Hi everyone,

I have absolutely ZERO experience in using a Nikon D40 but my girlfriend has one and we were wanting to go to a Motocross race where dirt bikes are moving at 30-40 mph and jumping thru the air in average daylight conditions.

I was wondering if someone could so kindly spell out for me exactly which settings would be ideal??

Manual or Auto focus??
F Stops?? (not sure if that is adjustable or what it is)
etc
etc

I thank you all very much in advance.

BTW, We'll be using the OEM lens (55??)

BTW (2) I'll also want to be able to stop a spinning wheel so as to get spokes, tire knobs and other features in the shot.

Thanks again!!

Welcome to Nikonians!

I would practice shooting before going out the MX. I would practice panning with the bikes & riders (or cars). What you want to do is smoothly pan the camera, following the subject and smoothly depressing the shutter release.

Personally, I would go with a telephoto lens and zoom in, but shoot with what you have. The OEM kit lens isn't the best lens for this but should be okay.

For action stopping images, you want to be able to shoot with a high shutter speed, using Shutter priority exposure mode and selecting a fairly high shutter speed, something like 1/250 sec or faster and let the camera determine the Aperture and ISO.

However, the D40 also has a Vari-Program that has a Sport mode, which should stop the motion and use a wide Aperture for a shallow depth of field. You might consider using that. (More info on Vari-Programs) should be found in the User Manual.

Good luck!


Anthony

The Moderator Page and My Gallery
The important things in life are simple; the simple things are hard.

You'll definitely want to use auto-focus, unless you have a lot of experience with manual focus. The shutter speed will be of primary importance when shooting sports. 1/500th of a second or faster would be best if you want to stop motion. Yes, the f/stop is adjustable, but in this case the shutter speed is more important as I've already said, so let the f/stop fall where it may. If you use shutter priority mode, the camera will choose the f/stop for you. Since you will be shooting in bright light, the lens you have (55-200mm ?) will suffice. You can raise the ISO, too, if the light dims, to keep your shutter speed up.

Alan