Just bought a D2hs in great shape on ebay. I finally graduated from my D40x, which I have used for the last 3 years with great pleasure. It is now my wife's. I love this camera so far. Its exposure is so much more accurate than my D40x, and I love using the pro body. Any advice from D1/2/3 veterans? Are there any tricks to tracking smaller birds in flight? This has been my biggest challenge so far. Thanks in advance...
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D2hs advice
- Thread starter j2ker
- Start date
LooneyTunes
Well-known member
I am not an expert but I have had a combined experience of over a year now with the D2H and D2HS. I don't often photograph birds in flight but I do take action photographs of things like kids and rodeos. If you haven't seen Nikon's pro sports AF tech document it may be helpful. It is for the D3 but is also relevant for other Nikon cameras as well, especially the D2 series from my experience.
D3 Professional Technical Guide :::
Answer ID 16247
How do I get the best autofocus results with my Nikon Pro DSLR at a sporting event?
http://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/16247/~/nikon-dslr-autofocus-guide
LooneyTunes
Well-known member
Some suggestions to get the most out of your D2HS...
1. Use a IR cut filter like the B&W 489 to get more accurate colors out of camera.
2. Use a white balance tool to preset white balance (PRE) to save post processing time.
3. Over expose pictures slightly but not too much. When you see "some" highlight overexposure blinkies you are probably exposing correctly as it is overly cautious in displaying them. Having very few blinkies usually means underexposure for me.
4. I set focus AFC on and use AF-ON as my focus button independent of the shutter release button. I also use spot focus for most photos unless I am taking action shots.
5. Don't be afraid to use ISO 1600. If you get the exposure right I find the pictures can be surprisingly good especially if the light on the subject is reasonably good, like on a person's face. With a little post processing the RAW files often hold up quite well.
I hope you enjoy your camera, I sure do with mine. 8^)
M
Matt in FL
Guest
answers in a long tme..
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MATT in NE_FL
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MATT in NE_FL
Thanks. These are great tips. I'll try each of them to see how they suit me. I never would've tried the spot metering, but if it works for you, it's worth a try. Thanks again for your time putting together this reply. This camera is awesome with the exception of reviewing photos with the LCD, it isn't good for actual photo review, but once I look at the photos on the PC, they blow me away. This camera always seems to nail the exposure. I shoot RAW, so it is a simple matter to adjust the exposure if it isn't right on (so far, there have only been a few shots where I've had to do this).
Hocus Pocus
Senior Member
Good advice all around though I'd recommend the B&W 486. Pricey but most definitely worth it with the D2h and D2hs.
the #486 is a great filter, but it is best for lenses 50mm or longer.
With lenses shorter than 50mm, a light cyan ring forms around the image's edges. This type of filter requires that the light come "straight in".
With lenses shorter than 50mm, a light cyan ring forms around the image's edges. This type of filter requires that the light come "straight in".
LooneyTunes
Well-known member
My apologies for mentioning the wrong IR Cut filter as the B+W 486 is correct NOT the 489 (ugh!!! I have made this mistake in previous posts before!). I use a Heliopan IR cut filter but sometimes wonder if the #486 would work even better with skin tones though I have no problem currently with my blacks as they come out perfectly black.
Also glad to see CapaNikon mention the IR Cut Filter focal length limitation with wider angle lenses as well. I find the IR Cut Filter really helps when photographing people outdoors as the skin color is more correct with less magenta like discoloration, especially for skin falling in the shadows. Hot sunny days seem to make this discoloration worse. I don't have much trouble with green vegetation color issues when using my D2HS and my wide angle lens (12-24) but I live in the high desert so lush greens are rare.
Regarding use of spot focus, I typically use the center focus bracket on the critical focus point of the scene (for people this would be one of their eyes) and then I let up on the AF-ON button to stop the autofocus process and then recompose to frame the shot. This is critically important when shooting with a lens wide open where the depth of field is very shallow.
When using dynamic or closest subject focus modes then I usually increase depth of field by setting the f-stop to f/11 for example. I find that I shoot in aperture mode over 95% of the time so I can control the depth of field in a scene via adjusting the f-stop.
I have a ExpoDisc to preset white balance but there are lots of less expensive solutions as well. It works quite well but can be quirky occasionally, especially in early morning or late evening golden light. I usually switch to cloudy white balance setting with a minus -1, -2, or -3 fine tuning adjustment when this happens.
I am going to buy a 4"x6" grey card (one I am considering is about $6, the other is $15 USD) designed for white balance and try using that because my WhiBal credit card size white balance card seems too small for setting "PRE" white balance in my Nikon camera. The small WhiBal card has to be so close to the front of the lens it is hard to avoid casting a shadow on to the grey card.
Also glad to see CapaNikon mention the IR Cut Filter focal length limitation with wider angle lenses as well. I find the IR Cut Filter really helps when photographing people outdoors as the skin color is more correct with less magenta like discoloration, especially for skin falling in the shadows. Hot sunny days seem to make this discoloration worse. I don't have much trouble with green vegetation color issues when using my D2HS and my wide angle lens (12-24) but I live in the high desert so lush greens are rare.
Regarding use of spot focus, I typically use the center focus bracket on the critical focus point of the scene (for people this would be one of their eyes) and then I let up on the AF-ON button to stop the autofocus process and then recompose to frame the shot. This is critically important when shooting with a lens wide open where the depth of field is very shallow.
When using dynamic or closest subject focus modes then I usually increase depth of field by setting the f-stop to f/11 for example. I find that I shoot in aperture mode over 95% of the time so I can control the depth of field in a scene via adjusting the f-stop.
I have a ExpoDisc to preset white balance but there are lots of less expensive solutions as well. It works quite well but can be quirky occasionally, especially in early morning or late evening golden light. I usually switch to cloudy white balance setting with a minus -1, -2, or -3 fine tuning adjustment when this happens.
I am going to buy a 4"x6" grey card (one I am considering is about $6, the other is $15 USD) designed for white balance and try using that because my WhiBal credit card size white balance card seems too small for setting "PRE" white balance in my Nikon camera. The small WhiBal card has to be so close to the front of the lens it is hard to avoid casting a shadow on to the grey card.
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