New D5100 owner.

rellison8

rellison8

Senior Member
Hi, I am new to this forum as well as the DSLR game.

I received my first DSLR camera today. Its a Nikon D5100.

I am going to a college football game tomorrow and am looking for any help that can be given as to tips on shooting a live game, lens selections and any other advice you may have for me.

Here are the lens I got with the camera so these are the options I have for now.
AF-S DX NIKKOR
55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR
AF-S DX Micro-NIKKOR
40mm f/2.8G

AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR

Any help you are willing to offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
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ducz24

Senior Member
Welcome! I would suggest to bring both of your 18-55mm and 55-300mm. Shoot with 55-300mm (in sport dial mode) and use your 18-55mm for wide shots. Good luck and happy shooting!
 
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john*thomas

Senior Member
I would think your 55-300mm will work just fine combined with the sports setting to get started. That is if it's a day game. Otherwise, delete is easy. Just try all sorts of settings.
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
Welcome to the forum

If you fill out your profile we can better answer any questions that you might have.
You can do that at http://nikonites.com/profile.php?do=editprofile

Some useful links
http://support.nikonusa.com/app/ans.../nikon-product-manuals-available-for-download
Nikon | Imaging Products | Digitutor


Thanks

since you really don't have any time to play before the game go with the sports setting. If that does not work for you set it on shutter priority and set the shutter speed to at least 1/350 sec and ISO to auto and shoot away. If you are still getting movement blur then go to a faster speed.

Here is to hoping it is a daytime game. Night will be shot the same way but it is harder to get enough light.
 
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Eklipz

Senior Member
Very nice selection of camera and lens the 55-300 is a great lens for sports. enjoy your new camera and the game
 
rellison8

rellison8

Senior Member
Thanks for the welcome and the info. I will get my profile info all filled in here in a short.
I have done tons and tons of reading on this camera and the lenses and settings and so on before I bought it so I am not completely going in blind. I just haven't taken many pics with it yet.

The game is a day game.

Thanks again!
 
rellison8

rellison8

Senior Member
Thanks for the welcome again everyone.

Taking pics at the game didn't really work out. They told me at security that the camera was too big and powerful and I wasn't allowed to use it at the game. Point and shoot cameras only. :mad:

So now today we are going to go out and take some family photos with it as we haven't had any family pictures taken in a long time and want to get them before we loose all the nice fall color.

Any suggestions on a lens for this? I am debating against both the AFS Micro 40mm and the 18-55mm lens. I may just try both too if I can get all the kids to cooperate long enough.
 
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starnesc

Senior Member
Hey Randy, I have the same lens kit with mine that you got. That 300 will get nothing up close. It looks funny when I have to move back so far when taking a group shot or something of the sort. I mostly use the wide angle lens. But when it comes to my kids soccer games and cross country events, that 300 sure does come in handy. You really have to plan for each outing with your camera.
 
rellison8

rellison8

Senior Member
starnesc said:
Hey Randy, I have the same lens kit with mine that you got. That 300 will get nothing up close. It looks funny when I have to move back so far when taking a group shot or something of the sort. I mostly use the wide angle lens. But when it comes to my kids soccer games and cross country events, that 300 sure does come in handy. You really have to plan for each outing with your camera.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I learned that yesterday while taking some pics of the family. I started with the wide angle lens but one of the shots we were trying to get was over water while we were standing on a dock and I just couldn't get close enough with the 18-55 lens so I switched to the 55-330 and took the pics with it. The lighting ended up being really crappy in those shots so they didn't turn out well at all. Was kind of a thin low cloud layer then you would be in and out of sun and shade and it just couldn't make up its mind and made it hard to get settings the way I wanted them.

So we moved to a different area where the sun was more to the side of us and they came out better for my first real use of the camera. Lots to learn but just starting off I think some of them turned out pretty well. Here is one I took with the 55-300 lens standing on a rock jettie with the remote and tripod.


For anyone looking at this is there anything I should have done to make the background a little clearer or is that just about what I should expect as long as all of us are in focus. Granted it was a bit of a trick throwing the dogs in the shots cause its bad enough getting kids to all cooperate. Worse with dogs. :rolleyes:
 
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Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
rellison8 said:
For anyone looking at this is there anything I should have done to make the background a little clearer or is that just about what I should expect as long as all of us are in focus.
Click to expand...
Personally, I think the background is perfect. If you wanted the background in sharper focus you could have used a smaller aperture (e.g. f/16 or so) but in my opinion, having a crisp background would have done nothing but pull attention away from your subject and generally speaking you don't want anything competing with your subject for attention. To that end, the soft, out-of-focus background you have in that shot is generally considered quite desirable.

If I was going to critique this shot, the only nit-pick I would be able to dredge up would be I'd like to see a tiny bit more room at the sides, meaning the left and right edges, and especially at the top. That's a *total* nit I'm picking at though; you have an excellent shot there.

.....
 
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dramtastic

Senior Member
Lovely photo and agree the background is pretty much as it should be unless having a clear background adds to what you want from the photo. Do a google search for the term 'Bokeh'. Other shots you will want to have the background in focus.
 
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Moab Man

Senior Member
For anyone looking at this is there anything I should have done to make the background a little clearer or is that just about what I should expect as long as all of us are in focus.
Click to expand...

You have a great picture. A little more room on the sides would be nice as it seems a bit tight. As for the background, you nailed it. If it were in focus it takes away from your subject. As it is we have enough to give us the setting but it does not take away from your subject.

​Great picture.
 
rellison8

rellison8

Senior Member
Thank you everyone. Appreciate the comments very much. When your new to this game you never really know for sure if it just you that thinks the photo looks good and maybe there are still things that your missing that you could be doing better. Getting others input certainly helps in giving you an idea how your doing.
 
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