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| This was one of those situations where we rounded a bend on a small dirt road and saw this changing scene. The cow moose and her calf were moving left to right, eating their way across this pond. A few quick exposures taken through the car window allowed me to bring this image back with me. (click to enlarge) Nikon D800E, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens @ 70mm; 1/1000th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 250 |
The other day the thought came to me that I have never developed a series of settings for the camera I would have with me which would allow me to successfully capture an image if something was quickly evolving in front of me. Settings that would allow me to grab the camera, bring it to my eye, point, zoom and compose an image an press the shutter, no matter how fast things were evolving.
In this scenario, I'm not necessarily concerned with stationary objects, landscapes, etc. as they won't be moving and I can stop, pick up my camera, change any settings that are appropriate to a particular subject, then make as many images as necessary. I'm talking about situations that suddenly present themselves, something that is changing of will be gone quickly and you need to make the shot—NOW!
Here are my thoughts and my settings.
Shutter Priority; 1/500th sec. Will stop most action and still have a reasonable aperture and ISO
Auto ISO; light conditions are continuously evolving throughout the day
Auto White Balance; the camera does a pretty good job at detecting appropriate balance
High speed frame advance—at least 8 fps; this is fast enough to catch peak action if necessary
C-AF with back button autofocus set with the shutter button disassociated with AF function; this gives me the best of all worlds. I can push the button on the back of the camera and release, which essentially gives me S-AF. I can push the button on the back of the camera and hold it in, which gives me C-AF. Not pushing the button on the back of the camera gives me manual focusing. Setting the camera in this manner allows me to handle any focus situation without having to change any settings.
Single Focusing Point; seems to be the most accurate and useful for a variety of subjects encountered
C-AF with back button autofocus set with the shutter button disassociated with AF function; this gives me the best of all worlds. I can push the button on the back of the camera and release, which essentially gives me S-AF. I can push the button on the back of the camera and hold it in, which gives me C-AF. Not pushing the button on the back of the camera gives me manual focusing. Setting the camera in this manner allows me to handle any focus situation without having to change any settings.
Single Focusing Point; seems to be the most accurate and useful for a variety of subjects encountered
RAW + JPEG File Formats; allows me maximum flexibility
Exposure compensation set to -1/3 stop; a little insurance in not blowing out highlights
Image Stabilization (either in-camera or in-lens if available) turned on; always a good thing in my book
A Natural or Normal JPEG file rendition (Provia if carrying the X-T2); colors can be adjusted later, saturation increased, etc. later if necessary, but a realistic rendition seems to be a good foundation
Exposure compensation set to -1/3 stop; a little insurance in not blowing out highlights
Image Stabilization (either in-camera or in-lens if available) turned on; always a good thing in my book
A Natural or Normal JPEG file rendition (Provia if carrying the X-T2); colors can be adjusted later, saturation increased, etc. later if necessary, but a realistic rendition seems to be a good foundation
I set the camera in this manner so if I see something and have to quickly make an exposure, there is minimal or no changes I would have to make to successfully stop action, achieve correct exposure, and get good focus on my target.
This is nothing special it is just that I surprised myself in never sitting down and thinking this through before now. In the past, I just picked up a camera as I went out of the door and left the setting as is. If you have any other suggestions for the visitors to this blog, please leave a comment as it could help all of us.
This is nothing special it is just that I surprised myself in never sitting down and thinking this through before now. In the past, I just picked up a camera as I went out of the door and left the setting as is. If you have any other suggestions for the visitors to this blog, please leave a comment as it could help all of us.
If you carry a camera everywhere, or even when you do carry your camera while out and about, think about what settings would work best for you if you happened upon a subject and wanted to successfully make some images of it in quick order.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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