manual mode on d5000

[shb_jcb]

Ive had a D5000 since April.Took some lovely pics in India. Recently was in Adelaide and had a hard time taking wildlife pics in dim light. Opened aperture to max on a 200mm zoom, shutter speed was around 1/125. Could it have been shake or dim light that caused the blurring. I made sure I kept the camera firm for minimal shake. Any suggestions, btw I was doing it on manual mode. Am wondering if the manual mode is a problem or I did something wrong.I learnt on B&W manual camera and my basics are not bad.Please advise.Ta

[Grandpaw]

Ive had a D5000 since April.Took some lovely pics in India. Recently was in Adelaide and had a hard time taking wildlife pics in dim light. Opened aperture to max on a 200mm zoom, shutter speed was around 1/125. Could it have been shake or dim light that caused the blurring. I made sure I kept the camera firm for minimal shake. Any suggestions, btw I was doing it on manual mode. Am wondering if the manual mode is a problem or I did something wrong.I learnt on B&W manual camera and my basics are not bad.Please advise.Ta

If you can post a picture and some of the settings that were used we may be able to help. As a rule of thumb your shutter speed needs to be a least as fast as the mm setting of the lens you shoot with. If you are at 200mm your shutter speed needs to be around 1/200th or faster to help eliminate camera shake. 150mm would be 1/150 shutter speed or faster. Post a picture and the settings and will might be able to help you more. You may need to increase the ISO setting to get enough light, Jeff