wider wrote:i have used my father`s EM nikon (manual slr)
You mean manual focus, I hope. The EM was an aperture priority AE camera; this was their entry level SLR at the time it was released.
The FM series were fully manual in terms of exposure and and focus, and the FE was the aperture priority AE version of the FM. And IIRC, the FG sat somewhere between the FE and EM, being aimed at those who wished to step up from the EM, but still didn't want the FE.
I picked up a d70s new, with the kit 18-70 ED glass and cheapish sigma 70-300, with a 115x 1gb CF card.
Ok. That's addressed the firmware upgrade question then: there is none available for that
model (to my knowledge) so don't worry about it.
im finding the metering system interesting as im losing some darker objects against a light background (dont ya hate light grey skies/smog) . im just using exposure compensation for a quick fix as i dont want to be behind the camera the whole day.
Actually, grey skies are great for photography. They provide an even light source, which gives good quality light, once you know how to take advantage of it.
What is the metering
mode that you're currently using, and what focus points and focus
modes are you using? While I mostly use centre spot metering, given your unfamiliarity with the camera, you may find it better to use matrix at this time.
How much of the frame area is the lighter background occupying? It sounds like you're hitting a typical backlighting situation, and exposure compensation is one way to overcome the problem.
A second method though is to use a bit of fill flash, with FEC (Flash Exposure Compensation). On the left side of the pentamirror housing, as you look down at the camera, you'll see a small button. Pressing that will pop up and turn on the built in flash.
With the flash popped, hold it down and rotate command dial #2 (front) and pay attention to the display LCD at the top of the camera. Using this control set, you can dial down the flash power; set it to about -1 1/3 stops. Use this setting where you're seeing the underexposed foreground subjects and see what sort of a difference that makes to the images.
Adjust to give more or less power as needed.
...
Turn on the focus point highlighting, and pay attention to the focus points.
While I normally would suggest killing the auto-ISO setting, perhaps for the shooting you're doing this may be useful; I'm not sure. I also prefer to not use auto white balance, and have set my basic WB points to -1 or -2 to help give me images out of the camera that I prefer.
I also have a custom image curve loaded, and that's a big help too.
does this camera tend to oversharpen pictures? im wondering what PP set people tend to use for general photography... i am doing alot of cityscape photography at the moment - in tokyo and yokohama.
If you're shooting raw (highly recommended) then it doesn't really matter.
You can change most settings after the fact, but I prefer to view that as an emergency action, rather than as the way one should be shooting. You should be aiming to get everything right in the camera, just as you would on a film camera. While PP on your computer is great, and great fun too, having to do this can impact your workflow, and the closer you can get to a final image in the camera, the less time you'll be spending in PP correcting the errors that simply shouldn't have been committed.
Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 2:15 am
