I have entered the world of DSLR with Nikon

[westy79]

After alot of thought i have purchased my first DSLR, a Nikon D40. It offers so much for the small price tag of £247. I have always had Canon point and shoot but the D40 was a steal.

I am still new to photography and now want to expand my hobby to well thought out photos. Can anyone suggest the best settings to start from just so i can get used to the feel of it. At the moment i use the "P" mode which works well. I think full auto is not great though. I fint the other pre sets helpful too but the manual mode is too complex.

Anyway i will have plenty of fun experimenting.

The sound of the first shot being took was music to my ears, how did i manage so long with a point and shoot

[XaiLo]

Congrats and welcome to NAS Land, Understanding Exposure Revised Edition by Bryan Peterson. The best sub $20 you could spend to get off of "P" Mode. Best setting for what kind of shooting are you doing?

Don't be too eager to dismiss a point and shoot most people own one or two here.

[Rooz]

congrats and welcome to the dark side. :)

there isnt really a recommended settings thing cos it will vary according to what you;re shooting. i;d recommend you take control of your aperture as quickly as possible though.

[K1W1]

Welcome. I'm sure that you will get lots of settings suggestions but my advice is to invest in a least a couple of good books.

My first recommendation is Thom Hogans D40 e-book. It's more than a user manual it's EVERYTHING you need to know about your camera and how to use it plus plenty of general photographic advice.

Link here. (http://www.bythom.com/d40guide.htm)

The second recommendation is Bryan Petersons "Understanding Exposure". This book is almost a bible for photographers wanting to learn.

Link here. (http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Updated/dp/0817463003/ref=pd_sim_b_1)

Above all ask lots of questions and post plenty of photos,

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Congrats Westy, thats a great camera to choose. There's some great pics in the D40 thread here from other owners of that cam.

In terms of setting I almost always use "A" mode. That stands for aperture priority. You set how wide the aperture is, in other words how much light enters the camera. The camera will decide how long to keep the shutter open for to get the right exposure.

That way I only have to make the decision about how much depth of field (focus) I want - the A value. If everything is at the same focal distance then I use F8. If I want the subject in focus and the stuff further away or closer out of focus then use a small A number eg F4. For more in focus I use a larger A number eg F11 - F16.

A great book is "understanding exposure" by Bryan Petterson.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

And here I was thinking I was the first responder. Darn faster typists.

[craigyc]

Learning to see Creatively by Bryan Peterson is also a very good book which focuses on how to recognize a good picture rather than the settings used.

[westy79]

thanks for the welcome messages, it does feel like i have moved to the dark side!!!! I will still take my point and shoot but i just want to keep learning with the D40. A few people have mentioned about aperture being more helpful than say the shutter speed, whats the best explanation for a novice like me. I posted another topic asking for the best way to shoot city lights and night trails without a tripod. Dread Pirate was helpful telling me to concentrate on Aperture rather than shutter speed. Again whats the advantage for this over the "S" mode.

So is the standard lens ok because the zoom level is only about 3x optical, sorry i dont know the correct term. As im going to New York and Vegas for a honeymoon im worried about the zoom level on taking say the head of the Statue of Liberty from distance

[faisal]

Welcome to the world of DSLR.....and honestly better Nikon than Canon right now!!! :eek:

Advice to you is to post picture on this forum with EXIF data...and let the others rip your picture taking efforts apart (with some good comments here and there), best way to learn IMO. :cool:
Also see what the other more experienced photographers are doing with their cameras. Helps to always copy them, teaches you stuff which you can use to built your own style. :)

[Cyberwlf]

Shooting city lights and light trails without a tripod (or some kind of non-moving surface) is not recommended with any camera. Light trails will blur if you do it hand held, and sure higher end dSLRs can handle sufficient ISO (sensitivity to light) to get non blurry hand held night time shots of a city, but a tripod would be of benefit here too. Shutter speed aka S mode is usable in various ways, but new users often use it primarily to do long exposures, which includes light trails, night sky, etc.

[XaiLo]

thanks for the welcome messages, it does feel like i have moved to the dark side!!!! I will still take my point and shoot but i just want to keep learning with the D40. A few people have mentioned about aperture being more helpful than say the shutter speed, whats the best explanation for a novice like me. I posted another topic asking for the best way to shoot city lights and night trails without a tripod. Dread Pirate was helpful telling me to concentrate on Aperture rather than shutter speed. Again whats the advantage for this over the "S" mode.

So is the standard lens ok because the zoom level is only about 3x optical, sorry i dont know the correct term. As im going to New York and Vegas for a honeymoon im worried about the zoom level on taking say the head of the Statue of Liberty from distance

I'd get the books that were suggested this is not to be mean but rather to help you along quickly. Giving some settings without understanding the circumstances and environment is somewhat on the futile side. I don't like typing a whole lot. You're asking someone to sum up a complex scenario and a difficult shot of who knows. And when it doesn't go right you'll have no idea why. There are some basics that need to be covered and understood for a reason. Aperature effects light and depth of field while shutter effects light and time. A wide aperature will give you a shallow depth of field... the narrower the aperature the more the depth of field increases. A fast shutter speed will stop motion a slow shutterspeed will allow motion of both subject and camera. If you have a 18-55 lens then invest in a 55-200VR or a 70-300mmVR both are capable lenses.



A few people have mentioned about aperture being more helpful than say the shutter speed, whats the best explanation for a novice like me.

No, that's not what was being said, Rooz was telling you to understand it. And the rest were explaining it's function. They both effect light and the final out come of your image. The camera has no idea that you want light trails that takes brain power and knowledge of how to minipulate the setting to aquire the desired results.

[fionndruinne]

Aperture gets a certain look to your photos, which you can't get with anything else (depth-of-field). Shutter speed is related to time in your shots, i.e. if you want to freeze time, you want a really fast shutter, if you want to show the passage of time (think blurring the water on a fountain with a long exposure), you use a slow shutter.

Shutter speed does have a certain amount of control over what you do though, at least if you're handholding the camera. As mentioned before, slower shutters might introduce hand shake. The old rule is to get a shutter at least as fast as the reciprocal of the lens length (# in mm) you're shooting at. In other words, @ 55mm you'd better have a shutter of around 1/60th of a second to be reasonably safe from hand shake. If you get a 55-200mm telephoto lens, and shoot at 200mm, get at least a 1/200th of a second exposure, because longer telephoto values magnify hand shake. Unfortunately, this means that you'll have to pretty much kiss night shots at 200mm goodbye (since it'll be nigh impossible to get a 1/200-sec. exposure at night, unless you want blackness with pinpricks from whatever light sources there are)... unless, and here comes the other factor of aperture:

larger apertures allow you a faster shutter speed under the same conditions. So, yeah, f/5.6 (which is the largest aperture that the $200 55-200mm telephoto lens will get you) ain't going to get the job done, but you can do it a lot better with the $2000 (or whatever it costs now) 70-200mm f/2.8. Smaller f/#=bigger aperture=more light in=faster shutter speed.

But then there are tripods, which smart people use for night shots regardless. They're a pain to lug around, but they're the true necessity for when you want to use slower shutter speeds and get good results.

Lots of confusing info for a beginner! But don't worry, it will all make sense in time. Good luck!

[westy79]

Too be honest it is alot to take in and i think im thinking too far ahead, I have a beginners photography course in a month or so to learn all the basics. The trouble with me is i want to learn so much but i know so little about the technical side of photography!!! thanks for all being so patient with my lack of knowledge, it must be frustrating for you experts.

its exciting stuff though

[Screenclutter]

Just start taking lots of pictures with your new camera, if you get pictures with either unsatisfactory or unexpected result, you will know what questions to ask in your course.

[n9nf]

Hey thread starter ... nice grab of nikon there. hope you'll enjoy taking pictures with it. play with the 'P' mode. its better than your PnS camera ...
and learn more on appatures and shutter. And don't forget to grab regid stand to take awesome night sence and also flash too. Get SB-400 for a start.

please do post your pictures also ... I know theres lots of pros here who can guide you on how to take better pictures ... :D

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

The reason I recommended apperture mode was because he's talking night shots of a city so exact shutter speed isn't important. Hence I want the shutter open a while lets set F/16 small apperture so camera will decide to hold shutter open for a long time to let enough light in.

Or if he's trying to throw something out of focus or get a quicker shutterspeed he can set a big apperture like F/3.5 to let in lots of light and again the camera will decide itself to hold the shutter open for a shorter period.

Minimal learning curve to start giving some gratification and control.

[jcon]

thanks for all being so patient with my lack of knowledge, it must be frustrating for you experts.



LOL, that word gets used WAY to much, especially with photography. Nobody is really an "expert" because there is something all of us can learn.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Thats a good point. I still think of myself as a newbie, I've just hung around long enough to generate a few posts on this site. The bit I have learnt is still way smaller than the bulk I've still got to learn.

[Cyberwlf]

I know 'stuff', but i look at what i do, and then look at the works of some others (some here, and some elsewhere) and sometimes feel like i know nothing by comparison!

[ooverdrive]

D40 can safely mount cheap AIS lenses and I started with them but you will be limited to use them in M mode only,love my 55mm macro lens the most its very sharp and focuses fast:)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3373/3265935619_1374a8089e_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3609/3375816594_27143dd932_o.jpg

[Aldor88]

Welcome to Nikon(and to the forum). :).

The D40 is a great camera especially for a beginner. I started with the P mode aswell but quickly changed to the A(aperture priority) mode. It let's you choose yout depth of field and exposure compensation and does the rest itself. If words like aperture and Depth of field are new to you, do not fear :) i didn't know anything when i first started either. Reading books and magazines and ofc forums helps to understand the basics.

I'd advice you to try out night photography, for that you will need a tripod tho. A cheap one will run you around 20$ and will get you started.

[jcon]

D40 can safely mount cheap AIS lenses and I started with them but you will be limited to use them in M mode only,love my 55mm macro lens the most its very sharp and focuses fast:)



The 2 samples you posted dont really illustrate sharpness.

[ooverdrive]

When comparing my other lenses I consider it sharp.

[tim11]

Welcome!!!

[Prospero]

Westy, welcome to the forum!


When comparing my other lenses I consider it sharp.

The 55 should indeed be sharp - your picture does not really demonstrate this, but that's because of the DOF you chose. The lens has a good reputation. I have briefly considered getting one, but I didn't like that it's not a real macro, it only gets you to 1:2.

A lot of AI lenses (the primes, that is) are still quite sharp even by today's standard.
However, especially on entry level cameras they are definetly not easy to use, as there is no autofocus and no metering. I would only consider getting these lenses if you at least understand the basics of exposure, so at this point I would not recommend the OP to get one.

Having said that, using AI lenses does help a lot in developing a feeling for light. Gradually you will learn the approximate settings you need to use for any type of light. For me, using the 135 f/2.8 and 105 f/2.8 definetly helped a lot in increasing my understanding of exposure.

[ooverdrive]

Thanks jcon for pointing it just looked at the exif of the bird pic
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/0.0
Focal Length: 0 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: -11/3 EV
Flash: No Flash
Girl pic
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture: f/0.0
Focal Length: 0 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: -11/3 EV
Flash: No Flash
I think the shutter speed was not good enough for the girl pic as it was low light and aperture wide open a f/3.5 and for the bird shot it was a difficult lighting condition and aperture was above f/8 ,I think.Prospero I endorse one 55mm micro:) you will love it.

[Prospero]

I think the shutter speed was not good enough for the girl pic as it was low light and aperture wide open a f/3.5 and for the bird shot it was a difficult lighting condition and aperture was above f/8 ,I think.Prospero I endorse one 55mm micro:) you will love it.

Oh, I'm sure I would love it, but there are so many other lenses I would like to have :). I already own the 50 f/1.8 and a macro lens, sor right now the 55 is not on my wishlist.

[aRD]

I just got a D40 too!

Don't forget that you can use the "program shit" on the P mode (by turning the rear dial). You end up playing with the shutter and aperture settings to achieve the same exposure you had before shifting. You can easily play with the depth of field that way!