Nikon D7000 tips

[Grandpaw]

Getting a custom white balance

The Nikon D7000 does a very good job of getting the White Balance (WB) right by itself but if you ever get in a situation that has some strange lighting and you want to really nail the WB you might try doing a custom WHITE BALANCE to really get your whites and colors correct. If you listen to someone try and explain how to accomplish this or read about how it is done it can sound a little evolved or complicated. Actually it is quite simple to do and takes just a matter of seconds to accomplish. The results of taking the small amount of time and effort to get the WB right will pay off in the end by helping you get a great picture. By completing the custom WB you can eliminate off skin tones and strange colored tints on your pictures. The custom WHITE BALANCE can only be accomplished in modes M,A,S, and P. In each of the other modes the camera will make all the decisions for you. This is just one more reason that if you are wanting to advance and get better control over your photography it is necessary to start leaving the AUTO modes behind and start experimenting with the more advanced modes. Give it a try because I think you will be very happy with the results.


All of the instructions below can be done by looking at the top LCD screen. Do to the fact the top LCD screen is small and more difficult to see I will be showing you the first step on the larger rear LCD screen.

Here is how you do it
Turn on the rear LCD screen
Locate the white Balance (WB) button that is the third button up from the bottom left side of the back of the camera
While holding down the (WB) button, rotate the thumb wheel through the different types of white balance until you see "PRE", then stop and release the (WB) button
Next push and hold the (WB) button one more time and look at the top LCD screen and see if the "Pre" is flashing, if it is release the button
Next you need to place a white object, such as a piece of paper near your subject so that the light you will be shooting in shines on the paper
Next zoom in or get close enough to the paper so that you can fill up the frame of the camera with the white sheet of paper and press the shutter button. This will only read the lighting and not take a picture
Now look at the top LCD screen and you will either see"GOOD" flashing or "NO GD" flashing
If "GOOD" is flashing you are ready to take a picture

This may seem like a lot to do but after you do it a couple of times you should be able to complete this in about 10 or 15 seconds and will be time well spent. Remember in most cases this will not be needed and your camera will handle things by itself just fine.Your camera will retain this white balance setting until you take another custom (WB) setting or change your setting to one of the other (WB) settings such as CLOUDY, SUNSHINE, TUNGSTEN, FLORESCENT or one of the several others available or even turn your camera off. To get a proper reading it needs to be taken near the subject. It may be necessary to move up closer to the subject to fill the frame of your camera with the paper for the reading for your custom setting but you can always change locations of the camera as long as the lighting and subject stay the same. What you are doing by taking a custom white balance is telling the camera that under these lighting conditions that this is what the color white would look like so the camera will know how to adjust to get the correct colors.

In case you still think this is too hard to do, this is really all there is to it
Press the WB rotate thumb dial and make "PRE" flash
Press shutter to take a reading, see "GOOD" your ready to shoot

[Footski]

The only reason that pressing the OK button won't get your focus point back to the center is because the focus lock is on. Make sure the little flip switch above the info button is pointing toward the dot and NOT the "L", Jeff

Jeff,

It works well in Live View but not at all when using the viewfinder. Focus lock is not set to 'L'. Maybe a fault on my camera?

[Grandpaw]

Jeff,

It works well in Live View but not at all when using the viewfinder. Focus lock is not set to 'L'. Maybe a fault on my camera?

Do you have it in a mode that you can move the focus point around with the arrows on the multi switch? If you do it should work. If you have it in an auto mode it won't work, Jeff

[Footski]

Oh yes Jeff, in aperture priority or shutter priority. i move the focus point around with no problem, but it will not re centre, except in Live view. Most odd..

[Grandpaw]

Oh yes Jeff, in aperture priority or shutter priority. i move the focus point around with no problem, but it will not re centre, except in Live view. Most odd..

You may or may not want to try this but you can press the two green buttons, one on the bottom left side of the back and the other is top right (EV button) of the camera and hold them down for three or four seconds and this will do a hard reset and make ALL OF THE SETTINGS go back to the factory setting.
. You will have to decide for yourself if it is worth doing. The camera comes being able to get the center point back to center as a default.

I cannot think of any reason that the OK button should not work, but this will tell you if a setting has gotten changed, Jeff

[n8]

Can you tell us what AF mode you are using? PASM shouldn't be an issue, but auto or scene may be. The only way I could replicate what it sounds like the issue is is by having AF in auto. In live view I can scroll and center the focus point, but not when shooting through the viewfinder. All other AF modes allow for scrolling and centering with the OK button. If not, you may need it serviced.

[Footski]

Can you tell us what AF mode you are using? PASM shouldn't be an issue, but auto or scene may be. The only way I could replicate what it sounds like the issue is is by having AF in auto. In live view I can scroll and center the focus point, but not when shooting through the viewfinder. All other AF modes allow for scrolling and centering with the OK button. If not, you may need it serviced.

It makes no difference. I have tried auto focus, single or continuous, together with aperture priority etc, but it does not work unless in live view.

Jeff, I will give the reset a miss I think. This is not a problem to me as I would only use it in live view anyway. No real need when using the view finder. It is just irritating that for some reason it does not do what it says on the tin. I have used up enough of your valuable time on this. thanks for your efforts guys.

[n8]

Just another thought on this...auto, single, and continuous are all modes within auto. What would be good to look at is whether this happens when in the 39/21/9/1/3D modes that you access by turning the front dial while holding the af button. Another test would be to turn your AF totally off and see what happens.

[Grandpaw]

Is your camera a pain in the neck?

Any camera that you have and use the the neck strap that came with the camera can really be a pain in the neck after carrying it for a short period of time. My first good camera that I purchased back in 1970 was a Nikon F with and FTN meter on it and was heavy and gave me neck pain while carrying it hanging around my neck. I used the neck straps that came with each camera until about a year ago when I bought a shoulder strap to take the strain off my neck. I can tell you that after buying one of these straps that I will never use a strap that comes with the camera and hangs around my neck again. Any camera that hangs around your neck can cause pain but as you advance and buy bigger and better cameras and lenses the problem just gets worse. Also, have you ever had a camera hanging around your neck and leaned forward to get something and have your camera swing forward and hit something? Well I have and it can really cause you some problems, especially if you are leaning down to pick up a grandchild and the camera swings out and hits them in the head. Having a shoulder stile strap takes the strain off your neck and prevents the camera from swinging out when you lean forward. A shoulder strap lets the weight be on your should instead of placing a strain on your neck. The strap hangs across your body and you carry the camera on the side near your hip. This is much more comfortable and always ready for instant use.

There are several brands of shoulder straps out there with Black Rapid probably being the best known. I personally went with the Carry Speed Strap because I liked the ability to be able to attach my camera to a tripod without having to remove the strap. I also like the way the bracket that attaches to the camera has the strap hooking to the side instead of the middle like it does on the Black Rapid. If you check out the different brands and for some reason choose one of the other brands of strap but like the Carry Speed Strap better, the bracket can be purchased separately from Carry Speed Strap. Another reason i went with the Carry Speed Strap is that it is less expensive than many of the other brands. Due to the fact I am a pretty big man I was also concerned about the strap being long enough and the CSS brand should be long enough for anyone, I still have room that this strap can be extended farther.

I have no connection with Carry Speed Strap. The reason I talked about it more is because it is the one I ended up getting and have more experience dealing with it. You may find something else that you like much better but the main reason for this tip is to let you be aware of shoulder straps and that they are MUCH MORE comfortable and functional than the standard strap and WELL WORTH THE MONEY, Jeff

[Footski]

A great tip there.

I too got rid of my neck strap and bought a Black Rapid 7. Check out the review below.

BlackRapid RS-7 Reviews

[n8]

I've got a carry speed knock off...$8 on ebay...and I agree, the bracket is nice, but I needed to replace the strap itself as the original was too thin. I've also got an optech. Strap is much nicer but the connection relies an the strap loops on the camera...so I attach it to the other straps bracket.

[BrrrPeoples]

This thread got me to sign up to these forums, great info.

[Grandpaw]

This thread got me to sign up to these forums, great info.

Welcome aboard Brandon! Glad you found this thread useful and we are looking forward to you joining in on the forums and maybe posting some of your pictures. Again welcome to our site and if you have any questions please post them, Jeff

[Old Timer]

This thread continues to grow and provide great information and tips. Thanks Jeff!

[Grandpaw]

Viewing your pictures, menus, or info on the rear LCD screen

When you view pictures on the rear LCD screen you have a limited time before the LCD screen shuts off. This can be adjusted to 4 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds or 1 minute, 5 minutes or 10 minutes before it cuts off to accommodate your needs. You can adjust these times for PLAYBACK, MENUS, INFORMATION DISPLAY and IMAGE REVIEW using these settings. Live view has settings of 5min, 10min, 15min, 20min or 30mins. Many of you may know that the cut off time can be changed so your picture can be viewed longer before the LCD turns off but have you ever wanted a little more viewing time and pushed the play button again to let you continue viewing a picture? TIP, If you are viewing a picture on the rear LCD screen and it goes off, you can view it for an infinite length of time by pressing the play button again on the same picture and just continue to hold the play button down. You will be able to view the picture until the play button is released.

This is how you change the cut off time of the rear LCD screen
Go to the CUSTOM SETTING MENU which is the third one down on the left and looks like a pencil
Scroll down to"C" Timers/AF lock and press the right arrow
Scroll down to "c4", Monitor off delay, and press the right arrow again
Next scroll down to what you want to change and press the right arrow
Choose the amount of time and then press OK
If you would like to change another cut off time, make a selection and change the time
When you are done press the menu button again to exit

Remember that the longer the screen is on the more battery is used but the rear LCD can quickly and easily be turned off by tapping the shutter button.

[Grandpaw]

`Saving custom white balance settings

This tip works in conjunction with a previous tip #27 on setting a custom white balance. It is nice to be able to get a custom WB setting for your perfect shot but did you know that you can save four different sets of these custom settings for use at a later time whenever they are needed? Do you have a few different locations that require a custom white balance that you shoot at regularly? Well this just might be what you need to save a lot of time and aggravation. You can save four different custom settings along with a comment about each of the locations or other info you would like attached to the saved setting.

TIP if you want to try this I would suggest going to TIP #29 and extending the time your menu stays on or active to make this a little easier.

Here is how you do it
This first part is the steps to get the CWB (Custom White Balance) talked about in tip #27
Turn on the rear LCD screen
Locate the white Balance (WB) button that is the third button up from the bottom left side of the back of the camera
While holding down the (WB) button, rotate the thumb wheel through the different types of white balance until you see "PRE", then stop and release the (WB) button
Next push and hold the (WB) button one more time and look at the top LCD screen and see if the "Pre" is flashing, if it is release the button
Next you need to place a white object, such as a piece of paper near your subject so that the light you will be shooting in shines on the paper
Next zoom in or get close enough to the paper so that you can fill up the frame of the camera with the white sheet of paper and press the shutter button. This will only read the lighting and not take a picture
Now look at the top LCD screen and you will either see"GOOD" flashing or "NO GD" flashing
If "GOOD" is flashing you are ready to take a picture
Second step, save that setting from d-0 to one of the other positions by doing the following


This is how you get back to the screen that shows the five Preset locations
Go to the shooting menu which is the second one down on the left and looks like a camera
Press your right arrow then scroll down until you get to White Balance and press the right arrow again
Scroll down to PRE Preset manual and press the right arrow again
You should now be looking at a window that has five location named d0, d1,d2,d3,d4.

d0 will always be the latest Custom White Balance that you have taken and will stay there until a new White balance is taken. What you will want to do now is to copy the reading in d0 and place it in one of the other positions to be saved for later use. The setting MUST be copied and moved to one of the saveable locations because it cannot be set directly to any of these four locations

This is how you save a reading to one of those four location to be recalled for use later
Press the "-" minus button which is the second button up from the bottom left hand side of the rear of the camera
Scroll down to Copy d0 and press OK you will also see a selection on this screen to add a comment such as WB for High School GYM so you know where the WB was taken
Next use your arrows to select a location d1,d2,d3,d4 to save your setting in and press OK. Now the fine adjustment of colors will come up and just press OK again to finish saving your setting.

Later when you want to use one of your saved setting all you do is go back to the screen with the five choices d0,d1,d2,d3,d4 on it and use your arrows to get to the selection you want and press OK twice and your ready to go. Be sure and verify the WB selection you have chosen by looking at the comment below the selection you use. Remember this can be used anywhere the lighting is the same each time you shoot. This can also be used for different studio setups that you may use on a regular basis.

[2muchsnow]

Jeff, thanks again for this tips thread, it's been very helpful in getting familiar with the new camera. In regards to Tip #25 Adding copyright information to the EXF data of each of your pictures…
Followed the steps correctly, it shows it's there on the camera, but when I pull images up in Aperature, the copyright info box is blank in the metadata. All the other data is there. Any thoughts…

[Grandpaw]

Jeff, thanks again for this tips thread, it's been very helpful in getting familiar with the new camera. In regards to Tip #25 Adding copyright information to the EXF data of each of your pictures…
Followed the steps correctly, it shows it's there on the camera, but when I pull images up in Aperature, the copyright info box is blank in the metadata. All the other data is there. Any thoughts…

Look at the last line in the instructions above. Did you put a check in the box that says attach copyright information, scroll up to Done, and then press OK? If you didn't complete this step it will not attach the information. I do not have aperture so I can't check it myself, Jeff

[2muchsnow]

after doing some more digging apparently it's an Aperature problem.

"So aperture still has some bugs with metadata handling.
1. Non recognition of EXIF copyright data when no other IPTC data exists.
2. Peculiar handling of metadata when both EXIF and IPTC data is present (uses EXIF instead of IPTC)"

[Grandpaw]

Getting the rear LCD screen to stay lit as long as you need it

Sometimes you need the rear LCD screen to stay on longer than you have the timer in the menu set for. If you hold down the "Info Button", "Menu Button", or play button the screen will stay lit up until you release the button but you cannot navigate or do anything but view what is on the screen. Have you ever needed to have the rear LCD screen on longer that your setting in the menu is set for and be able to change things in the menu at the same time? Well if you would like to be able to do this I will show you how in this TIP.

First thing you need to do is set your rear LCD screen to come on when you turn the power button past the "on" position like I showed you how to do in TIP #15

Here again is how you do that.
Go to the Custom Setting Menu which is the third one down on the left that looks like a pencil
Next go to the right and down to "F Controls" and push the right side of your toggle button
Next choose f1 switch and push the right side of your toggle button
Next select the bottom option that says "info and information display" and press OK

TIP After completing the above steps you will be able to hold the power button in the position just past POWER ON and that will not only keep both screens lit, it will now allow you to change settings on the MENU SCREEN or additional settings that can be viewed on the INFO SCREEN. While holding the power switch to the PAST POWER ON POSITION you can also push the PLAY BUTTON and use the arrows to scroll up and down through the information about the picture you are viewing or go forward or back up to view other pictures. This isn't something you will do often and it will take a little practice, holding that spring loaded power button in position with your index finger, but if you need the screen to stay lit longer than you have it set for it can come in handy when trying to find something in the menus and make changes, Jeff

[laursen]

Geee, this is a goldmine! - thank you Grandpaw!!:thumbsup:

Cheers Niels

[samhoods]

Thank you Grandpaw for taking the time to share these useful tips.

[seedy]

I'm through tip #3 and all ready realize this is going to be a wealth of information! Thanks for doing this. There are way more features on this camera than there were on my D70!
:thumbsup:

[LeighTower]

Good job, Grandpaw. I think you'll see readership grow, particularly with more of that promotion in PR's newsletter!

[Grandpaw]

Another option to navigate menus with other than the multi selector button

When you are navigating through the menus using the multi selector switch have you ever wondered if there was another way to do this? Well there is! You can use the command dial and the sub command dial to navigate menus with if you choose that option in the menus.

Here is how you do it.

Go to the custom settings menu which is the third one down on the left and looks like a pencil
Press the right arrow button and then scroll down to "F" Controls and press OK
Scroll down to f6 Customize command dials and press OK
Scroll down to Menus and playback and press OK to turn this function ON
Scroll to "ON" and press OK


After following the above directions you will now be able to navigate "Playback of pictures" or the "Menus" by using either the multi function button or the command and sub command dials whichever you may find easier. The command or rear dial will control up and down movement and the sub command dial or front dial will control the left or right movement. If you have it set up this way you have just added a second way to access your menus and still have the original way to access the menus by the Multi Selection Button.

I would also like to thank those people that have taken the time to say that they are finding the tips helpful and of some value, it makes me feel like it is worth the effort, Jeff