[Rupert]

I took this three years ago , thinking Mr Kitty might not be around much longer...he has been in bad health for a long time, but at around 18+ years old, he is still here, and still doing what he always does....eat and sleep. I have great difficulty shooting black, but this one was one of my better efforts.
Best Regards
Mr Kitty...resting on the corner of the fence.

[Ash]

Seems disinterested Rupert.
I don't blame him at his age - even with a Bigma pointed at him.
There is over exposure here, and the light quality makes it hard to adequately expose for blacks whilst retaining texture detail.
And what's with handholding a 1/20sec telephoto shot?!?
Testing the limits of SR, now aren't we?

[imtheguy]

I guess if you had WANTED faster shutter then you would have increased the iso from 200. But my actual point is....unlike dogs, so many cats I run into are titled "Mr." if male. Ok, mine too. Next thing you know all these misters will be borrowing our cameras just to give us one flash in the face.

Wish the old guy well for me.

[Rupert]

Ash, I should have added that I have taken many shots of him in this spot and I just can't seem to get it just right. I was at ISO 200 to try and preserve as much detail as possible, and the 1/20 is pretty common with the Bigma and SR for me.
Suggest some better settings than what I used? I'm listening....


Imtheguy- Cats sort of demand your respect don't they? They are pushy and let you know they can live without you just fine. I am not a cat lover, Mr Kitty is really my wife's cat, but he is a decent sort of cat......except when he kills my Squirrels. He is so old now they don't even pay any attention to him....he is too slow, and mostly just sleeps on the deck furniture all day.

Best Regards!

[JeffJS]

I understand not going too high with the ISO on the K10d.. For newer efforts though, I would Underexpose just a little bit, maybe 1 stop. Mr Kitty has bright eyes so they won't disappear like they do on this hound, when I expose properly for his fur.



If I were doing the exact same shot again, with the same equipment (of Mr Kitty), I would switch to spot metering (my cameras are always there), meter the coat, Pick a shutter speed, close down the aperture 1+ stops (if he is in fact Black), boost the ISO if needed to keep the shutter speed fast enough. I guess you could do the same thing by going -1+ EV but that isn't a feature I play with very often.

[Pablom]

that's one serious cat. actually it's very impressive how well it looks at 300mm and 1/20s

[Rupert]

Good looking puppy Jeff! I love Doggies! Your advice seems sound.


Pablom, Mr Kitty is a seriouscat indeed, and this shot which may be technically better, is more indicative of his serious nature...... 1/45 @ 270mm ISO 200 F5.6- Bigma
Best Regards!

[Ash]

Rupert, I'd increase ISO to a max of 800 and reduce EV by 1.0 to 0.7 a stop just to avoid overexposing the shot (auto metering will force the camera to choose exposure values to make the blacks more into a neutral grey). This way, you'll gain enough shutter speed to have no problem with camera shake (yes, I think 1/20-1/45 is going to have camera shake show up in the results at 270mm even with SR on - I don't even think the K-7's SR is able to save a shot at those settings!)

[Rupert]

Thanks Ash......I agree on the shutter speeds and while I have many"acceptable" shots at very low speeds, it is my findings that speed wins in the long run most every time. ISO 800 would still have worked here, and I should have used it. With the K20D , I would automatically go to the higher ISO without worry, but back with the K10D turning up the ISO was always more risky. Thanks for the advice, always appreciated!
Best Regards!