Camera Labs

I'm trying to capture an object at the moment of entering water. I'm using a Nikon D90 and so far have not managed to capture the object sharp enough. I've tried using 1/60 /f5.6 ISO low without success. I've also tried CAF but the object was falling too fast for it to work. Any ideas?

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Becks341

Manually fix the focus before the shot. The shutter speed is also rather long that you'll likely get motion blur. Try much faster shutter, or use flash. If you need to, jack up the ISO.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

When I do this I usually find that there is not enough light to use a fast shutter speed. So what I do is shut the aperture down to f11 or smaller and use a flash to freeze the motion. The smaller aperture also allows a greater depth of field which will minimise focusing errors should the object not fall exactly in the expected spot. This technique of using the flash works best of the subject is close, say within 1 meter.

Here is an example from my last attempt;

Shutter 1/125 sec
F18
iso 400
105mm macro lens

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D5000, 10.5mm Fisheye, 35mm f1.8, 17-70mm sigma, 70-300mm sigma, 105mm macro, 500mm f4

Hello Becks341, and welcome to the friendly Camera Labs forum!
To enjoy your stay here please have a look at the house-rules!
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As to your question: 1/60 is defintive too slow. You might not even capture the event in full sharpness at 1/250 sec. So you definitely need either more natural light or a flash.
The advice form popo and Muzza96 is very sound - as you can see from Muzza's beautiful shot.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses