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Keeping Shutter Speed Up (help please)

R

RobBain

Member
Possibly laziness on my part (apols), but could someone give me some hints on the following (it's probably in the manual but I always learn things from other people's replies).

I shoot wide open at distance = infinity. I need to keep my shutter speed up and am willing to let ISO adjust accordingly. Say I wanted a minimum shutter speed of 1/250s. I ideally want ISO to stay low but I'll sacrifice that if necessary (to maintain my speed). How would I best set this up with my GR?

Many thanks,

Rob
http://www.fl4.co.uk/NewUAV/
 
TaV mode, you pick aperture and shutter speed, the camera then adjusts iso to obtain correct exposure.

Set focus to manual and infinity, it will indicate depth of field (the green area in the on screen distance scale) but at maximum aperture not everything will be in focus.
 
subseasniper":31ezcil9 said:
TaV mode, you pick aperture and shutter speed, the camera then adjusts iso to obtain correct exposure.

Set focus to manual and infinity, it will indicate depth of field (the green area in the on screen distance scale) but at maximum aperture not everything will be in focus.
Click to expand...
Many thanks SSSniper.

I think I'm making a basic schoolboy error (and making it publicly on this forum!)! My thinking was that (a) I need as much light as possible (to keep my shutter speeds high) and (b) as all my subjects are at a distance, then depth-of-field does not trouble me, so I can shoot wide open. But I also need everything to be in focus - and test results so far suggest that this is not the case.

What aperture setting would people suggest for optimal sharpness on the GR - given that I'm effectively shooting landscapes (ie. subjects from a distance)?

Many thanks,

Rob
 
Rob,

depth of field is the area of acceptable sharpness in front of and behind the point of focus. The further open your lens (ie lower f-stop) then the smaller the depth of field.

The depth of field does not change just because you are focussed on something further away, it is still the same size of area.

If you stop down to f8 or so then go to manual focus you will see a distance scale to the left of the display. This shows the exact point of focus. There will be a green bar which shows the area of the depth of field, all distances within the green bar will be acceptably sharp.

The downside of stopping down mans lower shutter speeds, which is why landscape photographers almost always use a tripod.

Take a mini tripod, that will be enough to hold the GR steady. I would also limit ISO so it does not creep above 400-800 to keep grain at bay.

Hope this makes sense, if not let me know.
 
Hi SSSniper

Many thanks for sticking with me. It really is much appreciated.

Yep - I understand about open lenses and smaller depths of field. I'm shooting from an aerial platform (see link below) so all my subjects are some distance away from me. So I presumed - probably incorrectly - that all I would need to do is set focus at infin and use a wide open lens (arguing to myself that I didn't require a massive depth of field). I can now see that this is wrong - I think ;-) However I really need as much light coming into the GR as pos (hence my original enthusiasm for shooting wide open) as I need to keep the shutter speed high. If I don't, the vibration from the platform's motors transfers to the GR and blurs the image. Side note: this is a work-around for now as it really is the lazy-man solution (the first-best solution is to sort out the vibration - which I will get round to).

So, given that, what would be your advice (f/8?) for shooting subjects at a distance yet not compromising on light intake as far as possible?

Tripod? If only ;-)

Kindest regards,

Rob
http://www.fl4.co.uk/NewUAV/Images/newuav.jpg
 
Okay, with you now. At f2.8 if you focus to infinity then everything from 5 metres outwards will be acceptably sharp. As you are shooting from an aerial platform I guess you wont have any subjects closer than 5 metres.

If you are at f2.8 still shoot in TAv mode to choose a high enough shutter speed.

The camera will set appropriate iso, if conditions ars too brighg use the built-in ND filter.
 
blue_quartz":2pwffimr said:
RobBain":2pwffimr said:
Rob
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.fl4.co.uk/NewUAV/Images/newuav.jpg">http://www.fl4.co.uk/NewUAV/Images/newuav.jpg</a><!-- m -->
Click to expand...

Had to comment this:
Wow, just wow!

Anyways, the ND filter will kick in automatically *by default*. If you did not make any changes related to the ND filter then you're all good.
Click to expand...
Hi Blue-Quartz

Apols. I'm a little confused. When you say that the ND filter will kick-in automatically, does this happen when I switch 'ND Filter' to on or off?

Side-note. Testing different GR settings on the UAV today I tried different apertures (holding SS to 1/2000s and letting ISO do 'its thing'). Pics got pretty noisy at F/8 as the ISO climbed through 1000 but the real lesson today was that the noise reduction facility in DXO Optics Pro 9 is simply amazing!

Regards to all,

Rob
 
RobBain":20lor50c said:
Hi Blue-Quartz

Apols. I'm a little confused. When you say that the ND filter will kick-in automatically, does this happen when I switch 'ND Filter' to on or off?

Rob
Click to expand...

It's perhaps slightly confusing that there are two "ND Filter" options, under Shooting (first) and Settings (third).

If you set "Shooting > ND Filter" to off, left "Settings > ND Filter" to auto and is not in either P or M mode, the latter option will still over-ride the former and kick in the filter if it's still too bright. I think this will be the option that most of us are using. For completeness, the footnote also mentioned that the ND filter will not be used in the P/M mode when you set "Settings > ND Filter" to auto, but I think what it really meant is that the over-ride will not take effect.

If you set "Shooting > ND Filter" to off and "Settings > ND Filter" to manual, then it'll really be off.

If you set "Shooting > ND Filter" to on then it'll stay on.
 
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