How many of your camera's features do you use?

So i'm getting ready to become a first time owner of a dslr (7100). Having only experience with manual cameras in years past (except a short relationship with an n90), i figured it would be good to start learning ahead of my purchase,,,so i downloaded an owners manual. Wow, is the word to describe it!
There is over 300 pages of information on this camera!!
This leads me to ask those of you who are "fluent" in dslrs; how many of the features of your camera do you use?
I can see where just using manual with auto iso (with limit(s)), occasional bracketing, use of the metering modes for different conditions, and white balance would be mostly what i would benefit from....at least for now. It just seems like an overwhelming amount of things available to be comfortable with and still keep a good perspective for taking a photo.
Like to hear some feedback on what you use the most on you camera.
Thanks in advance,
Chris

cbay said:

There is over 300 pages of information on this camera!!

This leads me to ask those of you who are "fluent" in dslrs; how many of the features of your camera do you use?

Like to hear some feedback on what you use the most on you camera.
Thanks in advance,
Chris

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Congrats on your camera Chris.

Every photographer here have their own style and preferrence. There are NO requirements to use every features that your camera has just like with our smart phones, which are too smart and sometimes too challenging at times to figure out.

Some prefer to control everything such as the shutter speed, aperture, AF points, and ISO. Most beginners use Auto or P (Professional mode ) to get them started. In that case, I would suggest setting the "Auto ISO" on, minimum sensitivity to 100/200 and max sensitivity to ISO 1600 or 3200 especially if you are using your camera with a kit lens and without an external flash.

Some never bother reading the manual so they end up with crappy images and end up having more problems on how to operate their camera. Visit nikon digitutor for your specific camera model to get you started.

Enjoy your camera and welcome to the forum.

Good advice from Glenn there.

Everyone is different, you will need to take the time to read and play with each setting. If you look up FroKnows photos he has good starting videos. Also search YouTube for D7100 setup or something like that. You will be overwhelmed by info, but just it a little bit a time and you will get more comfortable with the camera.

If you have questions, you can look in the 7100 section here on Nikonites.

I would be hesitant in telling anyone how to setup the camera if they didnt have a good understanding of all of the options and the affects on the image it may have.

Dont get frustrated, take your time focus on composition of the subject, the other stuff will come in time.

Just go slow and I highly recommend David Busch's Guide to The Nikon D7100. Great book for getting started and takes all the gobley gook out of learning. You can buy his books on Amazon. He has both a Field Guide to the D7100, and the thicker, more illustrative Guide book. I would recommend both.

Glenn, Kevin, Chris, thank you for the suggestions. Been out of photography for quite a few years, but have strong basic fundamentals in place from the film days. I guess my lack of confidence and experience with the digital cameras has me asking the wrong questions. But still wonder which features get used by others - not to piggyback the settings but to get an idea of what they find useful for their type of photography and i guess how long it took to learn to use those functions.
I won't even have the camera and lenses until late january when my sale goes through. Anticipation is going to get the best of me.

Today's cameras have more and more stupid features that to me are included to make the description of the camera sound like your getting so much more. While everyone uses diff features to suit their own shooting style. I never use video, live view, any of the auto shooting modes such as portrait, sports, landscape etc... Never bother to add sharpening or any of the options in picture control. I shoot 99% RAW files so I do all my manipulation once imported into a program out of the camera. Even if shooting J-peg, I wouldn't rely on the way an image looks from what I see on the LCD screen anyway. Well not for doing preset corrections anyways.

What kind of shots do you want to take ?

Birds in Flight
Macro
Landscape
Studio
......

They all benefit from different features.
e.g auto focus tracking for birds in flight.
or Mirror-up for landscape .....

There is no one answer, but its great fun trying them out

I haven't given this all *that* much consideration but off the top of my head it might be easier to list the features I know for a fact I've never used. For instance Effects Modes (e.g. Selective Color, Miniature, Low Key, etc.); I've never even experimented with them. I really don't use "Scene Modes" either (e.g. Pet Portrait, Autumn Colors, Food, etc.) come to think of it. Every other feature I can think of I'm pretty sure I've used for something... At some point.

....

cbay said:

Glenn, Kevin, Chris, thank you for the suggestions. Been out of photography for quite a few years, but have strong basic fundamentals in place from the film days. I guess my lack of confidence and experience with the digital cameras has me asking the wrong questions. But still wonder which features get used by others - not to piggyback the settings but to get an idea of what they find useful for their type of photography and i guess how long it took to learn to use those functions.
I won't even have the camera and lenses until late january when my sale goes through. Anticipation is going to get the best of me.

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No worries. It is strange that we don't even have a clue on which model camera that you are buying.

Telling you what features I use the most may not apply to a particular model.

The least useful feature to me is the time-lapse if that matters instead of what features I used the most. I don't like the idea of wearing down my shutter / count for a short film / video clip.

he is buying a D7100 Glenn #1? or am i reading your last post all wrong?

Roy1961 said:

he is buying a D7100 Glenn #1? or am i reading your last post all wrong?

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Ooopps. Thanks Roy. These eyes are not getting any better (I'm sticking with that excuse). LOL!

gqtuazon said:

Ooopps. Thanks Roy. These eyes are not getting any better (I'm sticking with that excuse). LOL!

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I don't agree with that remark, Glen. I think your eyesight is plenty good from looking at some of the models I have seen you shoot and post on here....or is it just dumb, blind, luck? lol

sonicbuffalo said:

I don't agree with that remark, Glen. I think your eyesight is plenty good from looking at some of the models I have seen you shoot and post on here....or is it just dumb, blind, luck? lol

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Me neither. Checked out his flickr page. Very nice Glen. Love the close ups of plants/flowers. We share a lot of the same varieties in terms of subjects.

The D7100 certainly has a lot of bell & whistles but seems like a no brainer with respect to budget and future proofing.

With regards to Auto ISO, I only use this when I'm shooting in situations where the lighting is constantly changing (outdoors when I'm moving from sun to shade or indoors when I'm moving around a room with crazy lighting). Used to use it a lot more than I do now. I shoot fully manual, AF-C, 9-point (mostly). Like the others, I don't use a lot of the features (double exposure, HDR), but I would freak if I didn't have two command dials and buttons. My first DSLR was a D100, which had all that. Once you get used to features like the command wheels, it's tough to go back (I get a bit frustrated using my son's D5300).

92.87% of the time the only features that i adjust on a regular basis are just the three of the Exposure Triangle. ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture. Oh, and the on/off switch, which helps a lot i find

I don't use video or live view - but it came with the camera. Maybe others like it, different strokes for different folks.
Another thing I don't use is the image delete function (the garbage can symbol). The reason I don't is that apparently, erasing files this way can leave artifacts on the card & this can cause card problems. I won't take the chance, the cards are big enough to leave the obviously bad shots on there to be done away with on the laptop, there's no rush to delete.
One feature I like to use all the time is the grid lines in the viewfinder, it's a quick reference line for vertical/horizontal directions.
I also use the copyright notation that shows up in the exif data.
There are probably other things, but for now I hope this answers some of your questions.

Things I don't use.

Any scene mode, or Auto mode.
Live view.
Video
Jpeg
Plus a whole lot more stuff.

As a matter of fact the things that I do use, pretty much only involve physical dials and buttons. I don't remember the last time I even used the menu.

Aperture, shutter, ISO and exposure compensation for most of my shots.
Metering modes rarely. I used them more but now compensate.
Auto-ISO when birding.
Live-view only since short and about only for stars.

Back-button focus all the time.

Hmmm...now that I think about it....I don't come close to using any of the stuff that my camera will do.

I havent had had to go into the menus for a while now. Just the basic stuff like shutter, ISO, and aperture. I always back button focus. DoF preview gets used a bunch. And that's about it.

All my normal setting changes can be seen thru the viewfinder or off the top display. Oh. I do love U1 and U2.

Also I Youtube stuff instead of read the manual. Easier to just go along with the clip then fumble with the book.