Nikon D7000 tips

[Grandpaw]

When I first purchased my Nikon D7000 I tried searching on the internet for any tips or information that might help me with my new camera and didn't have much luck finding any. My purpose for this thread was to just write down a few things that I had found out playing around with my camera that might be helpful to other D7000 owners. My intentions were to write a few things and that would be all but it just seemed to attract more attention as time went on. This thread has had a large number of views from the start that kept me trying to come up with new things to add. The view count for the last 24 hours alone has shown that this thread has been viewed 624 times and I am just astonished at how much interest has been shown towards this information. I would just like to give a VERY BIG THANK YOU to all that have read it and returned to check out the thread for new tips. My goal is to continue posting as long as I can come up with new ideas. If you have any suggestions for tips please email them to me and thanks again for your interest in the tips thread, Jeff

To EMail me just click on the name Grandpaw over to the left hand side of the page just above my picture.

[husk]

Awesome tips Grandpaw!!

I especially found helpful the tips on reducing noise, using the fill flash and the focusing in low light!! An of course how to put the focus point back to the center!!

[Franglais]

Thanks for the tips.

Almost makes me wish I had a D7000. Some of the tips are applicable to my D300 but I think that a lot are for newer models. Time to buy a new camera..

[Grandpaw]

Thanks for the tips.

Almost makes me wish I had a D7000. Some of the tips are applicable to my D300 but I think that a lot are for newer models. Time to buy a new camera..

Charles, thanks for taking a look! I have no way of knowing what other cameras some of these tips will work on so I am leaving it up to the individual readers to see if they can benefit from the tip or not. Some of the tips are good and will work for any camera but all of them will work with the Nikon D7000. I think one of the tips that I find most helpful and use on every shot was tip #3 for me, showing me where the actual point of focus was in each picture viewed on the rear LCD screen. This eliminates a lot of surprises later when reviewing my images on my computer.

I would be interested in finding out which tip each reader found the most helpful, Jeff

[armando_m]

I think many people would pay for the amount of info you have collected ...

Great Thread

[wfooshee]

Along the same line as Franglais, I'm finding some of this applies to my D5000, and some does not. I've gotten some good stuff out of this thread, though, so thanks!!!

[Grandpaw]

Does part of your photo disappear when you have enlargements made?

One of the selling features of the Nikon D7000 is that 100% of what you see in the viewfinder is what you get on your card. This can be helpful or it can cause you problems when you get standard size enlargements made such as 8x10, 11x14, and 16x20. The aspect ration or how the side of the picture relates to the length changes when you print larger than 4x6 prints. A 4x6 print is printed at 3:2 aspect ratio which will include everything that was seen in the viewfinder in the print. When you print a 5x7 image it prints at 4:3 aspect ratio which will cause you to loose a little of the length (see picture below). When you jump to 8x10 and above the aspect ratio will be 5:4 and remain the same for 11x14 and 16x20 and cut off even more of your image. Basically what all this means is that when you enlarge your pictures using the standard sizes mentioned above you will loose some of you picture on either end. You need to keep this in mind when framing your shot and leave enough room so your prints don't have important subject mater cut off when printed. When you plan on making enlargements just keep in mind that while looking through the viewfinder that you will have about 2/3s of the distance from the long edge of the picture and where the outline or your metering system starts in your display that will not get printed and that includes both ends as shown in the picture below.
What this means is, what you want to be on the print needs to be not much wider that the outline for your metering display in the viewfinder so that all of your subject will be included in the print.

If aspect ratios and numbers sound confusing, what it is saying is that a 4x6 print is the same scale as what you are seeing in the viewfinder allowing everything that was seen in the viewfinder to fit in the print. The bigger sizes like 8x10s which are in more of a square shape so that all the subject doesn't fit like it does in the longer slimmer shape of the 4x6. Think wide screen vs regular screen.

After taking a picture if you would like apply a crop to it or see what the final crop would look like you can check it out right on the spot with the software in your camera.

Here is how you do it.

While viewing a picture on the rear LCD screen press the OK button
Next scroll down to "Trim" and press OK again
Use the main command dial at the top right rear side of the camera to choose the aspect ratio you want to see 4x6= 3:2 , 5x7=4:3, 8x10, 11x14 and 16x20 are all 5:4
By scrolling through the different aspect ratios you can see exactly how your picture will get cropped.
While the outline is displayed on the picture you can use the arrows on the multi function selector button on the rear of the camera to move the crop frame around the picture to get just what you want to be in the final picture and press OK

Remember that if you take a picture and decide to go ahead and OK the cropped version for printing later it will be saved as a copy and the original will stay intact on your card. Any of the different options you try will create a copy and not alter the original, so play with your different options and see what you can come up with. After all you purchased the D7000 for what it can do so give it a try. This will allow you to crop you pictures without any additional software.

This is a screen shot of a full picture and you can see that it was fine until the example of the 8x10 crop was over laid on the picture. The crop would make the image much to crowded. This is why you need to keep in mind what the end results need to look like and give yourself some extra room to play with. You can crop sections out but you can't add them on.

[Muzzargh]

Hi Jeff,

I am still waiting for delivery of my new D7000 which is delayed due to the flooding , anyway... regarding posts #39 and #40, have you been able to find out yet?

I had a look around the net and found that the settings file has to be called NCSETUP7.BIN so could you save each individual setting in a seperate folder and name the folder accordingly?

Regards,

Murray

[Grandpaw]

Hi Jeff,

I am still waiting for delivery of my new D7000 which is delayed due to the flooding , anyway... regarding posts #39 and #40, have you been able to find out yet?

I had a look around the net and found that the settings file has to be called NCSETUP7.BIN so could you save each individual setting in a seperate folder and name the folder accordingly?

Regards,
p
Murray

Supposedly you can do that but I tried for about 3 weeks and never was successful. So the answer to your question should be yes but I can't tell you how to do it. Sorry about not posting a reply. I will be posting another tip in the next week or two that I am working on that may help you some in regards to a similar topic, Jeff

[Lakeman]

Nice Forum with good tips.

I acquired my D7000 with f3.5 18-200 ED to reduce my camera size & weight travelling. I wanted the benefits of an DSLR but I did not need to pack all the gear around plus the airlines are not making it friendly to travel anymore. I did a lot of research before I decided on the D7000.

This is my first Nikon, so I have a bit of a learning curve. My older camera is a Olympus E-500 with f2.8 14-54 ED and a f2.8 50-200 ED SWD and a 1.4x Tela-converter. The camera body is a bit dated with today's models but the lenses are fantastic. The main draw was the 18-200 ED lens, one lens to do the work of my three, although it is a compromise over my previous lens. I dropped over 3 kg going this route and only one lens. We trek'ed all over France with my old camera and lens, but packing it for long days became cumbersome. With the trains, planes, boats, and cars the less you carry the better your trip is.

So I greatly appreciate your forum as I have having a few issues learning to master the D2k, especially master the AF system. So keep them coming!

[Grandpaw]

Ever consider trying "Active D Lighting" or "Regular D Lighting"

If your one of those people that would like to make a few adjustments to your photos but don't want to spend money on new software or have a big learning curve to deal with to be able to see results, this tip may be for you. You can apply D Lighting right in your camera without any additional software and you have two choices on D Lighting. You can put your camera in ADL (Active D Lighting) after choosing from five different levels to apply and your camera will make all of the adjustments for you or you can take the picture and apply adjustments later with you choosing what gets done.

First of all you need to know what D Lighting does to decide whether it is something that you may be interested in trying or not. In the dark areas it helps to open up some of the details that you cannot see well and it also helps the highlighted areas from being blown out as much. It is not a cure all but it is a tool that may help you improve your pictures. When you have your settings set to Active D Lighting the camera will automatically adjust and apply the adjustments to the original picture as it is taken and the camera is in control. On the other hand if you apply the D Lighting after the picture is taken you can choose the results from a couple of choices and when you save your choice your camera will save it to a copy and the original will stay intact.

********************************************
This is how you apply D lighting after you take the shot (What I would recommend first).
Pull up a picture and while viewing it on the rear LCD screen press the OK button
Scroll up or down until you have D Lighting highlighted and press OK
Use the multi selector to choose one of the options and press OK

********************************************
This is how you turn on Active D Lighting
Go to the shooting menu which is the second one down on the left and looks like a camera
Scroll down to Active D Lighting and press OK
Choose on of the five choices or OFF and press OK


You will also notice in this area that you have other choices of different things that you can do to change your picture so experiment. Remember that any changes that you make and save will be saved to a copy and the original will stay unaltered. My suggestion would be to try regular D Lighting first and check out the results so that you have the original file still in tact or if you try the Active D Lighting first to go out and try it on several test shots before using it on any pictures you plan on keeping. This is another option that you have available to use if you are not someone that uses Photoshop or some other post processing software. As with all the tips my suggestion would be to give it a try and see if it is something that you like or not, Jeff

[happysoul]

Hello,

Thank you for the thread, very interesting.

I'm a casual/amateur photographer that came back to SLR after a 20 year break ! Nice to learn more about the D7000 that I own since December 2011.

Keep it up !

Cheers

[Grandpaw]

Getting a custom look to your pictures under many different situations

In tip #22, I discussed using the different settings in the SHOOTING MENU under the sub listing PICTURE CONTROLS. You have a choice between Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, or Landscape. If you have tried using any of these settings and they were close but not exactly the look you wanted than this tip is for you. With the Nikon D7000 you have the ability to pick one of the selections and adjust and tweak it to get exactly the look you want and then save it in one of the nine custom locations available. The D7000 gives you the ability to name and customize nine different looks so your pictures will give you just the feeling you want with just the touch of a button. If you add any custom picture controls they will be added to the six different choices already listed under PICTURE CONTROL. This is another one of the many advanced features of the D7000 that will give you the ability to get your picture to have your own special look or style.

Here is how you do it

Go to the SHOOTING MENU which is the second one down on the left and looks like a camera and press the right arrow button
Next use the arrows on the multi function button to locate Manage Picture Control and press OK
Now highlight the Save/edit selection and press OK
Choose one of the six picture controls and the press the right arrow button
Use the multi selection button to adjust each of the different settings to get the effect you want and press the OK button to save the settings.
Now choose one of the Save as locations and press OK
Use the multi selector button to put in the name of your custom setting
When you are done adding the name you will need to press the QUAL button at the bottom left corner at the rear of your camera to save your setting with your new name and you are done


Now when you go to the shooting menu and select PICTURE CONTROL you will see your new custom named setting added to the bottom of the original list. Remember that you now not only have the original six options to choose from you will also have any custom settings that have been added.
This would be a good thing to add to MY MENU so you have quick access for changing settings. The MY MENU can be found at the six location down on the left hand side of the main menu. Hope this is something many of you will find useful, Jeff

[Grandpaw]

This tip is for people shooting more than one model camera.

If you use a Nikon D7000 and any other camera model and possibly take the memory card out of one and use it in another or just pick up one of your spare cards out of your bag you could be in for a potential big problem. Lets say you have a card that was used in your other camera and there is still several shots left on the card that you need. Well if you place it in the D7000 and you have it set in the PLAYBACK MENU to play D7000 files or current files you will not see the files from the second camera during the review process with your camera.

So lets say you have placed this card in the D7000 and shoot some test shots and decide when you are done reviewing what YOU CAN SEE ON THE CARD you want to clear off and reformat the card to eliminate all the pictures you have just reviewed from your testing.

So the first thing you do is format the card and as you press the "Yes I want to delete these photos option" then you realize that there were other pictures on the card that you couldn't see that you still needed while viewing the test photos because your camera was set to view only D7000 pictures. This has the potential of being a disaster but it can easily be avoided.

Here is how you do it

First go to the PLAYBACK MENU which is the top menu and select Playback folder and press the right arrow on the multi selection button
Next select ALL and press OK and you are done

Now if you use memory cards that still have pictures on them from other cameras you will be able to see everything on the card in PLAY BACK and not miss any images. I always keep mine on the option of playing "ALL" of the pictures on the card so none of my pictures will get deleted by mistake. Remember if you cannot see them you could easily format the card and they are gone.

[Grandpaw]

A simple tip that may save you money and headaches

Have you ever set your tripod, extra flash, camera or other piece of equipment down and walked off and left it? If you have and an honest person finds it, how would they know how to get it back to you? Did you know that every year in, just in Disney World alone, the lost and found gets 3,500 digital cameras turned in each year and only about 25% of the items turned in are ever claimed. Disney does their best to locate the owner and send it back to them but most of the time have no idea who it belongs to. Be honest now, have you ever been out shooting around town and left your tripod or flash and drove off without it? There is a simple thing that you can do that just might help you get your item back. Often when someone finds an item their first thought is to try get it back to the owner but have no idea who that might be.

Here is what I do and it has worked for me.
Not everyone is honest and will attempt to return the item to it's owner but you can at least help them out by letting them know who the item belongs to. TIP.... You know those free stick on return labels that you get in the mail all the time, well just stick one of those on each of your pieces of equipment and you will give the finder your name and address to work with to help get it back to you or at least get in touch with you about what you want to do. You know that chargers and extra batteries are often forgotten in hotel rooms when you leave. I have a label on each of my batteries so if something drastic happens, even my camera will have my name and address on it. Did you know that if an item, even as big as a stroller is found at Disney World and they can verify the owner that the item will be shipped to the person and Disney will pay the shipping? The bottom line is that it can't be returned if the finder doesn't know who the owner is.

[Footski]

Another great tip. Mind you I am having a little problem that maybe you can deal with Grandpaw. I have the camera set to show the focus point of my pictures when viewed on the rear screen. Very useful I thought but, and this was pointed out to me by a friend, that focus point is not accurate if you slightly recompose your image after focusing. Compose and focus on your subjects eyes, hold the shutter down halfway to lock exposure and recompose your image before firing the shot. The focus was locked with half shutter pressure but on the resulting image the focus point has moved off the real subject focussed on. I hope this makes sense...Is there any way to correct this or is it just an anomaly of the camera. If so then showing the focus point is only any good if you do not move the camera after focussing.

[Grandpaw]

Another great tip. Mind you I am having a little problem that maybe you can deal with Grandpaw. I have the camera set to show the focus point of my pictures when viewed on the rear screen. Very useful I thought but, and this was pointed out to me by a friend, that focus point is not accurate if you slightly recompose your image after focusing. Compose and focus on your subjects eyes, hold the shutter down halfway to lock exposure and recompose your image before firing the shot. The focus was locked with half shutter pressure but on the resulting image the focus point has moved off the real subject focussed on. I hope this makes sense...Is there any way to correct this or is it just an anomaly of the camera. If so then showing the focus point is only any good if you do not move the camera after focussing.

You need to read what you wrote and you will find your own answer to the problem. You said that you pressed the shutter button half way down and locked the focus point and then recomposed the picture. You are right!! All the camera is going to do is showing you the location of where you locked in the focus point at. It did what it was supposed to do and displayed the point of focus that you locked in. The D7000 has 39 focus point for a reason and that is to allow you 39 different individual points to focus the camera on. Try composing the picture first and then moving the focus point to the location you would like it to be. If you do it this way you will get the composed shot you want and the camera will again show you where the focus point was when the shutter button was pressed half way down and locked the focus point. The camera is showing you where the focus point was when the shutter button was pressed half way down and that is what it is designed to do. It is up to you to use the correct method to get the focus point where you need it. I hope this helps. It is just a matter of using the right technique for the shot you are trying to get, Jeff

[Footski]

I thought I had you with that one, but as usual you come up with the answer. Thanks for that. Just tried it and it works fine doing it the way you describe...:thumbsup:

[Grandpaw]

I thought I had you with that one, but as usual you come up with the answer. Thanks for that. Just tried it and it works fine doing it the way you describe...:thumbsup:

Glad I could help and thanks for letting me know it is working right for you, Jeff

[Grandpaw]

Try converting photos to black & white for a different look & feel

Have you ever taken a picture and thought to yourself, how would that look in black & white? Well with your D7000 it is easy to convert your images to black & white to give your photos an entirely different look right in your camera without any extra software. As always when you pick a picture and modify it the new version will be saved as a copy and you will still have the unchanged original to work with and it is easy and simple to do.

Here is how you do it.
First go to the main menu and choose the RETOUCH MENU which is the fifth menu down on the left side
Highlight Monochrome and press OK
Next highlight Black-and-white and press OK again
Next use the multi function button to choose the picture that you would like to change to black & white and press OK.
Note: if you need to see the thumbnail bigger to verify the picture you want just press the QUAL button in the lower left rear of the camera to see the image fill the screen.


Now you not only have the original photo but an additional photo converted to black & white and saved as a copy. Remember that anytime you alter a picture that you will see a little icon at the top of your LCD screen towards the left hand side that indicates you are looking at a retouched photo. The icon only shows up on your screen when viewing and is not on the actual photo that has been altered.

[Grandpaw]

Resetting your Nikon SB800 flash back to normal operation.

The SB800 can be used as a commander flash or as a remote. If you are in the middle of making adjustments to your SB800 and get confused or have had it set up and can't seem to get it back to the normal flash mode, then this is a tip you may find useful. I had been playing with the adjustments on my flash and had forgot about the changes. I arrived at a shoot this morning and my flash wouldn't fire due to the fact it was set up for remote use. I always carry a back up for everything but was determined to use my SB800 instead of my SB600 I keep as backup. Since I normally do not change setting much on my flashes I couldn't remember how to reset it to shoot normally. So I will tell you how to reset your SB800 and how I figured out what to do.

This is how to reset your flash quickly.
Hold down the mode and power buttons together for a few seconds and it will reset the flash back to normal operation.

This is how I figured out which buttons to hold down.
On the SB800 the flash has a little built in diffuser screen that can be pulled out and flipped down to defuse the light. If you look real close and grab it just right, when the diffuser is pulled out so you can flip it down on the light, you will see a little card that can also be pulled out with it that gives you some instructions on it which includes how to reset the flash back to normal operation.

This is a good tip to remember about the on board instructions because when you are in a hurry the correct buttons may not come to mind. By the way the SB600 does have the pull out diffuser but does not have the instruction information card, Jeff

[AlisonSTL]

I just got a D7000 yesterday and this thread has been SO helpful! I upgraded from a D60 and there's definitely a LOT to learn. There's one feature of the D60 that I can't seem to find on the D7000 and I was wondering if you could help. I like the preview of the picture to show on the display (for a few seconds) after I take it. Do you know a way to set it up to automatically display, or do I have to push the play button each time? Thanks again for putting together all of this info!!!

[Franglais]

See page 200 (about) of your user manual section "Image Review". You go into the Menu system part Playback Menu and set Image Review to On.

Personally I find it distracting. I have my eye glued to the viewfinder, I do a shot and suddenly I am aware that something has lit up just below the viewfinder when I'm trying to concentrate on getting a better shot. But I know lots of people who use it to check every shot

[Grandpaw]

I just got a D7000 yesterday and this thread has been SO helpful! I upgraded from a D60 and there's definitely a LOT to learn. There's one feature of the D60 that I can't seem to find on the D7000 and I was wondering if you could help. I like the preview of the picture to show on the display (for a few seconds) after I take it. Do you know a way to set it up to automatically display, or do I have to push the play button each time? Thanks again for putting together all of this info!!!

Here is how you do it
Go to the Playback menu which is the top menu on the left and press the right arrow on the multi function button
Next scroll down to Image review and press OK
Choose on and the press OK

If you want to change the length of time it stays on this is how you do it
Go to the custom settings menu. 3rd one down on left, looks like a pencil
Go down too "C" Timers/AE lockand press OK
Next scroll down to "c4" Monitor off delay and press OK
Highlight Playback and press OK
scroll down and highlight the amount of time you want and press OK and you are ready to go, Jeff

Note: the play button that turns ON playback when pressed will also turn it off if you press it again

[Grandpaw]

What is the Diopter, where is it at and what does it do.

If you have used DSLR cameras for a while you will probably already know the answer to these questions. If this is your first DSLD you may not have even noticed this very important little knob near the viewfinder. What it does is it allows you to adjust the focus in the viewfinder to match your eyesight so that everything you see in the viewfinder will be nice and sharp. This is especially important if you are manually focusing your camera. The reason I am writing about this is because I was amazed how many people either didn't know it was there or if they did, didn't know how to adjust it properly. Not having this adjusted to match your vision will really give you problems if you manually focus your shots so lets make sure you know where it is and how to adjust it.

Where you can find the Diopter knob
You will generally always find the small knob near the top right hand side of your viewfinder. It is very small and will usually have little ridges on it to make it easier to turn and adjust.

Here is how you adjust it to work with your eyesight
First turn your camera "ON" and remove the lens cap
Next find the little knob. I find it easiest to adjust it with my right thumb on the little button.
While looking through the viewfinder at the information at the bottom of the screen, adjust the knob until you get everything sharp and clear. DO NOT USE what is in your actual view to adjust this, only use the information bar at the bottom of the screen to make adjustments.

The reason for only using the information bar at the bottom of the screen and not the picture is that the camera may not be focused properly and if you use an unfocused picture to adjust this with it will make everything out of focus.

Remember if you use someone Else's camera and you manually focus that you need to adjust this first before shooting. Also, if you let someone else use your camera this would be a very important thing to check and reset before you start shooting again.