Kickin' an' screamin'...

[Popeye]

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I'm actually comfortable using this DSLR in manual mode. P'raps if your wife had an older, non-AF 55mm micro-nikkor and a ring light, she could do some test shots (establish distance and ∱-stop) first and streamline the process considerably.

Just a random thought.

Agree fully, but, while in full-manual mode, I can't figure out how to (1) set the f-stop, (2) set the exposure time, and (3) take a photo. She uses a ring flash - which of course the camera does not know the specifics of (thus the need for manual mode). Somehow the camera is smarter than me and limits the exposure time, or f-stop.

Of course, it could be* that I am the dummy - but I've read the manual and it claims to be possible, just it won't do it for me. Part of the issue is I'll work with my wife in our kitchen, and somehow we make it work (using aperture preferred exposure or another of the four(?) "manual" modes - full manual won't do it for me). But in her office the light is different, etc., and she gets flustered.

Somehow, with only two settings to taking a picture - how far does the shutter open and for how long - this should not be so complicated. Going digital should eliminate film speed as a variable, I would think (yet there is an ISO setting to control...?)

(*of course I'm the dummy, just was hoping to be a little positive!)

 

[GregW]

Hi Mike,
For a "dumb flash" I'd start with an ISO of 200 and shutter of 200. For a macro, a higher f, like an 8 or 11. That just leaves the power level of the flash to dial in the exposure.
For older flashes, the max. shutter sync is 200, maybe 250.

 

[GregW]

Agree fully, but, while in full-manual mode, I can't figure out how to (1) set the f-stop, (2) set the exposure time, and (3) take a photo.

F-stop adjust is the dial in front of the shutter release. Shutter speed is the dial on the back right of the camera.

 

[DrEntropy]

Mike, the buttons have "combination" settings as well as single function ones. This article may help: https://photographylife.com/recommended-nikon-d5600-settings

 

[pdplot]

My Olympus has multi-function buttons as well. I try to keep settings as easy as I can because these cameras today are unduly complicated. I have enough trouble focusing on small birds in time to get the shot to worry about f-stops, shutter priority, ISO, USA, BSA, CSA, etc. Thank God for in-camera stabilization or I'd never get a clear shot. My manual shots all seem to come out dark and underexposed and manual focus on this camera is terrible so I'm shooting auto most of the time and shutter priority for fast action shots and forget the rest. I gave my Canon SL2 to my daughter who's a better bird photographer than me. Manual focus works good on that camera and it has a simpler menu. Its a step up from the Canon 530 P & S she has been using and getting great shots even with the tiny sensor. It also has that Tamron 18-400 lens that does it all.

 

[Popeye]

Mike, the buttons have "combination" settings as well as single function ones. This article may help: https://photographylife.com/recommended-nikon-d5600-settings

Thank you! That is a lot of information... I'll spend some quiet time with the camera later this week / weekend.

Note - while I am complaining, I really like our Nikon DSLR. I transitioned from a film SLR when our kids were born, a nice splurge to reward my wife's hard work . It is a wonderful camera, eons better than the older (c. 2000) Nikon point-and-shoot camera my dad has. (Main problem with his camera is the delay between pushing the shutter and taking the photo. It was a splurge for him when he went on a six-month stint to Antarctica for work, and was annoyed that it was not always fast enough to capture the penguins!)

 

[DrEntropy]

Thank you! That is a lot of information... I'll spend some quiet time with the camera later this week / weekend.

Note - while I am complaining, I really like our Nikon DSLR. I transitioned from a film SLR when our kids were born, a nice splurge to reward my wife's hard work . It is a wonderful camera, eons better than the older (c. 2000) Nikon point-and-shoot camera my dad has. (Main problem with his camera is the delay between pushing the shutter and taking the photo. It was a splurge for him when he went on a six-month stint to Antarctica for work, and was annoyed that it was not always fast enough to capture the penguins!)

Did you have opportunity to explore the camera's functions more in-depth, Mike?

I've been asked why I chose the DX format cameras instead of the full-frame version. In the original post I said the "ambulance chasing" days are over, the choice was one of cost/benefit. The end-use for 99% of what I'll be doing will be what we used to call "happy snaps." Pics for personal enjoyment and record. Another factor is Herself: As of last Friday, she now has her own D7500. Optics are less expensive and we can share whatever lenses acquired. She shot this with her fixed-lens Fuji yesterday. A tele-zoom 55~200 DX is on its way so she can do the same things with her new Nikon shortly.

Already, she's like a kid with a new toy.

 

[Popeye]

Did you have opportunity to explore the camera's functions more in-depth, Mike?

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I got distracted by the beautiful weather this weekend. Maybe later this week; it’s 50 and drizzly, great weather for reading and studying.

enjoy the iPhone pic...

 

[DrEntropy]

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I got distracted by the beautiful weather this weekend. Maybe later this week; it’s 50 and drizzly, great weather for reading and studying.
View attachment 65921







enjoy the iPhone pic...

Totally understandable, Mike! And I'm somewhat jealous... "Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing... absolutely nothing... half so much worth doing as messing about in boats."

Especially rag boats. An addiction I acquired as a pre-teen on Lake Erie. If I'd been more clever in my life's decisions I'd be on one somewhere in the South Pacific right now.

 

[JPSmit]

If I'd been more clever in my life's decisions I'd be on one somewhere in the South Pacific right now.

I've met Mitzi - you have been more than clever enough my friend - more than clever!

 

[DrEntropy]

I've met Mitzi - you have been more than clever enough my friend - more than clever!

A scenerio: At Hallowween in 1976. We'd met once before, a week earlier. I was sitting in the local "Big Boy" restaurant at a bit after six PM, eating dinner after working in the sales department of the dealership. She came in and I invited her to join. We discussed what plan there was for the evening, neither of us had one. I suggested we go to a party being put on at the airport Holiday Inn and she agreed. We'd meet in an hour at the restaurant and go in the Elan. I went home to change into a black turtleneck and slacks, painted my face with Hunter Green latex artist's paint and white shoe polish in hair and beard. The hotel bar had black lights, my thought was that the only thing illuminated would be the white bits.

As I sat waiting in the restaurant, saw her car pull in, she came through the door and I was stunned. There in the doorway was a tall young woman, black patent leather shoes with white anklets, red legs up to a short pinafore dress, overly-rouge cheeks and red-red lipstick. Long hair in pigtails. She carried an over-sized lollipop and had a pull-toy duck on a string trailing behind. Many years later, Robert Palmer summed up the situation with: "Simply Irresistible."

So it has had nothing to do with my bein' clever, y'see... It was those green eyes! :wink:

 

[pdplot]

Lucky man. Camera question. Have you ever been able to take a bird picture on a cloudy day when its in a tree against a gray sky? All I ever get is a silhouette.

 

[DrEntropy]

That's where the "auto exposure" settings break down. Meter your surroundings by first aiming at the ground or area with a similar lighted value to the bird, hold that and manually set shutter speed and ∱-stop.

 

[JPSmit]

A scenerio: At Hallowween in 1976. We'd met once before, a week earlier. I was sitting in the local "Big Boy" restaurant at a bit after six PM, eating dinner after working in the sales department of the dealership. She came in and I invited her to join. We discussed what plan there was for the evening, neither of us had one. I suggested we go to a party being put on at the airport Holiday Inn and she agreed. We'd meet in an hour at the restaurant and go in the Elan. I went home to change into a black turtleneck and slacks, painted my face with Hunter Green latex artist's paint and white shoe polish in hair and beard. The hotel bar had black lights, my thought was that the only thing illuminated would be the white bits.

As I sat waiting in the restaurant, saw her car pull in, she came through the door and I was stunned. There in the doorway was a tall young woman, black patent leather shoes with white anklets, red legs up to a short pinafore dress, overly-rouge cheeks and red-red lipstick. Long hair in pigtails. She carried an over-sized lollipop and had a pull-toy duck on a string trailing behind. Many years later, Robert Palmer summed up the situation with: "Simply Irresistible."

So it has had nothing to do with my bein' clever, y'see... It was those green eyes! :wink:

View attachment 65940

Great story, thanks! I totally get the 'Simply Irresistible' attraction of you to her.

OTOH her attraction to you???? Suffice it to say that it makes sense that a costume was involved. :grin:

 

[DrEntropy]

OTOH her attraction to you???

That's been a conundrum to me from the start. One I've not been too willing to examine in depth. :wink:

 

[GregW]

One downside to the DX lens thing. If you use full frame(FX) lenses on a 20M DX camera you get a 20M photo. If you use DX lenses on an 20M FX camera, you get a 9M photo. It was that reason I never bought DX lenses when I got my first digi, a D3200. Figuring one day I'd get an FX camera.

 

[JPSmit]

That's been a conundrum to me from the start. One I've not been too willing to examine in depth. :wink:[/COLOR]

good call - just enjoy.

 

[DrEntropy]

One downside to the DX lens thing. If you use full frame(FX) lenses on a 20M DX camera you get a 20M photo. If you use DX lenses on an 20M FX camera, you get a 9M photo. It was that reason I never bought DX lenses when I got my first digi, a D3200. Figuring one day I'd get an FX camera.

Makes perfect sense, Greg. And likely why there's a TON of used DX optics out there. Folks who move up to full-frame have to change optics and a "trade-in" for FX would yield less than if the DX glass were offered on the E-bay or OfferUp venues.

The 20M images will likely serve us for anything we're likely to be doing photographically. But I suppose that could change. We'll see. :wink:

 

[Basil]

OTOH her attraction to you????

At what point did she realize that Doc wasn't wearing a costume at the Big Boy? :congratulatory:

 

[DrEntropy]

At what point did she realize that Doc wasn't wearing a costume at the Big Boy? :congratulatory:

HUSH!!! She still doesn't know fer sure.