All About Nikon

Three levels of Nikon DSLR
• Consumer
– Dial with scene modes and AUTO, use SD card
– D40(x), D50, D60, D70, D80, D90, D3000, D5000
• Prosumer
– Small battery, no scene modes, CF card
– D100, D200, D300, D300s, D700
• Pro
– Large battery, no pop-up flash, CF card(s)
– D2x, D2xs, D2h, D2hs, D3, D3x, D3s

Focus Controls
• You can fix many things but not out-of-focus
• Focus mode M, S, C or M, A or M, S, C, A
– Examples of each setting
• Focus area: single, multi, closest priority
– Examples of each setting
• Focus priority menu settings for AF-S and AF-C
• AF-on button
• Menu settings
• Don’t forget the M - M/A – A/M switch on lens

Depth of Field
• Depth of field (dof) is defined by two planes
perpendicular to the centerline of the lens
– The distance between the two planes is the dof
– Everything between the two planes is in focus
– Focus distance = distance to subject you focus on
– The dof is approx. 1/3 in front of focus distance
– The dof is approx. 2/3 behind the focus distance
• DOF is NOT based on the distance from the
camera to the subject – that is an arc not a plane

Depth of Field
• Depth of field (dof) is based on four factors:
– Aperture
• Smaller aperture gives greater dof
– Focal length
• Shorter focal length gives greater dof
– Distance to subject
• Greater distance to subject gives greater dof
– Size of sensor
• Smaller sensor size gives greater dof

Depth of Field Calculator
• Various hand-held devices are available
• Older lenses had dof guides inscribed on them
• The best online calculation web site is
http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
• Based on your favorite lens and body, calculate a
few dofs for your favorite focal length, subject
distance, and aperture
• Carry this information on paper for reference
• For a paper chart:
http://www.dofmaster.com/doftable.html

Shutter Speed
• Most can hand-hold at 1/125
• Some can hand-hold at 1/30
• VR gives you a couple of stops slower
• VR II gives you four stops slower
• Sports need about 1/500 or faster
• Moving targets - experiment

Exposure Controls
• PASM (pro and prosumer)
• Green thing on the dial (consumer)
• Scene modes (consumer)
– Demo of hand-held light meters
• Exposure compensation
• Flexible program (P*)
• Meter pattern (evaluative, centre, spot)
• ISO setting
• Auto ISO

Flash controls
• iTTL BL intelligent TTL mode balanced
• Manual mode
• Red-eye reduction, exposure compensation
• Flash menus
• CLS Creative Lighting System
• Demo of SB-600, SB-800 and SB-900
• Demo of CLS with one remote

Other Controls
• White balance, not needed for Raw images
• Color space
• Image Quality
– Raw – bit depth and compression
– JPEG – size and quality
• Overview of menu structure and usage
– Display D300 menus on projector
• Menu banks – shooting banks, custom banks

Best practices for subject types
• Fast action – sports, news
• Real time – weddings, presentations
• Low light – weddings, news
• Nothing moves, lots of light

Tips
• Out of the box
– First menu change: focus priority for AF-C
– Second menu change: view mode zoom to 1:1
– Third menu change: display histogram and blinkies
– Fourth: set auto-ISO on, 1/30th minimum
• Believe your histogram not your LCD
– Brightness level on LCD is optimized for viewing
– Learn what the histogram can tell you
More Tips
• Disable autofocus on shutter release button
• Use AF-ON instead of shutter release button
• Aperture priority
• Turn off all beeps
• Test to find the highest ISO you want to use
• Use AUTO ISO, min shutter speed 1/30th
• Check your focus and histogram for every shot
The Last Tip
• It is generally very difficult to capture a scene
exactly the way that you see it. There are
huge differences between the human visual
system and the image capture process of a
digital SLR. In many cases, you can use your
photo editing software to adjust the image to
match your original perception. Prepare to
spend a lot of time on your computer. Prepare
to be amazed at what you can do with editors

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