Nikon D7000 tips

[Grandpaw]

Ever have the EV setting seem to change by itself?

Have you ever been taking pictures and notice that the EV compensation setting shows a minus or plus value when viewing your pictures in the camera and you haven't changed it? You wonder why this happened so you set it back to zero and notice a few shots later that the EV compensation value has changed again when reviewing your picture? You keep resetting it back to zero but it seems to keep changing on it's own giving you over or under exposed photos. Well I have the answer to this and it is easily fixed. Just to ease your mind I will confirm that it has nothing to do with demons taking over the camera either. What has happened is that your camera has been changed to EASY EXPOSURE COMPENSATION in the menu which allows you to change the EV Compensation using only the rear command dial by itself without holding down the "plus-minus" button on the top of the camera. If you do not realize this option is selected and bump or turn the rear command dial, it will either add or subtract compensation to your photo, either making your photos over or under exposed without you realizing what is going on. I DO NOT RECOMMEND setting your camera up for this due to the potential of bumping the rear command dial and this getting changed accidentally. To check how your camera is set, look at the steps below.

Here is how you do it

Go to the CUSTOM SETTING MENU which is the third selection down on the left that looks like a pencil and press"OK"
Scroll down to "b" Metering/exposure and press "OK"
Scroll down to "b3" Easy exposure compensation and press "OK"
Make sure "OFF" is selected and press "OK" again and you are done.

By making sure the "EASY EXPOSURE COMPENSATION" is turned "OFF", you will not be able to accidentally change the setting preventing unwanted setting changes being made. Having this set up option turned on and not realizing it can drive you crazy trying to figure out what is causing you the problems, Jeff

[Grandpaw]

Seeing your ISO in the viewfinder

It is very handy to be able to see the F-stop and shutter speed in the viewfinder while you are shooting to help you know what your camera is set on but you are leaving out one very important piece of information. It would also be nice to see what ISO your camera is using. It can be very disappointing shooting a large series of pictures only to find out that the ISO was set above normal from your last shoot and you didn't realize it or that the auto ISO has jumped it up and you didn't notice.

I find it very helpful to be able to see the F-stop, shutter speed and the ISO so you can get a complete picture of what is going on each time you look through the viewfinder. If you would like to add being able to view the ISO also to see all three settings this tip will show you how.

Here is how you do it

Go to the CUSTOM SETTING MENU which is the third one down on the left that looks like a pencil and press"OK"
Next highlight "d" Shooting/display and press "OK" again
Next highlight "a3" ISO display and adjustment and press "OK"
Highlight Show ISO sensitivity and press "OK" again and you are done

From now on you will be able to see what ISO setting your camera is on both in the viewfinder and in the LCD display on the top of your camera. If you choose to set your camera up this way the ISO will be shown in place of your remaining picture count in the top LCD screen. To view the remaining photo count, you will need to access it now by pressing the INFO button which will display both the remaining photo count and the ISO on the rear LCD screen. I find it more useful to be able to see the ISO while shooting than seeing the photo count on the top screen. I have my cameras set this way and would highly recommend trying it, Jeff

[Grandpaw]

Assigning the role played by the second SD slot

With the Nikon D7000 you have the ability to have two SD cards in your camera at the same time. The second slot can be assigned to be used for overflow so when the first card get filled it will start placing images in the second card. It can also be assigned as backup so that it will have a duplicate copy of what has been taken on the card in slot one. A third option is to have RAW Slot 1 - JPEG Slot 2. I personally choose to use slot #2 for overflow. If you choose the overflow option the remaining photo count that shows on your LCD screen will only show shots remaining on the active card and NOT the total remaining on both cards. To set this up follow the steps below.

Here is how you do it

Go to the SHOOTING MENU which is the second one down on the left and press "OK "
Scroll down to"Roll played by card in slot 2" and press"OK"
Highlight the option you wish to use and press"OK" and you are done

There is a good possibility that you already knew all of this and have it set in your camera. My Tip for this post is to let you know that you have one more option that was not listed and you may not know about that you can do with slot #2. If you like to shoot video and want to increase your chances of not having your video interrupted by running out of memory you have one more option. Take one of the SD cards that you have with the larger memory capacity and place it in slot #2 and go with the additional option that wasn't listed above.

Here is how you do it

Go to the SHOOTING MENU which is the second one down on the left and press "OK"
Scroll down to Movie settings and press "OK"
Next highlight Destination and press"OK" again
Now choose (2) Slot 2 and press "OK" and you are done

By choosing this option, all of your videos will be placed all together on the second card and will make it easier to keep up with. If you noticed it will also show you the amount of recording time that is available on that card. Your movies clips will be of many different lengths of time up to the maximum of 20 minutes and keeping up with how much memory you have used on this card and how much is remaining can be a problem. The answer to this is to just come back to this same location and it will show you just how much recording time is now remaining on this card. Checking the time remaining every once in a while should keep you from running out of memory during an important recording session.

If you take a lot of video and choose this option I would also like to suggest that you add this in your "MY MENU", (covered in Tip #4), so you can easily and quickly check your second card for the remaining record time you have available. I think this is going to be a very helpful tip for those who choose to use it, Jeff

[Franglais]

With the Nikon D7000 you have the ability to have two SD cards in your camera at the same time. The second slot can be assigned to be used for overflow so when the first card get filled it will start placing images in the second card. It can also be assigned as backup so that it will have a duplicate copy of what has been taken on the card in slot one. A third option is to have RAW Slot 1 - JPEG Slot 2. I personally choose to use slot #2 for overflow. If you choose the overflow option the remaining photo count that shows on your LCD screen will only show shots remaining on the active card and NOT the total remaining on both cards. To set this up follow the steps below.

I've been wondering about what is the best approach now that I have a camera with two cards (D800 - one Compact Flash and one SDHC).

- I don't feel comfortable unless I have a copy of my precious images (rampant paranoia approach)
- I shoot RAW + JPG. The JPG is an immediate copy just in case something happens to the RAW file
- My Compact Flash card is 32GB (with a 16GB one in reserve) while my SDHC card is only 16GB

After some thought I decided:

- the overflow approach doesn't give me a copy of everything on the second card
- the copy-everything-to-both-cards approach isn't really suited when you have different sized cards
- finally I chose to put the RAW files on the CF card and the JPG's on the SDHC card.

When I'm out on a trip and the CF card is full I transfer the RAW files to a computer and format the CF card but I leave all the JPG's on the SDHC card till I get home.

BTW I've noticed that if I remove the first card (CF) it automatically switches over to overflowing everything onto the SDHC card. Smart stuff.

Anybody see anything wrong with this approach? I'm afraid of missing something. Rampant paranoia..

[Grandpaw]

I've been wondering about what is the best approach now that I have a camera with two cards (D800 - one Compact Flash and one SDHC).

- I don't feel comfortable unless I have a copy of my precious images (rampant paranoia approach)
- I shoot RAW + JPG. The JPG is an immediate copy just in case something happens to the RAW file
- My Compact Flash card is 32GB (with a 16GB one in reserve) while my SDHC card is only 16GB

After some thought I decided:

- the overflow approach doesn't give me a copy of everything on the second card
- the copy-everything-to-both-cards approach isn't really suited when you have different sized cards
- finally I chose to put the RAW files on the CF card and the JPG's on the SDHC card.

When I'm out on a trip and the CF card is full I transfer the RAW files to a computer and format the CF card but I leave all the JPG's on the SDHC card till I get home.

BTW I've noticed that if I remove the first card (CF) it automatically switches over to overflowing everything onto the SDHC card. Smart stuff.

Anybody see anything wrong with this approach? I'm afraid of missing something. Rampant paranoia..

I think all of us have different wants, needs, and the way we approach how we do the things we do. As far as I'm concerned this sounds like a good way for you to go about setting it up. Over the last 40 some years of taking pictures the only time I had a problem is when I sent off some film for a wedding and they lost it for a while but was eventually found and everything turned out OK. Now that I send the files over the internet to get printed I always have the original in my possession. As far as the cards I have never had a problem with any of them so I haven't had a need to have a duplicate. This is an option that certainly will not hurt a thing to do but I have to wonder how you ever made it with your other cameras in the past that only had a slot for one card. I take Raw & fine JPEG and that works for me. If I ever have a problem with a card I will probably change my mind. I guess you can never be too safe and if it make you feel more under control go for it because it sure can't hurt anything. Then one day, years in the future, if I ever have a problem you can say that I should have had mine set up for the second slot to back up the first and give me a big"I told you so". Jeff

[Franglais]

I've had very few bad experiences with cards. But it's wider than that. I think I'll start a new post

Thanks

[Grandpaw]

I think I might give the video a try

I am going to give you this tip in the form of a story. I purchased my first good camera back in 1971 and it was a Nikon F 35mm. Over the years I have taken thousands of pictures and really enjoyed my photography. I made the move to digital in about 2005. A few years later when I bought my first camera that did video I just kept on shooting stills and had not tried to do any video. While at a location where I was taking pictures of a man singing and playing a guitar I though that now might be a good time to try the video out. I had been shooting many of my still shots in portrait style to fill the frame up to make the shot more interesting. I had a senior moment and turned my camera vertical and started watching the rear LCD screen and recording the guitar player. Well for my first try at taking a video I found out three important pieces of information. 1st the sound came out pretty good and I was happy with it. 2ND the picture quality seemed very good to me also, and 3rd I had two options for viewing my video on the TV. I could either lay on the couch and watch my great video or turn the TV on it's side because you DO NOT TAKE VIDEO IN PORTRAIT STYLE because it comes out sideways on the screen.

The point of telling you this is that many of us buy equipment and wait until it is time to actually use it before trying it out and learning how it works. My Tip for today is to learn how your equipment works and experiment BEFORE the actual time you need it like I did so you eliminate all the surprises that may keep you from capturing those important memories.

After 40 some years of taking still pictures and not shooting any video, it just seemed natural to turn my camera vertical to frame the shot better. I can tell you that this works well for stills but not so great for video. Fortunately for me I tried my first attempt at video on a subject that really didn't matter whether I got it or not. So many people wait until the important event comes up that they want pictures or video of only to find out they don't know how to operate the equipment they have and either get unusable shots or none at all.

I cannot tell you the amount of times that I have been at an event and watched people that didn't even know how to turn on their camera much less get a picture after they figure out that first important step.

Here is how you do it

Get camera out of box
Read manual
Experiment and learn how to operate camera
Actually use your camera and get familiar with it BEFORE those special events in your life come up
Capture memories that you can keep forever

If you apply this tip with each and every piece of equipment you purchase you will find that your ratio of great memories that you can capture will go up instead of your blood pressure, Jeff

[Franglais]

I had a senior moment and turned my camera vertical and started watching the rear LCD screen and recording the guitar player....

Like the expression, I shall use that one in my English class.

I haven't dared to press the red button on the back of the camera. Haven't read the manual

[bravozulu]

Grandpa,

Have you ever seen or heard of a plasticized shooting checklist for the D7000? Perhaps you have one or two scribbled on index cards you could share.

Yesterday, I went on my first real shooting outing with my new gear. 45 images. Lots of mistakes. I wrongly assumed that if I had cranked in a bunch of personal preferences into PASM custom settings and in U1 and U2, I would be ok. The occasion was a BBQ with a lot of pretty Hollywood young ladies. The outcome was laughable.

If only I would have checked, I would have rectified some truly odd settings. Where the heck the EV -2.7 come from? Gawd. And commander mode for the pop-up. And on, and on, and on.

Gary in Santa Monica

[Grandpaw]

Getting some help with manual focusing

I myself always use auto focus and find that it does an exceptional job on getting sharp pictures. I also use single focus just about 100% of the time. Some people prefer to use manual focus just because they like it, or because they are using non auto focus lenses or might just be shooting macro shots. TIP, if you like using manual focus you can get some assistance by watching the green light, IN FOCUS INDICATOR, that is visible in the lower left hand corner of the viewfinder. This green light lights up when the camera is in focus whether you are using AUTO or MANUAL lenses and can be very helpful as a focusing aid. You can also get an audible beep that can be adjust in volume that will also let you know when focus has been achieved. I will show how to turn "ON" or "OFF" the beep and adjust the volume below.

Here is how you do it

Go to the CUSTOM SETTING MENU which is the third one down on the left and looks like a pencil and press "OK"
Next scroll to "d" Shooting/display and press "OK"
Scroll to "a1" Beep and press "OK" again
Choose Volume and press "OK" again
Choose the level of sound you want and press "OK" one more time and you are done

My personal preference is to shoot on AUTO FOCUS with the audible beep turned off. I have tried shooting in manual and have not had very much luck using my eyes and in comparison have never had the AUTO FOCUS fail me. In many different shooting situations the beep can be annoying and distracting so I choose to leave it off.

I have been gone on vacation but have returned home and plan on posting TIPS on a regular basis again.
Jeff