Newbie, D80 settings for School concert
 

"cen" wrote in message
...
Hey I'm new with a D80 and somewhat limited experience, but have taken
some great photos with it. Tomorrow night is concert night in the
school auditorium and I'm think about setting it on program mode to
shoot. Flash is allowed. Wondering what other settings you'd use.

thanks


What lenses do you have? Do you have an external flash unit?

Newbie, D80 settings for School concert
 

"cen" wrote in message
...
On Dec 22, 12:20 am, Savageduck wrote:
On 2008-12-21 21:03:56 -0800, "N" said:



"cen" wrote in message
...
Hey

I'm new with a D80 and somewhat limited experience, but have taken
some great photos with it. Tomorrow night is concert night in the
school auditorium and I'm think about setting it on program mode to
shoot. Flash is allowed. Wondering what other settings you'd use.

thanks

What lenses do you have? Do you have an external flash unit?

Also expected auditorium lighting and shooting distances from subjects?


sorry, kit lens 18-135mm, no external flash. Stage lighting at about
50ft
minimum.



The guide number for the built in flash on a D80 is 13/42 at ISO 100. That
means the light from the flash should reach about 42 feet from the camera if
you're lucky. Can the onboard flash see over that lens or do you get a dark
shadow across the lower edge of the photo?

I found with my D80 that ISO 400 was about as far as I'd go before noise
became unacceptable.

Newbie, D80 settings for School concert
 

N wrote:
"cen" wrote in message
...
On Dec 22, 12:20 am, Savageduck wrote:
On 2008-12-21 21:03:56 -0800, "N" said:



"cen" wrote in message
...

Hey

I'm new with a D80 and somewhat limited experience, but have taken
some great photos with it. Tomorrow night is concert night in the
school auditorium and I'm think about setting it on program mode to
shoot. Flash is allowed. Wondering what other settings you'd use.

thanks

What lenses do you have? Do you have an external flash unit?

Also expected auditorium lighting and shooting distances from subjects?


sorry, kit lens 18-135mm, no external flash. Stage lighting at about
50ft
minimum.



The guide number for the built in flash on a D80 is 13/42 at ISO 100.
That means the light from the flash should reach about 42 feet from the
camera if you're lucky.
????
Umm, no. Distance = GN/*aperture*. So that flash will be struggling to
make 11ft at f4 (which will be the maximum aperture he has for most of
his shooting)...


Can the onboard flash see over that lens or do
you get a dark shadow across the lower edge of the photo?


I found with my D80 that ISO 400 was about as far as I'd go before noise
became unacceptable.
The tests I've seen of the D80, eg:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PROD...D80IMAGING.HTM
show the 800 and 1600 samples as quite good and very usable for this
type of shooting. Depends on your quality standards, of course, but I'd
happily accept a bit of noise for more usable shutter speeds, and he is
limited by having a f3.5-5.6 lens.

Newbie, D80 settings for School concert
 

"Mark Thomas" wrote in message
...
N wrote:
"cen" wrote in message
...
On Dec 22, 12:20 am, Savageduck wrote:
On 2008-12-21 21:03:56 -0800, "N" said:



"cen" wrote in message
...

Hey

I'm new with a D80 and somewhat limited experience, but have taken
some great photos with it. Tomorrow night is concert night in the
school auditorium and I'm think about setting it on program mode to
shoot. Flash is allowed. Wondering what other settings you'd use.

thanks

What lenses do you have? Do you have an external flash unit?

Also expected auditorium lighting and shooting distances from subjects?


sorry, kit lens 18-135mm, no external flash. Stage lighting at about
50ft
minimum.



The guide number for the built in flash on a D80 is 13/42 at ISO 100.
That means the light from the flash should reach about 42 feet from the
camera if you're lucky.
????
Umm, no. Distance = GN/*aperture*. So that flash will be struggling to
make 11ft at f4 (which will be the maximum aperture he has for most of his
shooting)...


Can the onboard flash see over that lens or do you get a dark shadow
across the lower edge of the photo?


I found with my D80 that ISO 400 was about as far as I'd go before noise
became unacceptable.
The tests I've seen of the D80, eg:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PROD...D80IMAGING.HTM
show the 800 and 1600 samples as quite good and very usable for this type
of shooting. Depends on your quality standards, of course, but I'd
happily accept a bit of noise for more usable shutter speeds, and he is
limited by having a f3.5-5.6 lens.


Thanks Mark. I haven't made a study of flash, just thought I'd make sure
the subject didn't get overlooked. I was pretty sure the D80 flash wouldn't
reach the distance.

Newbie, D80 settings for School concert
 

"N" wrote:
sorry, kit lens 18-135mm, no external flash. Stage lighting at about
50ft
minimum.

Then forget about flash (turn it off!!!). The buildin flash doesn't
carry that far.

jue