Nikon Schools

Has anyone taken one of the Nikon School classes. They are coming to Ft. Lauderdale in January and I was thinking of taking the Digital 201 class. I just want to know if its worth the $159 for the day.

Michael

I haven't been to one, but WANT TO BADLY!!
A buddy of mine attended one, back before digital and got a lot out of it.
So go for it Mike and report back to us!
I am sure you will learn a lot, after all, it's from Nikon!
Brian
Nikon Samauri #2!

I went to 201 a year ago in October. Was it worth $159? Maybe, well, probably.

I learned a lot from it, but it was pretty fast paced and general. I think what you get from it will depend a lot on your experience, and having another year plus with working with it I'd still probably learn a lot if I went again (hopefully different things this time!). From the standpoint of having two pros come in and demonstrate all day long how they do things, it's a pretty good deal. But Asylum Steve also highly recommended Epson's on-line program for a fraction of the price (which I still haven't done yet :rolleyes: ).

Is there anything specific that you are hoping to get out of this class?

I attended one of Nikon's first offerings back in 1971 and then waited until this past spring to attend another. In both cases I found it to be money well spent, but I will agree with the prior respondent who stated that it has become pretty "general." The 1971 "school" lasted two days and was very instructional, giving me a lot of the information that I needed as a newbie. The current version is set up to squeeze as many people as possible into a huge hall. You sit on rather uncomfortable chairs and are discouraged from taking notes. It is however, designed to be educational and instructional for photographers of almost any skill or experience level. Just seeing the images flipped up on the screen by two Nikon professionals is inspirational and probably worth the price of admission. They have a canned program and move from topic to topic. Some will be of interest and some won't. None will be boring.

SUMMARY: It was $99 last year (I attended the general photgraphy, not the digital session), but even at the $159 that you indicate, it is not all that expensive and is, in my opinion, well worth the money. You may not have your specific needs addressed but you will leave with a lot of useful tips and information.* You cannot ask questions during the presentations, but the presenters are available during breaks and at the end of the day.

*Example, and something that I had never considered: When shooting children, never ever shoot from a level higher than their eyes. Does this mean that for a 6-month old you have to get down on the floor and even lay the camera onto the floor? Absolutely.

I agree that it is worth the money although I'm surprised they raised it so much overnight so to speak. I took the class about 3 years ago for $99 and I did learn quite a bit. This was when I was using a 35mm SLR, so obviously don't know how their digital classes would be - or how their 35mm classes are now for that matter. However, it sounds like they are still doing a good job.

I agree with Carney - I did learn quite a bit from their class. They seem to have quite a few tidbits you don't get elsewhere. It's fun too.

Tell them (for me) :rolleyes: $159 is a little much from $99!

Liz

Digital 201 is $159, but I think the original Nikon School is still $99. I went to it about five years ago - very fast paced but very inspirational. Thought about going again just to see Sam Garcia's latest work.

Thanks for the clarification!

Liz

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Originally Posted by another view

Digital 201 is $159, but I think the original Nikon School is still $99. I went to it about five years ago - very fast paced but very inspirational. Thought about going again just to see Sam Garcia's latest work.

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Last year Santa Wife and kids sent me to the shutterbug series in Miami. I'm going to go ahead and try for the Nikon one this year. At least I won't be running back and forth to the lab to c41 my negs and then scan them. By the way, how does one become annointed a Nikon Samurai? I have been shooting them since 1978 or so.

Michael.