As you might have noticed, we now have a new “Tech” section on the top of the page. I decided to move my geeky articles over to a new section that I called “Technology Tips and Tricks” for now to separate them from photography articles.
In addition, we now have a new contributing member to our blog – my good old friend and technology geek Karim. I have known him for over 12 years and he is like a brother to me. He is very smart, super sharp and he is graduating from University of Colorado at Boulder with a Master’s degree this spring!
Karim will be primarily writing in our Tech section and I will try to help him out with some of my work-related stuff as well :)
It took me some time to port things over to the new section and get rid of the old junk, which is why I have not had a chance to work on new articles. I will start catching up this weekend though, so stay tuned!
Nasim Mansurov
I have a tech question. On my nikon d80 with a 50mm 1:4 I was trying to focus on a rose. On one shot it was all good… on another, no matter what I did, I couldn’t focus.
What is the hitch… you guys are so great to offer advice!!! Thanks.
Deana, when you said that you couldn’t focus, did the lens go back and forth without being able to acquire focus, or it didn’t move and simply created blurry images?
If you could hear the element go back and forth, it could mean that you didn’t have enough light. If it didn’t move but created blurry pictures, then you are standing too close to the subject. The close focus range on Nikon 50mm lenses is about 1.5 feet, so you have to make sure that you are standing at least 1.5 feet away.
Hope this helps :)
Question on the d200
What is your experience with this camera? I would like to buy a d90 or a d300 but I came across a pretty good deal on a d200 with a 18 to 200 superzoom.
Rob, I would get a D90 instead…why would you want to have a camera that is two generations older than the current model? The D200 is worse at high ISO than D90.
Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately , my wifes uncles daughter works for Nikon in NY. He buys a new camera every few years just because he likes toys.
Sorry to say…. In a pinch , one that I might later regret, I did buy my uncles used D200 with a Nikkor AF-S DX Zoom 18-200 F3.5 to 5.6S G IF-ED for a song . I love it so far but, I would like to get info on tweaks for my needed applications. Mainly high action sports photography. Should I get another lens for that application ? Really I’m new to DSLR’s . I’ve used film but really need to make the “BREAK THROUGH” with as few snags as possible. I know in photography your always learning , I just need some pointers. Got a good WEB SITE for “Tweaks , Tricks , Tricks, Tips and Free Firm Ware for My D200? or Do you have stuff posted here on line?
Thanks for your time,
Rob
Rob, if you got the D200 and 18-200mm VR for a good price, then it might be well worth it!
The 18-200mm is a good all-around lens, but it is slow for low-light situations. I would look into getting the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G, which is a superb lens and only costs $200!
I have plenty of tutorials right here on the website – just check out the Photography Tips for Beginners page for basic photography articles.
Hope this helps.
Thank you so, so much. You have been an answered prayer for this newbie.
I’ll be looking foward to reading your info. Would you mind recomendind a lens for shooting “Kids Recreation Baseball” (Daylight from 50 to 150 ft.) or at least the minimum shutter speed and ISO with the lens I have. (18-200)
I noticed in manual mode that I really need to crank the ISO just to get the light merter to zero.
I’m trying to photograph pitched balls and swinging bats, stopped “dead in motion” consistantly.
Thanks for your time,
Rob
PS “I’m HOOKED on DSLR !!!
Rob, I do not recommend shooting fast-action sports in Manual mode, unless you really know what you are doing. Try to use Aperture Priority mode, then change the depth of field to the lowest number and see how fast of a shutter speed you get. If it is too slow, try to increase ISO to 200 or 400 and see what you get.
Hope this helps.
Thanks again for the info.
One last question for now. I’m on track with you as far as “A Priority”.
I’ll go as low as I can on the F’s .
Q. What shutter speed do you think I need to try and shoot for?
(All variables aside)
Thanks again Nasim. You’ve been great,
Rob in SC
Rob, when you shoot in Aperture-Priority mode, your DSLR will automatically set the right shutter speed, based on the type of metering you choose. What I would do, however, is watch your shutter speed and make sure that it does not drop down to a very low value. Another thing you can do, is set your ISO to “Auto ISO” and set “minimum shutter speed” to the slowest shutter speed that is acceptable for you (like 1/500th of a second). What will happen, is whenever the camera shutter speed drops below 1/500, the ISO will automatically increase to a higher value to keep the shutter speed at 1/500. You can also set “maximum ISO” to a certain number. For a DX body, I prefer to keep it under ISO 800.
Thanks,
Last questions for now:
Do faster CF cards offer higher resolution or better density or what ever it is that would give cleaner pictures or just faster read/wright?
I was told they do. True of False?
Which card would you recommend for the D200?
Rob, the only difference is faster read and write operations – there is no higher resolution or better density.
My #1 preference for CF cards are SanDisk Extreme series. If you are on a budget, go for the 8 GB SanDisk Extreme or 16 GB SanDisk Extreme series. If money is not an issue, the Extreme Pro series are currently the fastest in the market.