National Day 2005 - Fireworks

[Madmax]

This is my 2nd attempt. My 1st attempt on taking fireworks was 1 year ago and a complete failure. Advice needed as I tend to panic...before you know it, it is all over.

Evening beckons


Let the show begin!

[Madmax]

[fw007]

well you've got nice, crisp, sharp shots this time around

i like #1 and #2--you managed to get the star in #2! pretty cool.

pity some of your shots got cut off near the top; you can try sacrificing the water for more height, i.e. tilt the camera further upwards; i usually look through my viewfinder for the first few shots of fireworks to see if the top is cut off and i try to adjust accordingly as fast as i can--dunno if that helps u . impt thing is to stay calm i guess.

but nice shots all the same!

[Madmax]

Thanks for the encouragement.

I need some advice.
I was using a D100 (with Lexar 80x 2GB CF) and black card technique for my shots. Set my aperture to F14. Covered the lens with the black card and triggered the shutter. When the fireworks came on, I moved the black card away.

However, some of the shutter length was too long. The camera buffer was filled and there was a delay before I took the next shot. Hence, I missed some other shots as well.

How can I overcome the camera lag?

[John Tan]

Originally Posted by Madmax Thanks for the encouragement. I need some advice. I was using a D100 (with Lexar 80x 2GB CF) and black card technique for my shots. Set my aperture to F14. Covered the lens with the black card and triggered the shutter. When the fireworks came on, I moved the black card away. However, some of the shutter length was too long. The camera buffer was filled and there was a delay before I took the next shot. Hence, I missed some other shots as well. How can I overcome the camera lag?

Strange....I can take pic at any time without any lag at all...camera buffer should take less than a 1 sec to clear per shots unless u using 8fps at highest images setting for more than 40 images within a few sec which I doubt so...

[ellery]

You did not mention what mode your were on ? Was it auto or program ?

You should set to manual meter mode and use bulb setting for shutter speed - trigger on off with cable release; set f stop say to f8 ;iso my guess would be some where from 400 asa to 640, manual focus to infinity ( check that your infinity setting is focused correctly I have seen lens which when set to infinity is blurry , the true infintiy point could be before what the lens marking says - as I said check the focus before it dark).

You could also set at a fixed shutter speed and f stop and click away, the spread out of a fire work is about 1 sec after you see the first burst. Ie see first burst fire, motor drive and luck will determine what you get. This is where the D70 will run rings around the D100.

Originally Posted by Madmax Thanks for the encouragement. I need some advice. I was using a D100 (with Lexar 80x 2GB CF) and black card technique for my shots. Set my aperture to F14. Covered the lens with the black card and triggered the shutter. When the fireworks came on, I moved the black card away. However, some of the shutter length was too long. The camera buffer was filled and there was a delay before I took the next shot. Hence, I missed some other shots as well. How can I overcome the camera lag?

[Madmax]

Thanks for the help.

I was using manual mode, bulb, ISO 200, F14, focus to infinity. D100 firmware is ver 2.0.

Hmmm...I will try out tonight if I can simulate the problem.

I had a few instances last night whereby I release the cable release. The shutter closed. I pressed again but the shutter open was not immediate.

I am using a 3rd party cable release, not the original Nikon. Could it be the cause?

[ransoma22]

Originally Posted by Madmax How can I overcome the camera lag?

Shoot in jpeg...

[ellery]

Originally Posted by Madmax Thanks for the help. I was using manual mode, bulb, ISO 200, F14, focus to infinity. D100 firmware is ver 2.0. Hmmm...I will try out tonight if I can simulate the problem. I had a few instances last night whereby I release the cable release. The shutter closed. I pressed again but the shutter open was not immediate. I am using a 3rd party cable release, not the original Nikon. Could it be the cause?

I doubt it if I remember rightly the D100 is using a mechanical cable release. Are you shooting raw ? What is write time like for the D100 in raw and in large fine jpg - remember the camera needs to capture, process and write to CF card. I think the D100 is slower in this respect than a D70. Until the camera has written the image to CF card it cannot click again. The other thing is if it is on AF then there is also the issue of does the camera think its in focus if not it will not click too.

I think you need not shoot in bulb - a speed of 1/15 to even 1/400 can be used (dependng on what iso its set on) and I also think you may want to reconsider why sticking at 200 iso. The D100 should be good up to 400 or 500 in the noise in image department it does better than the D70.