Oct 31, 2007, 4:29 PM
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Re: [AUSkyguy] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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All of the settings. There's no such a thing or setting wich always will work. Light is different all the time, distance is different all the time, flash or no flash and etc... It all dipends by what do you want to see in your photographs. This "what setting" subject is way to more extended than the capabilty of this thread. I recommend to search some photo sites and get some photo books where you can learn the basics of photography. Also I'm pretty sure there's an experienced photgrapher around your DZ who can help you at the begining. Also you can practice and tweek around on the ground without jumping and find out about your camera. Even the XT's manual has lots of useful information. Good luck! -Laszlo-
DSE (D 29060)
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Oct 31, 2007, 4:59 PM
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Re: [AUSkyguy] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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Fast shutter speeds.
Read Laszlo's excellent article in this month's Parachutist.
Oct 31, 2007, 6:49 PM
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Re: [DSE] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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I know there is way too much to discuss here, and I've been successfully shooting tandems, I'm just looking for a typical sunny day setting that you would use on the majority of occasions...
DSE (D 29060)
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Oct 31, 2007, 7:09 PM
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Re: [AUSkyguy] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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if it's a bright sunny day, I'll often white balance on light blue. that does more than you'd think.
Oct 31, 2007, 8:58 PM
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Re: [jtval] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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On an average day, I use AV and leave it at 7.0-8.0. That's just a general, not-too-worried-about-it setting. Shooting in JPEG (L) because the memory isn't quick/big enough to shoot in RAW on the Rebel (assuming you just wanna squeeze and let it go- RAW will shoot about 4-5 pictures then one about every second after that... blah)
But yes, as previously stated, if you are looking for something to print and hang on your wall, not one single setting will work. But form my personal experience, the above works just fine for me and produces many great photographs.
Oct 31, 2007, 9:14 PM
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Re: [Cashmanimal] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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Just curious... why Av mode?
I care about shutter speed. Aperture has very little effect on my [freefall] pictures. I tried to get some background blur by using f/3.5 on one jump, but the pictures came out about the same as they do at f/10, but with more than usual out of focus shots.
I don't understand why you'd prioritize aperture over shutter speed. For portraits on the ground, sure. But for skydiving? Not saying it's bad, and you probably get high enough shutter speeds on most jumps, but why not just set the shutter speed you want?
I usually use a shutter speed of 1/800th to 1/1000th. I tend to get some motion/shake blur below that, but I once got some kinda cool shots at 1/40th (by accident, sport mode at sunset). Example attached. The one guy that isn't blurred at all got a print of that for his birthday.
Dave
(This post was edited by pilotdave on Oct 31, 2007, 9:16 PM)
Oct 31, 2007, 9:19 PM
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Re: [jtval] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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Right, but what's the huge deal about a wide DOF? As I said, even at f/3.5, I can't get the background to blur noticeably. The narrower DOF does make the autofocus hunt more, so you get fewer keepers, but I'd prefer to know that the shutter speed is high enough over knowing that the DOF is really wide. Or is DOF more important if you use manual focus? I guess that would make sense...
Really doesn't matter much on a bright day I guess.
Dave
(This post was edited by pilotdave on Oct 31, 2007, 9:22 PM)
Nov 1, 2007, 12:00 AM
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Re: [DSE] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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Read Laszlo's excellent article in this month's Parachutist.
Ditto, and I saw your article too Spot.
I must say Laszlo, your article was above and beyond anything I've ever seen in a skydiving mag on that topic before. Granted, it was more about "photography" than "skydiving photography"... but this is a good thing since this is what most freefall photographers don't know. You did an excellent job of having photos to back up all of your examples too!
Nov 1, 2007, 5:33 AM
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Re: [jtval] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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So I take it you use manual focus?
Thanks... I can see why you'd use Av mode when using manual focus. Makes sense. For autofocus though, I can't see the point.
Dave
DSE (D 29060)
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Nov 1, 2007, 6:08 AM
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Re: [pilotdave] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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Right, but what's the huge deal about a wide DOF? As I said, even at f/3.5, I can't get the background to blur noticeably. The narrower DOF does make the autofocus hunt more, so you get fewer keepers, but I'd prefer to know that the shutter speed is high enough over knowing that the DOF is really wide. Or is DOF more important if you use manual focus? I guess that would make sense...
Really doesn't matter much on a bright day I guess.
Dave
I really like a shallow DOF if I'm shooting with mountains in the background, as it causes the subject to really pop. If the sky is your background, ffff...don't worry at all about a shallow DOF. Shallow DOF is tough to achieve with really wide lenses and much distance between yourself and your subject. Great for shooting objects in the bar though.
Nov 1, 2007, 6:24 AM
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Re: [pilotdave] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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Yea, I really can not stand autofocus.
the only time I use it is when I'm shoooting things like jets with my 70-200 (sometimes with my 2x). And Even then I try not to rely on it. It is slower then like it to be an usually loses focus at the critical point of the shot.
When I was shooting th thunderbirds I would zoom in while they were far away and zoom out while I was tracking them.
once they got right over the centerpoint I the autofocus would trip out because I was zooming out so quickly. The camera could not distinguish WTF was going on so it would refocus.
I've never tried it skydiving. I set it somewhere between 1 and infinity.
Nov 1, 2007, 6:43 AM
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Re: [jtval] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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I love autofocus for skydiving, provided you have a decent lens (I use a nikkor 16mm f/2.8 and a nikkor 20mm f/2.8) I find it much easier this way to get sharp pictures from very close up (while docking wingsuits) to further away (FS4). So far it hasn't failed me much, just once or twice when moving my head too fast during crappy exits, all other shots are always sharp. Tandem, wingsuit, FS4 etc.
Not advisable with a slower focussing lens though, like a 18-55mm kitlens - haven't tried the sigma 10-20mm yet.
Nov 1, 2007, 6:58 AM
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Re: [dragon2] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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I haven't used it for jumping yet I may use it on the balloon jumps this weekend just so I can try it out but I have a canon-70-200 2.8L that doesn't focus well when filming fast moving objects.
Nov 1, 2007, 7:02 AM
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Re: [jtval] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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I hardly ever use autofocus for groundshots, most times canopies (or planes or whatever) are far enough away that setting to manual and infinity works best. For the rest I mostly shoot macro so no autofocus either, but for jumping it is my setting of choice
Nov 1, 2007, 7:28 AM
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Re: [dragon2] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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I've been shooting autofocus on my sigma 10- 20 so far and i have mixed emotions about it... missed exit shots and out of focus on some of the best pics (like a bad ass opening shot ) i haven't tried manual focus yet.. not really sure where to begin so that i don't ruin all the shots of the tandem... somewhere between 3 and infinity i guess
DSE (D 29060)
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Nov 1, 2007, 7:48 AM
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Re: [AUSkyguy] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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I missed a lot of exits with the XT and autofocus, but have been using autofocus on the 40D, and pretty much kept it there. Haven't missed one, and I can't recall any out of focus shots so far. In other words, the way the various camera bodies measure focus will play a role in how you shoot.
Nov 1, 2007, 7:59 AM
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Re: [DSE] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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That's waht I am afraid of. To Me exit shots are the best.
I only have one shot at it. During the jump I have a minute to get a decent pose from the student.
PhreeZone (D License)
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Nov 1, 2007, 8:16 AM
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Re: [DSE] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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I found a huge difference on the XTi by moving from whole plane autofocus to centerpoint only. As long as I am centered on the object it doesn't seek like it used to and more of my shots are in focus.
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Nov 1, 2007, 8:25 AM
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Re: [PhreeZone] Settings for a Canon Rebel XT
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I had done the same, but found I was still missing one or two exit shots in the sequence. What sucked is that the quality of the shot would always have been awesome, had it been in focus. The crappy shots are always in focus.
181156077-M.jpg
) i haven't tried manual focus yet.. not really sure where to begin so that i don't ruin all the shots of the tandem... somewhere between 3 and infinity i guess 
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