Nikin D2X Issues - I need help

[Shaggy]

Yes, some say I am beyond help, but I hope not in this case.

So I spent a day at EGKK, got talking to some of the guys who post here that were very helpfull. Took a load of pictures, most of which are out of focus, or hazy etc etc.

The settings I was using as advised were Apeture mode F8.

Now at no time have i professed to be a great photographer, I have all the gear and no idea, that said I need to learn what I am doing as i dont want to take crap pictures anymore.

I dont really know what focus setting I should have, I have read a few articles but its not clear to me. What metering do I use? I want to know as much as i can so i can be in a position to get better.

Are there any D2X users out there or similar that can tell me what basic settings i should be using, as after a good day i feel dissapointed as pretty much all the pictures are crap. I will upload some examlpes in a mo.

If you can help it would be appreciated as I dont want to waste my day at EGLL tomorrrow.

Thanks Guys

[Shaggy]

These are the ones i submitted today. Not sure they are all that good.

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewqueued_b.php?id=2281371

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewqueued_b.php?id=2281377

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewqueued_b.php?id=2281384

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewqueued_b.php?id=2281391

And if anyone can be arsed Which I hope you can, I have uploaded a zip file with some I took which is an example of what most came out like. I just need some guidance

http://www.shaggysworld.com/drums/fups.zip

[seahawk]

centre weighted metering for shots against the sky
matrix metering for shots on the ground
(You can assign the function button to either matrix or centre weighted, so that you just need to press it switch betwee nthe 2. I have set it to matrix and usually shoot with centre weighted and press it if I want matrix used)
continous AF with focus priority
ISO 100-200 as needed
P mode with the use of P* as needed and possbile
WB to auto if you shoot under natural light

check the histogram regularly and use exposure compensation as needed.

Do not let yourself be fooled by the ISO 100 and AP 8 crowd, those are settings you can use under perfect conditions, but if I look at some of your recent up-loads you were quite close to getting your shots blurred because the shutter speed got below 1/500.

[B7772ADL]

These are the ones i submitted today. Not sure they are all that good.

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewqueued_b.php?id=2281371

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewqueued_b.php?id=2281377

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewqueued_b.php?id=2281384

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewqueued_b.php?id=2281391

And if anyone can be arsed Which I hope you can, I have uploaded a zip file with some I took which is an example of what most came out like. I just need some guidance

http://www.shaggysworld.com/drums/fups.zip

1 and 4 I think have the best chance. 2 has a nice big dust spot and is a little on the dark side, and a greenish tint (although that's prob just a Nikon trait). I think 3 will go for composition. I can see what you were after with the landing 737, but sadly it's obscured so doesn't add anything to the photo. Could do with brightening up a bit too if possible.

At the moment at this time of year, although the sun is shining, light levels are actually pretty low, which means that photos might come out a little on the dark side at the usual F8 settings. You probs got blurry shots as at F8, as the camera prob tried to compensate for the exposure and took the shutter speed right down. Combine this with the physical shaking of your body in the cold wind doesn't help. I know i shoot Canon, but what i've usually ended up doing is bumping the exposure comp up to levels i'd normally use in cloudy conditions and just watch that i'm not blowing out the whites. Or otherwise i've bumped up to iso200 to get the shutter speed up a bit.

[magic48]

In addition to what has already been said, 3 might be considered backlit.

I wouldn't underexpose by as much as EV-0.67 shooting in the sun. I'd rather stop down from f/8 to something like f/10 and use no exposure compensation whatsoever.

[PMN]

Do not let yourself be fooled by the ISO 100 and AP 8 crowd

Absolutely. Some of my semi-recent JP acceptances were shot at f/7.1 and ISO 250 (and brightened a further stop on the RAW file, essentially giving an image with roughly the same noise as had the camera been set to ISO 500). It's always better to get a sharp image you can at least work with than a burred image that will always be useless.

I have to say, having spent a lot of time with the D2x that's one hell of a camera to start with and one I would never recommend unless you really do know what you're doing, purely because there's so much you need to know about shooting and editing to get the best out of it. In addition to the suggestions made by Seahawk and James, try zooming in more. You have 12 megapixels to go at but even though, the more you have to crop in, the more resolution you lose and the more imperfections such as a slight softness show up. I had a look at the originals you posted and they were all softer than I'd expect, some to the point of being very blurry. Try keeping in mind the 1/focal length guide for avoiding camera shake. This basically states that your shutter speed should be at least equal to or greater than you shutter speed, so:

A focal length of 100mm would require a shutter speed of 1/100th of a second or higher.

200mm would require 1/200th >
250mm would require 1/250th >
400mm would require 1/400th >

This simple guide can help you in so many situations to avoid blur, but you have to train yourself to always keep a very close eye on your shutter speeds right the way through the day as conditions change. Also, try not to rely on the fact your lens has vibration reduction. In fact, turn the VR off. Learning without it will probably improve your technique in time.

As a starting point, use ISO 100 and f/8 (in Aperture Priority). If your average shutter speed is less than your average focal length, nudge it up to ISO 200. This will double your shutter speed and hopefully in most cases bring you out of blur territory. If your shutter is still a bit slow, try going to ISO 250 and knocking the aperture down to f/7.1. In certain cases (such as side on shots) you'll probably even get away with an aperture of f/6.3.

Play with the settings though. Learn how aperture, shutter speed and ISO affect how the image looks and how they're related in terms of exposure (there's plenty of information available on the net). Above all, practice. Not only with aviation, but shoot anything. Go to a local park and shoot wildlife, stand at the edge of a road practicing shooting cars; use your camera as much as you can. I have to say it, you have an incredible amount of information to take in until you start getting the best out of a camera like the D2x but believe me, the rewards will be worth it when you get there.

Paul

[Shaggy]

OMG, thanks so much guys for the advice. I'm gonna print it all off and take it with me tomorrow with my laptop so i can see what i am doing at the airfield.

I have resubmitted the A340 with the errors fixed http://www.jetphotos.net/viewqueued_b.php?id=2281630

On the camera there are a few settings that i am not sure about.

1. AF Area mode. What should I have that set too?

Single Area AF?
Dynamic AF?
Group Dynamic AF?
Dynamic AF with closest subject priority?

2. What metering?

3D Color matrix II?
Centre Weighted?
Spot?

3. Focus Mode

Single Servo AF?
Continuous Servo AF?
Manual?

Thanks again

[seahawk]

1. single Area gives you most control
2. as said centre weighted for shots against the sky, matrix for shots with ground
3. continious servo AF but with Focus priority

And 1/focal length does only protect you against camera shake, while I find 1/200 or even 1/400 a little too slow to be on the 100% save side for planes in flight, as you most also avoid motion blurr. 1/500 and more keeps you and the save side.

And if you find time read the manual the D2X can also do a focus lock and ignore obejcts that cross the focus area while keeping track of your orignal target. And set the function button as I suggested, it is a great tool, to switch metering by pressing a button. (have to keep it pressed though)

[PMN]

And 1/focal length does only protect you against camera shake, while I find 1/200 or even 1/400 a little too slow to be on the 100% save side for planes in flight, as you most also avoid motion blurr. 1/500 and more keeps you and the save side.

Of course. I was merely explaining the principles of the technique. I should have also added I usually try aim to be at least a third of a stop quicker on the shutter speed than my focal length. i.e. 100mm would be 1/125th, 250mm would be 1/320th, etc, but with a hell of a lot of practice and good technique this should easily be enough to get consistently good results. Assuming, of course, you're not being bombarded by wind, etc.

Paul

[Jet-fighters.Net]

When i had my D2x i uses shutter priority and group dynamic focus points and adjusted the ISO and EV +/- to get the the aperature to f/8 - f/11 range.

NOW getting to the ugly side of my D2x out of the box it would not focus properly giving a front focus at high shutter speeds and back focus at slower speeds. To make a long story short after sending the body back to Nikon service a total of 6 times they still never got it right. I finally got Nikon to buy back the body at full purchase price. I know of several other D2x owners that had the same issue and others that never had an ounce of problems.

To suM it up my D100, D80 and D300 all have better more consistent focusing than the D2x did. When the D2x worked right the results were spectacular when it did not it was a wasted day of shooting.

[PMN]

When i had my D2x i uses shutter priority and group dynamic focus points and adjusted the ISO and EV +/- to get the the aperature to f/8 - f/11 range.

NOW getting to the ugly side of my D2x out of the box it would not focus properly giving a front focus at high shutter speeds and back focus at slower speeds. To make a long story short after sending the body back to Nikon service a total of 6 times they still never got it right. I finally got Nikon to buy back the body at full purchase price. I know of several other D2x owners that had the same issue and others that never had an ounce of problems.

Didn't you ever think of changing to Canon during all this?

...Joke, by the way! I own both Canon and Nikon DSLR's. I just couldn't help dropping that in!

Paul

[Shaggy]

Thanks for all the tips so far guys. The plan was to make use of them today, but as you can see from the shot below, there were some cloud issues

http://www.shaggysworld.com/drums/bleh.jpg

[Shaggy]

Another question. Something I have noticed. You know when you look through the view finder and you get the focus points, well its now using the top one and not the middle, it was doing this at EGKK and thats when the rubbish qaulity started.

1. Would this effect qaulity?
2. How do i change it to the center?

[Jet-fighters.Net]

Didn't you ever think of changing to Canon during all this?

Not at all because Nikon and my dealer bent over backwards trying to help me get the issue resolved. When you figure that i had nearly 40,000 shutter actuation's on the 1 year old body and had sold enough photos to pay for the body. When Nikon offered to purchase the body back at full retail i told them that i would be more than happy with a new body but took the cash.

I also was a Canon user back in the manual focus film days and had a lot of failures with them. Of all of the Nikon bodies over the past 15 years that i owned the D2x is the only one that has ever given me any problems.

[PMN]

Not at all because Nikon and my dealer bent over backwards trying to help me get the issue resolved. When you figure that i had nearly 40,000 shutter actuation's on the 1 year old body and had sold enough photos to pay for the body. When Nikon offered to purchase the body back at full retail i told them that i would be more than happy with a new body but took the cash.

I also was a Canon user back in the manual focus film days and had a lot of failures with them. Of all of the Nikon bodies over the past 15 years that i owned the D2x is the only one that has ever given me any problems.

I did make it clear I was joking.

Paul