External flashes

[ukcatfan]

Another shutter priority here, but sometime manual. Now that I (finally) have the luxury of having a usable 6400+ I tend to go a little faster (1/80-125) to try to minimize blur a little more. I used to hover in the 1/30-60 range when using 1600.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

There's a bunch of stuff in this thread.

 

[boBQuincy]

I will go along with Zackiedawg and aperture priority, set wide open that will get us the fastest shutter speed possible for the conditions. I also use exposure compensation of -1 to -2 (it is a *dark* ride after all). Spot metering can help too.
By taking several exposures in a row we can improve the chance that one of them will be acceptably sharp.

Or we can copy the images from those with a Nikon D3s!

 

[kenny]

There's a bunch of stuff in this thread.

Thanks. That's what inspired this thread. Was reading through all your advice on different shots (Fireworks, parades, etc). Great info!

Had been trying manual but couldn't seem to get it right.

Thanks everyone. Will try shutter first and go from there. Maybe I will just get frustrated and break down and get the D90 for the November trip.

Too many limitations with D60.

 

[mom2rtk]

I would set it to Shutter Priority at 1/40th and 1600 ISO and fire away. Better a dark picture than a blurry picture.

Well, not all of us are as steady with the camera as you are.... witness that 7 second hand held fireworks shot you posted earlier!

 

[Gdad]

Well, not all of us are as steady with the camera as you are.... witness that 7 second hand held fireworks shot you posted earlier!

Hey I've been known to use a tripod on a dark ride too.

 

[mom2rtk]

Hey I've been known to use a tripod on a dark ride too.

Just to mix it up and keep us all guessing no doubt......

Think they'd let me do that on Peter Pan???? Or maybe pull the fire alarm to stop the car?????

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I just bought this lens. I screwed up; meant to buy the AIS version, but OMG this lens is a beauty! Beautiful bokeh! I am in love and in lust with it! I can't help but wonder if I should Ebay it and buy the AIS version. Would I love it more?? I can still get the 14 point star effect when I stop down the aperture, so if that's the biggest difference between the 2 lenses I think I'll stick with this lens. Also I read on a couple of web pages that there is really no difference in the quality of photo between the 2 lenses. I just wanted some confirmation from anyone who's ever used one.
Also I have a quick question for Nikon users -- can you use the on board flash with the AI lenses? I tried to use fill flash last night and even though I popped it up it wouldn't fire or take a photo with it up. Am I doing something wrong? Is it because the lens isn't communicating Aperture info to the camera that I culdn't use the flash?

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

bump...

 

[Zoesmama03]

Didn't even know it was available. But the way Nikon keeps bringing lenses out that then are not available I'm ready to post all my nikon gear up on Ebay and switch to Canon. I LOVE my Nikon gear but seriously getting fed up with lenses becoming available and then disappearing. ARGH!!

I hadn't even heard there WAS a 50 1.2 for Nikon. Its unavailable on Amazon in AIS so good luck finding one. I would keep what you got and try a speedlight.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Didn't even know it was available. But the way Nikon keeps bringing lenses out that then are not available I'm ready to post all my nikon gear up on Ebay and switch to Canon. I LOVE my Nikon gear but seriously getting fed up with lenses becoming available and then disappearing. ARGH!!

I hadn't even heard there WAS a 50 1.2 for Nikon. Its unavailable on Amazon in AIS so good luck finding one. I would keep what you got and try a speedlight.

Don't feel bad Zoesmama, these are actually old manual focus lenses. They are sold out of the AIS version everywhere, but they supposedly still manufacture them. Supposedly. Thankfully I have a speedlight, I just have to figure out how to work it in Manual mode (I'm guessing) since the on board flash doesn't seem to work probably due to lack of communication with the lens regarding Aperture setting. I hope someone else who has a 1.2 MF lens chimes in soon...

 

[Gdad]

Does it meter on a D90? I can't remember- for some reason I was thinking it would only meter on D200/D300 or above but I could be wrong. I had the 50/1.2 AIS for a while and really enjoyed it- never tried the AI but I think it's pretty similar.

 

[annnewjerz]

Does it meter on a D90? I can't remember- for some reason I was thinking it would only meter on D200/D300 or above but I could be wrong. I had the 50/1.2 AIS for a while and really enjoyed it- never tried the AI but I think it's pretty similar.

Nope, doesn't meter on the D90. Only DX00 and above.

I think it'd be a safe bet to say that the flash won't fire because there is no metering with the D90, but I have the 50mm f/1.2 AIS as home and would be more than happy to try to snap a shot with the pop-up tonight and let you know if I can do it or not. The AIS doesn't meter with the D90 either.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Does it meter on a D90? I can't remember- for some reason I was thinking it would only meter on D200/D300 or above but I could be wrong. I had the 50/1.2 AIS for a while and really enjoyed it- never tried the AI but I think it's pretty similar.

Thanks for responding, and no it doesn't meter with the D90. Ha-ha, Jeff, I was just trying to sweet talk my DH into letting me upgrade now since Nikon has all the rebates going on with the packaged kits, but he keeps reminding me that I am not a professional and I don't need a D300s or D700, not to mention not needing the glass that would be part of the deal! NAS!

Nope, doesn't meter on the D90. Only DX00 and above.

I think it'd be a safe bet to say that the flash won't fire because there is no metering with the D90, but I have the 50mm f/1.2 AIS as home and would be more than happy to try to snap a shot with the pop-up tonight and let you know if I can do it or not. The AIS doesn't meter with the D90 either.

Yes, please Anne if you could try yours out I would appreciate it.

I have an SB-800, would that work in manual mode with a lens that doesn't meter? This is all new to me. But I do love this lens!

 

[Gdad]

I just checked it- D700 onboard flash works just fine in aperture priority with my 50mm f1/8 AI-S. Must be a no-metering thing with the D90.

 

[Groucho]

Does the A-I not transmit aperture info to the camera? If so, that would be related, too. On my lenses that don't transmit the aperture to the camera, the onboard flash fires but it always fires at full blast (unless you manually turn it down), so you tend to get things totally blown out. I generally go with an external flash and set the lens and ISO according to what the flash recommends and get good results.

 

[Zoesmama03]

Don't feel bad Zoesmama, these are actually old manual focus lenses. They are sold out of the AIS version everywhere, but they supposedly still manufacture them. Supposedly. Thankfully I have a speedlight, I just have to figure out how to work it in Manual mode (I'm guessing) since the on board flash doesn't seem to work probably due to lack of communication with the lens regarding Aperture setting. I hope someone else who has a 1.2 MF lens chimes in soon...

I just got an old manual 80-200 so I know what you mean it doesn't work with my pop up either but works fine with my off brand flash(that is Philips). So you are right maybe it doesn't read it. I know my speedlight flash will fire with it but the EXIF info does not show settings for aperture so I think you may be right there.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I just checked it- D700 onboard flash works just fine in aperture priority with my 50mm f1/8 AI-S. Must be a no-metering thing with the D90.

Thanks Jeff. It is a D90 thing.

Does the A-I not transmit aperture info to the camera? If so, that would be related, too. On my lenses that don't transmit the aperture to the camera, the onboard flash fires but it always fires at full blast (unless you manually turn it down), so you tend to get things totally blown out. I generally go with an external flash and set the lens and ISO according to what the flash recommends and get good results.

The AI does not transmit Aperture info to the camera, or rather the camera (D90) doesn't read the info. Obviously it must transmit because I've read that it'll transmit with D300 and better, but not the cheaper cameras. Bummer. I'm going to try my external flash tomorrow and see if I can get it to work. External is always nicer anyway. I'm just too lazy to carry it everywhere...

I just got an old manual 80-200 so I know what you mean it doesn't work with my pop up either but works fine with my off brand flash(that is Philips). So you are right maybe it doesn't read it. I know my speedlight flash will fire with it but the EXIF info does not show settings for aperture so I think you may be right there.

I'm going to try and use my SB800 tomorrow with it and see what happens. It may not work though since the issue is the camera can't read/interpret the Aperture info. I'll post back what I find out. Are you using your external flash in Manual mode or ???

 

[Zoesmama03]

It's a Philips brand has Manual, Auto and TTL. It fires on all of them for me but technically I have to do it manually.

 

[kenny]

Just returned and tried my first attempt with my Nikon D60 and AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G lens.

Shot everything in raw and did a little post processing in CS3.

Any advice on my shots or processing are welcome.

Thanks

not crazy about this one. Think I did too much post processing in order to bring out the full image.

no post processing. Just converted to jpg using Nikon software

minimal post processing on next 5

personally like this one the best