Comments on: Really Wet And Scruffy Birds on the Veranda http://regex.info/blog/2007-08-11/541 Not a photo blog, but sometimes I play one on TV Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:42:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.12-alpha by: Ruslan http://regex.info/blog/2007-08-11/541#comment-7949 Sat, 11 Aug 2007 12:30:38 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2007-08-11/541#comment-7949 Jeffrey, nice blog, nice shoots. A question though: since you have switched to 17-55 f/2.8 lens, many of your pictures are at f/2.8 and 1/160 or some such whereby: (1) depth of field seems to be a bit shallow and (2) ISO seems to be surprisingly high (> 400), like 800, 640 etc., for the aperture as large. Are you shooting in shutter priority mode? If so, have you achieved what you needed with the switch to Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 from 18-200 3.5-5.6? The latter would easily give you f/4.5 @ 1/80 (and ISO around 400, perhaps) and considering its VR, would your shoots be sharper? <div class='jfriedl'><p>I generally shoot in aperture-priority mode because depth-of-field is always on my mind. Often, I need to bump up the ISO to allow me a fast enough shutter speed. In my case, "fast enough" refers not to subject motion, but to my own lack of skill in holding the camera steady (because I'm concentrating on depth of field instead of my shutter speed :-) )</p> <p>I'd certainly love VR, and would replace my 17-55/2.8 with a VR version the day Nikon came out with one, but I appreciate the depth of field and speed of a 2.8 too much to switch back to the 18-200 for general use. I now have a good tripod and monopod, so I hope getting used to them will help with my overall image quality, but by far the best thing for my pictures will be more skill, which I have yet to acquire. As I get better, hopefully, I'll be able to lower the ISO yet increase the quality. We'll see. —Jeffrey</p></div> Jeffrey, nice blog, nice shoots. A question though: since you have switched to 17-55 f/2.8 lens, many of your pictures are at f/2.8 and 1/160 or some such whereby: (1) depth of field seems to be a bit shallow and (2) ISO seems to be surprisingly high (> 400), like 800, 640 etc., for the aperture as large. Are you shooting in shutter priority mode? If so, have you achieved what you needed with the switch to Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 from 18-200 3.5-5.6? The latter would easily give you f/4.5 @ 1/80 (and ISO around 400, perhaps) and considering its VR, would your shoots be sharper?

I generally shoot in aperture-priority mode because depth-of-field is always on my mind. Often, I need to bump up the ISO to allow me a fast enough shutter speed. In my case, “fast enough” refers not to subject motion, but to my own lack of skill in holding the camera steady (because I’m concentrating on depth of field instead of my shutter speed :-) )

I’d certainly love VR, and would replace my 17-55/2.8 with a VR version the day Nikon came out with one, but I appreciate the depth of field and speed of a 2.8 too much to switch back to the 18-200 for general use. I now have a good tripod and monopod, so I hope getting used to them will help with my overall image quality, but by far the best thing for my pictures will be more skill, which I have yet to acquire. As I get better, hopefully, I’ll be able to lower the ISO yet increase the quality. We’ll see. —Jeffrey

]]> by: Marcina http://regex.info/blog/2007-08-11/541#comment-7895 Sat, 11 Aug 2007 01:34:25 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2007-08-11/541#comment-7895 Now you are morally obligated to take a picture of that poor fellow all preened and dry and handsome to post on your blog. He’s got his pride, you know! Now you are morally obligated to take a picture of that poor fellow all preened and dry and handsome to post on your blog. He’s got his pride, you know!

]]> by: Peter http://regex.info/blog/2007-08-11/541#comment-7822 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:13:27 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2007-08-11/541#comment-7822 'Every picture tells a story' - these certainly do! Shall be interested to hear, in due course, how you get on with the monopod, but these results must encourage you. Peter ‘Every picture tells a story’ - these certainly do!

Shall be interested to hear, in due course, how you get on with the monopod, but these results must encourage you.

Peter

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