taking picture advice

[eagles]

since flash photography is not allowed in most rides, what recommendation do you have for settings while inside a ride?

potc
cop
iasw
pooh
etc


i have a sony h2 (i think) if that helps at all.
i would really love a few good pics while inside some of these attractions.

thanks so much for any help.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

since flash photography is not allowed in most rides, what recommendation do you have for settings while inside a ride?

You will have to use the fastest shutter speed available to avoid camera shake and blurred images with a large aperture to allow in sufficient light to get a decent picture. On some rides there should be sufficient light available, others you'll really struggle with

 

[PhotoDave219]

Jack the ISO as high as you can get with acceptable noise and use a super-fast lens, like a 50/1.8. (A canon/Nikon version of said lens costs roughly $100)

On HM/POTC, you'll have to pan with your subject. Its not lit to the point where you can get faster than 1/15th or 1/30th of a second.

Generally, there is no hard and fast rule on dark rides where you move and the subject is stationary. Learn how to pan - Imagine sitting in a passenger seat of a car and you are trying to photograph something roadside. You'll have to pan the camera as you go by the object. Same thing as you are in HM. You are moving too fast to be able to freeze the action, no matter how good a camera you have and how fast a lens you have. Either way, the attraction just isn't lit well enough to be able to freeze it without panning your camera so the image appears stationary when you have a slow-ish shutter speed. Its a technique worth working on if you want to get a decent shot.

I'll average 200 or so shots on HM/POTC when i was there. Out of that, maybe 10 good shots a time, mainly on POTC. Anymore, i dont even try to get shots on HM.

Pooh is lit very well. IASW varies from scene to scene.

 

[wdwfan100]

I just want to applaud you for following the rules. :sohappy: Frequently there are to many people that feel the no flash photography rule, applies to someone else. So thanks again. I hope you are on the rides listed next time I am on them.

 

[eagles]

well i have gone and have come back before the first reply. lol anyway i did get 1 or 2 ok pics out of pooh. the rest, i just said the heck with it. memories will have to do. lol

thanks for the replies however. :wave:

 

[Foolish Mortal]

Jack the ISO as high as you can get with acceptable noise and use a super-fast lens, like a 50/1.8. (A canon/Nikon version of said lens costs roughly $100)

On HM/POTC, you'll have to pan with your subject. Its not lit to the point where you can get faster than 1/15th or 1/30th of a second.

Generally, there is no hard and fast rule on dark rides where you move and the subject is stationary. Learn how to pan - Imagine sitting in a passenger seat of a car and you are trying to photograph something roadside. You'll have to pan the camera as you go by the object. Same thing as you are in HM. You are moving too fast to be able to freeze the action, no matter how good a camera you have and how fast a lens you have. Either way, the attraction just isn't lit well enough to be able to freeze it without panning your camera so the image appears stationary when you have a slow-ish shutter speed. Its a technique worth working on if you want to get a decent shot.

I'll average 200 or so shots on HM/POTC when i was there. Out of that, maybe 10 good shots a time, mainly on POTC. Anymore, i dont even try to get shots on HM.

Pooh is lit very well. IASW varies from scene to scene.

Hey Dave, what are your thought's on IS lense's on dark rides. Factoring in everything you already stated (thanks by the way) do you think an IS lens would help any without a ride stopping/going down ?

 

[mouselvrmom]

well i have gone and have come back before the first reply. lol anyway i did get 1 or 2 ok pics out of pooh. the rest, i just said the heck with it. memories will have to do. lol

thanks for the replies however. :wave:

I was going to ask if the advice helped. :lol:

We want to see your pictures! :sohappy:

 

[eagles]

here you go. there are only 2 :ROFLOL:

 

[mouselvrmom]

I love that last one! :lol:

And you say you took that without a flash? Interesting.

 

[eagles]

I love that last one! :lol:

And you say you took that without a flash? Interesting.

what are you insinuating jenn? huh? :ROFLOL: yes, NO flash. i also had the camera set for auto adjusting. those were the only ones i attempted. after that i just did not bother.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Hey Dave, what are your thought's on IS lense's on dark rides. Factoring in everything you already stated (thanks by the way) do you think an IS lens would help any without a ride stopping/going down ?

An IS (image stablizing) or BR (vibration reduction) lens only helps if both subjects are stationary, IE you nor your subject are moving. While they allow you to shoot handheld (think 300mm lens at 1/15th of a sec) at ridiculously low shutter speeds, youre going to run into motion blur from your subject unless you pan with it.

So IS helps but not to a dramatic degree. Or so has been my experience sofar. Of course i don't own any of those nice VR lenses (yet) but i have used them at work.

 

[mouselvrmom]

what are you insinuating jenn? huh? :ROFLOL: yes, NO flash. i also had the camera set for auto adjusting. those were the only ones i attempted. after that i just did not bother.

:lol: I wasn't insinuating anything. I just thought it came out nicely with no flash. They must really have more light in there than I had thought. Really. :ROFLOL:

 

[EpcoTim]

An IS (image stablizing) or BR (vibration reduction) lens only helps if both subjects are stationary, IE you nor your subject are moving. While they allow you to shoot handheld (think 300mm lens at 1/15th of a sec) at ridiculously low shutter speeds, youre going to run into motion blur from your subject unless you pan with it.

So IS helps but not to a dramatic degree. Or so has been my experience sofar. Of course i don't own any of those nice VR lenses (yet) but i have used them at work.

Exactly. IS is a trade off just like a fast prime is vs getting a zoom. It's a situational lens, but thats not what Canon (or Nikon or Sony) want you to think. Sure it allows you to handhold longer, but if it were a faster lens that wouldn't be necessary. But with the fast lens you wouldn't get any sort of depth of field, which often times is wanted. It's all a trade-off.

Some of the Canon and Nikon IS/VR lenses have a Mode B, which is designed for panning. It was either Pentax or Olympus who have a great panning mode in their in-body IS, I forget which. Either way its a great option to have on an otherwise basic consumer lens. And at longer lengths it can be invaluable.

 

[PhotoDave219]

:lol: I wasn't insinuating anything. I just thought it came out nicely with no flash. They must really have more light in there than I had thought. Really. :ROFLOL:

Pooh has enough light to get 125/2.8 @ ISO 800 or faster in the opening, brightliy lit scenes if i remember right. Better lit then your average high school sports field.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Exactly. IS is a trade off just like a fast prime is vs getting a zoom. It's a situational lens, but thats not what Canon (or Nikon or Sony) want you to think. Sure it allows you to handhold longer, but if it were a faster lens that wouldn't be necessary. But with the fast lens you wouldn't get any sort of depth of field, which often times is wanted. It's all a trade-off.

Some of the Canon and Nikon IS/VR lenses have a Mode B, which is designed for panning. It was either Pentax or Olympus who have a great panning mode in their in-body IS, I forget which. Either way its a great option to have on an otherwise basic consumer lens. And at longer lengths it can be invaluable.

Right as always..... Put it this way. Youve got some nice light from MSUSA at night and you wanna take a shot without a flash. An IS lens would be great for getting that clearer. Or If you want to get a shot with some depth of field.

But as for it being the magic "cure-all" for trying to get shots on dark rides? Nope. There's a reason all of the Disney photo shoots have been taken with serious pro lights brought in.....

 

[EpcoTim]

I've used the Canon 28-135IS and its brother, the 17-85, both are decent lenses for the money and not overly heavy. The 24-105IS is a killer though, for a zoom that was a great lens. But, I sold all my zooms and went back to all primes.

I have a friend thats a borderline sharpness nut and his main lens lately has actually become the Nikor 18-200VR, I think, or maybe it was the 18-125, I forget, but that shocked me that it was that good.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Yeah, i have backfocus galore problems with the work zooms, 17-35 & 80-200. Granted, theyre 8-10 years old.

I love the 20/2.8 ive got and just as soon as i get the D700, I'm getting a new front element put on that (oooops) and gonna have prime-lens fun.

 

[EpcoTim]

That D700 is a nice beast. If Canon doesn't update the 5D and bring the price in line with the D700 I may be jumping ship. The 20mm prime is a nice focal length to if your good with it. It works well on both cropped sensors and full frame. I'm a wide angle guy and the 20 is about as wide as you can go for street use without adding a gimmicky quality to it. I almost, almost bought the 24 f1.2 Canon the other day, but its just to friggin big to carry around. I think I'll be adding another 20 prime to my line up as soon as I see what Canons next move on the full frame front is.

Right now Nikon is about to take their cake completely. The Nikons are advancing quicker, have more options availible and with Sony's full fledged support its only going to get better. Canon has been resting on their early dominance, and thats fading fast.

One thing neither company is doing though, which kills me, is updating their mid-range primes. Sure both are introducing f1.2 beasts, but I don't want a lens the size of a softball that costs as much as a set of tires for my car. Give me some nice, quick and quiet focusing, small primes. Sigma is starting to make some good primes, but their enormous also. Their 50 1.4 has a 77mm filter mount. ? 50mm 1.4's have been around for ages and they have never, ever been that honking. Even Canons f1 50mm was about that size.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Yeah, although some of those new Nikon tilt/shift stuff makes me drool. Gonna have to borrow one from them at some point come football season.

As long as there is cutthroat competition between Nikon and Canon, the customer is going to get a killer product. Canon will respond.

But youre right, its time for all the companies to update or work on their midrange primes. Although those 200/f2 and the 200-400/f4 are some sweet lenses....

Only problem is, we cant afford any of it.

 

[EpcoTim]

Exactly. Those 200 f2's are downright sick. But like you said, 4000 large for a lens is a little out of my league.

I was surprised to see Nikon introduce those to be honest. I loved Canons 24mm T/S lens and for photo work I did in Chicago it was priceless. It was finnicky and not the lens you wanted to grab a quick shot, but man the pictures would make peoples jaws drop. Makes it a lot easier to market a million dollar highrise apartment with shots like that.

I just want a nice, fast 24mm equivalent for a crop body. It can be done at f/2, but the companies keep putting their money into consumer zooms. Theres a huge crowd and a huge demand for lens to body adaptors right now. Why? Because people are willing to give up AF for the outstanding resolution, small size and wicked speed of the old primes. Some of the old MF Nikkors and Leicas put Canon L primes to shame (for a fraction of the cost), and people are now realizing that, its time the manufactures did too. Start with a 10mm f/2.8 and I'll be a happy camper. Unless of course the new 5D comes in at less than 2 grand, then I don't care what they do with the crop market.