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Fireworks Settings

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Jeanrx

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It's that time of year again. Since I am new to DSLR, I was wondering if anyone has advice on on what settings to use for the D40.

Thanks for any input.

Jean
 
Tripod is necessary

You can either play with the shutter times - should probably be a couple seconds long - or you can play with the bulb feature

Aperature maybe f/8-f/12
 
I don't know about the D40, but these settings work on my D80:
Camera on Tripod
ISO as low as it will go (100)
f/11
Use remote to trigger shutter

Shutter 1-5 seconds (Play with this one to get desired look, and depends on how much you are zoomed)
--
Ernest
 
I have heard the bulb feature mentioned before, what is it? Sorry I'm new to all this.
--
Nikon D40 / 18-55, 55-200 VR so far ;)
RR
 
Rutro said:
I have heard the bulb feature mentioned before, what is it? Sorry
I'm new to all this.
Click to expand...
In "Bulb" mode, the shutter will remain open for as long as you have the shutter button (or remote shutter release) depressed. It allows you to vary your exosure time "on the fly" rather than by some fixed/preset value. The term is a holdout from early cameras where one would squeeze a rubber bulb on the end of an air hose to actuate the shutter mechanism.

It can be particularly handy for fireworks as the "optimum" exposure time can vary depending on what's being launched at the time. Essentially, shooting fireworks is like painting with light. The aperture/ISO will mainly determine the amount of saturation. Too wide of an aperture the lights of the fireworks will be overexposed as they streak across the frame, reducing their color saturation, ultimately to white. The shutter speed will mainly control how much of a given group of bursts will be included in the photo.

Exposure times can vary anywhere from about 1 to 8 seconds or so depending on the effect that you're looking for, with 2 to 4 seconds being the norm. Longer exposures capture longer streaks and wider bursts than shorter exposures. Whatever f-stop you've chosen, try and stop down a stop or so more during the grand finaly which will tend to be a good deal brighter than most of the show.

Have fun!
Rutro said:
--
Nikon D40 / 18-55, 55-200 VR so far ;)
RR
Click to expand...
--
'Here, look at the monkey. Look at the silly monkey!'

Tom Young
http://www.pbase.com/tyoung/
 
ok what kind of lens to you suggest got right now:

10-20mm sigma
19-35 tokina
50mm nikon
70-300mm nikon vr

so what should i use?
 
Would you consider using a ND Filter for fireworks?
 
tjtoed said:
focusing? do you pre-focus in the dark, or when you hit bulb with
remote, does it AF?
Click to expand...
Good question. I usually set for manual focus set to infinity to prevent the lens hunting. This also prevents the lens accidently focusing on something (building, tree, etc.) in the foreground. Exception would be if you want foreground object in the photo. Then I'd focus on the foreground object with manual focus and everything should be in focus assuming you are far enough away and using small enough f-stop (f/11 or smaller).
--
Ernest
 
tyoung said:
In "Bulb" mode, the shutter will remain open for as long as you
have the shutter button (or remote shutter release) depressed. It
allows you to vary your exosure time "on the fly" rather than by
some fixed/preset value. The term is a holdout from early cameras
where one would squeeze a rubber bulb on the end of an air hose to
actuate the shutter mechanism.

It can be particularly handy for fireworks as the "optimum"
exposure time can vary depending on what's being launched at the
time. Essentially, shooting fireworks is like painting with light.
The aperture/ISO will mainly determine the amount of saturation.
Too wide of an aperture the lights of the fireworks will be
overexposed as they streak across the frame, reducing their color
saturation, ultimately to white. The shutter speed will mainly
control how much of a given group of bursts will be included in the
photo.

Exposure times can vary anywhere from about 1 to 8 seconds or so
depending on the effect that you're looking for, with 2 to 4
seconds being the norm. Longer exposures capture longer streaks
and wider bursts than shorter exposures. Whatever f-stop you've
chosen, try and stop down a stop or so more during the grand finaly
which will tend to be a good deal brighter than most of the show.
Click to expand...
I agree with Tom here....

I would normally vary them from 5-15 seconds each shot... depending on the fireworks...

This was also helpful to many around here:
http://www.photobird.com/learn/top5tipsfireworks.html

--



http://photography.leung.us
 
Thank you, good stuff.
--
Nikon D40 / 18-55, 55-200 VR so far ;)
RR
 
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