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AUSkyguy

Settings for a Canon Rebel XT

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I know you guys have been over this but i couldn't find a clear cut answer that applied to me.

I have a Canon Rebel XT with a Sigma 10-20 lens and a bite switch

Does anyone else use this setup? What all settings do you use? What program and all settings?

Thanks so much i just decided to experiment past sport mode
-Chris Martin

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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-

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I have a 15mm lense with an xt body.

As everyone said you can't just turn it on and go.
thats the great thing about digicams.

I asked this question a few months ago and I also read everything I could about digitard photography.

I use manual settings for almost everything.
It forces me to think about it.

On a clear day with bright sun I use Manual seeting but the AV is set anywhere from 5.6-16 and the TV is set to approx the middle of the meter.

the faster the speed the less blur.

the higher the Ap the more it effects DOF.(higher AP number= wider [url http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html]DOF)
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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.
It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

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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

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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

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Well for your use it probably doesnt make a diff.

When I shoot tandems I am within hi-five distance.
5 ft?(probably closer)



At 15mm at F2.8 at 5 ft the near limit is 3.68 ft the far limit is 7.82ft for a total DOF of 4.14 ft.


At 15mm at F8 at 5 ft the near limit is 2.48 ft. the far limit is infinity


So, if I am hi fiving a student the at 2.8 I'll get a lot of oof.

If I hifive the same student at F8 I'll get my near focus as close as my wrist and the students goofy face will also be in focus.



at 20 feet Wide open is better.
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Quote

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!
www.WingsuitPhotos.com

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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.;)

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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.
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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.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

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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 ;)


ciel bleu,
Saskia

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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 :S) 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

-Chris Martin

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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.

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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.
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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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.:S:D

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