A "no private messages" message I LOVED!

[Andy]

So, we really do discourage private messages, as stated here:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=32972

But THIS ONE I'll Make an exception to :lol3


Thanks so much for you rhelp on Dgrin, Andy. I am curious about
something tho..... Is Dgrin and Smugmug the same company? Do you work for
both?
Yep. I'm GM and House Pro at SmugMug and SmugMug owns Dgrin.

I am asking simply because in todays world, not many companies are true
to their word about support, help, etc. All they want is your money,
then they make you jump through hoops of fire before they will help you.

You and Smugmug have been remarkable. And all it costs me is just
$99/yr. LOL. Is there anyway for me to show support or offer support to
help assure your continued success?

At the very least, will you allow me to send you a dinner gift
certificate for you (and wife/GF)? It is the least I can do.
As much as this pains me (I'm told that I'm one of those folks that enjoys food with "gusto" :lol3 Actually, my favorite saying is "it's all about the food!" Anyhow, I *truly* appreciate your offer but I respectfully decline. Part of my job is to deliver service to our customers here, on Dgrin, and through our Help Desk, too. In addition, we have MANY MANY fine volunteer Dgrinners who give of their time and help make this place TICK like a fine swiss watch: All of the Mods, and all of the other Dgrinners who contribute their time, energy and expertise to help folks out. It's what makes it special here :deal

If you want a BONUS certificate... <G> I have a question you might be
able to answer....or at least tell me WHICH Dgrin spot to ask it......

------My lense only goes to f8.0. and when i shoot fireworks, I have to
"catch" it happening, and can only have the shutter at 1 or 2
seconds..... But, when I see the exif info on other fireworks images, I see
times of 8.0 seconds with an f22! I did a search of f22 lenses, and nothing
comes up? What am I missing? I mean, how can I get my f stop to be at
f22? (or so)? If I could find a way to get the iris to be extremely
closed, then I can afford to keep the time longer, and wont have to worry
about "catching" the damn boom of the fireworks! LOL

-Thanks a million....
[/quote]

What camera and lens (be specific) are you using? Let's dig into this and we'll help :D

Thanks again, Wagon Wheel, you totally made my day, and I *know* that the other folks will love to see this, too :deal

[wxwax]

Sounds like a pure consumer cam. :dunno

I never saw f22 on my Canon G3. Not until I got an SLR did I realize they were serious about f22.

[Wagon Wheel]

oh no Andy. LOL. UUGGHHH. I apologize for not paying attention the your no private messages rule. But, I did want to find a special way to thank you for your help. Heck, you were even kind enough to take the time to sign my guestbook!! Thanks again Andy, and to others that will end up helping me in the future. LOL. I will return or pass along the help as I can.

BACK to the question at hand:

The camera I have is a Sony DSC F828. Non removable lense, max f rating is 8.0

This is my first digital SLR, and at the time was the first camera that allowed me to have total control over the image in the camera like film afforded me.

I AM looking at going bac to Canon, now that I have learned alot in the digital world.

One of the big things that I have been limited in is my freedom in night photography due to three things: the f stop is maxed out at 8.0, the delayed shutter response of this camera is horrible, and the pupple fringe on lights at night.

For right now, I would be happy with finding a solution to the f stop problem. :)

[Wagon Wheel]

I have no problem spending money on cameras if it does the job......but remember, I cannot afford the $10,000 camera bodies, and go from there! I am thinking of a good setup for $2500 or so.
(By looking at my previous post think I need to invest in a keyboard that does not have characters that change places on me so much!)

[bwg]

wagon, you got lucky. a dinner gift for his wife AND girlfriend could get expensive.

[Wagon Wheel]

LOL Bigwebguy. well, it still would have been worth it to me! :)

[Andy]

oh no Andy. LOL. UUGGHHH. I apologize for not paying attention the your no private messages rule. But, I did want to find a special way to thank you for your help. Heck, you were even kind enough to take the time to sign my guestbook!! Thanks again Andy, and to others that will end up helping me in the future. LOL. I will return or pass along the help as I can.

BACK to the question at hand:

The camera I have is a Sony DSC F828. Non removable lense, max f rating is 8.0

This is my first digital SLR, and at the time was the first camera that allowed me to have total control over the image in the camera like film afforded me.

I AM looking at going bac to Canon, now that I have learned alot in the digital world.

One of the big things that I have been limited in is my freedom in night photography due to three things: the f stop is maxed out at 8.0, the delayed shutter response of this camera is horrible, and the pupple fringe on lights at night.

For right now, I would be happy with finding a solution to the f stop problem. :)
f/8 on Sony 828 is like f/16 due to the maths involved with the smaller sensor on that camera. That's why you get such amazing DOF at f/8, too :) What you might want, to slow the shutter down, is a Neutral Density filter, which will help to cut light, and force longer exposures.

Or, a Canon 30d :evil

[bwg]

f/8 on Sony 828 is like f/16 due to the maths involved with the smaller sensor on that camera. That's why you get such amazing DOF at f/8, too :) What you might want, to slow the shutter down, is a Neutral Density filter, which will help to cut light, and force longer exposures.

Or, a Canon 30d :evilor 20d which you should probably be able to get for a steal (pure speculation as i havent actually checked)

[devbobo]

wagon, you got lucky. a dinner gift for his wife AND girlfriend could get expensive.

a dinner gift just for andy could be expensive :lol3

[dogwood]

or 20d which you should probably be able to get for a steal (pure speculation as i havent actually checked)

But there are some good deals on used 20D's around. Locally, they're selling for around $900US. You may need to replace the shutter soon on one of those models, but it still might be worth it. For the price, it's a decent camera.

[Dee]

Manual 30 sec - 1/2000 sec is the shutter speed range on the Sony F828.

To have full control, set your shutter speed and then your aperture and put the dial on "M" (for manual). The camera will then use the shutter and aperture settings you selected.

You can prefocus for the fireworks, and move the focus selector to manual and the camera will not hunt and seek.

Here are a few fireworks I took: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=37463

My problem was they were shooting off these fireworks so quickly that the camera couldn't write to the CF card quickly enough!

[Wagon Wheel]

yes I know I have up tp 30 seconds. Problem is anything over 2 seconds, and it way over exposes the image! That is my complaint...cant get the f stop high enuff to make longer exposures possible!

[Dee]

yes I know I have up tp 30 seconds. Problem is anything over 2 seconds, and it way over exposes the image! That is my complaint...cant get the f stop high enuff to make longer exposures possible!

Besides fireworks what you are shooting that requires the longer exposure?

As Andy suggested, putting a neutral density filter over the lens will let you shoot at f8 and longer shutter speeds -- get a real dark one, or stack two lighter ones... or use a polarizing filter.

I use a polarizing filter in bright light (beach and ocean) and it really cuts down on the light coming in.

Are your fireworks all white??? I know the white ones will over expose on me especially if there are a lot of them, but I don't have any problem with the red and green ones...

If you shoot at f8 it cuts down on the "purple fringing" altho I'm rarely bothered enough by it on my camera (and the Sony F828 is not the only camera to have purple fringing).

Purple fringing can be removed by a lot of different methods.

You will get "star burst" patterns on the lights.

Make sure after you set your aperture and shutter speeds that you move the camera dial to M or the camera will default to aperture or shutter depending on the last setting you used.

If you are aware of this already, than just ignore the above paragraph. It's just that it was a little difficult for me to understand that I had to move the dial to M after I set the aperture and shutter... and it's easy for me to forget when I'm in a hurry trying to get the correct exposure.

Hope you can figure it all out. Since I only shoot fireworks once a year it's hit or miss for me.