Day at the zoo - 1 pic up for comments

Ok - so far it has been 1 month with my K10

Brought it to the Copenhagen Zoo with the kids today. A bit cloudy but not rainy

Managed to play around with the Av-mode a bit.

I did a couple of shots and are working on a few of them atm. I just wanted to hear if you think I made the right picks with shutter speed, aperture and so on. Any help/critic is welcome. I'm trying to learn as fast as possible.


ISO 100, Shutter 1/125 - F5.6 - 240mm, using my FAJ75-300


Personally I think the head is fine - but the body is not so pinch sharp as I wanted. Shutter speed might be to low/ or aperture is wrong? - but light was a bit of a problem.

A second one:



ISO 200 - F5.6 - 1/180 - 200mm

Nothing much wrong with those Nimitz, you used a large aperture and ended up with a shallow depth of field but you seem to have kept the point of focus where it should be, on the creatures heads, the cloudy sky has actually helped here, especially on the first shot as you have managed to get the exposure spot on without any burning out. I would have been pleased with that one myself

Thank you...

I'm just a bit fuzzed about how much you need to to think about in every picture

Experiments seems to be the only option - the Aperture is really tricky. I'm not sure when to use a large or a low one - except than just shooting the same shoot with different F-values. I figured the DoF is better with a high F-value - but my main problem is how to figure the exact value to the present light.

Do you measure the light or is it just experience that gives you an idea of which aperture you use?

Some of my other images or not super crisp - and I figured I used a too high f-value because i wanted a good DoF. Not enough light in the pictures to make the fur sharp on the animals. My lens might limit me as well

Thanks for any help - appreciated.

If you change the aperture in Av mode then the camera will compensate the difference in light with a change in the shutterspeed.
A lower F-number will result in a higher shutterspeed.

For difficult conditions it might be better to play with manual mode as well or just use the exposure compensation to over or underexpose a little. You can use the histogram to see if you have a correct exposure. Especially with images taken against a cloudy sky, or complete overcast, the automatic metering can get confused by either blowing out the sky completely or underexpose the forground.
For these kind of difficult lighting conditions a set of ND grads comes in handy...

But back to your images, the look fine to me, the first one has a nice blurred background that would, if it were in focus more, distract you from the subject. You could experiment by going closing down the aperture one or two stops to see what the difference is. I once made a series of shots of the same subject but I stopped down one stop for each shot. This gives you a nice idea on the effect.

In my situation it is so that the more I use the camera and experiment wit h it I tend to use full manual mode more and more.

just coming back to second Golf's comments. deciding when to use what aperture or shutter speed all comes down to what your snapping, if you want to isolate something from the background you shoot wide if you want everything pin sharp then you shoot as high as you can, but you still have to bear in mind that prevailing light may not allow you the luxury of been able to choose its just a matter of making the best use of whats available You also have to remember that depth of field varies enormously depending on the focal length of the lens, shooting at f5.6 might get you an all over sharp image on a 18mm lens but try it at f16 on a 400mm and its a whole different ball game.

Thanks guys - on the right track I see.

Regarding the aperture.

I was wondering about the difference is F-value on different lenses. My friend who was with me in the zoo took some pictures with his N****N D80 - using a sigma 70-200 F2.8 HSM EX DG....

Most of the time he used F2.8-3.5 and had some bright pictures...too bright in my opinion.

If we shoot with the same aperture - eg. F5.6 or so - would the images be similar regarding the light and DoF (same shutter and focal length) - or would his lens which is substantially wider be a better option than my FAJ 75 - 300?
(sorry for all these questions - trying to learn )

I sum it up to:
More experience with the camera - then I can move on to the post-processing.....

Larger aperture just means he can shoot at faster shutter speeds, but will get even less depth of field than you would shooting at f5.6.

Probably overexposed.

Definately, all lenses that are of similar focal length will give the same depth of field range


Under poor lighting conditions probably, but that applies to any larger aperture lens.

Fortunately for you you dont have to worry about large aperture lenses, you simply switch the shake reduction on and match your friends shutter speed

Ok - just to make sure I got it.

I can shoot F5.6 while he needs to do at least F2.8 to get the same result - because my shutter speed is better due to the shake reduction. He needs fast shutter speed to compensate for shake - while we can be slower with shake reduction...right?

How many steps in aperture?

There are two stops between f/2.8 and f/5.6 (it goes 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, etc)

SR should give you at least 2 stops to play with hand held.
However, if the subject is moving then SR won't help - they'll be blurred while the background is sharp

Of course, you can also increase the ISO rating to match.
For example:
Friend: f/2.8, 1/250s, ISO200
You: f/5.6, 1/60s, ISO200 (two stops slower on shutter speed)
or
You: f/5.6, 1/250s, ISO800 (two stops faster on ISO)

or:
You: f/5.6, 1/125s, ISO400 (one stop slow on Tv, one stop faster on ISO)

Matt

In my opinion, you need to look at replacing your lenses with something better than the ordinary 18-55mm kit lens. Now I know it has had some good reviews here but there really is better glass out there in the shape of the DA 16-45mm and the DA* 16-50mm.

The FAJ 75-300mm lens in my opinion and personal experience is a truly dreadful lens. The FA 80-320mm is much better, but there are others you might consider.

Ditto Peter's comment
The SMC-FA 80-320 is a great lens (when you can find one!)

Others have used some of the better Sigma lenses (i.e. the EX series) but they're big and expensive. Have heard good things about the Sigma EX 100-300 f/4.
Others have rated the Tokina AT-X 80-400, and the Tokina AT-X 80-200 f/2.8 - but again these are hard to find second hand.

In a zoo the lighting isn't always great and the combination of a dull day plus very long lenses means that even SR is going to be pushed.

Also, blur can be a combination of the following:
* Camera shake
* Mis-focus
* Movement in the subject
* Shallow depth of field (ie smaller f-numbers)

Matt

Well ya - better lenses.

Actually I'm quite pleased with the 75-300 but not so satisfied with the kit lens.

I ordered a Sigma 28-70 EX DG F2.8 to replace my kit lens. I think that will help a bit.

Really appreciate the time you guys used to reply my posts - thanks!

To think that "it should help a bit" is probably an under estimate. It should help a lot. Enjoy it.