Anyone Have A Nikon D70 Camera?

[Lacey]

I bought this wonderful camera a few weeks ago. I am very much a beginner and seem to have the hang of this camera as long as my subjects don't move. When I try to take moving shots they all come out blurry. I am as still as I can be, I have tried different settings (inside and out), and I have tried reading the manual (ugg I think I need cameras for idiots LOL).

In the manual (on page 68-69 if you have happen to have the manual) it suggests changing the settings for subjects that move unpredictably (I thought this was best as I was photographing my horses out playing). I have done that. I have also put my camera on the sports setting and I am still getting blurry pictures. If my subjects aren't moving my pictures come out beautifully. I really don't have a clue what I am doing wrong.

The lenses I am using are the Nikon 28-80 and the Nikon 70-300. The camera is the Nikon D70 Digital.

If anyone has any suggestions I would really appreciate it (if you can keep it as simple as possible

. Thanks so much.

 

[strass]

I don't have a camera that nice (congrats), but...

Sports setting, as you have discovered, ain't always enough.

To adjust it manually, what you need to do is increase your shutter speed. Since I don't have this camera, I can't tell you how to do it, but on most digitals when you are in manual mode the setting of the speed will look like a fraction. That represents the portion of a second that the shutter is open.

So: 1/100 is ten times faster than 1/10. The draw back is that you have to watch really high speeds because they allow less light in and you don't get clear pictures.

That's why photos from the stands at Nationals are so tricky...long distance and wiggling subjects are best captured with higher shutter speeds, but there's pretty low light in the arena, which make it a real balancing act.

If you are in the bright sun, you might not have to worry.

Also, your camera is so nice that it probably has a large enough aperture that you can open it up to compensate and still get nice pics. (will look like plus or minus signs followed by a number or 2. Plus adds more light)

Now, please e-mail my wife at mailto:[email protected] and tell her to buy me one of those.

 

[sfmini]

I have a D100 so in the same family. You should be able to shoot your horses moving in the P mode, which lets the camera select the aperture and shutter speed. Focus could be the problem, is it set to C for continuous? That should be a setting on the very front of the body, a little dial where you can set it to S for single, C for continuous or M for manual. Make sure you are on continuous so the camera can continue to adjust the focus before you shoot. You need to have the button pushed half way to focus and then push the rest of the way down to shoot. You will hear the lense adjusting itself if you are doing it correctly. I am assuming for these settings that you are outdoors in the daytime, program works just fine for that. Another option is to set it to Shutter speed priority, 125 minimum and let it determine aperture. Basically that is what the sport setting is doing, setting your camera to shoot at a faster speed and the aperture open more to compensate.

Have fun, it is a great camera!

 

[susanne]

Lacey,

Congratulations on getting the best digital camera (that you don't have to mortgage the farm to buy!) Unlike so many digitals, you have one suitable for print as well as online.

I would own one right now if BOTH of our vehicles hadn't broken down and one of our dogs had not become very sick...sigh...

Ken Rockwell's site is full of great information on this and related cameras:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d70.htm

I seem to recall that he discusses this on the page I've referenced or elsewhere on his site. This is an incredibly informative website, so you'll find lots of good stuff, even if it doesn't answer your specific question...and I'm sure you can email him with your question.

susanne