Nikon D750 & D780

nog said:
MPB have free delivery this weekend, use FREEDELIVERY code, and have an "as new" Nikon EN-EL15 for £19 and a "good" one for £14.
Click to expand...
I got a new one from Amazon, its rated at 2350a/h compared to 1900 for the original one, the make is "TERA" chinese thru and thru but it works, I think I paid 16.99 euros.
 
Graham said:
I got a new one from Amazon, its rated at 2350a/h compared to 1900 for the original one, the make is "TERA" chinese thru and thru but it works, I think I paid 16.99 euros.
Click to expand...
Yeah I usually buy non OEM batteries and have had just 1 fail out of about 20 but then I seem to swap systems/batteries fairly often:rolleyes: Some like to buy OEM batteries and TBH they are usually better quality. As for the advertised 2350-well it might be correct.
 
Last edited:
Graham said:
Hi all,
Here is the long awaited , well one week anyhow, IRIX 15mm f2.4 with a moosif 95mm dia lens hood/filter.
I decided to get the cheaper version as I couldn't justify paying the extra £200 for a all metal/alloy body and the guts are exactly the same on both models. The build quality even on this model is really nice.
I have included a really boring photo view from my terrace window, I purposely had the sun in the corner to give it some "lens flair"
Don`t it look Pretty
Now to tell the o/h that I/we are going out tonight for a hour or so for some star shots :)
View attachment 76325 View attachment 76326 View attachment 76327
Click to expand...

Lens looks awesome mate. Some distortion though! Unless that building is meant to look like it's falling over. ;)
 
minnnt said:
Lens looks awesome mate. Some distortion though! Unless that building is meant to look like it's falling over. ;)
Click to expand...
LOL just a test shot, Im off out on sunday to the imfamous (well around here it is) Gorge du Verdon for some Mountain shots incl a few panos. :-)
 
Been away at Center Parcs last few days and just couldn't get into snapping the wonderful autumnal colours, pretty much family stuff, except for this.. There is a technical cock up here as no tripod but what the hell, to amused me for a while.

29987261743_1b625393c0_b.jpg
 
Last edited:
Livin The Dream said:
Been away at Center Parcs ...
Click to expand...


Lovely shot @Livin The Dream

Took little one out for some halloween portraits this morning, and again she was a bit of a nightmare. We let her take her 'handbag' which she wouldn't let go of (and being bright pink spoilt the pics) and when we did she burst into tears. Then when she was alright trying to keep her under the light was near on impossible...still managed a few shots, keen to hear feedback, shall post more when I'm done editing them:

Halloween by Tim G, on Flickr
 
nog said:
MPB have free delivery this weekend, use FREEDELIVERY code, and have an "as new" Nikon EN-EL15 for £19 and a "good" one for £14.
Click to expand...
I bought a couple of those a few years back before my first stay on Skomer. Excellent value for OEM batteries and mine are still working perfectly 3 years later. With Nikon making things difficult for third party batteries I was happy paying £16 each considering they were £50 new at the time.
 
Sorry been looking at some amazing people photos on this thread with great bokeh and sharp subjects.

Any pointers or tutorial to watch to improve my photography.

Thanks
 
T_J_G said:
What do you want to learn? Portraits?
Click to expand...

Yes, like your last picture of your daughter. She is nice and sharp and the bokeh background.

I just cannot get the focussing/sharpness of the subject correct.

Thanks
 
sep9001 said:
Yes, like your last picture of your daughter. She is nice and sharp and the bokeh background.

I just cannot get the focussing/sharpness of the subject correct.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Give me a minute or two and I'll do a complete breakdown of this image. For this image the most important parts are the lighting/and the lens used.

What lenses do you have?
 
T_J_G said:
Give me a minute or two and I'll do a complete breakdown of this image. For this image the most important parts are the lighting/and the lens used.

What lenses do you have?
Click to expand...

Thanks, I have a Nikon 28-105, Tamron 28-75 and Nikon 70-210 f4.

Thanks
 
minnnt said:
210mm, f4, AF-S single point, shutter speed 1/250+.

Win.
Click to expand...

Thanks David, with that I get the face sharp but not the whole body.[emoji20]
 
sep9001 said:
Thanks David, with that I get the face sharp but not the whole body.[emoji20]
Click to expand...
With portraits as long as the eyes are sharp that's all that really matters. In fact you don't even need both eyes sharp, just the one nearest the camera if they aren't straight on. If you do want the whole person in focus it's all about depth of field. In order to get a bigger depth of field you need to either increase camera to subject distance, decrease the aperture (higher f-number) or reduce the focal length (or a combination of all three). If you also want the background blurred you have to make sure there is an ample distance between the subject and the background.
 
Last edited:
Going to say the same. Practice with one focal length and wide aperture but get used to the working distance you have with said combination.

Also use the nearest focus point to the eye.
 
So, found a decent location in the woods:

To explain my choices and I admit to being a relative newbie in this type of shot: I used an 85mm (1.8) lens to get the shallow depth of field, and still be in working distance of Amelia. This was shot at 1.8, so I would suggest using something around 85mm at the widest aperture possible (f2.8 on your Tamron?) Also, keep and eye on the distance your background is from your subject, the reason this has this type of bokeh is that the background is 20ft+ away, and has highlights on it so that'll make the specular highlights (bokeh balls). Also, get to the subjects level (if it's children, dogs etc) try not to shoot from above them.

For autofocus, I was in AF-S Single point with the focal point moved the the one covering her eye, the shot was composed like this in the camera not after in post production. I wanted to ensure I nailed focus on her eyes, I did not use AFC as it's quite difficult to nail focus on the eyes, and she was relatively still at this point.

I then metered the shot and it was suggesting something like 1/60th at 1.8 ISO 100. Always keep to your lowest ISO possible to keep get the best IQ. I'd want to use at least 1/200 on my 85mm lens to guarantee no camera shake. So may have upped the ISO a touch if I wasn't using flash.

Now if I had left it at that, I would have had a nice shot. But I introduced a flash in a octobox to light Amelia so I can control the exposure on her AND the background separately, without a light on her she would have been exposed nicely but the background would have been too bright (for my taste). So I rolled the shutter speed back up to 1/200 to darken the ambient exposure and added a flash in a octobox to the above/side of Amelia set in TTL (easier to let the camera meter for that when trying to get a toddler to stand where she needs to). I then took the picture about 20 times to get a half decent posed one ;)

Here a picture of the flash setup, it was lower for shots of Amelia and more directed into the clearing, was trying something else when this was taken.

setup-1.jpg
 
Last edited:
T_J_G said:
So, found a decent location in the woods:

To explain my choices and I admit to being a relative newbie in this type of shot: I used an 85mm (1.8) lens to get the shallow depth of field, and still be in working distance of Amelia. This was shot at 1.8, so I would suggest using something around 85mm at the widest aperture possible (f2.8 on your Tamron?) Also, keep and eye on the distance your background is from your subject, the reason this has this type of bokeh is that the background is 20ft+ away, and has highlights on it so that'll make the specular highlights (bokeh balls). Also, get to the subjects level (if it's children, dogs etc) try not to shoot from above them.

For autofocus, I was in AF-S Single point with the focal point moved the the one covering her eye, the shot was composed like this in the camera not after in post production. I wanted to ensure I nailed focus on her eyes, I did not use AFC as it's quite difficult to nail focus on the eyes, and she was relatively still at this point.

I then metered the shot and it was suggesting something like 1/60th at 1.8 ISO 100. Always keep to your lowest ISO possible to keep get the best IQ. I'd want to use at least 1/200 on my 85mm lens to guarantee no camera shake. So may have upped the ISO a touch if I wasn't using flash.

Now if I had left it at that, I would have had a nice shot. But I introduced a flash in a octobox to light Amelia so I can control the exposure on her AND the background separately, without a light on her she would have been exposed nicely but the background would have been too bright (for my taste). So I rolled the shutter speed back up to 1/200 to darken the ambient exposure and added a flash in a octobox to the above/side of Amelia set in TTL (easier to let the camera meter for that when trying to get a toddler to stand where she needs to). I then took the picture about 20 times to get a half decent posed one ;)

Here a picture of the flash setup, it was lower for shots of Amelia and more directed into the clearing, was trying something else when this was taken.

View attachment 76331
Click to expand...
Too late Tim ,he's already sorted lol
 
Livin The Dream said:
What specifically are you struggling with Kev? Focus, exposure, composition?
Click to expand...

I think I would say mainly focus.

Tim,

Thank you for the details. Will give it a go. What metering mode do you use?
 
sep9001 said:
I think I would say mainly focus.

Tim,

Thank you for the details. Will give it a go. What metering mode do you use?
Click to expand...

Matrix, never really used anything else. I sometimes switch into live view with the exposure preview turned on so I can gauge the exposure, especially when using flash.
 
T_J_G said:
Matrix, never really used anything else. I sometimes switch into live view with the exposure preview turned on so I can gauge the exposure, especially when using flash.
Click to expand...

Thank you all, will see if I can get out tomorrow and have a play.
 
sep9001 said:
I think I would say mainly focus.

Tim,

Thank you for the details. Will give it a go. What metering mode do you use?
Click to expand...
In matrix mode it has facial recognition so will bias metering to a face if it sees one in the frame.
 
T_J_G said:
So, found a decent location in the woods:

To explain my choices and I admit to being a relative newbie in this type of shot: I used an 85mm (1.8) lens to get the shallow depth of field, and still be in working distance of Amelia. This was shot at 1.8, so I would suggest using something around 85mm at the widest aperture possible (f2.8 on your Tamron?) Also, keep and eye on the distance your background is from your subject, the reason this has this type of bokeh is that the background is 20ft+ away, and has highlights on it so that'll make the specular highlights (bokeh balls). Also, get to the subjects level (if it's children, dogs etc) try not to shoot from above them.

For autofocus, I was in AF-S Single point with the focal point moved the the one covering her eye, the shot was composed like this in the camera not after in post production. I wanted to ensure I nailed focus on her eyes, I did not use AFC as it's quite difficult to nail focus on the eyes, and she was relatively still at this point.

I then metered the shot and it was suggesting something like 1/60th at 1.8 ISO 100. Always keep to your lowest ISO possible to keep get the best IQ. I'd want to use at least 1/200 on my 85mm lens to guarantee no camera shake. So may have upped the ISO a touch if I wasn't using flash.

Now if I had left it at that, I would have had a nice shot. But I introduced a flash in a octobox to light Amelia so I can control the exposure on her AND the background separately, without a light on her she would have been exposed nicely but the background would have been too bright (for my taste). So I rolled the shutter speed back up to 1/200 to darken the ambient exposure and added a flash in a octobox to the above/side of Amelia set in TTL (easier to let the camera meter for that when trying to get a toddler to stand where she needs to). I then took the picture about 20 times to get a half decent posed one ;)

Here a picture of the flash setup, it was lower for shots of Amelia and more directed into the clearing, was trying something else when this was taken.

View attachment 76331
Click to expand...
Nice detailed explanation. I am however slightly confused by your comment about being difficult to nail focus using AF-C? The only time AF-C is difficult to nail focus imo is if you focus recompose as obviously the focus will shift when you recompose. I've actually wondered if AF-C might actually be better for shallow DOF as there's less chance of camera movement between acquiring focus and actually taking the shot as it's continuously adjusting focus right up until the shutter is pressed. I thought about doing a test but couldn't be arsed :lol:
 
snerkler said:
In matrix mode it has facial recognition so will bias metering to a face if it sees one in the frame.
Click to expand...

If you want to be really exact, use spot metering on the face, zero it for normal Caucasian skin. Been messing around with using spot metering in aperture priority, the beauty of a Nikon is that each focus point acts as the metering point (not so with Canon). Only issue with it is locking the exposure if you recompose, which I don't like to do (there's normally a small recompose after focus) but at times it's handy to use. Been using all the metering modes more so of late to really broaden my horizons
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top