The Tax Man giveth...My early thoughts on my new D7100...

TonyD315

Senior Member
With my tax return I purchased a new D7100 and the Nikon 24-120 f4 last friday. I went away for the weekend and brought it along for some testing. I upgraded from a D5000, so I'm still getting used to all the buttons and where certain things are. One thing that stuck out was the play that the directional pad on the back has. It seems a little loose to me. Also, is there anyway to get the back LCD to stay lit with all the info for the settings? Or will I just have to keep hitting the button? Overall I am very happy so far. It's an obviously big upgrade from my D5000, and I'm eager to see what more it has to offer.

I posted a shot in another section and someone pointed out that I had a dust spot on my sensor. I am going to the internal self cleaning in hopes that it shakes it off. If not it's back to the store. Here are a few shots I took at the beach, just messing with settings to get used to it. I shot in RAW and edited in Lightroom...

gull.jpg


beach.jpg


lookingout.jpg
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
... is there anyway to get the back LCD to stay lit with all the info for the settings? Or will I just have to keep hitting the button?
Hmmmmm... What settings, in particular, are you referring to? The rear-LCD will display your menus and is for playback of images but leaving it on all the time would drain your battery pretty quickly I would imagine.

The top-mounted LCD displays what I would consider "The Essential Settings" and I have *that* LCD set to illuminate every time the camera does pretty much anything.

...
 

nickt

Senior Member
One thing that stuck out was the play that the directional pad on the back has. It seems a little loose to me.

Mine too, much more play compared to my d7000. The underlying switch seems solid, so its not bothersome. My diopter adjustment is very hard to turn. It loosened up a bit after working it some, but is still pretty tight. It could have been a deal breaker, I probably adjust that more than most. Sometime I wear glasses, sometimes contacts. They were my only two fit and finish issues. Otherwise, I love it. Enjoy your new camera!
 

yauman

Senior Member
My advice is as soon as you figure out how, to turn that auto-display OFF or set it to the shortest possible time. It will save you a lot of battery charging and will make you a much much better photographer!
 

TonyD315

Senior Member
My advice is as soon as you figure out how, to turn that auto-display OFF or set it to the shortest possible time. It will save you a lot of battery charging and will make you a much much better photographer!

You know you're probably right. It's just a matter of me stepping outside of my comfort zone, but my goal is to become a better photographer so I'll give anything a shot. I'm just here to try to learn as much as possible. Thanks!
 

bigal1000

Senior Member
With my tax return I purchased a new D7100 and the Nikon 24-120 f4 last friday. I went away for the weekend and brought it along for some testing. I upgraded from a D5000, so I'm still getting used to all the buttons and where certain things are. One thing that stuck out was the play that the directional pad on the back has. It seems a little loose to me. Also, is there anyway to get the back LCD to stay lit with all the info for the settings? Or will I just have to keep hitting the button? Overall I am very happy so far. It's an obviously big upgrade from my D5000, and I'm eager to see what more it has to offer.

I posted a shot in another section and someone pointed out that I had a dust spot on my sensor. I am going to the internal self cleaning in hopes that it shakes it off. If not it's back to the store. Here are a few shots I took at the beach, just messing with settings to get used to it. I shot in RAW and edited in Lightroom...

gull.jpg


beach.jpg


lookingout.jpg

Why would you want that on all the time ? I think that would be a lot of unneeded drain on the battery.....
 

TonyD315

Senior Member
I upgraded from a D5000, I grew used to being able to look at the back LCD to check ISO, shutter speed, aperture, etc. It's just a matter of relearning and adjusting to the differences on the D7100 where I won't necessarily need to look at the rear LCD screen I can find those settings somewhere else, like the top LCD or by looking through the viewfinder.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

bigal1000

Senior Member
You won't need to do that on this camera,the top display shows all you really or you can also press the info button for more. This is the top of the line enjoy it,I do.......
 

Patrick M

Senior Member
I'm another that likes to view my settings in the rear LCD. I "came up" dorm the D3100. I'd guess 50% top LCD and 50% rear. It's just a matter of what you're getting used to. I'm now trying to get used to having the Fn button as focus lock.
 

JohnFrench

Senior Member
After reading various posts here, I have my rear screen off after snapping a photo. And the lowest time setting for viewing of settings.
 

Scott Murray

Senior Member
You know you're probably right. It's just a matter of me stepping outside of my comfort zone, but my goal is to become a better photographer so I'll give anything a shot. I'm just here to try to learn as much as possible. Thanks!
You never had that display in film ;-)
 

TonyD315

Senior Member
You never had that display in film ;-)


True but I guess it's how you look at it. Is it a luxury that was never around with film and now can give us immediate feedback or something that will make us lazy?

On a side note, I saw your wedding pictures in a different thread. They came out great. My brother has asked me to shoot his engagement photos in May. Now I know it's not the same situation, but it's similar. Any advice to give to someone who's doing this for the first time?? Thanks!
 

Scott Murray

Senior Member
True but I guess it's how you look at it. Is it a luxury that was never around with film and now can give us immediate feedback or something that will make us lazy?

On a side note, I saw your wedding pictures in a different thread. They came out great. My brother has asked me to shoot his engagement photos in May. Now I know it's not the same situation, but it's similar. Any advice to give to someone who's doing this for the first time?? Thanks!
Get the details of the shoot, mine started out easy as, then a brides maid stood up and said hang on we have family members from 'ALL' over the world (which was true). So we had to do unplanned family photos which I was not planned to do. But they worked out eventually. Engagement shots should be fun and no hassle, so I would say that take it easy and use the photo shoot as a photo shoot. Arrange lighting (time of day) etc to your advantage. See the shots and the location before the day.
 

TonyD315

Senior Member
Get the details of the shoot, mine started out easy as, then a brides maid stood up and said hang on we have family members from 'ALL' over the world (which was true). So we had to do unplanned family photos which I was not planned to do. But they worked out eventually. Engagement shots should be fun and no hassle, so I would say that take it easy and use the photo shoot as a photo shoot. Arrange lighting (time of day) etc to your advantage. See the shots and the location before the day.

Yeah, the fact that it's just an engagement shoot takes a lot of pressure off. They want to do a winery and the beach, so I'm thinking split it into two days so that way we can shoot in the late afternoon, early evening for both. I've done some research online and I've found pictures taken at both places so I'm just going look at as many photos and try to replicate them. They also started a pinterest board with photos they like. Hopefully between now and then I can get some good practice in. I might even try a practice shoot with them in a few weeks to see where I'm at...
 
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