What K10D settings ??

Hi everyone

I will be next week (Tuesday) visiting the Hereford annual May Fair.
What settings would you recommend for taking photos of the moving fair rides?
It was easy with the old *ist DL by sellecting "sports" mode on the dial but with the K10D things are not so straight forward although they will be with more practice.
Do I select Tv or green or something else?
What shutter speed is best to freeze the image?
Is it possible to pre-set the camera and save the settings?

Here is a photo (reduced) to show an example of what I wish to achieve.



Many thanks

I think you should go for P, so with a flick of a dial, you can go either to Tv or Av, and you can return to P by pressing the green button. As far as settings are concerned, it all depends about the effect you're looking for. If you want to freeze the rides, then Tv with a speed of 1/250 or faster is recommended, but if you want a movement blur, you'll need to go a lot slower, more like 1/30 or 1/15 sec. If you want to take the night lights (always interesting), then I'd favor Av and wide open with an ISO of at least 800 to freeze the lights, or, if I want to show movements, ISO of 100 or 200 with a smaller opening (larger number) and longer exposure (my experience has shown that 1/20 or 1/15 sec works pretty good and can be done hand held with shake reduction). As for autofocus, I'd leave it on AF-S. Before putting the camera down, maybe you should press the green button to have full auto just in case something interesting shows up and you don't have time to fiddle with anything. Good luck and have fun!

Thank you for the reply.

I still do not know what "P" does or what the green button is, where it is or what is does.
What, in layman's terms. is the difference with AF-S and AF-C?

Everything is so easy when you know how. My problem is that I do not know how, yet.
----- EDIT ---------------------------------------------
I now know where the green button is and it's relation to the "P" mode (page 148 of manual).
----------------------------------------------------------

Is it possible to create personal settings in "User" mode?
Like shutter speed 1/250 plus a few other settings and save them as "user1, user2, user3 etc... ?

So much to learn but I need some basic settings and advice for Tuesday.
Reading the manual is one thing but taking onboard that information takes longer to master. lol

Thanks

PS
What mode on the dial is best for macro work? (just an extra thought but not so important today). I remember that on the *ist DL it had a "macro" mode built in but not so on the K10D.

'P' makes an educated guess at the correct settings for a given lens. EG using a wide lens it will bias towards greater depth of field - so a longer exposure and wider aperture. With a telephoto the opposite will be true.

Before sticking my cameras away after a shoot I always set them to the P setting just in case I have to grab them quickly the next time

You're lucky to have Aspens camera shop nearby, I've used them a few times via eBay

A couple of general photography sites you might find helpful, loads of info...

http://photo.net/learn/

http://www.geofflawrence.com/

http://www.cameratown.com/guides/

Thanks for all the replies, appreciated.

Aspens are mail order only, no shop or collections.

First of all, set the ISO to Auto (and the full range: 100-1600). Of course you don't have to do this, but it does help when you're in a hurry or learning the basics.

The DL's Sport mode selects AF-C - continuous autofocusing, meaning the camera continually adjusts the focus (if necessary) while you hold your finger on the shutter button. So you could try AF-C with your K10D. But switch to AF-S (single autofocus) if you prefer it or don't find AF-C works fast enough.

Then, to freeze motion.........

Try the P (Program) mode, with P set to the high speed program (Fast Shutter). See the Custom settings menu.

Alternative #1: Tv mode. Try 1/250 first. The display will blink if the light is too low or high to allow this, then you will have to select a different shutter speed or mode. The slower the shutter speed, the more risk of blur there will be. The faster the shutter speed, the higher the ISO will have to be (increasing noise). So it's a balancing act.

Alternative #2: Av mode with a large aperture (except if it's extremely bright when you will have to use a smaller aperture). In fact Av mode can be good for nearly all types of photography if you keep an eye on the shutter speed and ISO.

No, that would require a firmware rewrite. I'd love to be able to be able to write my own firmware!

It's easy and quick enough to select whatever shutter speed you want anyway.

Av. You'll want control over the aperture to get the desired depth of field. The shutter speed won't be so important since you'll be using a tripod.

The Macro mode on the other dSLR cameras isn't inteligent because it doesn't know what depth of field you want, so forget that you haven't got this mode on your K10D. It's no loss.

Astonished I assumed because it was a small market town that they would have a shop. I was there last year for a a couple of days on a shoot - ate in that nice restaurant complex by the river and was blown away by the Mapa Mundi

Ken

Keen2Learn,
When you put the mode selector on P, in the menu s, you can set it 4 ways:
1rogram
2:depth of field
3:fast shutter
4:MTF.
As a newbie, I think Program would be the safest bet.
Back to Mode dial, when set to "P", you can use the front or rear dials to automatically go toward Tv (front dial) or Av (rear dial). Set this way, it is very easy to switch to a speed that would freeze a movement or switch to a wide or small opening, depending upon the depth of field you want. Large opening (small f: number) will tend to "isolate" your subject. A small opening (large f: number, will try to keep everything "sharp". (This will only work if you are using firmware 1.11 or higher).
As for AF-C vs AF-S, AF-C mode, it is how the autofocus does respond. On AF-C, the autofocus will try to follow your subject, but if you press the shutter button too far, it will take a picture even if the focus is off. On AF-S, the shutter won't release until your subject is in focus.

Thank you all, great advice and I have learnt something.
I actually have my camera in hand whilst reading the replies, the manual is also next to me.
Those front & rear wheels/dials are so handy for quickly changing shutter speed and aperature and I will say, even at this early stage, much easier than the *ist DL.

2 weeks ago I thought that I made the wrong choice in purchasing the K10D and felt that the K100D would of been better for me, I was wrong.
No longer will I be using a camera as a point-and-shoot but will be developing my skills and having to learn about shutter speed, aperature, ISO etc.. will make me a better photographer in the long run and potentially will produce superior results.

Thanks again
Hereford is a City and not a small market town, Ken. You did notice that cathedral which housed the Mappa Mundi? I know it's not a Glasgow sized City but is a City and a lovely and picturesque City too. lol (o/j)

Did you enjoy your stay at Hereford?

ps Any chance of seeing some of your results of the shoot, please?

Thanks

I stand corrected

I'll post some shots under my pictures later in the week if I have time

Ken

Look forward to seeing them. Thanks

It's 'aperture', goddammit, not 'aperature'.

And 'lens', not 'lense'.

[Ah, I feel so much better now.]