Nikon D7000 tips

[Grandpaw]

Quick check list to use before shooting

Something that we have all experienced during our time taking pictures and using camera equipment is leaving some or all of your camera settings set the same from the last time you were using the camera. As the cameras become more advanced, and the options increase, the odds of messing up by not checking the settings get greater. I was asked earlier in one of the posts if I had a check check list to go by to help prevent this from happening so I wrote down some of the things I check before shooting each time. No matter how much experience you have or how long you have been shooting it has already happened or will happen to you and mess up some pictures if you do not get in the habit of checking your settings before each use.

In Tip #26 "Quick Check all your settings BEFORE each time you shoot" this was all covered. In this tip I will remind you one more time of the importance of checking and give you a list of things that you can print out and keep with you that may help remind you of settings to look at and check.

Here is my list

Camera & equipment check list

Is my white balance where I will want it
How about that ISO setting
Is you EV compensation set back to normal
Shutter speed not set to very high or very slow speed from last use
If you shoot in Aperture priority, is the F-stop what you want it set on for shooting today?
Image quality set? Raw, JPEG fine, normal, basic
Auto focus set how you want it
Matrix, spot or center weighted OK?
What is the flash set on and is it set on what you will be needing
batteries charged and ready to go and in the camera
enough memory to do the job
Is the lens clean and free of dust and smudges and extra lens cloths with you
If you are new to the camera or photography, do you need the manual

Equipment
All camera bodies and lenses in your bag that you will want or need?
Tripod and quick adapter plates for your camera in the bag
Flash with extra batteries with you. Flash manual along just in case.
Remotes, reflectors and other equipment ready and packed to go
Filters if you plan to use them

You may think of things to add as time goes on but this will give you a good start. Jeff

[bravozulu]

Thanks. That's what I was looking for.

[wfooshee]

Jeff, in looking around to see if I want to upgrade my D5000 to a D7000 (which I do, there's just the small matter of printing - I mean, coming up with - the money) I came across the U1 and U2 settings on the dial, which seems like exactly what you just mentioned.

U1 and U2 are memorized settings. Every setting in the camera is memorized when one of those is stored, giving you a known default to start from. No matter what you've done to the camera, you can go back to one of your stored defaults instantly. It seems like it's a reset, but to your preferences, not a factory default.

That, and the auto-focus adjustment, are lacking on the D5000, and are giving me fits about finding printing ink - I mean, disposable income.

[Grandpaw]

Jeff, in looking around to see if I want to upgrade my D5000 to a D7000 (which I do, there's just the small matter of printing - I mean, coming up with - the money) I came across the U1 and U2 settings on the dial, which seems like exactly what you just mentioned.

U1 and U2 are memorized settings. Every setting in the camera is memorized when one of those is stored, giving you a known default to start from. No matter what you've done to the camera, you can go back to one of your stored defaults instantly. It seems like it's a reset, but to your preferences, not a factory default.

That, and the auto-focus adjustment, are lacking on the D5000, and are giving me fits about finding printing ink - I mean, disposable income.

wfooshee, you are correct in that it will take you back to a saved set of settings with just one click. Generally these would be set up for a couple of types of shooting that you use frequently such as one for portraits and maybe one for landscapes. This way you can go to your preferred settings by just choosing the preset U1 or U2. My above reasoning in the Tip also works for these settings. Lets say you were doing portraits that is saved to U1 and you went on vacation and pulled your camera out to take pictures at a theme park like Disney World and it was still set to U1 for portraits. By doing the quick check list you would notice what the settings were and be able to correct the problem BEFORE messing up a bunch of pictures. It is very handy when you can save all the settings to one location for use again in the future but you still need to check to see if the setting your camera is on will be right for your current shooting conditions. You may just be able to turn to U1 or U2 to get the settings right but you have to do a quick check to realize if and what needs to be done first. Jeff

[Grandpaw]

Using Live View to frame your shot and get correct exposure, UPDATED VERSION

This tip is to tell you how you can adjust your exposure in LIVE VIEW and view your settings changes and also in "M" mode see how the setting changes effect your picture on the rear LCD screen. You can make changes in the shutter speed by turning the rear command dial. The front sub command dial will change the f-stop and the ISO can be changed by holding down the ISO button and turning the rear command dial.

Each and every time I write up a tip I try it with my own camera to make sure that it will work correctly. When I tried this tip before I posted it it seemed to work just fine. I went to my weekly photography meeting to show them and it is acting different now that what I remember it doing when I wrote the tip. Right now this is how mine works. All the examples below are in Live Mode.

"M" you can change the shutter speed or the ISO and see the effect it has on the picture shown on the rear LCD screen. You cannot change the aperture.

"A" mode you can change the aperture or the ISO setting and it will adjust the shutter speed automatically. You will not be able to see changes on the picture that is on the rear LCD screen because each change that you make the camera automatically changes something else to get what it thinks is the correct exposure so the settings will change but the amount of light will remain the same.

"S" mode you can change the shutter speed or the ISO and will see the F-stop change automatically by the camera to correct for the light. You will see no difference on the screen.

"P" mode in Live View will actually be the same as "S" mode above in Live View

The reason you will see the changes in settings in A,S, and P and not see a change it the picture is due to the camera automatically making another change to keep the exposure the same. In the "M" mode there is no automatic function that the camera does in reaction to the changes you make so the exposure on the screen will be effected by each single setting change that you make.

I am going to delete the previous version of this tip to cut down on any confusion it may have caused. Jeff

[Grandpaw]

Try this when focusing is critical

This tip is for when you want to get critical extra pin point focus on an object. You might want to consider using the live view option to fine focus on small objects or when you want to get that really tack sharp focus on your subjects eye when shooting a portrait or when shooting close up macro type shots.

Here is how to do it

Turn on live view place your camera in manual, turn off auto focus. The tip for doing this is to frame your picture FIRST then zoom in on exactly what you want in focus by pressing the the QUAL or "+" button on the lower back left hand corner of the camera. This will allow you to manually focus on the exact point that you want to be the sharpest in your image. Framing your shot first and then zooming in to do your critical focusing dose not change how you had your shot framed up, it only gives you a smaller and closer area to focus on. The picture itself will remain framed just as it was before zooming in to focus. This will work best when using a tripod.

As with all tips, just give it a try and see if you find it useful. It can be used in many different situations but closeup and portraits are two times it may come in very handy. Jeff

[Raymond_K]

Hi All,

I have just joined and wanted to say a big THANK YOU to Jeff for all his hints and tips on how to get even more out of a Nikon D7000 than what one can achieve by reading every page of a very well written manual that comes with the camera.

I am not a professional and admit to only having this camera a few months. I am still experimenting with options (I haven't worked out how many 100's (or could it be 1000's?) there are) but I do know that I am going to enjoy trying out every one of the useful ones that are currently mentioned.

Keep up the great work Jeff. I don't know how many other sites there are similar to this one but I know that I will be referring back to check this one out very frequently!

Thanks and good luck!!

Raymond

[Grandpaw]

Hi All,

I have just joined and wanted to say a big THANK YOU to Jeff for all his hints and tips on how to get even more out of a Nikon D7000 than what one can achieve by reading every page of a very well written manual that comes with the camera.

I am not a professional and admit to only having this camera a few months. I am still experimenting with options (I haven't worked out how many 100's (or could it be 1000's?) there are) but I do know that I am going to enjoy trying out every one of the useful ones that are currently mentioned.

Keep up the great work Jeff. I don't know how many other sites there are similar to this one but I know that I will be referring back to check this one out very frequently!

Thanks and good luck!!

Raymond

Thanks a lot Raymond for letting me know that you are getting something out of the tips thread and are benefiting from it. It's nice to get some feedback once in a while from people that are reading the thread. Thanks again for your positive comments, they are much appreciated. Jeff

[Raymond_K]

Jeff,

I'm wondering if you (or any other reader of this forum) could avise with respect to VIDEO recording with the D7000. To be more specific in my case:

I currently had 2 32Gb cards in the camera (they will be empty to start with) and I plan to film at HD(720p) - not 1080.

My very basic questions are:

1). Are you aware of a (more of less) recording time for each card? I know that there's a maximum of 20 mins per "take", but I'm referring to a TOTAL time per card.

2). What really happens when card 1 fills? Is the video actually split between the 2 cards and, if this is the case, is it easy to recover it (I mean, to store it as just 1 video on a PC).

3). As I have to film a dance type show (I mean, with normal theatre lighting but with a lot of movement on the stage - i.e. jumps, leaps, and God knows what else!!), would you still advise to recording simply in live view and "auto"? If not, are there any basic rules to what you would recommend?

The only reason that I've posted this here now as I feel sure that there are many of your readers who, like me, would appreciate guidance on this subject.

Keep up the great work on these hints and tips - for me at least, they are already proving very useful.

Regards to all,

Raymond

[Grandpaw]

Jeff,

I'm wondering if you (or any other reader of this forum) could advise with respect to VIDEO recording with the D7000. To be more specific in my case:

I currently had 2 32Gb cards in the camera (they will be empty to start with) and I plan to film at HD(720p) - not 1080.

My very basic questions are:

1). Are you aware of a (more of less) recording time for each card? I know that there's a maximum of 20 mins per "take", but I'm referring to a TOTAL time per card.

2). What really happens when card 1 fills? Is the video actually split between the 2 cards and, if this is the case, is it easy to recover it (I mean, to store it as just 1 video on a PC).

3). As I have to film a dance type show (I mean, with normal theatre lighting but with a lot of movement on the stage - i.e. jumps, leaps, and God knows what else!!), would you still advise to recording simply in live view and "auto"? If not, are there any basic rules to what you would recommend?

The only reason that I've posted this here now as I feel sure that there are many of your readers who, like me, would appreciate guidance on this subject.

Keep up the great work on these hints and tips - for me at least, they are already proving very useful.

Regards to all,

Raymond

Raymond, I do not take a lot of video but I will give you two suggestion that may help. First in concerning knowing how much time is remaining for your video I would refer you to Tip #55 that will cover that and tell you how to do it. By setting up your camera to have the video saved to card slot #2 you will always know exactly how much time you have remaining to record your videos.

What I have found as far a video is that leaving my camera in manual focus works much better for me because the camera does not keep refocusing continually which causes problems not only with the video but you can hear the focusing in the audio portion also. I have found that my camera can auto focus much better than I can manually focus so this is how I proceed when recording video. Before I go into video mode I just point my camera at where the action will be and take a auto focus reading because I do not seem to do a very good job in focusing in manual. Once the camera has acquired the focus I turn the auto focus OFF, and now I am ready to turn on live view and get ready to record. This gets me the focus that I don't seem to be able to get manually and it also eliminates the camera continually refocusing and also eliminates the sound that is picked up each time the camera refocuses. Now I am ready to turn on the live view and start recording.

This is what I found that works for me but I will have to mention again that I do not do a lot of video and someone else may have some better suggestions than I am able to give you. When recording, if you need or want to move your camera around for different views be sure and make all your movements slow and smooth so that your picture does not look jerky from the movement. Good luck with the video and I would HIGHLY SUGGEST doing a little practicing BEFORE the night of the show. Jeff

[Raymond_K]

Jeff,

Thanks for that tip about focussing automatically first and then turning off the automatic focussing and just staying in manual - to be honest, I would never have thought of that one!!!

I will give it a try and certainly practice before trying to video the show as it's of my daughter's dance company and I would hate to let her down with a bad video!!!

Final question for you (for the moment, at least!) is that, if one ever wants to upload a photo (or maybe even a video) to this site, there appears to be a very low limit (that of around 280Kb) and I was wondering whether you consider that has been set precisely to AVOID filling this site up with photos?

I just thought that it could be of interest for all to be able to, at times, post a video or photo so as to discuss it, get your personal opinion, get other opinions and even possible suggestions too.

Please let me know what you think about the "uploading" of photos and, once again, thanks for the tip about focussing - I'll let you know how I get on.

Many thanks,

Raymond

[Grandpaw]

A very simple but helpful tip when using your tripod

One of my favorite types of photography is nighttime or available light photography. When I get through shooting I have a tendency to remove my tripod from my camera and place it in the rear of my car and put my camera in front with me so I can take it in and check out my pictures when I get home. After looking at my pictures I remove the quick connect that attaches my camera to the tripod and it gets set on my desk to be put up latter. The problem with this method is several times when I went out to shoot the next time my quick connect was still on my desk. I had the tripod, camera and everything else but did not have the quick connect. This became a big problem and needed to be fixed

Here is what I did.

Now I have an extra quick connect that I leave mounted to my longer lens which makes it easy to attach to a tripod when needed. The thing that helped me the most, and the simple tip for this week, is remove the quick connect from the camera when your done shooting and attach back it to the tripod. I have gotten in the habit of doing this and now I never have a tripod without the quick connect right where I need it. I leave my tripod in the car and the quick connect on the tripod and have not had the is problem come up again. This is a very simple tip but one that has been very beneficial to me. You can have all the cameras, lenses and tripods you want but if the quick connect is not with you, you are can't shoot at night with your tripod. Jeff

[Raymond_K]

Hi there Jeff,

I would appreciate your clarification as to what difference there is between the "P" mode and the "Auto" mode (without flash) when taking a photo.

The reason that I'm asking this is that the manual (it's on page 67 in the one I have) states that, for the "P" setting (i.e programmed auto), "the camera sets shutter speed and aperture for optimal exposure".

What I mean is that, if one selects the "Auto" mode (WITHOUT flash), what really is the difference between these 2 modes? Does this mean that the "P" mode will select a BETTER setting than the "Auto" (without flash) and, if it does, could you please explain the benefit(s) of using the "P" mode.

Hopefully I'm not showing myself up as too much of a beginner but, even asking friends and colleagues (NOT camera experts, unfortunately!), no-one has been able to clarify this for me.

Once again, thanks for all your tips on this site - I'm still working through them!!

Very best regards.

Raymond

[Grandpaw]

Raymond, if you take a picture in "P" mode and take the same picture in Auto (without the flash) you should get the same setting for both pictures. The difference is that the "P" mode will allow you to change the F-stop, shutter speed, or ISO from what the camera has chosen and will automatically adjust to get the correct exposure.

Say for instance if you are in "P" mode and the camera picks the settings for you and the shutter speed it chooses is too slow for the action you are taking, you have the ability to go to a faster shutter speed and the camera will automatically adjust the F-stop to get the correct exposure.

Basically the "P" mode is the same as Auto (without the flash) but you also have the ability to change a setting to match you needs and the camera will automatically adjust the rest of the settings to get what it thinks is the correct exposure. You can adjust the F-stop, shutter speed, or ISO in "P" mode and the camera will automatically adjust the other setting to get the correct exposure.

In Auto mode (with the flash turned off) you basically have an expensive point and shoot camera without a flash. Jeff

[Raymond_K]

Jeff,

This is like having a hotline to Nikon support - LOL!!

Thanks a million for such a quick reply!!

Maybe it's worth adding something like this as a tip? Well, I know that I'm finding all of this more than useful and I hope that other readers of this forum are too.

If anyone feels that I'm asking Jeff too many questions, please reply here and I will refrain. It's just that I have not found such a helpful site (and person) and I'm personally benefiting greatly.

Thank you once again Jeff!!

Best regards,

Raymond

[Grandpaw]

A great book to get on the Nikon D7000

I like to learn as much as I cam about each and every camera that I purchase. The Nikon D7000 is no exception so after getting the camera my research began on which book that would help me learn as much as I could about my hew camera. I read many reviews on several books and decided to purchase "Mastering the Nikon D7000" By Darrell Young. I am sure there are many books out there but this 479 page book covers everything and does it very well. It is written in easy to understand language and has many photos that show you just what to do.

Here is what to do

My tip for today is to purchase this book and learn as much about your camera as you can. The more you know and can get out of your camera the more enjoyment you will have. I very highly recommend this book. Jeff

[n8]

but if we read the book, why read your thread? ;)

I always prefer to have the manual in one hand, and my camera in the other in order to learn the functions. Nikon is notorious for not writing their manuals, or the help menus very well though, so such a book may be nice.

[Grandpaw]

but if we read the book, why read your thread? ;)

I always prefer to have the manual in one hand, and my camera in the other in order to learn the functions. Nikon is notorious for not writing their manuals, or the help menus very well though, so such a book may be nice.

Nate, I can't compare this book to any of the others because it is the first and only one I bought. Between this book and my tips thread you shouldn't need anything else. "LOL Jeff

[bravozulu]

I've got Young's "Mastering D7000" book. It is comprehensive. But for a beginner like me, the Nikon User Manual got me shooting, while the Young book got me sitting on a couch fiddling with Menus.

At the earliest stage of my digital experience, I should have followed the advice to 'Set Everything in Manual and Start Shooting'. That would have capitalized on my knowledge of Aperture/Shutter/ISO and educated me about the basic camera functionality.

First things first as they say. Mastering the D7000 really comes into play at a later stage of learning. Just my opinion.

[Grandpaw]

I've got Young's "Mastering D7000" book. It is comprehensive. But for a beginner like me, the Nikon User Manual got me shooting, while the Young book got me sitting on a couch fiddling with Menus.

At the earliest stage of my digital experience, I should have followed the advice to 'Set Everything in Manual and Start Shooting'. That would have capitalized on my knowledge of Aperture/Shutter/ISO and educated me about the basic camera functionality.

First things first as they say. Mastering the D7000 really comes into play at a later stage of learning. Just my opinion.

I get the point that you are making about beginners but the book IS CALLED "Mastering the Nikon D7000" and it is designed to do just that. It is NOT designed to teach you digital photography. You will really enjoy the D7000 after you get a little experience under your belt and I am looking forward to seeing some of your pictures. If I can help you with anything, shoot me an E-Mail. Jeff

[Raymond_K]

Jeff,

Maybe just a coincidence but the only book that I decided to buy was the "Mastering the Nikon D7000" by Darrell Young and, whilst one can spend a lot of time "sitting on a couch and fiddling with Menus" (and there are SO SO many different options!) as was "correctly" pointed out by "BravoZulu", I have to agree with Jeff in that the book is designed to show you all the very many different aspects of this wonderful camera and not teach one Digital Photography.

Personally, I also found more than helpful, Darrell's "recommendations" at the end of most of the chapters to suggest and to show what he personally uses. Being still very much a beginner, I have found this book very (very!) helpful. Also, I feel that, with any camera of this (may I use the word) complexity, it really is a case of setting the camera to Manual and just trying things out as also mentioned by BravoZulu.

Jeff, I have a question for you now (in post #170) where you say that "you are looking forward to seeing some pictures" - my question being as to where and how can one upload them? From what I've seen, there is a restriction of just about 300Kb on the file size which can be uploaded which, in my opinion, does not let me upload ANY photo that I've taken. I feel that (possibly?) I'm looking in the wrong place to do this and maybe others too are having the same issue (or could it be that it's just me??????).

Looking forward to your clarification when you have time.

As before, very many thanks for a great forum!!

Raymond

[Grandpaw]

Jeff,

Maybe just a coincidence but the only book that I decided to buy was the "Mastering the Nikon D7000" by Darrell Young and, whilst one can spend a lot of time "sitting on a couch and fiddling with Menus" (and there are SO SO many different options!) as was "correctly" pointed out by "BravoZulu", I have to agree with Jeff in that the book is designed to show you all the very many different aspects of this wonderful camera and not teach one Digital Photography.

Personally, I also found more than helpful, Darrell's "recommendations" at the end of most of the chapters to suggest and to show what he personally uses. Being still very much a beginner, I have found this book very (very!) helpful. Also, I feel that, with any camera of this (may I use the word) complexity, it really is a case of setting the camera to Manual and just trying things out as also mentioned by BravoZulu.

Jeff, I have a question for you now (in post #170) where you say that "you are looking forward to seeing some pictures" - my question being as to where and how can one upload them? From what I've seen, there is a restriction of just about 300Kb on the file size which can be uploaded which, in my opinion, does not let me upload ANY photo that I've taken. I feel that (possibly?) I'm looking in the wrong place to do this and maybe others too are having the same issue (or could it be that it's just me??????).

Looking forward to your clarification when you have time.

As before, very many thanks for a great forum!!

Raymond

Raymond, I sent you an e-mail. Jeff

[Raymond_K]

Hi there Jeff,

Thanks for your reply and I have since ordered Adobe Photoshop Elements as you suggested. Now, all's that's needed is to study the application and learn all of it's many tips. I have since also spoken to other colleagues and find that it appears to be one of the most used applications within the photographic field (and no, I do NOT work for Adobe!!!).

Thank you once again for your advice.

Raymond

[Grandpaw]

Hi there Jeff,

Thanks for your reply and I have since ordered Adobe Photoshop Elements as you suggested. Now, all's that's needed is to study the application and learn all of it's many tips. I have since also spoken to other colleagues and find that it appears to be one of the most used applications within the photographic field (and no, I do NOT work for Adobe!!!).

Thank you once again for your advice.

Raymond

Raymond, actually if you read my E-Mail again I suggested Adobe Lightroom and not Elements but you may be able to do what you need with that also. Jeff

[Raymond_K]

Jeff,

Yes, you are right - the reason that I purchased Elements was that it was supported on Windows XP and I had been "warned" that Lightroom 4 (which I understand is the current version) was not.

Being sincere, I just wanted to play safe but wanted to confirm that you did recommend Lightroom to me.

Apologies for any confusion!!!

Best regards,

Raymond