chris_graamans

I just got my new D500, and am trying to customize the settings. Have set up 'photo shooting menu banks' to suit various situations, but one thing that doesn't stick with the menu bank is exposure metering area (spot vs center weighted, etc.). There doesn't seem to be a way to make it happen under 'custom settings bank' either.

Am I missing something? Thanks in advance, Chris

I also like them in the wings up position, i.e. during the up-to-down transition. Under such circumstances, you don't need 1/4000 shutter speed.

I do too. It's timing the button press for those moments that I have trouble with ;)

Chris, what if I use shutter + aperture manual with ISO auto mode? Honestly, I do not want to crank my ISO higher than 1600... but to capture leaps I need very high shutteer speed. I also think of spot metering.

What drive - single or continuous do you use?

Ruslan,

Your idea of manual mode with auto ISO yields essentially the same result. Exception: if you reach the top of the ISO range in manual, you get an under exposed frame, but at your preset shutter speed. In Aperture preferred mode, it will drop below the base shutter speed you've set, and get you a blurry shot that's well exposed. At least on my camera, at the 6400 ceiling, under exposure results in unusable material, whereas motion blur may still work. On your gear? You'll have to experiment.

I use single exposure rather than continuous, and try to hit it on the peak moments, but continuous may work better for you.

When I do shots of local theatre, I go to a rehearsal, spend the time to take test shots and set up my cameras and lens choices. I don't use flash either. Has worked out well for several years. Not ballet, so you will probably need a fairly high ISO because of movement speed. We do have at least one member who shoots & posts ballet images, he might be able to give you an ISO suggestion to try, though your lighting will probably be different.

I have shot ballet, a few times, but what I ended up doing was determined, of course, by the lighting used. Lighting is generally on the dim side, and varies, scene to scene, moment to moment, and from one end of the stage to the other. Plus, there is often a lot of contrast between subject(s) and background. What I have had luck with, is spot metering each exposure (generally taken on the face of a dancer) at the same time as single point 3D follow focusing on the same. Aperture priority, generally wide open at f/2.8, with auto ISO set with a minimum 1/320th and a max of 6400 ISO. Most shots end up being at 3600-6400 ISO. If you have more light, lower ISO or up the shutter speed. If it is darker, well, pick your evil, blur or grain. Even at 1/320th, I end up trying to grab the moment of least movement. It is amazing how fast dancers move.

<p>Thanks for the responses!<br>

Wouter, I went through the trouble shooting part of the manual and saw the bit about removing and reinserting while turned on - tried it to no effect. Regarding your other point, letting it discharge (I assume you mean the capacitor?) completely, I'll let it sit for a while and try again. Any idea how long that takes? I really would like to get back to reliable operation - intermittent will mean I get rid of it / send it off for repair.<br>

Shun, the battery orientation was not the issue. And thanks for the warning about the high voltage - I'm hesitant to tackle repairs myself.<br>

Tyrone, thanks for the low cost option, but again, too risky for me.<br>

Again, thanks for the help,<br>

Chris</p>

<p>Greetings!<br>

I have an SB-600 flash that quit working. I can turn it on and off, go into menus to change settings. The display works fine, ready light comes on. Batteries are fresh (tried several sets). The problem is that it will not emit any light at all. Not via flash button on the unit, not activated by the camera. Reset to factory settings made no difference. I've used units like this for a long time - this has me puzzled. Anything I might have missed? Ideas of what might be malfunctioning, cost of repair needed? Thanks for your assistance!<br>

Chris</p>

<p>Wonderful pictures, all.<br>

Here's a hummingbird in our yard, taken last week.<br>

Chris</p>

<p>I use D7100, which may be similar:<br>

For most settings, when you change settings while in a particular mode (PASM), they will stick with that mode, not with the others. So, if you want to have settings that hold across multiple modes, you have to change them in each mode. Some exceptions exist, e.g. file type.<br>

Hope this helps,<br>

Chris</p>

<p>Rollie,<br>

I don't know what camera you shoot with, but on my nikon cameras, files get written to a new folder when the count rolls over past 999. Gave me one hell of a scare once. Playback on camera only shows one folder at a time, and I thought the whole first part of the shoot was lost. In case the same happened to you, go back to the memory cards (assuming they've not been overwritten yet...), set your uploading software to take ALL folders from the cards. Hope you get this taken care of,<br>

Chris</p>

<p>Raihan,<br>

The SB900 will shut down for overheating after many full power shots in quick succession. Outdoor fill in bright sunshine asks for a lot of power, and a diffuser reduces output. I don't know what aperture you were shooting at - obviously, that affects power required of the flash. And, of course distance of flash to subject. If ambient light forces a shutter speed over your camera's synch speed, you lose power due to HSS. So, it's a balancing act between camera settings.<br>

The wild variation in light to dark images could well have come from firing the shutter before the flash is fully recharged.</p>

<p>A few thoughts:<br>

First off, the file is a jpeg, and only 169K at that. I don't know if it was shot as jpeg, or converted in ACR, but that much compression is destructive. These conditions require shooting in raw.<br>

When I look at the histogram, I see the graph hugging both the low and high end - your student is losing detail at each extreme. If this is the case even in the RAW file, there is simply too much contrast for the camera, and you need to choose what to expose for.<br>

Generally, I choose not to overexpose the highlights, as that looks awful to me (faces, hands, generally), and I just accept the deep blacks at the other end of the scale. If your student is using spot metering, the spot being metered is not on the most brightly lit part of the subject. You have to try to keep the histogram from hitting the right end - unless you have items in the background that you don't mind overexposing (say, a floodlight) - you can turn on the blinkies on the monitor to check what is overexposed.<br>

You mention that this happens only under certain colored gels. I have found that if I spot meter on the part of the image I want to expose for, the color of the gel doesn't make a difference. But, when I have a choice of metering off one half of a face (red gel), or the other (blue gelled light), my eye isn't much help in deciding which one is the brightest. So, I try one, and check the histogram.<br>

Last, I find it helpful in ACR to adjust white balance first, then the exposure parameters. Too hard to judge the image otherwise.<br>

Hope that helps,<br>

Chris</p>

<p>Yes, the mc36 does bulb.</p>

<p>Several factors influence the D300's ability to focus quickly: The speed of the lens (your 300-800 has 5.6 max. aperture, I believe, about the limit for responsive autofocus), how many autofocus points you select (single point autofocus is your best bet for speed), amount of light available (bright sunshine works better than low light), and subject contrast, i.e. something for the camera to lock on to, the lens you're using (the speed of its built in motor, or the amount of mass the camera's motor needs to move). <br>

Continuous servo auto focus (AF-C) is somewhat more demanding on the above factors, in my experience, than AF-S. Still, I have been very impressed with the D300's ability to maintain follow focus. But, if e.g. contrast is too low, you'll see the camera losing the lock on the subject, and switch to something else in the frame that offers more to hang on to. For this type of shooting, I set mine to focus priority release in the menu, CH release mode, dynamic area AF, in order to get the most in-focus shots.</p>

<p>Greetings! If you want to make this work with the in camera light meter, use spot metering, rather than matrix. Half press the shutter with the very center of the frame on the subject (a subject's face in this case) to lock in the exposure (and focus, depending on how you programmed your camera). If lighting is even across the space, take those exposure settings, and use manual exposure - this way you only think about exposure once. If uneven, lock in on a face for each shot using Aperture priority.<br>

What you have at a graduation in a dark space, is a lot of black (robes, background) that get averaged in with the faces by matrix metering. This results in overexposed faces, medium gray robes. The same problem is common at concerts, theater performances. You have to tell the camera what part of the frame to expose for.</p>

<p>Hope that helps,<br>

Chris</p>

<p>Ton,<br>

For what it's worth, I enjoy seeing the documentary along with the street shots when I browse the forum. Nice shots of the race track - I am normally not at all interested in racing, but these are great people shots.<br>

Chris</p>