Right then you Nikon users, what settings are you using underground? 😉

You've not 🙂

Have you?

:thumbsup:

I use Hi (TIFF mode, one off RAW)
ISO 50 or 100 (tunnels and chambers respectively)
Auto white balance
F2.8 (usually)
Manual focus mode set to infinity

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And the shutter set to bulb (10 minutes)... ;)

Some people trigger the camera using the 3 second self timer to avoid wobbles. In bulb mode, the shutter on the Nikon 8400 can be closed by pressing the button again, rather than having to hold it open, which would make life very difficult.

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You've not 🙂

Have you?

:thumbsup:

Sorry, no, i fear i have given the wrong impression. I am scrutinising things such as old pictures and some photography course notes and have twigged 3 errors in my settings which have caused me some grief.
The main problem being using f8 (hoping for a reasonable depth of field) and thus this allows light in very slowly, coupled with asa 80=long exposure times. For example, the Cwmorthin boilers needed 120 seconds! If my maths is correct, using f2.8 i should now be looking at exposure times of about 15 - 20 seconds ish for similar pics.
A couple more tweaks here and there and i think i might have it spot on - Tuesday night is testing night at a local 'place of interest'

Do you chaps notice much of a difference in depth of field between f2.8 and f8 or higher? i know different distances to subject have a bearing.

Simon, using manual focus and f2.8 do you focus on anything inparticular in an empty tunnel or chamber, or in other words, what distance from the lens is your point of focus?

Sorry to bend your brains guys, i just need a few comparisons :tongue:

Bahhhh, all over complicated.
I use an an old Nikon D5700 (I think), simply pick an exposure time and let the infra red focus and auto settings do the work.
Auto exposure time of upto 8 seconds usually does the trick or if needs be manual bulb upto 5 minutes.
Not the greatest hotographer in the world but the camera certainly manges to take pictures better without my interference......
As long as you have infra red focus so it can set itself up in the dark it works fine

Camera did this one all by itself
[img]http://www.aditnow.co.uk/showimage?f=/community/Foty-Slate-Mine-User-Album-Image-013/[/img]

Slightly grainy full size simply because its an unconverted TIF file I think

Do you chaps notice much of a difference in depth of field between f2.8 and f8 or higher? i know different distances to subject have a bearing.

Simon, using manual focus and f2.8 do you focus on anything inparticular in an empty tunnel or chamber, or in other words, what distance from the lens is your point of focus?

Yes you do get a loss of depth of field at lower F stops, but the trade off is a well lit photo IMO. As for focussing, and aside from close-ups (which are tricker I find) I just leave it on infinity without the need to focus on anything specific.

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Bahhhh, all over complicated.
I use an an old Nikon D5700 (I think), simply pick an exposure time and let the infra red focus and auto settings do the work.

Thats my problem, the auto mode is great on the surface, but underground it is poor, so i am tweaking settings

Just out of interest, do you Nikon 8400 users (Simon, Vanoord, Colonel) use the noise reduction setting or leave it switched off & what metering/white ballance settings do you use?

Cheers in advance 😉

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I've never used the noise reduction, or the in built sharpening myself, typically I've use:

Auto white balance
ISO50 (in tunnels) or ISO100 in chambers
F2.8
Manual focus locked on infinity
HI mode (the top JPEG quality, one down from RAW)

Hope that helps.

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Interesting stuff chaps.
Have only really started taking serious photo's underground recently but have found it to be quite fun (which i never expected!)
Nice to hear from more experienced folk :thumbsup:

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Did you manage to get an 8400 then Jimbo 🙂

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No joy yet Simon, but got it's little brother a 5400 off fleabay for just £70 so at that price I don't mind dropping it in the mud :lol:

Very similar spec, but 5.2MP, 28mm wide angle rather than 24mm & slightly smaller monitor, that's about it for differences. Good budget camera until I can get an 8400 at a reasonable price 😉

Still getting to know the camera, hence the questions.

Here http://www.mine-explorer.co.uk/view_picture.asp?id=17700  are some photos I took with it down Brandy Bottle Incline last month, comments/hints welcome 🙂

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Simon what exposure/colour mode do you normally use, dispite using the same camera your results still looks different than Colonel Mustrards, Vannords and Miles'. Makes it more interesting.

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A useful site for looking at settings and comparing same camera/different user is www.flickr.com. If you look carefully you can select a particular camera and view many pics taken with it. Also, on the pics you can click on 'properties' and view how the pic was taken. Very useful, plus there are mine/cave collections too.

I reccommend the user **barney** ! :angel:

Here http://www.mine-explorer.co.uk/view_picture.asp?id=17700  are some photos I took with it down Brandy Bottle Incline last month, comments/hints welcome 🙂

Yes, upload them here :lol: There Brandy Bottle Incline album hasn't got any pics in it 😞 Also you can use a LightBox to compare different photographs side by side of course.

Seriously though, good luck with the search for an 8400, if I do see any on eBay (although you'll probably see them anyhow) I'll let you know.

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Simon what exposure/colour mode do you normally use, dispite using the same camera your results still looks different than Colonel Mustrards, Vannords and Miles'. Makes it more interesting.

F2.8, auto white balance and everything else (not specfically in the list of settings I did) on factory settings.

I continue to feed 8400s to the mine, have drowned one entirely, one is awaiting repair, one has lost it's ability to eject memory cards and the last is looking quite shiney still... but the point is each has behaved very slightly differently with little variations. I think Vanoord will confirm that?

The rest of the difference will be down to different lighting. The Colonel and Wenders team are very good at lighting, far better than me, with regular use of diffused lighting shone backwards down tunnels (as we all saw in, er, somewhere in Cumbria). I tend to just wave the Fenix around from behind the camera 😉

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The Nikon 8400 has become something of a cult object among the pro-consumer camera users. It's not hard to see why. There is however nothing on the market to replace it. Obviously camera companies take no heed of such an iconic status when considering what features to include on what they consider to be the "next" camera.

The clincher with the 8400 is the 24mm lens which allows so many serious/professional snappers of many disciplines to carry just one camera without the need to use add on lenses. I think I've mentioned this before, its a big hit with the KAP users too. I guess it will be sometime before it comes in range of my e-bay limit.