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UZI traitor
- Thread starter Su M.
- Start date
T
Terry Thorn
Guest
Oh, I'll eventually wind up with one of those someday or, more likely, a Canon D60 but I'll still keep my UZi. I used an Olympus E-10 and E-20 for a while and I sure missed that big-assed, image stabilized zoom lens. To get one like it for the D60 will set me back a pretty penny. Sorry to hear about your problem with shutter lag. I guess I've not been experiencing that.
3DTIM
Veteran Member
What are you shooting that the shutter lag is such a problem? Do
you have any examples?
Tim
you have any examples?
Tim
I'm shooting indoors in gyms with poor lighting (no flash allowed)...action shots of rhythmic gymnastistics; I can get still shots fine (when they start or end a routine or stop to pose), but I cannopt catch them in the middle of a leap or turn...site is http://www.pbase.com/metzphoto...but those are the good ones
David Van Dorpe
Active member
Su,
I agree that it would be great to not have to deal with the shutter lag, but I think with some practice you can do pretty well.
A couple suggestions for catching the action:
1. Load a big memory card.
2. Set your camera in drive mode.
3. Use manual focus (if you can predict where the action is going to happen) or pre-focus by half pressing the shutter before the action starts.
4. Keep both eyes open if you have any trouble "tracking" the action.
5. Try and anticipate the action and squeeze the trigger just before it starts, then hold to capture several frames during the action.
I've been working on catching my son in action in soccer games, and these techniques help a lot. I still miss some, but I've been coming away from each game with some keepers.
David
I agree that it would be great to not have to deal with the shutter lag, but I think with some practice you can do pretty well.
A couple suggestions for catching the action:
1. Load a big memory card.
2. Set your camera in drive mode.
3. Use manual focus (if you can predict where the action is going to happen) or pre-focus by half pressing the shutter before the action starts.
4. Keep both eyes open if you have any trouble "tracking" the action.
5. Try and anticipate the action and squeeze the trigger just before it starts, then hold to capture several frames during the action.
I've been working on catching my son in action in soccer games, and these techniques help a lot. I still miss some, but I've been coming away from each game with some keepers.
David
The UZI has very little shutter lag. It's less than most other's.
But unfortunately any amount of shutter lag is too much. At best I can expect 50% success rate of getting the action shot i wanted when I anticipate the moment.Not really too bad but still not good enough. John
But unfortunately any amount of shutter lag is too much. At best I can expect 50% success rate of getting the action shot i wanted when I anticipate the moment.Not really too bad but still not good enough. John
3DTIM
Veteran Member
John,
I agree that the UZI has very little shutter lag by comparison. Phil
rates it at very very fast. Less than .1 second if pre focused. I
haven't had many situations where it was a problem. Perhaps I
am just anticipating the action better than most. Shutter lag is
something that I've never ever thought about. Perhaps if I had
a D30 or D60 or better , I would understand the difference. As
of right now I don't see the problem.
SuM , if you get better gymnastics shots with a D100 , I think
it would be more from the higher Iso/Shutter speeds than from
less shutter lag. At least I think that would be the case if it were
me.
Tim
Juli Valley
Veteran Member
It certainly is a problem shooting softball shots.
3DTIM
Veteran Member
I totally disagree ! Softball is very easy to shoot with an UZI. What
problems do you have ?
Tim
RichO
Veteran Member
More wanting the Canon D60...but waiting to see how the autofocus issue is resolved. I am very happy with my UZi, but there are shots I miss like this one...
This is a bat swarm....right after dusk... I was at ISO 400 and could not use flash (harmful to the bats). I am hoping a high ISO rating would help along with some noise reduction...
I just want a few bats with their heads and bodies mostly in focus...
Do you have Canon Lens? or Nikon Lens?
This is a bat swarm....right after dusk... I was at ISO 400 and could not use flash (harmful to the bats). I am hoping a high ISO rating would help along with some noise reduction...
I just want a few bats with their heads and bodies mostly in focus...
Do you have Canon Lens? or Nikon Lens?
jean kleffman
Member
I shoot the same thing everyday. Actually Boys Gymnastics. Here is one I took a few weeks ago week with my Uzi. I will admit it has taken a lot of practice but my results are getting better all the time. This one is not the greatest, but it does show that you can freeze with the Uzi in low light without a flash. I brightened it up slightly in photoshop.
http://kleffmans.tripod.com
jkleffman
http://kleffmans.tripod.com
jkleffman
I have Nikon lenses...80-200 and 100 micro so it really doesn't make sense to switch to Canon at this point; I have also considered going the scanner route, but I have a medium format film camera (in addition to my Nikon N90) and I just can't justify the expense of a scanner for 220 film; plus I really like the simplicity of going from camera to computer and not having to waiting to get film developed; I can have shots up within an hour for gymnasts to see all over the country! I love my UZI and doubt I would give it up; its so light and compact and does a great job with portraits....it just seems like it takes a different instinct than film cameras for action shots and I am trying to determine whether something like the D100 (or D 60) come closer to a flim camera when it comes to those shots
This is a bat swarm....right after dusk... I was at ISO 400 and
could not use flash (harmful to the bats). I am hoping a high ISO
rating would help along with some noise reduction...
I just want a few bats with their heads and bodies mostly in focus...
Do you have Canon Lens? or Nikon Lens?
Thanks for the advice; I have tried most of those except the manual focus; I will give it a try...it seems I have to give up the instincts I have developed as a film photographer and develop new ones for the UZI
Nice shots...I'll keep plugging away...the D100 isn't coming put to soon and I have to save up the $$ anyway!
Steven Blackwood
Veteran Member
I'll take the shutter lag of the UZI over the slow AF of the C4040z, an otherwise excellent Camera.
Pieter80420
Well-known member
Su,
I agree to a certain extent that the "shutter-lag" is a pain, but with practise, you can get a lot better. I one of your replies, you hit it on the head with the statement that you may need to "give up the instincts I have developed as a film photographer and develop new ones for the UZI".
That was exactly my experience. The secrets for me was - manual focus, half-press the shutter (this is the most important), and fire slighly quicker than in the old days. It does require better anticiation, and that come with lots of practise. Furtunately with digital, we can afford to shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot some more.
My daughter was a cheerleader in elementary school, and it was my personal challange to capture some action tumbling shots. The first time I tried it, I think I got 1 out of about 30 that I captured the action "in mid-air" and I felt like you! During last outing (after lots of practise and a change in my method) I captured more than 90% of the shots in "mid-air". The lighting in this gym was terrible, and I had to "push" the ISO to 800 to get the shutterspeed better than 1/100, but here is an example:
Some more action shots here: http://www.pbase.com/spannie/cheerleaders
and here: http://www.pbase.com/spannie/basketball
Hang in there, and practise - and know this: You're not the only UZI user to drool over a D100 or D60
Chris Bode
Well-known member
I hear 'ya... I put down a deposit for the #9 spot on a waiting list at a big camera store in the Twin Cities (MN) for the D100, and have a receipt in hand. I've also just ordered the Nikkor 18-35 ED-IF, as I'm guessing there's going to be quite a run on lenses once this thing hits the streets. I didn't think the shutter lag on the C-2100 was all that bad, unti last weekend, when I tried out an N80 with that 18-35 attached. Focusing was also nearly instantaneous, as it should be when you're shelling out that kind of cash. I'm also looking forward to being able to fiddle around with the aperture, zoom and focus rings on the lens. There's a certain "feel" that comes from operating an SLR, making those adjustments right on the lens that really appeals to me.
I enjoy my C-2100 very much, and will probably miss it initially, until I see those 6MP (hopefully) noise-free ISO 400 shots.
==
Chris
http://www.cbimages.com
How did you "push" the ISO to 800??? I thought 800 was tops and even with that the noise is terrible!
Su,
I agree to a certain extent that the "shutter-lag" is a pain, but
with practise, you can get a lot better. I one of your replies, you
hit it on the head with the statement that you may need to "give up
the instincts I have developed as a film photographer and develop
new ones for the UZI".
That was exactly my experience. The secrets for me was - manual
focus, half-press the shutter (this is the most important), and
fire slighly quicker than in the old days. It does require better
anticiation, and that come with lots of practise. Furtunately with
digital, we can afford to shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot some
more.
My daughter was a cheerleader in elementary school, and it was my
personal challange to capture some action tumbling shots. The first
time I tried it, I think I got 1 out of about 30 that I captured
the action "in mid-air" and I felt like you! During last outing
(after lots of practise and a change in my method) I captured more
than 90% of the shots in "mid-air". The lighting in this gym was
terrible, and I had to "push" the ISO to 800 to get the
shutterspeed better than 1/100, but here is an example:
Some more action shots here: http://www.pbase.com/spannie/cheerleaders
and here: http://www.pbase.com/spannie/basketball
Hang in there, and practise - and know this: You're not the only
UZI user to drool over a D100 or D60
Pieter80420
Well-known member
Su,
I set the camera to ISO400 - then one of two ways:
In manual mode, I open the aperture completely (F2.8) and then adjust the shutterspeed until the exposure compensation meter (right top corner numbers) shows -1. This works OK if the lighting conditions are fairly uniform.
In A-mode (aperture priority) I fix the aperture to F2.8 and set the exposure compensation to -1.
These images will be underexposed by 1 f-stop, and need to be "boosted" with image editing software. The easiest way is to use "auto contrast" in Photoshop.
Don't expect wonders - these pictures are VERY noisy, and you will have to do a lot of post processing work to get a reasonable image.
I only use this if getting a noisy shot is better than getting no shot at all.
I set the camera to ISO400 - then one of two ways:
In manual mode, I open the aperture completely (F2.8) and then adjust the shutterspeed until the exposure compensation meter (right top corner numbers) shows -1. This works OK if the lighting conditions are fairly uniform.
In A-mode (aperture priority) I fix the aperture to F2.8 and set the exposure compensation to -1.
These images will be underexposed by 1 f-stop, and need to be "boosted" with image editing software. The easiest way is to use "auto contrast" in Photoshop.
Don't expect wonders - these pictures are VERY noisy, and you will have to do a lot of post processing work to get a reasonable image.
I only use this if getting a noisy shot is better than getting no shot at all.
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