Nikon D7000 tips

[Grandpaw]

Copy images from one SD card to another within your camera

If during shooting, or any other time, you decide you need a copy of all the pictures you have taken or you need to copy a select amount to a second card you can do it within your D7000. If you had intended to have your camera make a duplicate copy of each of your pictures to the second card slot and forgot to set it up that way you can still copy all or part of your photos to the second card. You may have a situation that you would like to share a select amount of photo's by choosing them and copying them to a second card to share with someone else and this can be done also.

Here is how to do it

To copy ALL FILES do this. For this example we will copy all the files from Slot 1 to slot 2

Go to the PLAYBACK MENU press "OK" and scroll to Copy image(s) and press "OK"
Choose "Select source" and press "OK"
Next choose slot 1 and press "OK"
Next choose Select images and press "OK"
Next your file will come up and press"OK" again
Choose Select all images and press "OK" again
You will see that everything has been chosen with a check mark and press "OK" again
Select Copy images and press "OK"
It will say Copy? Choose Yes and press "OK" again and it will start copying the files to card slot 2 and when it shows done the copy is completed


To copy selected photos to a second card. For this example we will copy a few photos from slot 1 to slot 2

Go to the PLAYBACK MENU press "OK" and scroll to Copy image(s) and press "OK"
Choose Select source and press "OK"
Next choose slot 1 and press "OK"
Next choose Select images and press "OK"
Next your file will come up and press"OK" again
Choose Select protected images and press "OK" again
Choose the images that you want to copy by pressing the ISO button on the rear of the camera to select photos and the control button to navigate though you photos and press"OK"
Select Copy images and press "OK"
It will say Copy? Choose Yes and press "OK" again and it will start copying the files to card slot 2 and when it shows done the copy is completed

To copy all or select photos to another card does take several steps and it may not be an option that you do not need very often but it is helpful to know it can be done. If you start at the PLAYBACK MENU and just read your choices you should be able to accomplished this without having to remember all the steps just by reading the options in your camera's menu. Jeff

[Grandpaw]

Are you having trouble keeping your horizons level?

Many times when we take a picture in a hurry or are just not paying attention we find that the horizon line in the picture is tilted either to the left or to the right. This happens a lot when taking landscape pictures or pictures near water or at the beach. After you take the picture you notice that the horizon line is not level and makes the water look like it is flowing toward on side of your image. This looks very distracting and can really mess up a otherwise very good picture. Did you know that this can be corrected right in your camera without having or using any special or additional software?

Here is how you do it

First go to "RETOUCH MENU"which is the 5th menu down on the left that looks like a brush and press "OK"
Next scroll to Straighten and press "OK" again
Next use your multi selector to choose the picture you want to straighten and press "OK"
Now use the left or right arrows on the multi selector to straighten your picture. You can see how much you have moved it and in what direction by watching the yellow indicator at the bottom of your LCD screen.
When you get the picture like you want it press "OK" one more time and you are done


You can straighten up any picture you want up to 5 degrees by using this method within the camera. As always, when you modify a image using your software in the camera and save it, the camera will save it as a copy and you will retain the original just in case you change your mind. The software in your camera will automatically crop off the extra edge of the image that is created by straightening your picture so remember that you will loose some of the picture due to your adjustments. Jeff

[Grandpaw]

Are you having trouble with dust spots in your pictures?

As time goes on and you change lenses those dreaded little dust spots just might start showing up in your pictures. These can be real annoying and require a sensor cleaning to eliminate. This happened to me recently and I tried locking my mirror up and blowing the dust out with a little bulb blower that you squeeze to get the air to come out, DO NOT USE CANNED AIR. Well after trying that several times and it not working I called the camera store to find out that they would clean it at a cost of $50.00. These spots start showing up more as you close down your lens to around F11 or smaller. If you want to find out if you have a dust problem close your lens down to a small F stop opening and point your camera at a nice blue sky and snap a picture and it should reveal any dust problems that you might have. I was getting ready to make the trip to the camera store when I called a buddy of mine and was discussing the problem with him and he suggested checking the lenses first so I removed my filter and cleaned both ends of my lenses along with both sides of my filter. To my surprise almost all of my problems disappeared.

So my tip for this time is before you panic and think you have some real problems with you sensor needing a good expensive cleaning, try the easy route first and clean all your lenses and filters, you just might be surprised at the results. Jeff

[Grandpaw]

Today I am celebrating my thread being viewed over 50,000 times and would very much like to thank all of you that have read it. This thread has gotten much bigger than I had ever expected it to be and it is all due to those of you that take the time to read and recommend it to others. Thank you very much for your support and for continuing to drop in to check out the newer tips. I hope that all of you have managed to find at least a few ideas that you might have found helpful. Thanks again to everyone and your support is much appreciated. Jeff

[Grandpaw]

Why or why not turn the audible beep to "ON" for Autofocus

Did you know that you can not only turn the audible beep "on" or "off" when using Autofocus you can also change the volume and pitch of the beep to customize it to your liking. Some people like it and some don't but let me give you a little more information that may help you make a better decision for this option.

I find that the beep is very helpful especially when shooting action such as birds in flight. I can concentrate on keeping my subject in the frame and still know by the beep that the subject is in focus. I have the beep turned on but have set the volume to level "1" where it can only be heard when you eye is at the eyepiece. This way I get the benefit of the beep but do not have a loud sound annoying me giving me the best of both worlds. If you want to change or adjust your volume or pitch of the beep this is how you do it. I find it helpful and have mine set to volume level "1" and to "High pitch".

Here is how you do it

Go to CUSTOM SETTING MENU and press "OK"
Next select "a" Autofocus and press "OK" again
Scroll to"d1" Beep and press "OK"
Select the volume and adjust the level and press "OK"
Now select pitch and adjust it then press "OK" and you are done


I would like to add that the Beep works on "Auto focus" and "Single Point Focus" and will not be audible for "Continuos Focus". Jeff

[Franglais]

Shouldn't that be Custom Menu option "d1" rather than "a1" ?

I don't like people who go audibly beep-beep when the focus is OK but I didn't realise you could set the volume. I just tried it on my D800 and it's option d1. I checked the D7000 user manual and it seems to be the same.

[Grandpaw]

Shouldn't that be Custom Menu option "d1" rather than "a1" ?

I don't like people who go audibly beep-beep when the focus is OK but I didn't realise you could set the volume. I just tried it on my D800 and it's option d1. I checked the D7000 user manual and it seems to be the same.

WOW, people really do read and try my tips!!! Thanks Charles I corrected it. Appreciate you reading it and bringing it to my attention. I knew the correct location, I just typed it in wrong but my post is now correct. Thanks again, Jeff

[Grandpaw]

Increasing your percentage of keepers when shooting

Many times when I am discussing photography with other people or reading posts on the internet it is mentioned often about the number of pictures that they had taken that day. It seems like it is a piece of information that they are proud of when they say , "I shot 400 images today" or some other large amount and they say it with pride. I can't tell you the amount of times I have heard a statement such as this but in all my years I have NEVER, not even one time, heard someone follow up that statement by telling me the percentage of shots out of those hundreds of shutter activations that were worth keeping. I came up shooting film and learned that I needed to make each shot count and back in those days the discussion was always geared more to how many good pictures that were taken and NOT geared to the TOTAL AMOUNT of pictures that were shot. Back then the objective was more on making each shot worth keeping instead of what the count was of the shots taken. There are pros and cons when comparing using film as compared to shooting with digital and I am not going to get into all of those now but I would like to suggest trying something that you may just find to improve the amount of shots that you actually keep.

I would like to suggest that, as an experiment, that you limit the number of shots of each subject to two or three and no more. Concentrate on each shot and try to make it the very best that you can in the limited number of tries that you have given yourself. I think that by limiting the number of images of each subject that you will learn to rely more on your skills instead of relying on the ability to take many shots of each subject and hope that one out of the bunch will be a keeper. I myself have noticed that by knowing I can virtually take as many shots of each subject as I want that my percentage of photos that are worth looking at has gone way down. It is like giving a box of bullets to a man with a machine gun compared to giving that same box of bullets to a sniper. The sniper will go out with making each and every shot count, where as the guy with the machine gun will have a lot of missed shots or wasted bullets.

I would like to add that there will be times that you may want to go out and experiment with many different settings on one subject and this will result in a lot of pictures taken and that is just fine.

For this tip I would like to suggest that you try and take fewer pictures of your subjects and learn to rely more on your skills than the ability of your camera to take many pictures with the hope that one of the bunch is worth keeping. I might add that I will be following my own advice and doing this myself. I find that it gets very boring when I come in after shooting and looking at soooo many pictures of the same thing and hoping one of the bunch is good. I think that digital age makes it very easy for people to get lazy and let their skills fall by the wayside. Remember that it is not the amount of pictures that you take but the amount you take that are worth keeping that counts. Jeff

[wfooshee]

Nice challenge, and "conserve film" vs "toss digital" is probably worthy of its own discussion separate from your tips thread.

Having just shot 1000 frames over two days at an air show, my hand is up on the guilty side! But I have to say for a significant fraction of those 1000 frames, I had the camera bursting through what was happening, knowing that one of those would probably be what I want. If you see the poof of vapor on the plane in the viewfinder, it's gone by the time you can react and hit the shutter, so you can't plan the picture. Burst as the plane passes and hope for the best 8 or 9 times instead of one or two. As for discarding, that happens in the RAW processor of Photoshop, before they even go on to editing. Once I see it on the PC screen (as oppposed to the camera's LCD) I make the yay-or-nay call and press the delete key, only continuing PP with the keepers.

Bursting like that is something you absolutely wouldn't do with film unless somebody else was buying it (and had bought you a bulk loader as well,) but I've found it to be a "proper" use of the tool I have in my hand these days.

That said, when I'm out at a state park hunting birds or bugs, the shutter mode is on single. Even then, not worrying about the cost of film lets me try shots I otherwise wouldn't, even shots I try to plan, like the in-flight dragonfly I got a few weeks ago right after buying my D7000. But when I'm at a race or an airshow, it's at least countinuous-low, and probably continuous-high.

I know exactly what you're saying, though! Back "in the day," it was incredibly difficult to take 4, maybe 6 36-exposure rolls to a race weekend and make sure I had film at the finish! And in the very few weddings I've shot digitally, I've never done 6 or 7 of each shot "just to make sure." If the bride's grandma was about to sneeze, well, they can just skip ordering that shot if they don't like it. And who wants o sort through that stuff (essentially somebody else's pictures) afterwards, anyway?

[Grandpaw]

Nice challenge, and "conserve film" vs "toss digital" is probably worthy of its own discussion separate from your tips thread.

Having just shot 1000 frames over two days at an air show, my hand is up on the guilty side! But I have to say for a significant fraction of those 1000 frames, I had the camera bursting through what was happening, knowing that one of those would probably be what I want. If you see the poof of vapor on the plane in the viewfinder, it's gone by the time you can react and hit the shutter, so you can't plan the picture. Burst as the plane passes and hope for the best 8 or 9 times instead of one or two. As for discarding, that happens in the RAW processor of Photoshop, before they even go on to editing. Once I see it on the PC screen (as oppposed to the camera's LCD) I make the yay-or-nay call and press the delete key, only continuing PP with the keepers.

Bursting like that is something you absolutely wouldn't do with film unless somebody else was buying it (and had bought you a bulk loader as well,) but I've found it to be a "proper" use of the tool I have in my hand these days.

That said, when I'm out at a state park hunting birds or bugs, the shutter mode is on single. Even then, not worrying about the cost of film lets me try shots I otherwise wouldn't, even shots I try to plan, like the in-flight dragonfly I got a few weeks ago right after buying my D7000. But when I'm at a race or an airshow, it's at least countinuous-low, and probably continuous-high.

I know exactly what you're saying, though! Back "in the day," it was incredibly difficult to take 4, maybe 6 36-exposure rolls to a race weekend and make sure I had film at the finish! And in the very few weddings I've shot digitally, I've never done 6 or 7 of each shot "just to make sure." If the bride's grandma was about to sneeze, well, they can just skip ordering that shot if they don't like it. And who wants o sort through that stuff (essentially somebody else's pictures) afterwards, anyway?

Walter, I think we are both on the same page on this. There will always be times when shooting in burst mode is the way to go and there will be times when you want to experiment on a shot and that will run up the amount of shots taken and there is certainly nothing wrong with either example. Not using the different options that a digital camera provides would defeat one of the many reasons to go digital in the first place. The point I am trying to get people to think about is to rely more on developing and keeping their own skills sharp instead just shooting a bunch of pictures and hoping a few may come out good enough to keep. To me there is a big difference between using an option that is available or abusing it. I myself find that if I pay more attention to what I am doing and not go overboard with shooting a lot of images that I end up with better pictures. I hope that people will try my suggestion and see if will make a difference with them like it does with me. Jeff

[masjojon]

Thanks for the many helpful tips, jeff!

[Grandpaw]

Thanks for the many helpful tips, jeff!

You are welcome, and thanks for your support. Jeff

[qwenwen]

Thanks for sharing....

[Grandpaw]

Why doesn't my D7000 give me pictures like I see in the sample galleries

I think the answer to this question applies to every camera that has ever been purchased. One of the things that most of us do before making a purchase is to research the different cameras and options that each one has to offer and to check out the galleries of images that each camera can produce to help us make a decision. After looking at all the reviews and pictures and asking what others think or recommend we finally make our mind up on which camera we want. At this point we have worked up our excitement and enthusiasm for this camera and order it. While we are waiting for it to arrive we get even more excited with the anticipation of the outstanding pictures that will be produced with this camera. Well, now the camera has arrived and we un-box it with great excitement and race out to get some of those outstanding pictures like the ones that are still fresh in our mind from the many examples that were looked at during the research time spent earlier. After taking a bunch of pictures you race back to download them to your computer so you can validate your choice of camera and then it hits you, what the heck happened? These pictures are not up to par with all the examples that you had been looking at earlier during the research time spent on this camera. Now everything turns from excitement to disappointment and you don't understand what is going on. Well, I will try and explain what I think the reason for the less than expected results were probably caused by.

During all the research and looking at all the stunning pictures in the galleries that were produced with this camera and reading pages of reviews there was one very important piece of information that was not mentioned anywhere in all the reading that was done and here is the important part that you never read about. The people that took those stunning pictures actually took the time to learn how the camera worked and not only invested the money in the camera but also invested the time in learning how to set it up and use it properly. The camera is set up with a group of settings by default that will give you some very nice pictures but if you want to get the kind of pictures that you checked out that helped make you decide to get this camera in the first place. My TIP for you would be to invest the time needed and learn how to adjust the settings and use the many options the camera has to offer so you can get the most out of your camera and be able to produce those stunning pictures that you were expecting to get when the decision was made to get this camera in the first place. Jeff

[Grandpaw]

My tripod and camera is setup but where is my remote

In Tip #18 I discussed why and how to use a Nikon ML-L3 wireless remote. I have found this very inexpensive and useful accessory easy to loose or just not have with you when you need it. Sometimes when you are out shooting and find a need to use your remote it is either in the bag in your vehicle, back at the house or just some place that doesn't come to mind. In any case this remote is useless if it isn't with you.

My tip this time will be helpful to those of us that use a shoulder strap with a zipper pocket in the pad. My suggestion is to store your wireless remote in the compartment on your shoulder strap and it will always be handy and available when it is needed. I also recommend keeping a spare SD in one of those little plastic cases in the compartment on your strap for times when you just run out of memory or just find you forget to have any card in your camera at all and need one.
For those of you that have not purchased a shoulder strap to replace the "Pain in the neck" strap that came with the camera, this might just give you another reason to consider getting one. Personally I find this a very handy idea. Jeff

[volks]

All I can say is WOW ! An incredible amount of work and so much useful information.
What a service to all the d7000 owners.
We all owe you Grandpaw.

[volks]

All I can say is WOW ! An incredible amount of work and so much useful information.
What a service to all the d7000 owners.
We all owe you Grandpaw. :thumbsup:

[Grandpaw]

All I can say is WOW ! An incredible amount of work and so much useful information.
What a service to all the d7000 owners.
We all owe you Grandpaw. :thumbsup:

Volks, I really appreciate your comment and support. I has helped me learn many new things along the way by doing research for the different tips. Jeff

[volks]

Jeff, you are most welcome. I've decided to stay with the dx format. I just like the longer reach and overall less weight.
Just waiting to see what Nikon's next move is with the d7000. I think an upgrade will come soon. It's tempting to get the d7000 again as it can be had for $899.00 her in Vancouver.

[wfooshee]

Contributed tip: (Looked through, but didn't see this in the thread. Apologies for the redundancy if I missed it.)

If your camera doesn't take the picture when you push the shutter button, but clicks a few seconds later, it's probably because you left it in self-timer mode. There is no indication in the viewfinder that the timer is counting down, and you can't see the flashing LED on the front of the camera when you're behind it.

If, like me, you've moved up to this camera from something "less," you're used to the self-timer being a button you hold while you press the shutter, and not an actual mode that gets dialed in permanently.

It only took me, oh, five minutes or so of panic before I realised what I'd done. :mad2: Of course I used the self timer and didn't immediately set the release mode back to my general-use Single or Continuous-low setting.

Had I been taking someone's picture, they probably would have asked what the blinking light is for, and I would have answered something like, "That's not supposed to be doing that, it's for the.... Oh." :blush2: I was taking sunsets, though. I actually got two before I figured it out!

[Grandpaw]

Getting great pictures of your kids on rides at attractions

My family has taken our last two vacations at Disney World in Florida and Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. One of the things you do in these attractions are wait in long lines with your kids and grand-kids to get on a ride that they really like. Many times you have to wait for a long time for the moment to come and the children get their chance at the roller coaster, fairest wheel, or many of the other rides. The whole time they are in line you are waiting to get that once in a lifetime picture on that two or three minute ride and after it is over you look at your photo or video only to find out that you were in the wrong place, the lighting was wrong or many other things that might not have been just right and have disappointing results. Then you think, boy if I just had another chance to get that photo or video.

Now for the tip! This is a simple common thing to do but rarely will most people think about doing it. One of the BIG advantages of shooting a digital camera is that if you don't like something you can simply erase it so why not shoot a few practice shots or videos of the kids that get on the ride ahead of yours and check the angle, lighting and other aspects of the shot to find out if you have everything like you want it and take advantage of this time while you are waiting and do a few trial shots or videos BEFORE your child's turn comes up. Take advantage of you camera's delete option. If it is not OK you can correct the problem or if everything is great you are good to go and will not miss the shot that REALLY COUNTS. By doing this you can get two or three chances to get it like you want it and delete the practice runs. This will allow you to eliminate the mistakes BEFORE that special time when you child's turn comes up. This will give you a second chance and only have to go through the line once to get it right. The time to find out something wasn't set right is NOT after your child gets off the ride, but to eliminate the problem BEFORE it happens. Jeff

[Grandpaw]

Things I learned about shooting video while on vacation

The week of Thanksgiving my wife and I went with our boys and their families to Pigeon Forge, Tn. There were many things to take pictures of and video while we were there. First we went to Dollwood which is a theme park that has rides that my sons and the grand-kids road on. One of them was a roller coaster and the ride went around three times before stopping for new riders. This gave me three chances to get my shot. Well I noticed that the ride had six cars on it and I had family in two of them to try and get a shot of. This seemed to be a time to use one my cameras options that I rarely use and that is the six frames per second burst mode. The first time around I got one of the boys and missed the rest. The second time around my timing was better and in one push of my shutter I shot off six shots and nailed all six of the cars on the ride with one push of my shutter and that left me with one spare chance to do it again. By using my burst mode I got the pictures I wanted and the kids only had to wait in line once for grandpaw to get a good shot. Any time that you are trying to catch some action the burst mode is definitely something to consider using

We moved on to the next ride and it was one of those rides that has a group of five sets on it and they raise you up and then drop you and repeat two or three times. It was tall and I was close so I did the smart thing HA HA and took the video in portrait mode to get all the action but when I looked at it on play back the video was sideways. Fortunately I follow my own tips "#85" and this was on the group a couple of rides before my family got to the head of the line and I could see that wouldn't work and corrected the problem and worked out the bugs BEFORE the important shot with my family came up. It would have been not only embarrassing to find out that I had done this on the family pictures but it would also mean that they would have to wait in line again for me to get a second chance. I covered this in Tip #85. Please use the time that you have while they are in line to do some practice shots or video, this will allow you to see any problems or things that needs changing BEFORE the keeper shots arrive. REMEMBER!!! any practice shots or video that you take getting ready for that ALL IMPORTANT shot can easily be erased and could help contribute to you getting some real memories captured. Jeff

The next tip will cover things I learned when I shot video of a drive through Christmas display set to music you listened to on your car radio. I learned several "Do s and Don't s" that I will share with you in the next tip.

[Grandpaw]

Do's and Don'ts when taking a video of Christmas displays

Recently I went to Pigeon Forge, Tn, for vacation and they had a drive through Christmas light display with synchronized sound that I took video of with my Nikon D7000. I learned several do's and dont' and would like to share some tips with you on things that I learned. This was a long display that you drive through and tune your card to a radio station to hear the music that was synchronized to the displays. There were also places that you could stop and view the action but had to stay inside your car. My wife drove while I operated the camera out the passenger side window.

The DO"S first
Make sure your battery is fully charged and that you have plenty of space on your memory card

If you have a battery grip attached take it off to eliminate some weight while holding up your camera

Use a wide angle lens because you will need it to get the action due to the closer distance.

I quickly realized that trying to video from a moving car made for jumping pictures so stop often and record what you can from each location.

When you stop be sure and turn off the engine so it doesn't ruin the audio.

Also verify that you are getting the sound, because I could hear it great IN THE CAR but the camera was held outside with my arms resting on the window sill and wasn't picking up the sound well.

I think it would be easier to take several shorter videos and place them together later than trying to edit and chop up a longer one.

After my first stop when I played back the test video I found that the great sound I was hearing in the car was NOT what the camera was getting. That is when I found out that it was getting the displays very good and was accompanied by the sound of my car engine instead of what I was hearing. Reviewing a test video let me realize that the car needed to be stopped, the engine off and the sound turned up in the car. This is something you want to check right off and not wait until you are half way through or on the way home to find out you needed to make some changes to get everything right. When using a wide angle the depth of field is pretty good so I found that if when I stopped, that if I used auto focus to get everything sharp and then turned it off that it wouldn't be changing focus during the video each time a different display light up and the previous one went dark. The video was constantly changing focus as each part of the display turned on and off and really made the picture in the video very annoying. I notice this also along with the other things mentioned when I made the test at the beginning. Remember to re focus at each stop.


The Don'ts

Somewhat of a repeat from above.

Don't forget to check your batteries and memory cards

Don't try and video from a moving car

If you focus and then turn off the auto focus don't forget to re focus at the next stop.

When you stop DON'T FORGET to turn off your car engine

Don't leave the battery grip on the camera because it gets very heavy holding the extra weight over a long period of time.

Don't forget to check the audio

Don't forget to make a short video as soon as you start so you can check all the things above so you know right away if your camera is getting exactly what you want and if it isn't you can make adjustments. Jeff

[satidgela]

I thought I made a mistake in choosing against D300S. Thanks a million. I subscribed so I can catch up with your tips. So far I have read up to #20 and, already, those made me embrace and kiss the D7000 I bought last year.

[Grandpaw]

I thought I made a mistake in choosing against D300S. Thanks a million. I subscribed so I can catch up with your tips. So far I have read up to #20 and, already, those made me embrace and kiss the D7000 I bought last year.

Glad you are finding the tips useful. I will be adding more but time has been scarce due to Christmas. I am a VERY BIG fan of the D7000 myself and think it is an excellent camera. Reading my tips and learning as much as you can about your camera will help give some outstanding results that you can really be proud of. I also recommend Darrell Young's book "Mastering the Nikon D7000". Jeff