Suggestion on settings for d70 for taking still objects

duckizz · 29th June 2005

hi, i am going to be taking art pieces (i.e. painting, sculptures, pottery). I was wondering if anyone can suggest wat aperture, shutter speed, iso etc to take have the best combinations?

any advice would be great

Hewland · 29th June 2005

There is no hard and fast rule pertaining to the settings. You need to take into account the lighting that's present at the shooting location. If you can maybe do a pre-shoot site survey, or ask people who have knowledge of the light at the location where you will be shooting.

If the art pieces are being brought to you and placed on a table, then just use the camera's meter - you didn't pay all that money for the built-in meter and then ask other people what settings to use. Sounds like you intend to shoot in Manual mode. That's good. Again, use the meter. Bear in mind overexpose (as indicated by the + sign) is on the LEFT and underexpose (as indicated by the - sign) is on the RIGHT of the meter when you look in the viewfinder.

Ask if you can use a tripod to mount yr camera on to ensure sharp outputs from your camera. Most art galleries prohibit use of flash to light the paintings as repeated bombardment of flash on the paintings can cause them to fade over time so you may have to use available light to shoot.

If you're walking abt instead taking pics, again use the built-in meter and tripod.

Hope this helps.

duckizz · 30th June 2005

hi,. i c.

yea using tripod + external flash.

thing is i using kit lens of d70. but some parts of the artwork is not sharp as it focused on 1 spot.

Hewland · 30th June 2005

Originally Posted by duckizz

hi,. i c.

yea using tripod + external flash.

thing is i using kit lens of d70. but some parts of the artwork is not sharp as it focused on 1 spot.

To solve that, I suggest shooting in Manual then use a small f-number (say f8 or f11) to ensure sufficient dept of field. What you're seeing through the viewfinder is the lens wideopen so it appears that only one point is in focus. But when a small f-number is selected and shutter button is pressed, the lens will close it's aperture to the f-number selected.

Alternatively shoot in Aperture-priority mode (A on the dial) where you select the f-number and the camera selects the shutter speed to use.

The kit lens is perfectly fine. Just because it's a kit lens doesn't mean it's lousy.

ortega · 2nd July 2005

for artworks you will need to light the whole artwork evenly so 1 external flash will not be enough

29th June 2005	#1
duckizz Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: East Posts: 211	Suggestion on settings for d70 for taking still objects hi, i am going to be taking art pieces (i.e. painting, sculptures, pottery). I was wondering if anyone can suggest wat aperture, shutter speed, iso etc to take have the best combinations? any advice would be great

2nd July 2005	#5
ortega Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: NorthEast Posts: 16,505	for artworks you will need to light the whole artwork evenly so 1 external flash will not be enough __________________ The Law

29th June 2005	#2
Hewland Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 178	There is no hard and fast rule pertaining to the settings. You need to take into account the lighting that's present at the shooting location. If you can maybe do a pre-shoot site survey, or ask people who have knowledge of the light at the location where you will be shooting. If the art pieces are being brought to you and placed on a table, then just use the camera's meter - you didn't pay all that money for the built-in meter and then ask other people what settings to use. Sounds like you intend to shoot in Manual mode. That's good. Again, use the meter. Bear in mind overexpose (as indicated by the + sign) is on the LEFT and underexpose (as indicated by the - sign) is on the RIGHT of the meter when you look in the viewfinder. Ask if you can use a tripod to mount yr camera on to ensure sharp outputs from your camera. Most art galleries prohibit use of flash to light the paintings as repeated bombardment of flash on the paintings can cause them to fade over time so you may have to use available light to shoot. If you're walking abt instead taking pics, again use the built-in meter and tripod. Hope this helps.

30th June 2005	#3
duckizz Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: East Posts: 211	hi,. i c. yea using tripod + external flash. thing is i using kit lens of d70. but some parts of the artwork is not sharp as it focused on 1 spot.