Canon Eos400d settings

[martyn29]

I am quite a novice with taking photos of trains and wondered what would be the best setting to do this on? For example if I was at Tamworth on the low level, and wanting to photograph the freight, I have a 17-55mm lens would this be adequate?

Many thanks in advance

 

[adamp]

It depends how you want the photo to turn out. Personally Id use my 55-200 lens, but thats just my choice. The lens you have now will do the job, and for setting currently i have it on Programme, mainly because im not 100% certain using the Tv and Av settings. So im sure some of the clever ars,es on here will be able to tell you how to use the more advance settings, would be a help to me too!

-Adam

 

[martyn29]

cheers

 

[Ferret]

Adam, I use a 400D meself - tend to use the 28-105 lens mainly. Almost exclusively use shutter priority mode (TV). For freight, it's never going to be doing more than 75mph so I'll use 1/500 or 1/640 as the shutter speed. From there it's a case of juggling ISO and F number (aperture). The lower the ISO the better so on a sunny day you'll want ISO200, cloudy days you'll need ISO400, maybe 800 if it's really grim. Also remember the higher your aperture value, the more depth of field you'll get. Stacey of this forum suggests f5.6 as a minimum. As a guide, on a full sun day, I aim for ISO200, 1/640 or 1/500, f8 for freight workings.

Hope this helps!

 

[martyn29]

Adam, I use a 400D meself - tend to use the 28-105 lens mainly. Almost exclusively use shutter priority mode (TV). For freight, it's never going to be doing more than 75mph so I'll use 1/500 or 1/640 as the shutter speed. From there it's a case of juggling ISO and F number (aperture). The lower the ISO the better so on a sunny day you'll want ISO200, cloudy days you'll need ISO400, maybe 800 if it's really grim. Also remember the higher your aperture value, the more depth of field you'll get. Stacey of this forum suggests f5.6 as a minimum. As a guide, on a full sun day, I aim for ISO200, 1/640 or 1/500, f8 for freight workings.

Hope this helps!

Thanks I will have to get myself one of those lenses to try it out
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC OS is this a good one?

 

[Ferret]

I've heard that Sigma lenses and Canon cameras aren't always the best of friends though I don't have first hand experience of this...

 

[pinkpanther]

I've heard that Sigma lenses and Canon cameras aren't always the best of friends though I don't have first hand experience of this...

I have a Sigma 55-200 and it works just fine with my 350D. It's ideal for medium distance shots, and surprisingly light and compact. By contrast, the 85-400mm Tokina I use occasionally is twice the size and weighs a ton (that one has its own tripod mount, which is a bit of a giveaway...).

 

[Lonewolf]

ive got a tamron 300mm telephoto lense and well they work amazingly well together
go take a look at my airshow pics for proof

 

[507 001]

i've used sigma lenses on EOS 5d's and 1D mk II's before without a problem.

 

[25322]

I am quite a novice with taking photos of trains and wondered what would be the best setting to do this on? For example if I was at Tamworth on the low level, and wanting to photograph the freight, I have a 17-55mm lens would this be adequate?

Many thanks in advance

The lens you have is more than adequate for the job in hand. You may want to invest at some point in the future on a lens that gives you a slighltly better range (28 to 135mm for example or the canon 18-200mm with f3.5 minimum and a filter size of 72mm but these will probably cost more than your 400D)

But its not always about the camera but often about the glass that you put in front of it.

I have a friend who takes wildlife shots. he uses a canon 350D but the lens he has cost him more than a Canon 5D markII, ie £2500. but it has an minmum aperture of f2.8 at 300mm. Cracking shots

I personally have just upgraded to a Canon 40D with a couple of lens that are probably not the best in the world but will last until I can afford to stick £700-£1000 of glass in front of the 40D.

I have just upgraded from 350D on which i used the lens from my old Canon 35mm 500n. Which have been superb lens as they use glass and metal not plastic and glass/plastic like the modern lightweight lenses and so reasonably good images.

Hope this helps.

Feel free to pm me about using your 400D

 

[Stacey]

Heya, I've got a Canon 350D - I have a 17-55mm kit lens, 28-105mm and a 70-200mm lens.

I use the 28-105mm mostly (and as Ferret said) - I say don't go below f5.6 as any lower and you'll lose depth of field.

I use TV Mode unless the light has gone or doing night shots. If either of those cases I Manual it.
Generally, I won't go below 1/320 speed and I use ISO200 mainly - this is fine 'down South' - but I've had to quicken up the speeds when in the Midlands (e.g.) as the trains are a lot faster so I think 1/500 is a good idea.

Night shots for me are always ISO100 and Manual, also I custom White Balance as well. I use f8 for night shots unless I'm aiming specifically for the 'starry light' feel on the front of locos etc - for those I'll put it on something silly like f22.

Have a play about anyway, it sounds more complicated than it is when it's all typed out!

 

[25322]

Heya, I've got a Canon 350D - I have a 17-55mm kit lens, 28-105mm and a 70-200mm lens.

I use the 28-105mm mostly (and as Ferret said) - I say don't go below f5.6 as any lower and you'll lose depth of field.

I use TV Mode unless the light has gone or doing night shots. If either of those cases I Manual it.
Generally, I won't go below 1/320 speed and I use ISO200 mainly - this is fine 'down South' - but I've had to quicken up the speeds when in the Midlands (e.g.) as the trains are a lot faster so I think 1/500 is a good idea.

Night shots for me are always ISO100 and Manual, also I custom White Balance as well. I use f8 for night shots unless I'm aiming specifically for the 'starry light' feel on the front of locos etc - for those I'll put it on something silly like f22.

Have a play about anyway, it sounds more complicated than it is when it's all typed out!

Using a bigger apeture will loose Depth o field (Dof). but at 5.6 i would expect any DOF anyway you really need to get up to f11 plus for dof to take effect

 

[Stacey]

Using a bigger apeture will loose Depth o field (Dof). but at 5.6 i would expect any DOF anyway you really need to get up to f11 plus for dof to take effect

Well, I don't agree with you to be honest but I'll leave you to your opinion. I keep to my rule and it pretty much works...so, again, I'd still say any lower than 5.6 and you'll lose depth of field. Basically this is the lowest point where the whole photo will be sharp and the rear end of the train will still be in focus.
And if you notice; with night shots - I did say a higher f-number will give a 'starry effect' thus (if this is what you're getting at) showing the effects of the depth of field.
Sometimes it isn't possible to get the f-number any higher due to light conditions - your f11 in awkward light could mean you're using a higher ISO; therefore you'll have more 'grain' on your photos. I prefer the depth of field and a lower ISO so the picture quality is as good as you can get it within the circumstances.

 

[martyn29]

thanks for all the tips

 

[thefab444]

Remember, the depth of field also depends on how far away the thing you are focusing on is.

If the train is a good distance away or a wide angle shot, you'll need a lower f number to keep the whole photo sharp. If it's close up - especially if you are using a lot of zoom - you'll need a much higher f number.

 

[25322]

Well, I don't agree with you to be honest but I'll leave you to your opinion. I keep to my rule and it pretty much works...so, again, I'd still say any lower than 5.6 and you'll lose depth of field. Basically this is the lowest point where the whole photo will be sharp and the rear end of the train will still be in focus.
And if you notice; with night shots - I did say a higher f-number will give a 'starry effect' thus (if this is what you're getting at) showing the effects of the depth of field.
Sometimes it isn't possible to get the f-number any higher due to light conditions - your f11 in awkward light could mean you're using a higher ISO; therefore you'll have more 'grain' on your photos. I prefer the depth of field and a lower ISO so the picture quality is as good as you can get it within the circumstances.

Yes I agree about the starry effect but depth of field is a term that refers to the the effect of increased area in focus by simply closing the aperture down. The higher the number the greater the area that will in focus. Try manual focus on a subject and then using the little black button next to the lens mount to check your depth of field.

Wikipedia has an interesting article on DOF

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field

 

[martyn29]

To do some night shots at Derby station for example best to have a tripod, and manual setting? iso 100?

 

[mumrar]

Yes, and try and stay at f8 or below to get the starry light effect. Look forward to your results

 

[Ferret]

My advice would be to use apperture priority (AV) mode on ISO100. Wind it to F8 and it'll work out your shutter speed for you.

 

[mumrar]

Also, check you shots using this method in case you need to under or over expose to get it right. Use a lens hood where possible, and if taking exposures over 5 seconds, detach the viewfinder and cover it with the special rubber part on your neck strap. Both these measures will stop rogue light sources invading the shot and washing out contrast.

 

[martyn29]

how do you wind it to f8? Im going out thursday to try some still night shots.