D70 - Fashion Show

[dabitz]

I ordered and will get a D-70 from B&H tomorrow. 1179-200rebate with

the basic nikon lense, I think was a good deal. Upgrading from Dimage

A1... so I think I've got reasons to be excited about. I also ordered

the Sigma APO 300mm lense since I am in a very tight budget.

 

I need to do a photoshoot of a hip-hop fashion show in March and I

don't have any lighting at all. Do you think a flash unit might do

the trick? What do you recommend that would do the job? Should I

shoot with the 300mm lens? I don't think any flash unit would work in

sync with this sigma lense? Thanks in advance for your advice. Last

time I used a combination of the Minolta DimageA1 with the 3600HS

flash unit, I've got so many blurry pics that I was extremly

dissapointed in the camera. So here I am in the Nikon's forum. :-)

 

Dave

[hapien]

Unintentional blurry pictures with any decent camera are caused by lack of knowledge, poor technique or lack of supporting equipment. You have a month or so to get familiar with your kit, use it well.

 

Generally a flash like SB-600 or SB-800 and cord(s) like SC-28 is usefull to have. Will it be any use in this fashion show is up to you to decide. Again, you?ll decide the lens that you?re going to use. With D70 the lens has nothing to do with flash sync.

 

Digital SLR has relatively low noise at high sensitivity, so push the ISO up when needed.

[paul_sokal___dallas__tx]

I've got a D-70 and the SB600 and the SB800 and they've both worked well at the distances used shooting a wedding(There are some pics in my portfolio now from a wedding last weekend-reception shots were with the 800). I've never shot fashion, but I assume you're going to be near the front so I can't imagine the 300 (effective 450mm on the D-70) is going to be what you will use. I would think you'd be happy using the kit lens and the sb600. I would really encourage you to not get anything less because then you'll be missing out on one of the great features of the D-70, it's integration with the flash unit (sb600 or sb800)

[dabitz]

Guys, thanks so much for your answers. The Dimage A1 wasn't good for it because its AF was very slow. It gets tricky when the models are walking/moving all the time, specially when walking right at you. I have a probably stupid question, but I figured I would ask anyway. When shooting indoor with the camera built-in flash, what color balance do you pick? tungsten or flash? Same question for the flash unit, although I have always picked flash. I ask this because I will be on a family trip to PR soon, and I will be taking some pics indoor. I know I can play with the settings and play. But I would like to know what the experts like you do. :-)

 

Also, how is it that a 300mm lens on this cam, becomes a 450mm? What's the logic behind it? More zooming factor?...

 

Thanks again.

[aardvarko]

it's called "crop factor"; consult Google

[cappoldt]

David, it's called the "crop factor." Since the imaging chip isn't as large as a 35mm film pane, the image is focused down from the lens to a smaller rectangle.

 

Imagine a 2:3 rectangle (35mm film-sized). Now, draw a rectangle within that rectangle, 1.4x the size. THAT is the image size captured, recorded. It's not really "magnification" at all - it's a narrowed field of view, so to speak - one that would give the shooter the perspective as though he/she were using a 450mm lens instead of the 300mm.

 

What does this mean for you at the runway? That the view through your viewfinder is going to be a lot smaller than it would if you had a 300mm - 1.4x smaller. You'll have to back up more to get a model in the full frame, further for your flash to reach and evenly illuminate. Harder to track strutting models, more blur from your motion seen in the image, etc.

 

It's commonly referred to as a "magnification" factor, but there's no magnifying going on - important to remember.

[hapien]

<p>I have lazy habit of using auto white balance, shoot raw and tune the white balance in Capture program if required.<br>

 

Indeed, Nikon D70 has smaller sensor area than normal frame has on 135 film, so factor of 1.5 is used with focal lenght to express <a href="http://www.nikon-image.com/eng/LensGuide/topic.html#Picture_Angle">picture angle</a> similar as on "standard" film camera. So 18mm focal length on D70 will offer roughly same picture angle as 27mm on film body.

[juan_su]

In my experiences, fashion shows can be pretty dimly lite. So push the iso to 800 is you have to. I wouldn't recommend you using the 300mm lens because it will be like using a 450mm on a film slr. Also, depending on the speeds of the lens, you are likely not be able to focus fast enough in low light situation and hence loose the shot you wanted. Get the Nikon speedlight and test it out in all shorts of situations. Will you have access to a tripot or monopod? If so, use a good sturdy one. Borrow or rent one if you can afford it. Same with the lens. The kit lens that cam with the D70 should ok, again depending on the lighting and speeds of the models' movements, but I suggested borrowing or renting a faster lens also. Do some searches on photo.net you will see tons of post regarding your inquiry. Good luck!

[d_price]

Christopher, that was a really good explaination. Thanks!

[dabitz]

These are really nice answers. I was just discussing the "cropping factor" with a co-worker who owns two older Nikon SLR's.

 

I will stick with the lens that came with the kit since I have no budget to rent (Nikon 18-70mm Lens). I will try to get the SB800, but I might end up settling for the SB600. I will mount the flash in a bracket to shoot portrait and get a diffuser. No room for reflectors, the place is too crowded.

 

As for the 300mm lens, I will be going to PR on a mountain trip. If the shots come up good I'll post them to share. Thanks again, you guys are the best.

[paul_sokal___dallas__tx]

David,

 

By shooting raw, you can avoid the WB issue, though if you get it right, there will be less to correct post imaging, i.e. when you open up a raw image in PS, it asks whether you want to keep the temperature (white balance) as shot or change it. If you're not shooting raw then the proper white balance kind of depends on your shutter speed. If you're dragging the shutter (slow, say 1/8 for example) you're expecting a lot of ambient light, your white balance may be more toward tungsten. With a faster shutter speed, where most of the light will be coming from your flash, then flash is a better choice. Alternatively get a WB or gray card and do a custom wb. Also, the SB 800 comes with a tungsten gel, which matches the flash output to tungsten so you deal with only one light type (sort of). This is what I did at a wedding last weekend (you can see my porfolio) and the reception shots required minimal WB adjustment.

[dabitz]

Is there a plug-in to be able to open RAW images in PS 7? Or do I have to use their software?

[cappoldt]

You can go to the Adobe site and download the RAW converter for PS7 there...

[tomweis]

<p>If you were using a film camera you'd use a 80-200 f2.8, but you are not so get a

28-70 f2.8. A 50mm f1.8 or f1.4 will also work if you don't feel the need to get a full

length shot and then a tigher shot as the model walks to you. The 300mm is WAY too

long for runway unless you are at a *real* runway show at Bryant park or in Paris (and

I don't think that's the case). Why did you get a 300mm anyway - bird

photography?</p><p>As for

lighting, use 400 ASA and a flash. If you don't know anything about location lighting

or about how to mix flash with available light, don't try to get fancy on a job like this.

Just one flash on-camera.</p>

[dabitz]

I got the lens to take pics high from the mountains in Puerto Rico, not really for birds, maybe flowers, rainfalls, stuff like that.