best settings for the 3400

tea2085

Senior Member
My friend is coming over tomorrow with his new 3400. I would like to print him a list of best settings for that camera. anyone have a list? Paul
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
There are NO best settings for a camera...

A camera is a device that someone manipulates to achieve the best settings to produce a specific feeling or image given the circumstances of the subject and the lighting at any given moment in time... ;)

IOW, help your friend understand the various features on the camera and how to adjust those features so he gets good pictures under all conditions...
 

nickt

Senior Member
Agreed. There are no best settings. What are the best settings for your new oven? Sure, I could say 350 degrees and 35 minutes. A few things would cook very nicely but everything else will over or undercook. Its best to understand what needs to happen to cook the food. Same for exposure. A small change in light could make the best settings into the worst settings. No shame in your friend using Auto, P, or Scene mode until he gets a handle on things. Then he can move to aperture mode or shutter mode as he begins to see issues with the more automatic modes. You might find a list giving general settings for typical situations, but that becomes a problem when the light changes. Steer him to some articles or youtube videos on the exposure triangle so he can make an informed adjustment when auto is not giving the desired result. Learning the exposure basics will help him understand the camera features.
 

MorkC68

Senior Member
Ive got the D3400, brilliant camera for my needs. My own experience of the camera is that I have relied far too much on Landscape mode and, looking back, have got some good photos but they could have been better if I had taken the time and patience to learn all of the features and settings and how they capture much better images.

I would say to go out and shoot more images and make note of what was done.
 

tea2085

Senior Member
I just thought that you guys could provide some settings you use just to get him started. Once he became familiar with those, at least he would have some understanding of the settings and he could then make his own adjustments. I know that approach helped me. Paul
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
I just thought that you guys could provide some settings you use just to get him started. Once he became familiar with those, at least he would have some understanding of the settings and he could then make his own adjustments. I know that approach helped me. Paul


Put it in Auto... Take pictures, and try to figure out which setting was wrong when they don't come out right...

Really, the best thing to do is put it in manual mode... take a picture, make an adjustment, take another picture... continue...

Read the manual... learn the 3 basic functions of photography... aperture/shutter speed/ISO... and how each one effects the image, then practice taking photos, and controlling each of those functions on your camera...

There really is no magic bullet... This is a forum, and we can help you with specific problems, but your question is beyond the scope of a forum with a reference place...

If you ask... "I did this, got this, and don't understand why that happened", we can help you... but you're saying, "I got this...where do I start?"...
 

nickt

Senior Member
Giving 'the settings' will just frustrate your friend. As soon as something changes, he won't know how to adapt. And things change quickly. Auto or P mode is right there with him and will give him better settings than we can from here. My standard advice... learn the exposure triangle. Learn it BEFORE reading the manual. The manual will make much more sense if he understands the relationship between shutter, aperture and iso. The camera is full of tools to get the perfect exposure. If he doesn't know why he might want to juggle the exposure values, the tools just won't make any sense. It won't take long to learn the exposure basics. Then he will just need help with the autofocus system:).
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
The settings for a D3400 wont be any different than what you would use on your D7100. As others said, start him on Auto, give him a plan to progress to Aperture or Shutter priority, and shoot shoot shoot...
 

Stoshowicz

Senior Member
Best settings depend upon , subject, distance , lighting and lens... and if you're on a tripod. The process of photography revolves around making the long string of decisions , both before and after shutter actuation, which will give you results that you like.. right?
If he wants to learn , then he needs to see what he does wrong, and so he needs to make the decisions for himself in manual. If he is just goofing around, then there's a secret button on the bottom of the camera ,which you push, so all the pictures come out great.
 
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hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I'm not familiar with the body so not sure if all of my suggestions will be applicable. But these can be applied to ANY body.

1. If there are 2 card slots, set Role played by card in Slot 2 to RAW+jpeg. Image quality can be set for RAW+F (fine).
2. Image size: large
3. Raise the default jpeg sharpening to around 6.
4. I set mine to single point for focusing.
5. I turn off the AF beep as I find it annoying and distracting.

These are just a few basic settings. Whether your friend shoots in Auto or one of the regular modes such as Aperture Priority is something he will have to experiment with. Good luck.
 
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