I am using a Nikon D60 to shoot moving trains. I have had some issues with the sharpness of the pictures. If you have one of these, what settings do you use?Here is an example;
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3367/3475102160_15a98c5921.jpg
you are going to have to post a full size photo, that shot is much to small to see any detail. Sharpness can be affected by shutter speed, the F stop you are shooting at and/or the lens itself.
Bryan Jones
It would seem as though you had a good amount of light available in the shot you linked to. If the motion was indeed blurry, you are likely using too slow of a shutter speed. If the forground is also blurry (as mentioned, it is too small to see details), then the problem is with you (shaky hands or when you press the shutter other muscles in your hand also flex, causing unwanted motion); which if so, you need to use a tripod.
Another option is to set your camera to “aperature prioity” and then set the F-stop to the widest open possible (i.e F3.5, as opposed to F16). By doing so, you might lose some sharpness in your foreground, but at least the motion should be sharp.
Jim (Nikon shooter since 1977)
You can also set your selector dial on the ACTION mode (running figure). This will guarantee you always have the fastest shutter speed.
This is a good photo, and it lookspretty sharp to me although perhaps a tad bit underexposed, but “Photoshop” might be able to take care of the exposure. As others have said you have to consider aperture (f stop), shutter speed, and how still you can hold the camera. Another factor to consider is the sensitivity or the ISO. With digital cameras you can change the ISO. I have a Nikon D 50 and I shoot moving trains at an ISO of 400 and a shutter speed of 1/500 sec. I use either manual exposure or a shutter speed preferred exposure when I take my photos.
Even with a 1/500 sec shutter speed you have to hold the camera still to prevent blurring; this is especially crucial if you are using the telephoto side of a zoom lens. Some Nikon lenses have a vibration reduction feature which allows your hand to shake a little bit when you take the picture, but it will compensate for some shake.
Thanks to all for the replies. I have posted a larger version of the photo below. It is hard to see what I’m talking about with the first post. The train itself looks blurry to me. The parked automobiles in the lower right hand corner look in focus. I checked and I did have the f stop high and the shutter speed relatively low. The train was moving but slowly. They had just coupled to the autoracks shown and were just starting to move. I thought that the focusing system might have been thrown off somehow. The D60 has a rather complex focusing system. You have to select a focusing mode and a focusing area mode. I’m not critisizing it, it just takes some getting used to. I really do like the camera and I recommend it, I just have to learn more about it as far as photographing trains. I will try the idea about about using the sports shooting mode. It makes sense to use it because the trains are moving. The point about not shaking the camera is well taken. This was a grab shot. I saw the train while driving, pulled over as quick as I could, got out, got the camera out, turned the camera on, snapped the picture all as fast as I could. Some of the care that should have been taken sort of got lost in the suffle. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3367/3475102160_15a98c5921_b.jpg
From the larger image posted, I’d say that it looks pretty sharp. Sort of hard to tell though without the benefit of seeing a RAW (Nikon NEF) file or even a larger JPEG version that wasn’t compressed so it could be uploaded to a hosting site like flickr (yeah, I use flickr too) and then linked through this forum.
The others gave some pretty good advice about the basics of stopping motion–using the highest shutter speed and stuff like that. I’ve been shooting with a Nikon D70S for three years now and it seems to me that I need to shoot with a faster shutter speed when using the digital that when I was shooting slides–where 1/500 was fast enough with the slide camera still leaves a bit of a blur when the same scene is shot with the digital. I shoot mine on Manual and set the shutter and aperture as I want.
Another thing you might want to do is to try shooting the images at the highest possible resolution–going to NEF if you are shooting JPEGs. More resolution will give a bigger file with more info and the images will be sharper.
My daughter has a D60 and although I haven’t taken it trackside yet, I have played with it around the house. It should work fine for your railroad photography once you learn what settings work best for you.
Lance
The rule of thumb I learned was not shooting freehand if the shutter speed was less than the focal length. Even with that, a smooth hand is always a good thing.
I’m shooting a Canon, but functionally they’re all similar. My biggest problem is that I don’t shoot enough to be as familiar as I’d like to be with all the potential settings on the camera. If you’re setting up in one spot, you can take the time to play a bit before you take your shot. If you’re on the move, sometimes the conditions dictate a change.