Newbie Says Hello And Asks For Help

[Nealeson]

Hi Guys, this is my first post after joining today. I need some help and advice please. Ive recently upgraded from my Nikon D50 of 4 years to a D300s....and yes before you all shout at me I know that this is a bold jump for a novice! The D50 was pretty much a point and shoot....I am slowly working through the settings on the D300s by trial and error but I need desperate help to attempt to try to set it up to take an important event this weekend......I am booked on to a DSLR coourse next month where I am sure I will learn the basics but, the event this weekend is a cross country running match that I need to shoot. I tried using the D300s last weekend at a similar event but got blue and very blurred photos. I am usiing the Nikon 18-200 VR MKII lense....Can someone help me set up the settings for this event? I shoot about 400 frames per event....and need to shoot at 3 frames per sec..apart from that, what settings do i need for the AF and the like ...HELPPPPP!!!! Thanks Neale

[chris-p]

Hi Neale

Welcome to the forums.
There are several ways to set up your autofocus...

You could stick it into auto mode and let it track people for you. You could pre-focus on a point and shoot as the people come through that specific point. I would have the AF set to AF-C (continuous) so that it keeps focusing and use the 3D tracking system as it's pretty good.

What mode were you shooting in previously? Also, what format?

Without knowing more about the event itself (how bright it will be, how far away from the competitors you are etc.) I would probably set my camera in shutter priority and select about 1/250. From there I would see if I need to increase the ISO if the shutter is too slow.

As for the blue colour it sounds like a white balance issue. If you're shooting in RAW then it doesn't really matter is it's really easy to fix on the computer. If you're shooting JPEG you need to adjust your white balance for the ambient light. Try one of the pre-set modes (cloudy, shade, direct sunlight etc.)

[matt wilson]

Don't know the camera I am afraid however I did once go out with my camera and made the mistake of not checking settings .Half way around a lake I reviewed the shots and they had the blue tinge you describe.

Tungsten White balance was set.(I did get a couple of happy accidents though)

One thought maybe there's an instructional DVD out there somewhere .

Though there's no substitute for practice .And on the day if all is going pear shaped you would be very wise to use raw as you have far greater control.Then as said above it's getting the focussing and shutter speed right.In poor light I would rather up the iso and get a sharp shot with some noise in the image than one with no noise but blurred.

[chris-p]

Originally Posted by matt wilson

And on the day if all is going pear shaped you would be very wise to use raw as you have far greater control.Then as said above it's getting the focussing and shutter speed right.In poor light I would rather up the iso and get a sharp shot with some noise in the image than one with no noise but blurred.

I agree.

Best advice ever...? Read the manual. Nikon manuals are pretty good and I learned that my camera would do a load of things I didn't know it would.

[jinky]

Me and a mate shoot the Great Runs including the Great North Run and that meant me shooting nearly 7,000 pictures at the last GNR alone! At that rate there are a lot of misses as we are really just aiming to get focused on their running number on their shirts with a reasonable enough aperture to isolate them from background a little but maximise dof / focus to get facial expressions too. I use my Sigma 70-200 2.8 now as it is faster to focus but when I did use my 18-200 ( and occasionally when i still do at other events) I do the following:
1. make sure the resolution is right (very specific file sizes for the events I do and all quite low)Depends who they are for at the end of the day and obviously can downsize later if need be but think of work involved.
2. Select the ISO according to conditions that enables me to shoot at f4/5.6 and 1/250th. Slower is possible if they are heading towards you and depends on your stance/position.
3. Stick it on a monopod (if you have one) but this is more needed with a heavy lens when you are doing a lot more shooting. If you are using a monopod and have VR switched on it could be that VR is battling against the steady stand.Should be an issue with a monopod but you should switch off VR on a tripod or it will be blurred as it will be trying to steady an already steady photo and it does not like it!
4. I have used AFC once or twice on my D80 but in fact if the camera is getting enough light it might be best to stick it on AFS or AFA as you tend to be darting about shooting different runners all coming through at once rather than tracking any one for a length of time.
5. I use auto white balance or occasionally cloudy which often works well - on this number of shots I generally would trust the camera and go for AWB
6. I am not allowed to use raw on such occasions due to software used for number recognition and the sheer numbers involved. If you are taking this many and do not want it to become a serious bit of work or a batch processed group that will all be converted to the same WB anyway - do a few trial shots with Auto WB and compare it against the sunny / cloudy settings and see what you like before the race starts and then stick to it.

Good luck - hope this helps.