Just ordered the Nikon 50mm f/1.8. Any tips?

[H.E. Pennypacker]

I just ordered the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 for my D70s and wanted to share my excitement. Should be here by Monday, just in time for our trip to WDW on 10/17.

I know there was a similar post about shooting the MNSSHP parade, but any other tips/tricks for shooting night parades with this lens? I'm hoping to not need a flash. Should I invest in a monopod, or can I get decent results handheld? Come on experts, give me the scoop! I don't know when I'll be back for MNSSHP, so I don't want to blow this...

 

[muphoto]

I have a D-70 and while I don't have the 50 1.8 lens, the ones I do have are f 2.8. When I shoot the parade, I set the ISO on 800 or 1600, the D70 does very well at 1600. I also set the camera on manual exposure and intentionally under expose by about a stop. Keep an eye on your shutter speed and keep it around 1/80 to 1/125 of a second also try to keep your f-stop at 2.8 or 3.5, a 1.8 aperature will not give you very much depth of field. If you shoot on one of the automatic modes, the meter tries to read the entire scene and because of the darker background will blow out the lights of the parade. This also works well with stage shows that use bright spotlights.

 

[handicap18]

I used this lens successfully with my D50 on the indoor rides (IASW and GMR, didn't get a chance to ride PotC).

ISO1600 and aperture priority at f/1.8. Focus point has to be right where you want it.

Don't forget about SpectroMagic on the nights when MNSSHP isn't happening.

Also don't get to close to the parade. I know, that might not be easy, but 50mm isn't wide, especially on a 1.5x crop body. Once you have your spot, there is no zooming.

 

[YEKCIM]

I have a D-70 and while I don't have the 50 1.8 lens, the ones I do have are f 2.8. When I shoot the parade, I set the ISO on 800 or 1600, the D70 does very well at 1600. I also set the camera on manual exposure and intentionally under expose by about a stop. Keep an eye on your shutter speed and keep it around 1/80 to 1/125 of a second also try to keep your f-stop at 2.8 or 3.5, a 1.8 aperature will not give you very much depth of field. If you shoot on one of the automatic modes, the meter tries to read the entire scene and because of the darker background will blow out the lights of the parade. This also works well with stage shows that use bright spotlights.

The meter is going to give the same exposure info, regardless of the shooting mode (Aperture, Shutter, Program, or Manual). You might want to try one of the other *metering* modes, such as spot or center weighted average, rather than matrix, and see how the shots look in the LCD. You may also want to consider using shutter preferred, setting the shutter for the lowest shutter speed you are confident you can hand-hold at, *and* freeze the subject motion. Use the highest ISO you can. I have a D50 and used ISO 1600 quite frequently on our trip in July. Lots of people use a monopod, which will help with camera shake, but not subject movement. Personally, I don't like using a monopod for stills; I find that it restricts composition too much when shooting moving subjects, but that's just me. In any case, night parades are among the most difficult subjects to shoot at The World. Shoot a lot of pix and hopefully you'll get some keepers.

~Y

 

[muphoto]

I know the meter is going to give the same info in the different modes, that's why I intentionally undersxpose in the manual mode. Example, if the meter gives me a reading of 1/125 at f 4 than I will set the camera manually to 1/160 at f 4. This will help expose the bright lights of the floats and let the background go dark. To freeze the subject movement you need to use the fastest shutter speed that you can, not the slowest. Fast shutter speeds stop the action.