Camera Labs

D300 and I have 2 lenses the kid 18-200 and the nifty fifty 1.8...

any suggestions for general shooting? (i'll have no tripod) Which lense would be better? I picked up the 1.8 today as I was going to pick it up soon anyways, but am going to an amusement park (actually a seaside boardwalk) tomorrow night and didn't know if it would be better than my 18-200.

thanks!

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Hi RPMcMurphy,

With the D300's excellent high-ISO performance and the generally well-lit conditions in amusement parks, the 18-200 would offer you more versatility I would think.

I'm not sure where in the world you are, but in the western hemisphere, I would think that there is quite a bit of ambient light from the sky and reflected in the water until rather late in the evening.

Ultimately it depends on the kind of shots you would like to take of course, so my comments are just generalizations.

The VR on the 18-200 also allow you to get slightly longer exposures without the tripod, thus enabling you to get light-streaks from rides even on handheld shots!

I hope you'll share some shots with us - amusement parks always make for some exciting shots.

Cheers

thanks, the 50 is so small it will be in my bag anyway...so I'll give both a try. Only reason i was thinking the 50 is because it was a little faster for low light.

I'm in NJ, USA

I'll be sure to post shots.

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Not sure if you've seen our tutorial on night photography, but if not, it's here!

http://www.dslrtips.com/workshops/How_t ... sure.shtml

thanks, have watched all the tutorials......just got back....results, not so good for the first time out...

but..I was just kind of point and shooting, no tripod. tried out both lenses....

will upload results tomorrow AM. (with tons of questions!)

Thanks!

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I really really really really really ...... recommend investing in a tripod.

Can't stress how much that they come in handy!

Even if it's 10 bucks, it's still a tripod

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I do have one, but not at the "photographer" point where I want to really carry it around on family night on the boardwalk! haha.

get looks from the fiance as is with the dSLR

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Well that's one thing you might have to do to get some outstanding night shots...

But I understand where you are coming from. Perhaps a time where it's just you, and you are free to do anything you want without worrying about the family.

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Some ones straight out of the camera....


















i shot mostly with the 18-200 until I messed around trying to shoot these pictures...should have stuck with the 18-200 and not the 50. ISO on either 400 or sometimes 800 in aperture priority (for the 18-200)

here is were I started to really fall on my face...point and shoot got better shots...giant spot lights kind of stunk. didn't know what metering mode to put it in..and couldn't think on the fly in regards to shutter speed quick enough.







bad

and then didn't get any of the release.....all blurry...


my main question is...what would you think the metering mode setting should have been in this type of setting? (d300)

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I really like those shots around the amusement park - great atmosphere.

You'll find that given very bright lights and conditions like these, many metering systems underexpose a little compared to what we'd really want. It's all personal, but for me, I'd have preferred many of those shots to be a tad brighter, although technically most are in fact correct as they are.

So I'd shoot under these conditions exactly the same, but with, say +2/3 or even +1 EV exposure compensation. And if the shutter speeds are then looking a bit low, increase the ISO to avoid camera shake.

You have to be careful though as while exposing longer will make the image brighter, you will burn out some highlight detail. Like the interior and sign on that second shot. If you had a tripod, you could consider shooting two frames and combining them... Or maybe a flash could have filled-in the exterior walls of that food shack... again it's all about experimenting...

considering the D300 body, what lense would be a good lense for the sky-swing type shots? ISO was set pretty high maybe 800 or even 1600...(i used the 50, should have used the 18-200)

my panasonic tz5 in IA mode got a better "action" shot than the d300. haha.

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Because it's moving at a fairly fast pace, I think the best option will also be the most expensive. And that would be for a constant f/2.8 telephoto lens. (i.e. 70-200mm)

With the ISO ability from the D300, getting it up to 1600, and at f/2.8, I think you're guaranteed to capture the action moving. Or simply pan with the subjects as they fall.

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