donaldejose said:
The Nikon Matrix metering system is smarter and more accurate than the "sunny 16 rule" or my eye. I see that rule as an historical artifact. If I feel I want a bit more or a bit less exposure than the camera selects I simply use my exposure compensation button. For example a -0.3 will deepen the colors (a look I like) and a +0.3 or +0.7 or +1.0 will brighten a whiter than medium gray scene.

When I shoot, my interest is also getting the speed correct. Matrix metering is great when the conditions are perfect, doesn't do much good shooting into the sun and such.

To each their own, guess it depends if one is shooting moving subjects and not having the time to fiddle with the settings in your manner, or shooting a tree with all the time in the world to walk around it in order to find the perfect exposure.

I almost never shoot manual except when shooting with studio strobes. The Nikon Matrix metering system is smarter and more accurate than the "sunny 16 rule" or my eye. I see that rule as an historical artifact. If I feel I want a bit more or a bit less exposure than the camera selects I simply use my exposure compensation button. For example a -0.3 will deepen the colors (a look I like) and a +0.3 or +0.7 or +1.0 will brighten a whiter than medium gray scene. Also, I find Nikon's Active-D lighting system set on Auto really helps to keep the highlights from washing out and the shadows from going black. All those tools are better than the sunny 16 rule. Finally, exposure adjustments are easy to make in post processing. To me the ease with which small exposure and color adjustments can be made in post processing makes digital far better than film.

The way I use the Sunny F16 rule is knowing what it states it should be on a sunny day (ISO/100 F/16 1/100). If clouds come in I adjust my ISO to get the Sunny F16 rule (ISO/400 F/16 1/100). "Always" shoot in Aperture mode when doing this.

All I have to do once the ISO is set is change my Aperture to get the speed I desire.
It's just a basic and easy way to get good results in Aperture mode, when time is an issue.

dkofikyei said:
Hello friends, I am happy to report that I am making headway. However, I guess I need more explanation on the F16 rule.

Sunny 16 never made any since to me. Like-when I'm shooting into a small amount of shade on a sunny day... My more artistic friends find it really simple. My brain is not wired for that type of description. Anymore my brain coupled with experience just calculates it automatically - kind of.

With the gear you have, why are you trying or wanting to manually override the camera?

I'm not sure why, but I keep seeing people who are New to DSLRs thinking that going manual is the way to go. Not sure if this is an "old way" of thinking or if there is some book or article out there that many beginners seem to find. I say keep to the pre determined "modes" and then work your way into P/S/A.

Google sunny 16 rule and read about it in a few different places.

Basically is it this: Say you are using ISO 100. On a bright sunny day if you set your f stop to f16 and your shutter speed to 1/100th (1/125th is close enough) of a second you will have a properly exposed photograph.

If you set your ISO to 200 then you set your f stop to f16 and you r shutter speed to 1/200th (1/250th will be close enough) of a second and you will have a properly exposed photographs.

Set your f stop to f16. Look at the ISO your camera is set for. Use the shutter speed closed to the reciprocal of that ISO. Get the sunny 16 rule now?

Hello friends, I am happy to report that I am making headway. However, I guess I need more explanation on the F16 rule.

Yes, there are two types of limitations: Camera systems limitations and operator limitations!

We are also using GoPro video cameras and sound systems to document work we do and an added benefit they can do great point of view underwater work. The amphibious housing alone for a D90 or a D7000 (nice it is the SAME housing) costs twice as much as a D7000 and the lens. I must say i think computer gaming is becoming a substitute for real life, like virtual reality. I am trying to remember Bruce Willis's movie about that, I think there is a huge difference between driving a car on a race track at 222 mph (I have and won the amateur race I was in), and twidling your thumbs playing a "race car" game like fast and furious. Donald is completely right about this eyesight thing. We ALL will reach the point our eyesight and many other abilities really start to go. I believe go out and do it while you still can. By the way I would never step into a race car at Watkins Glen or the other Grand Prix tracks again. Primarily now due to reduced income at retirement. I also gave up Triathalon competitions before I stopped winning since I knew I was losing it physically. Today I don't even run places just to get there sooner. But get your focus system figured out and be glad the D7000 is such a great camera!!

There are two other items which could have a big impact: computer games and old age. I am 65 now, never played any computer games when young, if I try now kids just laugh at how slow my hand eye coordination is, plus my eyesight is no longer 20-20. So I don't have a chance to use the one sensor technique compared to kids who have grown up with computer games and have great eyesight. I can no longer shoot clay bird either. Just cannot focus on them fast enough anymore before they are gone. I need to use 9 or 21 focusing sensors; but that is not to say everyone needs to. As DaveyJ astutely stated: there are many options, try them all and see which one works best for you.

I should note that donaldejose had more to do with me acquiring two D7000's than any one Nikon Rumors poster. So of course I am going to say he is right here. The guys I am working with are phenomenal athletes and have that quick scanning vision I am certain. As I get older the system i describe still works way better for us. But I sure did try it both ways and I do still think everyone better try it several ways probably not in a real important shoot first to find out what works for you. One thing I would note is that you'd be surprised how differently some people use their eyes. I tend to find high speed racers have scanning quick vision to a great degree as things are happening really fast. Yet there are subjects that continue to thwart me. Photographing the thunderous takeoff of a Ruffed Grouse is one., getting a good image of Northern Goshawk blasting by me at high speed in the woods is another. I do think sports events on a playing field are not that tough....but when it is something you feel compelled to capture there is a sense of challenge. Nice when you can make mission and frustrating when you cannot do justice to the moment. But experiment with the focus system in as close to the real deal as possible before the big moment. Last comment.....The engineers sure have come up with some real results in focusing options. Best of Luck to You ALL.

I have found that DaveyJs system works but only when I can predict where my subject is going to be in the frame with considerable accuracy. Perhaps I just don't have the hand eye coordination needed to quickly move that sole focus grid around following my subject as it moves around in the viewfinder (unless it is moving really slow). I find if I use more of a "shotgun" pattern of 9 or 21 focus grids and move that larger pattern around with my thumb I do better. Try both methods and see what works for you.

I would like to add some thoughts on the focus situation with the D7000. The rest of the issues other Nikon Rumors guys (and Gals) have done great justice too. That is why I like this site so much. But I would like to add this focus suggestion. Put your camera on P. Put your ISO on 640 or maybe 800. You won't need higher speeds during a sunny day and indeed hazy filtered sunlight is always way better. Change your focus grid (using the button down by the AF to M switch, to AF-S, then using the toggle switch on the front of the camera adjust the focus grid to select just one grid. Change that grid as needed. Learn to quickly select that grid or sometimes use the center grid to follow the action like wing shooting clay pigeons. This is the ONLY focus grid selection that out whole team of action photographers ever use. We have tried them all. Once you get pretty smooth and fast you will be amazed at how well this works. I just went to an action event and tried it with the other focus offerings on the D7000. I also offered the camera to several of the participants to try who shoot with Nikons and Canons. They feel this system is best. Problem is if you hand the camera to a total novice......then the other focusing options get more useful. I hope our pro action photo technique is helpful to you. But on the D7000 this single gris selection only has enabled us to get action photo results as we need them. Without being able to produce great action photos we are just tourists.

ptiller; you can do this. set your ISO to auto. Now in Auto ISO scroll down and you can set a minimum shutter speed the camera cannot go below and you can also set a maximum ISO the camera cannot go above. Then shoot in A mode so you control the f-stop with your index finger. The camera will adjust the ISO and shutter speed to get the exposure right without exceeding either your minimum shutter speed or your maximum ISO. In this way you are setting the minimum shutter speed inside the Auto ISO feature and you are setting the f-stop by spinning the front dial. Try it and see if it works for you.

What if you want to control aperature and shutter speed, as to set a minimum base line for freezing action and good depth of feild and then let the camera pick best exposure from there? I am assuming there is not an automated exposure mode that would allow you to set both minimum values for both shutter speed and aperature, without doing everything in manual mode.

Exposure for bright sunny day?

You have a D7000.

First, what is this highest ISO you feel does not degrade IQ too much? Most people would say ISO of 1600 is fine on the D7000. I will use this as a baseline for exposure settings. You may be willing to go higher or wish to go lower than that so adjust accordingly.

You want to freeze the action and a shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second should adequately freeze the action. I will use this as another baseline. 1/500 will work but there may be some blur in some fast moving body part.

You want sufficient dept of field if you are including more than one player in your composition so I would say you want to shoot at f8. I will use this as another baseline. You may want a different f-stop to create a certain effect. For example, if you want a portrait type of effect of one player with a blurred background you will want to zoom in on that player and use f2.8 or f4. But that player better be still because if he/she is moving you won't be able to keep them in the frame.

So now we have three baselines; ISO at 1600, shutter speed at 1/1,000 and f-stop at f8. We don't want to exceed any of these. Is there enough light to stay within these parameters? Yes. In bright sunlight the above mentioned "sunny 16 rule" tells you that you can set your ISO to 800 and there will be enough light to shoot at f16 and 1/800th of a second. Notice that all three values fall well within the three parameters I established above. So try a number of combinations and see what technique works best for you. Set the camera metering to matrix metering and set the autofocus to AF-C and set the AF area to use either 9 or 21 sensors in the center of the frame (or wherever you plan to place your subject). Set the camera to P and try ISO at 1600 for a few shots and then try ISO at 800 for a few shots and then try ISO 400 for a few shots. The camera is adjusting the f-stop and shutter speed. Is this working for you? Next, set the camera to A with the ISO at 800 and try different f-stops from f16 to f8 to f5.6. Let the camera adjust the shutter speed for you. Does this technique work for you? Next, with the ISO at 800 set the camera to S with the shutter speed at 1/1000th of a second and let the camera select the f-stop for you? Does this technique work for you? The camera should be selecting the correct exposure for you no matter which of the three techniques (modes P,A, or S) you use. In all cases your exposures should be correct. It is really a matter of your priority preference.

Do you like to have priority over the ISO, over the f-stop, or over the shutter speed? It is a matter of how you like to use your camera. When shooting action many people like to have primary priority over the shutter speed because they want to be sure to freeze the action and depending upon how fast your subject is moving it may take 1/500th of a second or 1/1,000 of a second to do so. They like shooting in S mode to make sure they are keeping the camera at a certain shutter speed. Some people want the highest image quality possible so they would like to have primary priority over the ISO and will drive that as low as possible. They like to shoot in P mode. This can work for action shots as long as you keep an eye on what shutter speed the camera is selecting. You can adjust the P mode to instruct the camera to use a higher shutter speed/lower f-stop combination on the fly. Some people are most concerned with depth of field and will want to either quickly adjust for as much depth of field as possible or as shallow a depth of field as possible so they will like to use A mode and adjust the f-stop on the fly. On a bright sunny day using the D7000 you have enough range to use any of these techniques.

One note on exposure. A bright sunny day can cast harsh shadows because that sun is a harsh point source of light. A hazy bright (thin cloud cover acting like a big diffuser) is best because it will soften shadows. If you are getting shadows that are too deep use your Active-D lighting in the D7000. Try setting it to Auto and if your shadows are still too deep try setting it to High or Very High. Think of this as a type of fill flash. The D7000 will automatically fill in those shadows a bit for you.

The D7000 is a tool which can be used in many ways and different ways work best for different people so try the many different techniques I have suggested above and see what works best for you.

dkofikyei said:

What setting will you recommend for shooting soccer action on a bright sunny day?

Google ~ Sunny F16 Rule, I live by this!

A mode, AF-C, Single Point AF, Single Point Metering

Set your ISO to get the Sunny F16 Rule / Then change your Aperture to get 1/800-1/1000 speed results.

Hope this helps, let us know how this all works out.

Love these action focus problem issues. First, bright sunny day = harsh photos. But, if on the "sunny side" light over your shoulder this is not so bad. If you want things sharp, I would suggest above 1/500th sec. I have shot thousands of race cars and motorcycles, always use 1/800 w/ VR so as to have the best chance. Also, high FPS. The issue for action is to remember it takes time for the autofocus to work, and it must have a varied pattern. Either a single point or small area on your focus screen will work best. Sometimes a closest subject setting will catch an outstretched arm so, try to keep the focus on the faces or the area just below this. The 80-400mm, which I happen to have, is not quite as quick to lock on as the 70-200 in my experience.

As to the settings, try a lot of different things. We will give our experience, but I can say for sure, only trial and lots of error will get you to where you want to be. Even try 1/125th, or 1/60th. Maybe 1/15th for special effects...a runner. The ISO, well if you have the shutter set, the lens wide open, let the ISO go as high as it will to get the shot. In the film days the 800 ISO (ASA) pushed Tri-X was always grainy. But the shot was captured. A crisp grainy (Noisy) shot is better than a fuzzy shot.

Have fun...

Thank you friends for your pieces of sueggestions. I now have the focus problem sorted.
What setting will you recommend for shooting soccer action on a bright sunny day?

I have been shooting action photography for years. I sponsor an off road motorcycle team. All of my guys and myself specialize in wildlife photos and video. We use cameras right now from D200 Nikon, D300, D90, and D7000. All work very well and no one has any trouble catching what they are after. All of our Nikons are set up on P (program) with one focus indicating where the exact point of focus is. We simply quickly change the grid for the current composition. I even tried the D40X way back but that was NOT the camera for us. I also set up the cameras on usually ISO 640 and go higher only if necessary and never any higher than 1250 ISO. Usually that gives us enough speed. I have tried ever other focus situation on Nikons and have never had much faith in any other set up. I have seen results from some National Parks shot recently with our cameras that was very, very good. Some people are better at high speed photos than others. Another factor is where you have to be in relation to the subject. Sometimes moving is not an option. But if you do get your camera set up and develop a style of shooting you will be OK. It also really helps to understand what you are shooting.

It is the second to the last item in your set up menu. I cannot believe this is the issue for you. You would not have two lenses that are both focus incorrectly.

Godless said:
Have you tried the AF Fine Tune feature of the D7000? Might be an easy fix, especially if the problem is constant back- or front focusing.

Where can I locate the "Fine Tune feature" please.?

"I find that background rather comes into focus whilst the subject gets out of focus."

Very strange. I doubt it is the camera or the lenses. Are you sure you don't have something set wrong in your focus settings: like setting the focus to one sensor which is not where the subject is located so the camera uses just that one sensor to focus and it happens to be on the background rather than on the subject? It sounds to me like you have it incorrectly set to 3D autofocus single sensor. While it seems that mode should work you have to make sure of two things when using it: First, you have to have a subject that is easily distinguishable in color or light pattern from the other potential subjects in the photo. I am sure 3D could pick out and follow a zebra in a herd of wildabeast but I doubt it could pick out and follow one zebra in a herd of zebras. Second, you have to make sure you activate 3D when your subject is under the one sensor which is dedicated to first measuring the color and light pattern of the subject.

Try setting it to AF-C and 9 or 21 or even all 39 sensors. I think you will have a higher hit rate.

dkofikyei said:
Friends, your suggestions are helping a lot. As per further information, I use two lenses.
1.AF-VR-Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8G
2.AF VR-Nikkor 80-400mm 1:4.5-5.6D
With these, I find that background rather comes into focus whilst the subject gets out of focus.

Have you tried the AF Fine Tune feature of the D7000? Might be an easy fix, especially if the problem is constant back- or front focusing.

Friends, your suggestions are helping a lot. As per further information, I use two lenses.
1.AF-VR-Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8G
2.AF VR-Nikkor 80-400mm 1:4.5-5.6D
With these, I find that background rather comes into focus whilst the subject gets out of focus.
I also realize that when the subject gets into focus, the photos do not come out as sharp as I would prefer.

Same type of question on this thread: http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=5784

Answers from both may help.