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Post by Faan on Jun 21, 2004 11:11:49 GMT 2
Hello, as you already know I bought myself a Minolta Z2. I already heard for spotting you must pay attention when it are props and heli's, because then it is best to set you shutterspeed at 1/320 or 1/400 to see the circle of the proppelors on the picture, at a higher shutterspeed they would appear to be standing still. Now is my question, what about the diafragma (is this correct English?) and the ISO? What does the ISO actually do? Is it comparable with the ASA on normal films? What is the best configuration for spotting jets, props, heli's, airshows...??
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Post by Vonsmalhausen on Jun 21, 2004 12:37:00 GMT 2
wel, the iso is like the asa of "normal" film ; the higher the number, the more you have lightsensitivity, and thus possibility to shoot under "dark" conditions. if you take pics of fast moving objects, like jets , you also better have an iso of 400. to get the propellor circle real nice, a shutter speed of 1/320 is already to high (unles they are at full power, and even then) i always try to get props at 1/200-250, this implements a smaler diafrag so you don't get overexposure; from F11 on there should be not to much problems. shooting a jet on the other hand requires a fast shutterspeed ( itake them from 1/1000 on ) in combination with a diafrag round 5.6/6.3 ( somethimes less, somethimes more ; depends on the light ) with an iso set at 400 the combination of the fast shutter and the big diafrag also gives the illusion of speed if you get a background on your pic, the jet where you focused on is sharp while the backgound (trees ore buildings) get's verry blurry. so you see, there's no ideal setting for an whole airshow, all depends on what is passing by, and how the light is i don't know if these settings are possible on you're Z2, for the prop planes that is, i know the Z2 is verry good for fast moving objects, but can you make the right combination for the props ? besides my 300D i also have an Minolta S404, and on that cam it's impossible to take a decent shot of a propellor so, i hope this helps you getting started , anyway ; it's a simple question of testing and trying and learning from mistakes
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Post by Fabke on Jun 21, 2004 13:42:59 GMT 2
Really nice explanation ;D I couldn't explain it better One thing for the ISO , I usually try to shoot my pics on 200 ISO , from 400 on you'll get a grainy sky around your aircraft , BUT it's indeed better to shoot at 400 ISO in bad weather conditions , this helps you to get the shutter speed higher than at 200 ISO for the same light conditions
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Post by Faan on Jun 21, 2004 18:51:50 GMT 2
Thanks for the explanation. With the Z2 the shutterspeed can go up to 1/1000 and the diafrag from 2.8 to 8.0. ISO from 50 to 400. So what are my best combinations for props, jets, bad and good weather?
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Post by Fabke on Jun 21, 2004 19:55:41 GMT 2
Thanks for the explanation. With the Z2 the shutterspeed can go up to 1/1000 and the diafrag from 2.8 to 8.0. ISO from 50 to 400. So what are my best combinations for props, jets, bad and good weather? Well , I should say the following: For fast jets I should take a 1/1000 speed or more if possible , the diafragma will change automatic For props/helicopters I should take around 1/200 speed , but be aware at this speed you must follow the object very good otherwise you'll get blurry (unsharp) photos With good weather I would take 200 ISO , and in bad weather conditions 400 ISO , hope this helps
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Post by Faan on Jun 21, 2004 23:27:15 GMT 2
Yep, this helps. Thx!
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Post by Faan on Jun 23, 2004 20:46:40 GMT 2
Ok,
let's see if I understand correctly.
Flying jets: 1/1000. ISO 200 when good weather, ISO 400 when bad weather. (I'm hearing the exact opposite from other people so I'm a bit confused for the ISO).
Static & taxi: ISO 100 (or is ISO 50 even better? Becaus I heard the smaller the ISO, the sharper and more detailed the picture)
Props & heli's: between 1/250 & 1/400 and same ISO's as the flying jets.
Am I correct?
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Post by Vonsmalhausen on Jun 23, 2004 21:00:42 GMT 2
that's about it just the iso for the moving jets ; iso 400 is recomended to keep the diafrag on a low number ( F5.6/6.2 ) to get that motion effect with the background,..... if there's no background but blue sky, there's no point in putting a iso of 400 (you can't give a motion effect to the sky ), 100 ore 200 is more then enough then.
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Post by Faan on Jun 23, 2004 22:29:52 GMT 2
So with background ISO 400 for the motion effect; just sky, 100-200 in good weather & 400 in bad weather.
Thx alot. Now I only need to practice very much to get used to it.
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Post by Faan on Jun 26, 2004 14:47:22 GMT 2
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Post by Vonsmalhausen on Jun 26, 2004 20:04:45 GMT 2
that looks good did you apply a "sharpen" mask ? ( i don't think so ) just open the pic in photoshop ore an other image processing program, and klick on "sharpen", this wil give you a rasorsharp pic for most of the pics who are in this gallery, i like the second pic verry much keep on practising ( that's what makes it fun )
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Post by Faan on Jun 26, 2004 20:10:45 GMT 2
I don't have photoshop (yet). And the sharpen function of my program isn't that good . Thanks for the compliment on the 2nd pic
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Post by Vonsmalhausen on Jun 26, 2004 20:58:58 GMT 2
to giv you an idee of what's possible, i dowloaded one of your pics ( the one i prefere ;D) i treated it with "Paint Shop Pro 7", now there's version 8 with more tools for digital imiging, but i don't have it yet. PSP is a reasonably priced program that you can download here www.jasc.com/products/paintshoppro/it's possible to download a free tryal version this is the original photo this is the treathed this is just a quick-quick treatement without using the full power of the program
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Post by Faan on Jun 27, 2004 22:15:39 GMT 2
Looks nice, I'll try some experiments myself one of these days...
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