I like to shoot birds and nature and was wondering what is the best mode to shoot in? I tried aperture priority but still got some blurry photos. What am I doing wrong? I just started using it a few weeks ago and am still trying different things. Thanks for any advice or help.
D7000 settings for birds and nature
- Thread starter Debrus
- Start date
Re: D7000 settings
You might try to switch to shutter priority so you can control the shutter speed. If the shutter isnt fast enough then you will get the blurry images. I know several on here shoot birds, which I very rarely do, but shoot sports. Basically you need to adjust your aperture to get a faster shutter speed or just move to shutter priority.
do you have a photo with EXIF data that you can post
There are a lot of variables that come into play so more details will be needed.
You might try to switch to shutter priority so you can control the shutter speed. If the shutter isnt fast enough then you will get the blurry images. I know several on here shoot birds, which I very rarely do, but shoot sports. Basically you need to adjust your aperture to get a faster shutter speed or just move to shutter priority.
do you have a photo with EXIF data that you can post
There are a lot of variables that come into play so more details will be needed.
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
Re: D7000 settings
If it is moving use Shutter Priority. Be sure to shoot at a fast enough speed to stop the bird.
If it is still use Aperture Priority. Still Be sure to shoot at a fast enough to stop lens movement. Rule of thumb is to shoot shutter speed to match lens length. 60mm = 1/60sec 250mm = 1/250sec. You get the idea. As slow a shutter speed that you can get by with give you the smallest aperture which will give yoiu the most depth of field.
If it is moving use Shutter Priority. Be sure to shoot at a fast enough speed to stop the bird.
If it is still use Aperture Priority. Still Be sure to shoot at a fast enough to stop lens movement. Rule of thumb is to shoot shutter speed to match lens length. 60mm = 1/60sec 250mm = 1/250sec. You get the idea. As slow a shutter speed that you can get by with give you the smallest aperture which will give yoiu the most depth of field.
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
Re: D7000 settings
You don't say if these birds you're shooting are in flight or not, but if they are you might want to use Auto Focus - Continuous if you're not already.
Using Aperture Priorty for this type of shooting should be fine, generally speaking, but I'd have the minimum ISO and minimum shutter speed settings adjusted to match the focal lengths I'm shooting at. Then too you'll want to maintain a certain depth of field... I'd probably want to be shooting at f/8 or so but that's a bit of a guess.
Hard to say why you're getting out of focus shots but some good suggestions might be to make sure your shutter speed is, roughly, twice your focal length. For example if I'm shooting with focal length of 100mm I want my shutter speed to stay at, or above, 1/200. This calculation takes into account the 1.5x crop factor of the DX format.
You don't say if these birds you're shooting are in flight or not, but if they are you might want to use Auto Focus - Continuous if you're not already.
Using Aperture Priorty for this type of shooting should be fine, generally speaking, but I'd have the minimum ISO and minimum shutter speed settings adjusted to match the focal lengths I'm shooting at. Then too you'll want to maintain a certain depth of field... I'd probably want to be shooting at f/8 or so but that's a bit of a guess.
Re: D7000 settings
I shoot a lot of birds (D7000 with a Sigma 150-500 HSM lens) and generally try to keep the shutter speed at 1/1000 or faster, aperture at f/8 (when I have enough light), and use AF-C with either 9 or 21 points. I'll adjust the ISO as necessary to keep the shutter speed high enough, but I am rarely below ISO 400. I've also remapped the AE-L/AF-L to Focus so I've separated the shutter release and focus. That allows me to keep the bird in focus until I press the shutter release to take the shot. I usually am in Manual mode, but will occasionally use Shutter priority.
I shoot a lot of birds (D7000 with a Sigma 150-500 HSM lens) and generally try to keep the shutter speed at 1/1000 or faster, aperture at f/8 (when I have enough light), and use AF-C with either 9 or 21 points. I'll adjust the ISO as necessary to keep the shutter speed high enough, but I am rarely below ISO 400. I've also remapped the AE-L/AF-L to Focus so I've separated the shutter release and focus. That allows me to keep the bird in focus until I press the shutter release to take the shot. I usually am in Manual mode, but will occasionally use Shutter priority.
Re: D7000 settings
IMHO, this is great advice....I happen to use the same lens and mostly these settings.
I do turn off VR on the lens, as at 1/1000 it really isn't adding any value.
In addition I try to use a tripod as the more stability - the higher the probability for a sharp image.
GL and have fun.
IMHO, this is great advice....I happen to use the same lens and mostly these settings.
I do turn off VR on the lens, as at 1/1000 it really isn't adding any value.
In addition I try to use a tripod as the more stability - the higher the probability for a sharp image.
GL and have fun.