Newbie Alert: Night Shooting @ Chinatown

[Gigantor]

Newbie going to Chinatown tonite with my newly acquired D70 & SB600 flash.
I will be borrowing my fren's father Sigma 28-75mm f/2.8 & the 12-24mm f/4 Nikon lens.

As this is my maiden night shoot, I need tips on what settings to use on my D70. I instead to shoot Aperture-Priority with WB=AUTO & FineJpeg.
What shutter speed to use ? Which aperature to use?Shld I shoot at fixed f2.8/f.4 or play with f8/f11/etc....? Oso, what abt flash setting?

I'm excited BUT totally confused leh...... :dunno:

 

[staz]

dun drop the lens

haha

 

[Astin]

If you select Aperture, then the camera will choose the shutter speed for you, there is no need for you to choose shutter speed.
If you are really new in photography, then choose the aperture that is 2 stops down from your max aperture to start. ie f4 or f5.6 or f8.
Set the white balance to auto.
Set the sharpening to normal.
Set the quality to jpeg fine.
Use the Nikon 12-24mm will do well, dont worry about the Sigma.

 

[Amekaze]

Newbie going to Chinatown tonite with my newly acquired D70 & SB600 flash.
I will be borrowing my fren's father Sigma 28-75mm f/2.8 & the 12-24mm f/4 Nikon lens.

As this is my maiden night shoot, I need tips on what settings to use on my D70. I instead to shoot Aperture-Priority with WB=AUTO & FineJpeg.
What shutter speed to use ? Which aperature to use?Shld I shoot at fixed f2.8/f.4 or play with f8/f11/etc....? Oso, what abt flash setting?

I'm excited BUT totally confused leh...... :dunno:

Don't forget to bring a tripod! Your flash won't be able to light up the streets of Chinatown :devil:

Take things one at a time. Slowly dabble around and improve. I understand your excitement (I was like that too! And still am ;p ) but you don't need to fill yourself with tons of information all at one time. In fact, I find that people forget more than they learn if they're overly eager.

 

[Kho King]

my advice: bring only one lens and that's the 12-24mm. U won't wanna change lens in such crowded area.

Tripod? hmm...if you have time and don't mind people staring at you...then you can bring. I prefer not.

Use rear curtain sync and slow sync. Try and error...

 

[talisman]

I'll be going down too tonight.

Should we set the ISO to auto for non-tripod situations?

I tried the auto ISO today....quite happy with that....will still have to blow up on big screen to check the meat and potatoes of it.

 

[Gigantor]

Thanks guys for the tips.
Astin, just to correct my understanding....if I were to use the 28-75f/2.8, i need to step down the aperture to between f4-f8. Why cant I shoot at f2.8 with the SB600? Will it lead to overexposure? Sorry....damn blur sotong here.

KK, point taken.....I actually planned to take either lens but more or less settled for the 28-75. Now i'm back to sq 1..... :bsmilie: 12-24 or 28-75???
* scratch head *

ya, am so xcited that i could drop my lens....* touch wood *

Any flash settings dat I need to consider? What angle of the flash ie shld flash point directly at subject or point upwards?

Will post the untouched pics for constructive comments later......

oh yes, what abt the ISO? Is 200 ok?
thank yous so much....

 

[Astin]

If u open the lens to the biggest aperture, then the image will be a bit soft. It is always better to use a smaller aperture.
If u use SB600, I think there is iTTL function, so u dont need to worry too much on flash over exposure. Make sure u know in your viewfinder which point is the focus/exposure metering. (read the manual before u go)

 

[gadget]

The flash won't be much use unless you're planning to take night portraits where the rear sync/slow sync as mentioned before will come into play.

Bring a tripod, you won't regret it especially for those slow shutter speed moments.

 

[Astroboy3177]

<<My advanture in China Town>>
=========================
i went there 2 days ago too... it was around 5pm....i intend to take pic of those hawkers/ shoppers there... but...at first, i was very shy to take out my D70. It is because no one taking photo there. I was struggling inside my heart...keep asking myself:" shall i take out my camera? will those shoppers stare at me?" (bo bian, still a beginner.. still a bit shy to take picture openly... hee hee..)


so i "walk walk look look" for more than 30 mins.... finally, i cannot tahan anymore, there is too many good scene for me to shot/ to practice my skill (still a beginer) .. so i just ignore all the people there and start shooting....

then later there is one guy shouting " Eh!! what the F**k are u shooting!!!" inside my heart, i was screaming "Oh Sh*t!! this time die liao larr.... kena screw by the hawker liao....... " and i take a deeep breath & turn back... guess what??!! alamak.... it was one of my friends.... arrhh.... he was trying to pull my legs. making fun of me.... :sweat: me almost die heart attack.. ha ha..
during night time,if u really want to shot without tripod, or feel shy/inconvenient to use it in the crowd, u might consider putting ur camera on something stable. eg; stone table on the bridge, handle of the staircase etc... it really helps.... i did the same thing.... and have lotz of fun with my D70 :bsmilie:
but pls believe me, there are so many photographers shooting on the bridge at night with SLR & tripod..... u will feel very relax & easy even if u use tripod.(lots of "members" mah... haha). i regret not to bring tripod there.... :nono: sigh...

 

[lightning]

I just went there on Monday, it was nice, as the crowd for chinese new year is not there yet.

I am still a beginner, and a canon fan, if you like to know what I have shoot do take a look at : http://gallery.punggol.org/cny2005

Although I got a tripod, but did not use. I mostly use a f2.8 with shutter at 1/40 to 1/100 depending on the ISO.

I only hang around chinatown for about 2hrs or so. Then too tired cos just recovering from a knee operation in December. So cannot stand too long. I sued many lamp post as my monopod. Quite cool.

Do give me some comments on my photos so that I can improve. I also have some personal favourite at : http://gallery.punggol.org/bestcollection

 

[theITguy]

Went there yesterday too. Shot mainly with my 24mm wide angle. Even the gals at a stalk pose for me to shoot :bigeyes: Used ASA400 film speed so no need a tripod. My sister die die want to bring the tripod so I carry.

 

[snowspeeder]

So far I've only got to shoot chinatown in the late afternoon, where the lighting was great. May consider doing a night shoot one of these days, definately need a tripod for those slow shutter moments.

 

[jonlou]

oooo.... sounds exciting...

was down yesterday and already can see soooo many d70s ard liao! was in the afternoon... cannot tahan.... must go shoot one of these days liao!

 

[XXX Boy]

Went to Chinatown wif my wife on Sat and found that too much people liao! Sian 1/2!!! :think:

 

[obviousdude]

Went to Chinatown wif my wife on Sat and found that too much people liao! Sian 1/2!!! :think:

your wife as in your camera right?

 

[theITguy]

Do not think a tripod is easy to use with so much people. Well I may be in a different position