Shooting a marathon

bikeit

Senior Member
I will be shooting a marathon tomorrow with the D500 so anyone offer any tips on the best settings, like how many focus points to select and what metering mode works best, also what would be the best shutter speed?
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I will be shooting a marathon tomorrow with the D500 so anyone offer any tips on the best settings, like how many focus points to select and what metering mode works best, also what would be the best shutter speed?
Well first of all there is no "Best". Exact settings will depend on things like what sort of shot you want, what lens you're using and prevailing environment.

When it comes to metering I tend to try Matrix first and see how well it works. If there's something screwing with Matrix, like a lot of bright sky and it's pulling my exposure down, as happens so often when in Matrix, I'll drop down to a more restrictive mode like Center Weighted, and if that's not working I'll drop down to Spot. I tend to use the least restrictive mode that I can but Matrix seems all too easily confused, tends to over-expose with a lot of my lenses and I find myself using Exposure Compensation with it a lot which I find annoying. Still, when Matrix works, it works.

As for aperture, when shooting people I tend to hang out in the f/4 to f/8 zone generally speaking but again, it all depends on what you want out of the shot. Use the aperture that gives you just enough depth of field, but no more; the one that balances out the shutter speed and ISO you need to achieve the effect your after in your shot.

As for shutter speed, if you want crisp, motion-blur free shots I would be shooting around 1/500 or so. If you want something more dynamic, try panning runners at something like 1/125 or 1/60. When it comes to focus points the more erratic the motion the more focus points I use but runners you can pretty well predict so something like D9 would be fine in my opinion, especially if you're panning.

Lastly, burst mode will be your friend for this shoot.
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bikeit

Senior Member
Thanks Horoscope Fish, have taken all you said on board, the lens i will be using will be the Nikon 70 / 200mm F2.8
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Thanks Horoscope Fish, have taken all you said on board, the lens i will be using will be the Nikon 70 / 200mm F2.8
Excellent lens choice.

I would suggest you turn off VR and keep your shutter speed at roughly twice the focal length as much as possible. For instance if you're shooting at a full 200mm you'll want your shutter speed at, or above, 1/400. Or, if you're shooting in Shutter Priority, just set your minimum shutter speed to 1/500 or even a little faster. This isn't to say I don't like VR but I find it can cause as many problems as it solves much of the time and use it sparingly. Further, while the traditional rule of thumb for DX bodies is using 1 1/2 times the focal length as the minimum shutter speed, with higher resolution bodies I find doubling the focal length is the safer number to eliminate motion/microblur. But, don't take my word for it; experiment and find what works for you. Dialing in the right set of parameters is ALWAYS a juggling act and there's no single right answer, ever. And since no one has to see you crap shots I suggest you experiment and learn all you can from this shoot.

Last bit of advice: Dare to be "stupid": Try things that logically shouldn't work with exposure or panning or whatever comes to mind. Don't be afraid of motion blur, make it WORK for you artistically. Jumping outside the box has gotten me some amazing, "Wow!" shots I never would have gotten any other way. In short, why not get the shots other people aren't getting? There's that old adage, "Fortune favors the bold!" and I know it to be true.
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