D7000, 70-300VR and motorcycles

Thanks for the comments. I figured out how to get the level meter into the viewfinder, so can use that in the future.

Depth of Field calculaltions are still a problem. I found a formula for calculating hyperfocal distance, and several charts for hyperfocal distance calculating, but there appear to be several variations. I also see that there is a constant that is different depending on which camera you are using. This is all new to me! Would you please share how you calculate DOF from the focal length, distance from subject, and f-stop?

ISO - I have been changing this manually in an attempt to learn how it affects the picture. Is Auto ISO the ideal setting for all situations or only for select situations?

There are a lot of things in the manual that I have read, but still don't understand completely. So I appreciate being able to ask questions as I go through the learning process.

Are you still a GreenMountainBoy, or have you moved somewhere else? I live in the SW part of Vermont.

GreenMountainGirl said:

Thanks for the comments. I figured out how to get the level meter into the viewfinder, so can use that in the future.

Click to expand...

I have it assigned to the Fn button.

GreenMountainGirl said:

Depth of Field calculaltions are still a problem. I found a formula for calculating hyperfocal distance, and several charts for hyperfocal distance calculating, but there appear to be several variations. I also see that there is a constant that is different depending on which camera you are using. This is all new to me! Would you please share how you calculate DOF from the focal length, distance from subject, and f-stop?

Click to expand...

I use an app called "DOF" on the iPhone. It has settings for both FF and APC sensors and it is pretty easy to use, just spin the dials. I'm not a hyperfocal length fan but for this application you don't want hyperfocal length anyway, presumably you are only trying to cover your moving subject.

GreenMountainGirl said:

ISO - I have been changing this manually in an attempt to learn how it affects the picture. Is Auto ISO the ideal setting for all situations or only for select situations?

Click to expand...

No, it's not for everything but it works well for sports shooting with this lens . AutoISO converts Manual mode into an Auto mode once the ISO is anywhere over 100. Subjects move into light and shade, clouds come over and you want to concentrate on the subject, not doing last second exposure changes. For the 70-300 I set the aperture at f/7.1 or f/8, the shutter speed to 1/800 (or higher for birds). That means that AutoISO will usually be slightly higher than 100. From there, Auto ISO will take care of lighting changes. With the D7000, a max ISO of 800 is easy. I set my max to 6400 because I still want to get the shot (birds in bad light). You can't slow down the shutter speed or the shot will be useless. You could open the aperture to full wide but the 70-300 gets noticeably soft wide open at 300mm. I go for the shot and deal with the noise later. I'm still new to the D7000 so knowing exactly how far to let ISO go for different situations is still a subject of study.

For other types of shooting there are other choices. For tripod work I shoot all manual. For walkaround I sometimes use Aperture priority, auto ISO with a "safely high" minimum shutter speed for the lens that's on the camera. There is no magic setting, every scene is different. Hopefully my next camera will have "lens aware" minimum shutter speed settings for Auto ISO.

GreenMountainGirl said:

There are a lot of things in the manual that I have read, but still don't understand completely. So I appreciate being able to ask questions as I go through the learning process.

Click to expand...

I have Thom Hogan's CD Rom book on the D7000. It is the Encyclopedia Britannica for the D7000. That's good news and bad news. The good news is that he covers everything including how some camera functions, especially focus and exposure interact with each other, such as how the selected focus point affects exposure decisions and how focus tracking uses color data from the exposure matrix to aid in subject tracking. The bad news (maybe) is that it reads like an encyclopedia. It's not breezy, it doesn't have dozens of color pictures but it has lots of data, tables and technical info about how the camera works. The first pass through the book is like trying to get a sip of water from a fire hose. But it gets you started. After the second pass, maybe after a few thousand shutter clicks, you get a pretty good feel for how this complex machine actually works. After that is becomes a reference that I keep on my computer desktop and open often.

GreenMountainGirl said:

Are you still a GreenMountainBoy, or have you moved somewhere else? I live in the SW part of Vermont.

Click to expand...

We're in Central Vermont about 10 miles south of Montpelier.

--
Werner
http://wernerg.smugmug.com

Thanks Werner!

Prop blur would have been nice, but you got a good clean crisp shot. I like it.

When I'm able I try to experiment with different settings on the same subject. Sometimes I get nice unexpected surprises, but more often not. I tend to start off shooting with safe settings I know will work. Then experiment with different settings. That way I come home with some of both types.

Werner Gansz said:

@Timbo - nice work, even the 300mm looks good. It looks like 1/800 to 1/1250 is good for racing machines. At my first attempt at moving subjects, an air show, I was more conservative.

Click to expand...

Werner Gansz said:

Werner
http://wernerg.smugmug.com

Click to expand...

--
Timbo



http://xltimbo.smugmug.com/

Werner Gansz said:

I have it assigned to the Fn button.

Click to expand...

That is what I did, also.

Werner Gansz said:

I use an app called "DOF" on the iPhone. It has settings for both FF and APC sensors and it is pretty easy to use, just spin the dials. I'm not a hyperfocal length fan but for this application you don't want hyperfocal length anyway, presumably you are only trying to cover your moving subject.

Click to expand...

I have an android phone, found an app called "DOF Calculator" in the app store. It lets me choose my camera, fill in data, then calculate. Have not tried it yet, but it looks easy to use.

Werner Gansz said:

For the 70-300 I set the aperture at f/7.1 or f/8, the shutter speed to 1/800 (or higher for birds). That means that AutoISO will usually be slightly higher than 100. From there, Auto ISO will take care of lighting changes.

Click to expand...

My longer lens is 55-300mm - is there any difference in recommended settings for this lens?

Werner Gansz said:

Hopefully my next camera will have "lens aware" minimum shutter speed settings for Auto ISO.

Click to expand...

I never heard of this! How do you decide what is a "safe" setting?

Werner Gansz said:

I have Thom Hogan's CD Rom book on the D7000.

Click to expand...

Found his web-site and will order the book. Thank you!

Werner Gansz said:

We're in Central Vermont about 10 miles south of Montpelier.

Click to expand...

Not quite close neighbors, but 2 to 2 1/2 hours isn't that far! Are you ever down this way - south of Bennington?

XLTimbo said:

Thanks Werner!

Prop blur would have been nice, but you got a good clean crisp shot. I like it.

When I'm able I try to experiment with different settings on the same subject. Sometimes I get nice unexpected surprises, but more often not. I tend to start off shooting with safe settings I know will work. Then experiment with different settings. That way I come home with some of both types.

Click to expand...

I do the same. I don't get that many opportunities to shoot fast moving targets so I try to be safe also.

--
Werner
http://wernerg.smugmug.com

@GreenMountainGirl -

The 55-300 is a f/4.5 - f/5.6 lens so I would use it the same way.

One version of a safe shutter setting (static scene) for non-VR lenses is 1/(2 x focal length), ie for a 35mm lens shoot at 1/70 sec. You can lower that for VR by 3 or 4 stops, depending on the lens. I used to shoot my 18-105 VR on the D90 at 1/8 sec (Below 50mm and for static scenes) and could get 3 out 4 sharp shots (shoot bursts). 1/8 is about 3 stops under 1/70. The new Nikon big boy cameras read the focal length and adjust minimum shutter speed automatically. The D7000 reads focal length also so why that feature isn't in the D7000 is a mystery. But believe it or not the new Nikons don't include VR in their settings. I guess they had to leave something for next year.

Most of our travel is east/west or on airplanes out of Burlington.
--
Werner
http://wernerg.smugmug.com

Thanks, Werner for all your help. I have a lot to work on, and look forward to receiving the CD for Thom Hogan's ebook. I read some of his writings on his website, and even though some terminology is beyond me, I believe I will learn a lot from his book.