Nikon D70 pointed skywards

A problem with the preset white balances is that they don’t take into account mixed lighting sources – but that is way outside the scope of a question about aviation photography…
Suffice to say that something like Photoshop will happily sort these problems out fairly easily.;)

Flood

White balance allows you to set the camera for the ‘colour’ of the light you are shooting under Tony. To a human eye a sheet of white paper appears the same colour in daylight, under a fluorescent strip light, or even an old fashioned light bulb. Cameras aren’t as clever as the human eye unfortunately, and that is what the white balance setting does. With film cameras it was necessary to buy different types of film (tungsten, daylight etc) or use coloured filters in front of the lens, so in this way digital is much simpler.

Its possible to set white balance accurately using the pre set function, but this is usually only necessary if working in mixed lighting conditions (inside a museum hall for example). For outdoor photography just set daylight, (sunny, cloudy or shade) depending on the conditions. Auto white balance is an option but I always prefer to set it myself, it retains consistency throughout a set of photographs, and I’ve never seen an auto function that I’m fully happy with.

If its ‘a-bit-sunny-a-bit-cloudy’ sort of a day I usually opt for the cloudy setting, that gives a slightly warmer result which is usually more aesthetically pleasing. This really comes down to personal preference. Once you’ve set it just get on with shooting unless the light changes dramatically.

As for exposure compensation I always aim to push the histogram as far to the right as possible, without getting clipped highlights (a sharp vertical spike on the right of the screen). It all depends on the position of the sun, how bright a day it is, and the colour of the thing you are photographing. On a bright sunny day and a mid toned aircraft I’d probably start with a +ve third of a stop compensation dialled in, going up to +1 stop or more some something black (Lysander or Lancaster for example).

For a white aircraft it may be zero or even -ve exposure compensation is needed to avoid the ‘blown highlights’ (pure white recorded with no detail in them). On a dull day the contrast between dark and light areas of your photographs is much less so you can get away with dialling in much more exposure compensation, so you may be using +2 for dark toned aircraft, and +third or +two thirds for light toned aircraft.

These are all based on my D100, all cameras are different, its just a case of playing about with it until you get the feel of your exposure system. Get used to checking your histogram after each pass its much better to find out after a couple of shots than when you get back home with a card full to download!

Hope that helps!

Nikons guide to how to use the histogram is here:-

http://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nikoneurope_en.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=Z2lOScmh&p_lva=&p_faqid=1183&p_created=1047660898&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTQmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1IaXN0b2dyYW0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT0zJnBfcHJvZF9sdmwxPX5hbnl_JnBfcHJvZF9sdmwyPX5hbnl_JnBfY2F0X2x2bDE9fmFueX4mcF9wYWdlPTE*&p_li=

The exposure compensation button on the D70 is the button with the ‘+’ & ‘-‘ on. It is just by the Shutter release button. You press it and then select the required amount with the thumb wheel. a negative number will under expose, and a positive number will over expose.

Jonathan

I am always surprised that more people don’t use the exposure compensation facility – or use it properly! (Tried to tell webby that we needed a sub-forum to explain things like this, to demonstrate and display pix taken by us, maybe a photo clinic, etc

Excellent idea, save people like me asking the same question, over and over and over and over….

When you speak about exposure compensation, is this the same as the White Balance that I mentioned earlier?

Having got used to the ‘point and shoot’ SLR and compacts, I think that a good college course is called for.:confused:

A friend of mine has a D70, very nice camera, in many ways better than my D100 for airshows since the buffer clears much faster.

Exposure wise dialling in exposure compensation is certainly necessary, try to get used to reading the histogram to judge exposure, rather than relying on the ‘look’ of the image on the screen. The camera displays tend to be set as bright as possible to make them readable in sunlight, rather than a true indication of how the shot will look on the PC or when printed.

Lens wise a Sigma 50-500EX provides a good compromise between cost and performance but requires good light to perform well. It covers virtually all the focal lengths you could need at a display. This year however, I’ve mainly been using a 70-200VR and 300mm prime, both with and without a 1.4x teleconverter. Given the less than stellar weather at some shows the extra speed has been useful.

Look forward to seeing your photos!

As for lenses, I bought it with a 18-70 and a 70-300 lens (both Nikkor) but feel that maybe I should have gone for a larger zoom.

I’m also having problems when taking pictures of anything in the sky, in that the object is too dark with very little detail visible!

I’m not sure if this is a white balance issue, lack of a filter or if it is because the lens I use is not large enough but even when using PSP, I cannot improve the quality?

Any clues?

I am always surprised that more people don’t use the exposure compensation facility – or use it properly! (Tried to tell webby that we needed a sub-forum to explain things like this, to demonstrate and display pix taken by us, maybe a photo clinic, etc. Got a trip reports forum – amongst others – instead…;))
Depending on where the main light source (read Sun) is then click the appropriate buttons to at least +1 up to maybe as high as +2.7 and have a peek at the first image you take. Then adjust until you are happy (if ever – if you are a photographer!). Don’t forget to return it to 0 otherwise you will be moaning about over exposed static-park shots. Don’t forget that you can use this facility in reverse – bright subjects will become burned out unless you tone down the exposure. See picture below – Portsmouth unfinnished Millennium Tower taken last Sunday – think this was several thirds of a stop underexposed, maybe as low as -1.7 under (can’t remember).
Alternatively you could go manual… Choose your shutter speed or aperature, point the lens at a neutral-coloured subject in shadow (a grey-card works just as well!) at the same angle as your chosen aircraft (one from the static park is fine, usually) will be flying (roughly), adjust the aperature or shutter speed (depending on which one you want to predominate – speed or depth of field), take a test shot, adjust as necessary, fire away but remember to check and adjust if the light changes or as the Sun moves round…
Oh, and post your images and make the others jealous!;)

Flood

Hi,
I use the D70, and have had no problems taking pics at airshows. I love it 🙂

All the Gallerys here were shot using a D70:

http://www.pbase.com/brycheiniog/air_shows

The last three were shot using the D70 & Sigma 100-300 F4, some together with a 1.4x TC.

Jonathan

Tony, I use a 10D, but the principles are the same. I’m no expert, I just try things and stick with those that work for me.

I regularly over-expose aerial shots to get some detail in the plane – you may lose detail in the sky, but it’s the plane that you’re after. Your other option is to select centre-weighted metering rather than evaluative if there’s a great amount of contrast – if this doesn’t give the desired result, just over-expose a bit.

I’ve often found that the LCD at the back of the camera can often make a shot that is far too dark look OK.

Thanks Robbo,
Hopefully I’ll be at Conningsby on Sunday, so will give the over-exposing idea, a go.

To expand on my previous post, I also have the 18-70 and 70-300 from Nikon, so can’t comment on the Tamron lenses. Pointing it at the sky I’d expect some underexposure, but have found it requires approx +1 stop as a starting point. Still playing about, shooting and checking the histogram.

I was going to get the Nikon 80-400VR from my insurance payout (35mm cameras nicked), but discovered that the VR on this lens may not work on panning (is ok on normal handheld), so am about to order the 70-200VR F2.8 and the 2x teleconvertor instead.

Another thing that affects all enthusiast digital SLRs is wide angle lenses. The 1.5 multiplier means that a decent wide angle with wide aperture pushes the price up quite a bit.

No matter what DSLR you will fill up memory cards very easily, too easy keep clicking coupled with reasonably large files sizes. Depending on the settings it can be 2 to 5 Mb.

Only drawback so far has been muggins here holding the cam.

I’ve got the D70 and I think its a good camera but its a shame about the idiot behind the button.:)

As for lenses, I bought it with a 18-70 and a 70-300 lens (both Nikkor) but feel that maybe I should have gone for a larger zoom.

I’m also having problems when taking pictures of anything in the sky, in that the object is too dark with very little detail visible!

I’m not sure if this is a white balance issue, lack of a filter or if it is because the lens I use is not large enough but even when using PSP, I cannot improve the quality?

Any clues?

One recommendation, buy the largest capicity memory card that you can afford, its surprising how quickly I fill up 512mb CF card

I intend to buy one in the next few months. I would be interested to receive comments on the various lenses uses. At the moment, I used mainly three different tamron zoom-lenses (24-70,28-200 and 70-300) with my F.50 and F.60. Howewer, I experience a lot of problems with the auto-focus of the 70-300, which doesn’t occur with nthe 28-200.

D-70 is what I use and it is excellent. Over 7,000 images since June.

Operates just like a 35mm camera and has a very long life battery. Excellent auto focus in tracking or single servo. Fast processing of large files. No complaints.

Cheers,

Eric

my brother has recently bought one and his results have been fine, especially as he has not much experience in taking photos of moving objects. I am impressed with the rate and number of shots the buffer will support.

This is a picture he sent me as an e-mail – so it is not at high resolution, but I have seen the original and it is pin sharp

Yep, got one, happy with it and still getting to grips with it. But, with any camera purchase, it is a personal choice; what I think is good for me, may not be good for you. best to go and options any choices at a shop.

Similar discussion was held a month or so ago at http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=29180

Ken