Digi still settings

[jtval 0]

DSE posted a thread about knob tweakers.

so what seetings do you mess with?

specifically, what is your default ISO setting.

I keep mine at 1600 because I didnt know much about it until yesterday.

I'll prob still keep it at 1600 for jumping but theres a lot of different stuff you can do with it.

normally my ISO 1600
TV somewhere between 250-800
AV...well I haven't actually gfound a NORMAL yet. It varies.

what ranges do you use for filming skydivers?
ISO
AV(f-stop for you pro's)
TV
anything other camera settings you take into consideration?

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[pilotdave 0]

You'll get a lot less noise in your pictures at ISO 400 or less. 1600 on a bright day is overkill. That's for indoor in poor light with no flash. You'd be fine at 100-400. The lower, the better... but as you lower it, you'll need to lower your shutter speed or increase your aperture (smaller f-number).

I play with Tv mode sometimes, but usually get good results in sport mode. That way the camera can adjust to changing lighting conditions. Downside is that it sticks the camera at ISO 400, which I'd rather lower on a bright sunny day, and I can't use a lot of the other features on the camera.

Dave

[mnealtx 0]

disclaimer: Me no vid-guy...

but...here's a few thoughts:

I'd use Av, an f-stop between f/8 and f/16 and hyperfocal settings for manual focus. I'd check what ISO would give me a shutter speed around 1/1000 second while metering blue sky. I'd double check those settings several times throughout the day. You may want to try about 2/3 stop more exposure to compensate for the difference between skin tone and sky. Edit: this is going to slow down your shutter speed some, so you may have to adjust ISO

Reasoning: Most lenses are sharpest stopped down at least 2 stops from wide open. Two stops down from an f/4 is f/8. Most lenses start showing some chromatic aberration or fringing above f/16.

Using a hyperfocal distance gets you the maximum amount of the scene (front to back) in focus. This will net you some more "keepers" when you're not in exactly the right spot. Obviously, the lens should be set for manual focus and the focus ring taped down once you get the hyperfocal distance set. There's several calculators on the WWW that can give you that info.

Edit: I'm going to offend the 'no filter' crowd, here - IF you know roughly what direction you're going to face in freefall (hint: talk to the TI to plan for the best background), a circular polarizer, set on the ground for the best glare reduction (darkest sky), can add a lot of 'pop' to your photos. The downside: This can cause some 'banding' in the sky on WA lenses and will steal some light, so take some test shots before-hand and check your settings with it on!

Good luck!!

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[jtval 0]

THanks Dave.

That's pretty much what I discovered yesterday.

I wondered why I had so much noise I thought the ISO was reversed. the lower number the more noise and the less light needed.

I'll go goof off tomorrow with the settings again.

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[jtval 0]

Thanks Mike.

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[mnealtx 0]

You're quite welcome - it may work for ya, may not...but at least it's something to work from.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[jtval 0]

It's be great if tomorrow I can get less-noisy pictures.

That would be a good start.
I am sure I will have an erection at the quailty but even with noisy digi shots I was erect when I left APS behind.

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[mnealtx 0]

Quote

It's be great if tomorrow I can get less-noisy pictures.

That would be a good start.
I am sure I will have an erection at the quailty but even with noisy digi shots I was erect when I left APS behind.

Oh, you'll DEFINITELY get less noise once that ISO comes down!

Another hint, since we're talking about noise - try not to underexposure - it causes noise in the darker areas of the photo. I'd rather be a half-stop overexposed and pull it back down than be underexposed.

The good part about that is... you're liable to notice a lot more stuff wrong than the customer would!

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Icon134 0]

I usually shoot in the Tv setting.

I set the lens to manual focus I usually put the focus between 3-5 feet.

I'll generally adjust my Shutter speed from 1/250 - 1/400s (any slower and I've noticed camera movement effects) and aim for an f-stop from f/8 - f/11.

With this F-stop I usually can get the depth of field to cover from 3 ft - infinity.

I typically keep the ISO at 200 (on really bright days I'll drop it to 100 and darker days I'll increase it to 400)

In a post similar to this before there was a suggestion to enable one of the custom function on the camera as well.

Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...

[sinjin 0]

i would recommend 100 iso unless it is a sunset load or sunrise or very cloudy.. anything else is not needed and you will be losing quality in your photos. your shutter can be as low as 250 but you better be still and the subject should be pretty still or you are going to get blur. your apeture (f-stop) can be and should be based on your shutter speed. the slower the shutter speed,, the smal/er opening/higher f stop you can use. having said that photography is art so if you want all your action stopped- faster shutter (800) low f stop( f4 eg). you want more background and some blur- slower shutter (250) and f11 (eg).

for a general full manual safe setting bright day

iso 100- 400 shutter f 8 -f 9 is pretty safe

freefly/ zoo dive maybe 500- f 7
belly/ tandem 4 /big way 320- f 11

dont let life pass you by

[DSE 3]

Quote

i would recommend 100 iso unless it is a sunset load or sunrise or very cloudy.. anything else is not needed and you will be losing quality in your photos. your shutter can be as low as 250 but you better be still and the subject should be pretty still or you are going to get blur. your apeture (f-stop) can be and should be based on your shutter speed. the slower the shutter speed,, the smal/er opening/higher f stop you can use. having said that photography is art so if you want all your action stopped- faster shutter (800) low f stop( f4 eg). you want more background and some blur- slower shutter (250) and f11 (eg).

for a general full manual safe setting bright day

iso 100- 400 shutter f 8 -f 9 is pretty safe

freefly/ zoo dive maybe 500- f 7
belly/ tandem 4 /big way 320- f 11

These settings would not be applicable if you want shallow DOF. You want a wide open aperture which means a faster, not slower shutter. Since we have serious mountains/water here, I prefer distance to be out of focus. YMMV

[tonyhathaway 0]

here is a shot I did with a 1/40th shutter speed. I have only used 80-100 iso with the exception of a FEW jumps over all the years. I mostly found no reason to.
The subject here is blurred, as they are supposed to be, that is why the photo was shot during the middle of the bipole block. but look closely at the background. Clear as can be. Its all about holding your head still when you get to slow shutter speeds. Its tricky, but it can be done......

My O.C.D. has me chasing a dream my A.D.D. won't let me catch.

[freefalle 0]

I keep my iso at 100 switching to 200 at sunrise and sunset and 400 on night jumps
I use TV ranging between 200 and 500 depending on ambient light.

[dragon2 0]

Usually I shoot S at 1/400 with ISO 200 (my D70s doesn't go faster), this works for most cases. Sometimes I tweak the ISO (up to 400, never higher - I dont like noise!), and if I use my D80 I generally jump it at ISO100, and sometimes I jump at 1/320 or 1/500.

Other than that, I fiddle with exposure compensation, jpeg and/or RAW shooting, manual focus or autofocus.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[StefB 0]

With Ricoh Caplio GX8 (digital compact class) i use for

* RW manual focus infinity, fixed aperture 4.7, shutter automatic and fixed ISO 100. Flash off (better repetition speed).

* CF manual focus infinity, fixed aperture 8.0, shutter automatic and fixed ISO 100. Flash off (better repetition speed).

on sunny days. On late afternoon the ISO settings may be ISO 200 (or 400 but the pictures are rather noisy then).

[Fast 0]

I play with all the settings. I set ISO between 100 and 400 depending on the ambient light. I will play with different shutter speeds in Tv mode most of the time, but I am starting to experiment more.

I really want a flash or something for better sunset pictures and days with high overcast. Attached is the last jump of the weekend this weekend. I was not really happy at all with how the pictures turned out. They were way too blurry cause I couldn't get a deep enough depth of field and I just wasn't getting the apeture i wanted. This picture was ISO 400, f/5, 1/320. I use a sigma 15mm and it was set for infinity focus around f/5-f/8.

I have been considering playing with auto focus but I get kinda scared by that. Maybe I should give it a try here and there and the loads where I know light and focus are going to be a big problem.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[champu 1]

I've had very poor luck taking sunset load shots with the sigma 15mm using auto-focus.

In low-light / auto-focus my sigma 15 tends to do the "course tune" routine where it goes rail to rail to find the correct focus point, taking almost two seconds to settle out. My Canon USM lenses do a much better job in these conditions.

Unfortunately I've had no opportunities to jump my 580EX with the sigma lens, so I can't report back there.

[snafuhere 0]

I have experimented with differents settings and here are the results (350D with 18-55 kit lens and tounge switch):
1. I do not use sports mode
AF was no good, backfocusing on exits etc.
due to the AF/AE lock overexposure on exit was tipical
ISO 400 not the best quality

2. I use shutter priority (T at 500) with CF4 set to 3
on the ground or in the plane I point at something located at the distance of 5-6 ft and set the focus there
once the focus is set it remains set for the whole session
CF4 set to 3 means that the shutter release does not activate focus and it does not lock exposure
every shot has it's own metering
I use ISO 200 (400 when it's realy cloudy)
wb set to sun/clouds
metering mode set to center weighter avg
AF mode one shot (efectively I use manual-locked focus at 5-6 ft)
drive mode - continous
image quality L (jpg)

this is the best one can get from kit lens IMHO

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[billo 0]

I'll echo other comments...1600 ISO is definitely overkill. I don't go there unless it is after sunset and w/o a flash and desperate to get any light possible, fully accepting that the picture is going to be noisy and that I wouldn't want to ever see it blown up or close up.

My basic formula for freefall shooting is Tv 1/500, ISO 100 with fast lens (aperture-wise and AF-wise). I tweak the exposure setting up a stop or so on bright days that have lots of haze and clouds. I'll steal stops from shutter or ISO only when all else fails. This is a happy range to be in and you will get a ton of DOF to play with around here. :)