D40 Camera Question for Taking Great Pics

[psdisney]

Hi Everyone!

I will be headed to WDW next week with my 7 month old (crazy...huh!!) and my DH's family (that might be more crazy...LOL!). I just recently bought a Nikon D40 and am still pretty new using it (my first DSLR). I've already taken some great pictures of my DS!! I was just wondering if anyone out there had this camera and if you could let me know what setting you normally use at WDW while taking pictures (for an amateur). Also, what setting would you use at night (I know a tripod would help but I don't have one) and on the safari at AK? I would appreciate any advice!!

Thank you!!

 

[kimmychad]

you'll have better luck with this question in the camera section of the site.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

All depends on what you want from your picture. If you're going to be shooting on fully automatic you're going to get all round pretty decent results in day light conditions. If you're going to start playing around with depth of field focus then you'll need to experiment with the aperture setting or shoot on fully manual.
Night shots - either the bulb setting with tripod or the camera on a solid surface, or shutter priority with a 1 or 2 second exposure (again with a tripod or using a firm surface)

 

[PhotoDave219]

Hi Everyone!

I will be headed to WDW next week with my 7 month old (crazy...huh!!) and my DH's family (that might be more crazy...LOL!). I just recently bought a Nikon D40 and am still pretty new using it (my first DSLR). I've already taken some great pictures of my DS!! I was just wondering if anyone out there had this camera and if you could let me know what setting you normally use at WDW while taking pictures (for an amateur). Also, what setting would you use at night (I know a tripod would help but I don't have one) and on the safari at AK? I would appreciate any advice!!

Thank you!!

I would highly suggest learning how to use your camera before venturing off to WDW.

What do i shoot? Either on manual or aperture priority.

Since you got the camera recently, look for either the P or the green box and set it to that. Generally goes fully auto at that point. Learn how to turn up the ISO or set that to Auto ISO.

With a safari, you're going to want at least a 300mm lens although you do run the risk of having the camera bust your lip open thanks to the bumps.

You might want to look at some of the other threads in these forums for other advice from myself and others.

 

[celticdog]

I have the D40. It is a very good camera. There is not any "one" setting to use as conditions can change. I typically shoot in full manual mode, even the focus on the lens, however, for rides like the KS at AK, I will use "auto" mode. Since that is a ride that can move fairly fast and can be quite bumpy, it helps to just let the camera do it's thing.

For night shots, it really depends on what you're shooting. For Spectro or Fantasmic, I will use an ISO of 800 at around F8 and start with a shutter speed of 1/60 sec. I will then adjust the shutter as needed, since it is the easiest adjustment to get to. For fireworks, a tripod is a almost a must, however, you can get some decent shots by setting the camera as follows, ISO 200, F8 to F12, shutter at 1/60 to 1/100. It all depends on how steady you can be. These setting will freeze the fireworks and you won't get the nice "waterfall" effect that PhotoDave has in his shots.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Thanks Steve.