Advice-batteries charged and ready to go

[himmelblau]

My batteries are charged and I’m ready to go out tomorrow, with my D200 which I have hardly used. In fact, the size of the body compared to the D80 scared me tonight.:eek:

As a novice who will be taking pictures in gloomy Scotland, I would be grateful for advice on the following:

• ISO; should I go for auto, 100 or 400?
• WB; should I go for auto, cloudy or shade?

I’m thinking of shooting bridges, (Fortnightly Salon competitors have nothing to fear, if I get a good picture it will be sheer luck:\ ) as I know of quite a lot local to me and was wondering what lens to use?

• Tamron 18-200mm
• Tokina 12-14mm which I know is for landscapes
• Sigma 70-300mm with macro; never know, might get some wildlife/bird shots or even close ups

I could take all the lenses I know but have a fear of changing lenses outdoors due to the possibility of getting dust on the camera sensor etc.
Thanks in advance and look forward to your advice.

Brian*crazyxmas

[Stephen]

Hi Brian, my advice would be to adjust the camera according to the conditions. I personally would use Auto White Balance (AWB), however I've never experienced Auto ISO, I always adjust mine to suit.

A similar principle applies to lenses, I tend to take all mine on a shoot, they are then in the bag on my back if I need them. One should not be prescriptive about such things. You must choose the lens to suit what you want to achieve at the time and what the scene dictates.

I would say though that if you have not used the camera much, concentrate on getting familiar with it, try diferent settings with the same speed, play around with different exposures. The main thing is enjoy yourself. Have a good day *snowman

[bigbob]

Brian i've got a D2X slightly different sensor to the D200 but a lot of the settings are similar .
I'd take the 18-200 the 18mm end will be wide enough for bridges without too much distortion and the variable zoom will be handy for close ups .
I normally use auto W/B outside , but the shade setting will give a cooler look .
Never used auto ISO if i'm handholding in gloomy conditions i'd use 400 - 800
If it's brighter 150-200. if you have a pod of any sort then use 100 all the time , remember the lower the ISO in darkish conditions the longer the shutter speed .
We're shrouded in fog down here and i've been using .
ISO 400
cloudy W/B
and +1 exposure compensation .
Hope this is of some use .

B..

P.s you could just shoot RAW and adjust W/B and ISO values later , even for a beginner the Nikon Raw converter is easy to work your way around for basic settings .

[Pops]

I don't think any of these questions can be answered properly. Like Stephen says, conditions at the time completely dictate all settings.
Stephen gave you the advice of trying different settings to get accustomed to the camera. He gave me similar advice a couple of years ago and it helped no end.
Set the camera in one position at a location of your choice and take as many shots as you can using different setings. (good idea to have a small pad and pen for taking notes) When you view the shots on your computer you will see some tremendous differences from which the learning curve starts.
The main thing is to enjoy it and don't be dissapointed with those rubbish shots. Learn from them and things will get better.

[bigbob]

As a reply to my reply:D
I've just finished christmas shopping and poped into Smiths , the Jan (issue51) of Digital Photographer has an in depth article on W/B and a section on winter shooting , have 'nt time to read it yet .
That also answers another question on another thread about magazines , i always buy Digital Photographer .

B..

[himmelblau]

Thanks all,

Alas, the day did not go as planned and is being put off until tomorrow:\ though did consider a night shoot for the trailing car tail and head light effect

Will be using a tripod, as that is going to let me get down further than the monopod I have. Am considering shooting in RAW format, as I have not used it thus far and thought it was about time I should give it a try.

Thanks for all the advice which will be put into practice tomorrow,

Brian*crazyxmas