Camera Settings

[Ralph]

Is there a big difference in image sharpness between a 150-600 zoom and aa 500mm or 600mm PF? I am trying to decide if I "NEED" a Prime focus. 80% of my shots are currently at 600mm zoomed because of how far my subjects are.

Ed,
You are getting great advice from everyone on this forum but I think part of the issue is that you are getting too much and it’s difficult to sort out where to start.
I think you should approach each outing with one goal in mind. I would start with proper exposure. Set the camera to shutter preferred mode and dial in 1/500 and let the camera select the aperture. If you think that’s too slow bump it up. Don’t use auto ISO at first. Set ISO to something between 400-1000. Use matrix metering , not spot Metering. You want to learn how the camera exposes the scene not a spot. You are trying to learn the basic. The fewer variables the better. Go out to a local pond or park by yourself and shoot. But make sure the lighting is behind you. Lighting is the key. Position yourself so that every image looks sharp. If images are too dark bring the shutter speed down until it looks good. Or you can bring the ISO up. Don’t do both. If the scene is too light, increase the shutter speed or bring the ISO down. If the exposure is good but images are blurry, bump the shutter speed up. Your trying to get a feel for what the camera is doing. It takes practice. Go out multiple times and after you feel comfortable than you can play with exposure compensation. Once your good with that than move to manual and Auto ISO which is where you want to end up. Auto ISO is the best. Remember, without proper lighting you are wasting your time. At least in the beginning always position yourself so the light source is behind you or at least at an angle to the subject. You are trying to control exposure with these settings. Once you have that down than you can play with depth of field and freezing the action etc.
One last thing. As Steve always professes, get close. Get as close as possible. Practice shooting birds in your yard. You want to lock onto that eye. Whatever the subject is you want to get as close as you can.

 

[Ken Miracle]

I think one of the things slowing my improvements down is either at the Camera Store I go to or meeting other “I assume more knowledgable photographers” when I go out imaging when I ask about techniques and such will ask to see my camera and make changes to my settings to a better setup and I can not seem to get any good images for the rest of the outing because I can not figure out what was changed, (This has happened 5 times now) and it bugs me that I am too stupid to figure out how to use the changes, then I go back home and watch

(and his other setup videos) again to setup the camera the way I was getting used to. I know I need to be able to pick up any camera with any settings and take beautiful pictures but I am still confused by 80% of my cameras options let alone any others LOL. I hope I learn someday and I AM having fun on this journey. But I just feel so ignorant of what seems to come naturally to the others I meet.

@AstroEd one of the best tips I ever had to learning a new Nikon camera body was when I got my first D500 was to sit down with your camera and a fully charged battery and turn on your menu and start going through every item.and whenever there is a question mark on the bottom left of the screen press the button that looks like a key and has a ? next to it on the back right below the menu button and it will tell you what that menu item does. I start with the Photo Shooting menu and then work down and back to the top and end with the Playback Menu. I keep the camera manual handy if something stumps me. Then as I have attended classes in person, on line, read Steves Books and watched his video's I find it easier to apply what they are teaching since I am more familiar with what the camera can do.

 

[gbodave]

Astro Ed:

It's the epitome of bad manners to change anything on someone els'es camera. Stay well away. It's fine for someone to explain something but it's for you to decide whether you want to implement it. Yes, you might be in a position where you feel that someone knows best but at least if you do the changes yourself you have a better chance of removing them if they don't work.

The other thing about well intended "advice" is, beware anyone who is ultra specific about what they are telling you. "Always use a shutter speed of X" I hate it when anyone says "always" or "you must". or "you need to". There's not often a need or a must about a situation because circumstances which might appear to be the same on the surface are, more often than not different in the field from one day to another, maybe even from one hour to aother. Anyone giving that advice is merely illustrating how rigid their thinking is whereas one of the good habits to cultivate is flexibility. I often find that I have to commence any advice I give to people with the words "it depends". and then explain how a number of approaches might arise.

 

[AstroEd]

I’m not sure how much you know or don’t know about exposure, but when I was beginning I found the book “Understanding Exposure” by Bryan Petersen very helpful. This book is very good at explaining the effects of changing shutter, aperture, iso on exposure. For Elk in a field like that, I’d generally shoot at 1/500 - 1/1000 shutter and F/5.6 (wide open for my 500mm PF) and auto ISO. You can get away with slower shutter speeds if nothing is moving and youre steady, but when ever I try to do that, some action always happens. The AF settings, I tend to keep on AF-C in one of the smaller groups (Dynamic on my Z7ii).

I was checking out Steve’s eBook on autofocus system and was lost in the first paragraph so I ust bought the ebook version of Bryan Petersons Understanding Exposure that you suggested in the hopes it can help catch my knowledge up to Steve’s.

 

[abc123brian]

I was checking out Steve’s eBook on autofocus system and was lost in the first paragraph so I ust bought the ebook version of Bryan Petersons Understanding Exposure that you suggested in the hopes it can help catch my knowledge up to Steve’s.

I think it will. Steve’s books are fantastic, but I think they start at a level assuming you already understand exposure so the combination of Bryan’s and Steve’s books should get you to where you want to be. Your gear is solid so once you begin to understand what you learn in the books you’ll be surprised how quickly your photos improve.

 

[jeffnles1]

I would suggest Steve’s book on stunning wildlife photography. Regardless of camera used the info in that book is priceless.