions and post back with some new pictures that are hopefully much better.
jacko wrote:
Sure there are. If you're shooting fairly static subjects, AF-S is better/easier to work with. If you're trying to track a moving subject, AF-C is the way to go. In AF-C mode, the camera is using "focus tracking", where it is guessing where your subject is going and making it's best attempt to keep the subject in focus. It works really well.
You can also map the AF/AE-L button to AF-on and keep the camera on AF-C mode. That way you press that button to focus instead of the shutter button and the shutter button is used to trip the button instead of for focusing. Works extremely well.
