Nikon D5100 problems

JohnYoga · Dec 27, 2011

Very true, EW!

That is why I spent three hours yesterday reading this entire thread, understanding the "Exposure Triangle", reading the manual which came on the D5100 CD, reading several in-depth performance reviews of the D5100 body and 18-55mm "stock" lens, and understanding how to use all of the camera settings, including doing a blur shot. I've learned things like how incredibly effective the VR (the lens/body can handle shutter speeds down to at least 1/13 with no problem with hand-held blur) is, F-stop "sweet spot" range (F/5.6-F/11), A & S Priority, HDR, bracketing, etc.

Today I'lll do a waterfall blur, play more with light dynamic range, time-lapse sequence of a sunset, and a try at post-processing it!

Thanks again, to those who labored through this thread; it is extremely informative.

Regards, John

EchoingWhisper · Dec 27, 2011

JohnYoga said:
Very true, EW!

That is why I spent three hours yesterday reading this entire thread, understanding the "Exposure Triangle", reading the manual which came on the D5100 CD, reading several in-depth performance reviews of the D5100 body and 18-55mm "stock" lens, and understanding how to use all of the camera settings, including doing a blur shot. I've learned things like how incredibly effective the VR (the lens/body can handle shutter speeds down to at least 1/13 with no problem with hand-held blur) is, F-stop "sweet spot" range (F/5.6-F/11), A & S Priority, HDR, bracketing, etc.

Today I'lll do a waterfall blur, play more with light dynamic range, time-lapse sequence of a sunset, and a try at post-processing it!

Thanks again, to those who labored through this thread; it is extremely informative.

Regards, John

Good to know.

The sweet spot of your lens is f/5.6 for 18mm and f/8 for 55mm, for high depth of field without strong diffraction use f/11 at all focal length.

JohnYoga · Dec 27, 2011

Thank you, EW for that precise information.

I wrote that information down... I will wonder about the same information when I get the Nikon 55-300mm lens later next year.

John

EchoingWhisper · Dec 28, 2011

JohnYoga said:
Thank you, EW for that precise information.

I wrote that information down... I will wonder about the same information when I get the Nikon 55-300mm lens later next year.

John

Yes, buy the 55-300mm or 70-300mm, don't buy the 55-200mm, it is a waste of money - it lacks VR II and the further zoom range, but both lenses' sharpness is similar.

EchoingWhisper · Dec 28, 2011

Sweet spot of that lens is f/5.6 from 55-105, f/8 from 105-200, f/11 from 200-300, sharpness sharpness deteriorate after 200mm (200mm-300mm), high depth of field without strong diffraction is f/11 at all focal lengths, f/16 is still acceptable from 55-200.

JohnYoga · Dec 29, 2011

Hello Michael,

Perfect! Thank you so much! I wrote down those numbers, too. I have 3"x5" cards on a ring that constitute my portable photo notes.

Regards,

John

EchoingWhisper · Dec 29, 2011

JohnYoga said:
Hello Michael,

Perfect! Thank you so much! I wrote down those numbers, too. I have 3"x5" cards on a ring that constitute my portable photo notes.

Regards,

John

You should get a hyperfocal distance chart, the circle of confusion of both lens is 25. Your D5100 has very high resolution, so the lens will set the circle of confusion. But I prefer a hyperfocal distance table, they're easier to read in the field.

JohnYoga · Dec 29, 2011

Hello Michael,

I printed out a chart, but then wonder, how can I figure out the hyperfocal distance? In other words, when the chart says 40', how would I know, practically, where to focus, unless I got a yardstick out (

)?

Regards,

Marc

EchoingWhisper · Dec 30, 2011

JohnYoga said:
Hello Michael,

I printed out a chart, but then wonder, how can I figure out the hyperfocal distance? In other words, when the chart says 40', how would I know, practically, where to focus, unless I got a yardstick out ( )?

Regards,

Marc

Yes, I have that problem too. Most semi-pro lens have a distance scale or similar, so you can know where you are focusing at (like the 50mm 1.8G). For entry level lens, you have no choice but to guess, it's best to focus nearer than you predict, cause' a blurry foreground is more distracting than a blurry background.

This is my sharpness and hyperfocal distance table.

Sharpness

Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
18-35mm – WO to 11.0
55mm – 6.3 to 11.0

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50 f/1.8G
50mm – 2.5 to 10.0

Nikon AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED
55mm – WO to 11.0
70mm – WO to 13.0
105mm – WO to 16.0
135mm – 6.3 to 13.0
200mm – 10.0 to 11.0

Bonus*
Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR
55-105mm – WO to 13.0
200mm – 7.1 to 11.0
300mm – 11.0

Hyperfocal Distance
[TABLE="width: 624"]
[TR]
[TD]Focal
Length
f number
[/TD]
[TD]f/4.0
[/TD]
[TD]f/5.6
[/TD]
[TD]f/8.0
[/TD]
[TD]f/11.0
[/TD]
[TD]f/16.0
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]18mm
[/TD]
[TD]3.00m
[/TD]
[TD]2.00m
[/TD]
[TD]1.50m
[/TD]
[TD]1.00m
[/TD]
[TD]0.75m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]24mm
[/TD]
[TD]6.00m
[/TD]
[TD]4.00m
[/TD]
[TD]3.00m
[/TD]
[TD]2.00m
[/TD]
[TD]1.50m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]35mm
[/TD]
[TD]12.00m
[/TD]
[TD]8.50m
[/TD]
[TD]6.00m
[/TD]
[TD]4.25m
[/TD]
[TD]3.00m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]45mm
[/TD]
[TD]20.00m
[/TD]
[TD]14.00m
[/TD]
[TD]10.00m
[/TD]
[TD]7.00m
[/TD]
[TD]5.00m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]55mm
[/TD]
[TD]30.00m
[/TD]
[TD]20.00m
[/TD]
[TD]15.00m
[/TD]
[TD]10.00m
[/TD]
[TD]7.50m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]70mm
[/TD]
[TD]50.00m
[/TD]
[TD]35.00m
[/TD]
[TD]25.00m
[/TD]
[TD]17.50m
[/TD]
[TD]12.25m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]85mm
[/TD]
[TD]70.00m
[/TD]
[TD]50.00m
[/TD]
[TD]35.00m
[/TD]
[TD]25.00m
[/TD]
[TD]17.50m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]105mm
[/TD]
[TD]110.00m
[/TD]
[TD]80.00m
[/TD]
[TD]55.00m
[/TD]
[TD]40.00m
[/TD]
[TD]27.75m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]135mm
[/TD]
[TD]185.00m
[/TD]
[TD]130.00m
[/TD]
[TD]92.50m
[/TD]
[TD]65.00m
[/TD]
[TD]46.25m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]200mm
[/TD]
[TD]400.00m
[/TD]
[TD]280.00m
[/TD]
[TD]200.00m
[/TD]
[TD]140.00m
[/TD]
[TD]100.00m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

EchoingWhisper · Dec 30, 2011

The 55-300mm is actually a bit sharper than the old 55-200mm.

JohnYoga · Dec 30, 2011

This is great! Thanks Michael!

When you say "WO to 11", you are saying that the image is sharpest in the range from "wide open" to F11?

Regards, John

JohnYoga · Dec 30, 2011

I also made a note, as I had seen it written in a D5100 review, that you can hand-hold down to 1/13 sec...

EchoingWhisper · Dec 30, 2011

JohnYoga said:
I also made a note, as I had seen it written in a D5100 review, that you can hand-hold down to 1/13 sec...

For your 18-55mm, at 55mm, you could hand-hold at 1/20 seconds. At 18mm, you could hand-hold at 1/8 seconds.
For your 55-300mm, at 55mm, you could hand-hold at 1/10 seconds. At 300mm you could hand-hold at 1/60 seconds.

EchoingWhisper · Dec 30, 2011

JohnYoga said:
This is great! Thanks Michael!

When you say "WO to 11", you are saying that the image is sharpest in the range from "wide open" to F11?

Regards, John

Yes. But at 300mm of 55-300mm, even the sharpest aperture isn't sharp at all.