New Camera, need help please

[Xair]

Going to use my new Sony Alpha 200 tomorrow for the first time at our local fly-in. Hopefully there should be quite a few Microlights arriving so i'll use this as practice before going to Aldergrove or George Best. It looks like there will be cloud most of the day so can you give me some advice on settings or should I just go auto. I'll post results on Sunday.

Thanks

Xair

[Dave]

Cloudy weather makes photography more challenging but still it'll be worth a try, even for practise.

If possible you could try the following;

Set camera to Aperture mode (A mode)
Set aperature to around F6.2 (or there abouts),
ISO to 200,
Exposure compensation to +1/3,

Hopefully this will make sense, the instruction manual should be able to help find the various settings. I'm sure a few of the others can suggest some other settings as it's rare to see any two photographers using the same settings.

Dave

[Angry Turnip]

Agree with Dave`s advice but higher aperture would be better if possible;I recommend F7-F9 if you can manage it.

If your just shooting microlights you don`t really need a fast shutter speed;frozen props look a bit odd,so if they have a slight blur they look more natural.

You could try shutter priority at 200-300th sec.ISO200 should be OK unless it gets very overcast.

[Xair]

Thanks for the help Dave and Turnip. I'm going to have a bit of fun tomorrow by the looks of it. I'll take your advice and lets see what we get.

Xair

[Xair]

  OK I've had a go and think I've done alright, Only two Microlights turned up so I did't get much of a practice, but at least its a start.

Dave and turnip followed your advice but changed the ISO to 100 as it was quite sunny.

Xair

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[Angry Turnip]

Those look very good indeed-hope you are pleased with them.
As you say it`s a pity you didin`t get more to photograph.

[casper]

Nice prop blur in the first one. Nicely done

[Xair]

 :)Thanks guy's, you could get addicted to this stuff.

Xair

[Dave]

Indeed, some good first shots. It's always worth experimenting with different settings in various weather conditions.

Now we know where your username comes from