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View Full Version : lenses and setting for still photos?



RobF
12-22-2008, 07:01 PM
What would be a good lens and settings with a Nikon D80 for taking still photos of larger items such as boats and cars?

I know alot of you guys take the action shots outside but what about still photos in and outdoors?

pyro
12-23-2008, 04:33 AM
I use a 12-24 rectilinear superwide for indoor stuff like the boat shows, shots in the garage, etc. The only real drawback is the distortion in the corners at wider settings, especially if you don't keep it on a level plane. This lens will give you over 90 degrees field of view when you need it. Great for scenic stuff, too. Most of my photos on display at Flickr were done with this lens. :)

-Chad

Fish
12-23-2008, 07:09 AM
I know alot of you guys take the action shots outside but what about still photos in and outdoors?

i had some professional photos taken of my baby last year. The room was only about 20x15 that they were taking it in. There was a radical tripod set up with different flashes yada yada. I walked over and looked at the lense they were using and I was surprised to see it was the exact same one Greg had suggested to me as an upgrade telephoto for boating events.

it is a NikonED 80-200 1:2.8D

I am not surprised it works as well as it does for boating and action shots, but I was surprised that a very well respected professional photographer would be using a telephoto in a 20 foot long room, but the shots came out amazing.

hsbob
12-27-2008, 10:27 PM
that nikon or the sigma 70-200 2.8. their both yeild very sharp pictues. i also use a 28-70 tamron 2.8. the 2.8 are uses by the pros for the reason and the low lite settings.

pyro
12-28-2008, 10:22 AM
The 2.8 80-200 and 2.8 70-200vr are awesome portrait lenses like Fish and hsbob were saying, especially for close-up baby faces and such, as long as you have a good 20' long room. The minimum focus distance for these lenses is around 10-12 feet.

I've used my 1.8 50mm for a few baby photos for friends. I can get really close to the subject with this lens.

For most larger indoor stuff like boats and cars in garages, the superwide is a must-have.

RobF
12-28-2008, 10:37 AM
I have a 18-55VR and a 55-200VR Nikon lenses, can I work with what I have or is there a inexpensive lens I should get for a someone who is barely a hobbyist like myself?

Casey
12-29-2008, 08:13 PM
The lenses you have will work fine. you may also want to get the 50mm 1.8 Chad was talking about to through in your bag, their a nice lens for a $100.

hsbob
01-08-2009, 10:23 PM
the lens you have will work.

your biggest issue will be the flash for indoor use. in either case shoot the lens in at a middle zoom. i have a sb-800 nikon flash , but there is a 600 as well. aim it up and bounce it off the ceiling. you can buy $switches to mount cheap slave flashes to. put these 10 to 12' apart, aimed at the object. the main flash will trip the outside flashs and they will fill the object.

RobF
01-10-2009, 04:19 PM
I tried the flash that is built into the camera, did not realize I had it on portrait mode, pictures came out crappy, looked a little dark and did not really pop like I was hoping they would.

I was shooting under flourcent lighting with no daylight- it was dark out.
Is my flash hurting me more then the lens or was it because I had it on portrait mode?

pyro
01-10-2009, 04:37 PM
Straight-on, "point-source" lighting produces blown-out reflections and harsh shadows. This effect is worse if the room is dark and the flash is small. The built-in flash isn't going to work well for shooting large objects in a big room. Bouncing an SB-600 flash off the ceiling (as Bob suggested) produces a very natural look, not harsh and dark-looking with blown-out highlights as you're likely getting right now.

The built-in flash will only be able to illuminate close-up subjects, and its lack of high power means your background will come out very dark unless you set the ISO to a higher value. If you're using a higher ISO value (and/or wider aperture), the camera will rely less on the flash output and more on the natural room lighting and "gain boost" to brighten the imaging chip's output.

Here's what I usually do with my Nikon SB-600 flash:
Use aperture priority, select an aperture value that gives you the ideal depth of focus field for the situation, then find an ISO value that gives the best balance of subject-to-background contrast without picking up too much speckly "noise." The flash's output will automatically adjust its output appropriately for each ISO setting. Leave the flash in "TTL"/BL auto mode, and experiment with ISO settings. ;)

-Chad