Nikon D60 continuous shooting

[whiskydamon]

Let me preface this, I am a total noob to photography and a camera that's not just point and shoot.
I just purchased a Nikon D60 and it seems to work great in Auto, I've snapped a few and I am happy with it so far. But what I really want to do is take multiple pictures quickly and this is where my problem is.
Remember, I don't know what I'm doing at all I'm just trying to figure out from reading the manual (I'm going to take a class asap) I set the M, set the camera to continuous mode, the shutter speed is all the way up and I click off a few pictures. Every single one of them is just a black image.
In fact any time I even set the Camera to P or M and take a photo all I get is a black screen. This happens when I'm in a darker room or a bright room.
Is there something wrong with my camera or is there just a setting I need to know about and change?
Thanks for the help

 

[schumionbike]

I can't explain everything in one post, but you should google "camera exposure" and you should get some good result to read and play with. It doesn't take that long to learn the basic of this stuff. The reason your camera won't take multiple picture in auto mode is because that flash is on. Put the flash down and you can take use the 3fps in auto mode. Hope that help, if you have more specific question, let me know.

 

[Sherman Banks]

What are the lighting conditions you're shooting in?*EDIT- Just read both lighting conditions* Your probably getting the black shots from having the wrong aperture/shutter speed/ISO settings in manual mode. Try shooting in AV mode with a large aperture setting and continuous shooting enabled. If that doesn't work, you may want to have someone look at it who is familiar with a DSLR.

 

[hankejp]

Instead of Manual mode, use shutter priority. In a bright area, crank up the shutter speed, waching the EV control through the view finder.

I absolutly love shooting multiple exposures on the D90. It seems so fast.

 

[adolan20]

I don't think you can shoot continuous shots with the on camera flash so thus good lighting is a must.

 

[boogschd]

higher f count + high shutter speed + low lighting = DARK Pictures

#6 - whatever its called .. always try and position it in the middle...

*thats what i do anyway

 

[epp_b]

Your problem has to do with a lack of understanding of exposure. It would be redundant to explain the solution here, so I suggest finding a book or other reliable resource on learning exposure.

This brief tutorial is what got me started: http://forums.finalgear.com/photography-tutorials/shutter-speed-and-aperture-20093/

 

[fiveoboy01]

#6 is the light meter and getting it in the middle will produce a picture that's not over or under exposed. Sometimes I do not completely follow the meter though but for the purposes of just getting a picture, try to get it in the middle.

It would be easier for you to shoot in A/S/P mode if you don't fully understand exposure, as you only have to deal with half of the exposure equation and the camera does the other half(if we're not counting ISO or if ISO is set to auto).

 

[Minissa]

If you need more explanation or to simply surpass yourself, you should purchase these books from Bryan F. Peterson :

-Understanding exposure
-Understanding shutter speed

 

[john.kimin.kim]

Right. If you boost up your shutter speed, in decrease the ISO, or the amount of light that can be put through the shutter speed. You need a brighter environment.

 

[TamiyaGuy]

First off, in order to get the full 3FPS shooting speed of the D60, you need to do the following:

Press the MENU button, press left (to move the highlighted icon to the five boxes). Go to the camera icon and press OK, then go to where it says "Noise Reduction" and press OK. Change it to Off. Then go into the shooting menu (press the Info button), and press the + zoom key. Go to where it says "S" in a box, then change it to the next one down (three boxes behind each other). Press OK.

Also, make sure your shutter speed is above around 1/250s. If you're in a bright environment, it'd be worth putting it on Program mode (be sure to put the flash down), and checking your shutter speed as you shoot. It may also be worth putting the lens into manual focus mode.

That's about it, really, although it's really worth swotting up on a few photography books to help you understand when to force a high shutter speed, when to let it happen on its own, and when to simply admit defeat and keep to single-shot mode . I've heard very good things about the book "Understanding exposure".