D7000 learning curve

J

JPar

Senior Member
Before the D7000, been using a D3000.

Got my D7000 last night. Opened it, loaded the battery and ran out to try to take some moon pictures.

Rookie mistake #1: I didn't have a flashlight or headlamp to change settings
Rookie mistake #2: The D7000 is a way different beast from the D3000
Rookie mistake #3: I didn't have any idea how to use remote shutter, bulb, etc. (ie, didn't read the manual)

Needless to say, I didn't get any pictures. :)

The D3000 was much simpler to use, I think. Or at least more GUI based. The D7000 seems much more manual, so it will take some getting used to.

But I'm excited to learn it!

Anyone have any experience with the multiple exposure setting (where it will take different exposures for you in what I presume to be for HDR processing)?
 
RockyNH_RIP

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
JPar said:
Before the D7000, been using a D3000.

Got my D7000 last night. Opened it, loaded the battery and ran out to try to take some moon pictures.

Rookie mistake #1: I didn't have a flashlight or headlamp to change settings
Rookie mistake #2: The D7000 is a way different beast from the D3000
Rookie mistake #3: I didn't have any idea how to use remote shutter, bulb, etc. (ie, didn't read the manual

Needless to say, I didn't get any pictures. :)
Click to expand...

I have attached a small led light to a strap on my camera bag!!

Pat in NH
 
G

gqtuazon

Gear Head
Congrats on the camera. You don't need long exposure to take images of the moon. In most cases, f8, 1/320, ISO 200 will get the job done. Plenty of time to take full moon shots, you get to see it at least two days in a month.

Use live view if it is too dark. That will show up on your LCD or use your view finder to check your settings. Of course I assume you didn't know that either since you didn't read the manual.

Multiple exposure is just similar to Active D Lighting when you edit your images via your camera. It's jpg only.
 
T

Tami Jo

Senior Member
Let the battery charge, read the manual and it won't seem quite so complicated;)Congratulations you are going to love your new D7000!
 
T

TeddyBear

Senior Member
Always take shots in Manual mode. Take lots of shots and always refer to your manual when you run into problem. Follow that guide and soon, you will be expert at it.
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
JPar said:
Before the D7000, been using a D3000.

Got my D7000 last night. Opened it, loaded the battery and ran out to try to take some moon pictures.

Rookie mistake #1: I didn't have a flashlight or headlamp to change settings
Rookie mistake #2: The D7000 is a way different beast from the D3000
Rookie mistake #3: I didn't have any idea how to use remote shutter, bulb, etc. (ie, didn't read the manual)

Needless to say, I didn't get any pictures. :)

The D3000 was much simpler to use, I think. Or at least more GUI based. The D7000 seems much more manual, so it will take some getting used to.

But I'm excited to learn it!

Anyone have any experience with the multiple exposure setting (where it will take different exposures for you in what I presume to be for HDR processing)?
Click to expand...

Look for "Exposure Bracketing" in your manual. It's easy and well explained.
 
J

JPar

Senior Member
Marcel said:
Look for "Exposure Bracketing" in your manual. It's easy and well explained.
Click to expand...

Thanks Marcel. I did actually read up on that one. My question was more of, what was your experience with it? Work pretty well?

gqtuazon mentioned it's jpeg only but I hadn't read that anywhere yet. Is that the case?
 
M

mashburn

New member
only thing I likle to say. is once you get it set in "liveview" mode. turn off the "liveview" before you take the picture. because LiveView is not as accurate and sometimes will not even take the picture.
 
M

mashburn

New member
one thing I love about this camera in the dark. there is not a big need for a flashlight. (well once you learn where the buttons are and what for)

here is a couple things that might help.
1.) like gqtuzuan said, use the liveview. but make sure you take it off liveview when you go to take the picture. just cause it won't take sometimes and also it sometimes will not focus correctly and give you a bad picture.
2.) the knob to turn the camera on.....well twist it from on to the lightbulb, and awesomeness happens. the screen on top of the camera turns green and makes it an ease on the eyes.
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
JPar said:
Thanks Marcel. I did actually read up on that one. My question was more of, what was your experience with it? Work pretty well?

gqtuazon mentioned it's jpeg only but I hadn't read that anywhere yet. Is that the case?
Click to expand...

It works fine but you need the proper software to process the 3 shots. I use "Photomatix" and sometimes CS5. You can use whatever quality you want (jpeg, raw, or both). The thing is you have to decide on the exposure difference the scene calls for -1,-2, or -3.
 
E

eurotrash

Senior Member
Rookie mistake #4: not realizing that there is a LIGHTED LCD on top of your camera which can be activated by turning the switch to the "on" setting..."more." :)

This is by far my favorite feature on my D7K :)
 
G

grandpaw

Senior Member
eurotrash said:
Rookie mistake #4: not realizing that there is a LIGHTED LCD on top of your camera which can be activated by turning the switch to the "on" setting..."more." :)

This is by far my favorite feature on my D7K :)
Click to expand...

Did you know that you can also set your D7000 so it will light up the rear LCD screen when you turn the on button past the "ON" position ? I find this much easier to read in the dark. In my Nikon D7000 Tips thread it is #15 of the 85 I have written so far. I will copy and paste that tip below but if you look at the bottom of any of my posts it will give you a link to access the Tips thread and you can read them all.

Lighting up the rear LCD display

Have you ever been shooting in the dark and needed the rear LCD display turned on to check or change some settings and had to fumble around to find the INFO button to turn it on? Well there is a much easier way to to do it. The on and off switch for your camera when turned past the "on" position will back light the top LCD screen. Did you know it can be set to also turn on or light up the rear LCD at the same time. The power on switch , at least to me, is easier to find in the dark for turning on the rear screen. If you would like to try this option look below.

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
Next go to the right and down to "F Controls" and push the right side of your toggle button
Next choose f1 switch and push the right side of your toggle button
Next select the bottom option that says "info and information display" and press OK

From now on turning your camera power switch past the on position will not only turn on the light to the top screen it will turn on the rear LCD screen where you can see it also.

Jeff

__________________
 
Last edited by a moderator:
P

pistnbroke

Banned
Always take shots in Manual mode. bad advice ..only use manual if you have a manual lens. The P mode/A mode will always give you a better result and less messing about ..I use 50 mm F1.8 manual lens for extreme bokeh shots and need about 4 shots to get the exposure right.....
The big difference with the D7000 is that you can preprogram what you want into U1 U2 A and P for different situations and just spin the dial.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
E

eurotrash

Senior Member
Truth. I usually always shoot in Aperture priority simply because I might not have enough time to get a shot on the street if I also have to think about my shutter speeds. But, when I'm just milling about or I'm shooting a static subject such as a tree, I will shoot manual.
 
G

grandpaw

Senior Member
For what it is worth I shoot Aperture priority about 90% of the time and the remaining 10% is shot on shutter priority. I never use "M" or "P" modes.
 
F

fotojack

Senior Member
eurotrash said:
Rookie mistake #4: not realizing that there is a LIGHTED LCD on top of your camera which can be activated by turning the switch to the "on" setting..."more." :)

This is by far my favorite feature on my D7K :)
Click to expand...

ROFL!! Sorry....didn't mean to laugh, but I just burst out laughing when I read this. :) You, sir, have a good sense of humour and a good attitude! :)
 
Top