Help Please with D3

Hi all,
I’m in the next couple of weeks going to be picking up a used Nikon D3 with low shutter count for a steal of a price. I know the camera is 13+ years old but for all I want it for it seems like a reasonable purchase. Are there any good tutorials or videos on YouTube that would help me get up to speed with this camera? I’m coming from using a Nikon D90 and D300s prior to them being stolen from me about 8 years ago. During the past 8 years I haven’t used anything but my phone for pictures and I miss having a physical camera to hold in my hands. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks


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Do you need to upgrade lenses to FX, from DX? When you use a DX lens on an FX camera, you only use a part of the photo sensor, so you loose a lot of info and detail. You may want to look at the D500 which is very popular among members here. You can compare the cameras you are familiar with to them both here: https://www.dpreview.com/products/c...ikon_d3&products=nikon_d300&sortDir=ascending

Rob

I already have a full assortment of fx lenses so no worries


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Besides it’s not cool in my opinion to try to sway me away from my choice in camera. That’s not what I’m asking for


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If you don't have it, you can download the D3 user manual at https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/1/D3.html.

You might also do a google search for "nikon d3 tutorials". Looks like there may be more help from this arena.

DevPreach said:

Besides it’s not cool in my opinion to try to sway me away from my choice in camera. That’s not what I’m asking for

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It's not cool in my opinion to get righteously indignant at someone who took the time to offer what they thought might be helpful advice. We don't know you yet, so how the hell would we know that you've got both a trove of fx lenses and a mindset that bridles at suggestions?

BeegRob's reply was solid, and sincere. Your response to it was over the top, dude.

First of all, I got the impression that since your two bodies were stolen, your lenses might have been stolen as well. So when I read BeegRhob's comment asking about lenses, I read it as being helpful. Honestly I'm having a little trouble understanding exactly what you want. So hopefully my comments below will help hone your general comment for tutorials to be more specific on what you are looking for.

To answer your question about tutorials, it would be good to know what subjects you are interested in shooting. For example, landscape settings can be very different than settings for birds in flight. There are times when I change settings based on what I'm shooting.

General settings to consider are AF-S (stationary subjects) or AF-C (moving subjects). Type of metering - matrix, center-weighted, spot. Camera Profile choice (then going deeper into the menu to possibly adjust sharpening, contrast, etc). AF single point or multiple points in the viewfinder. Audible beep on or off when the shutter is actuated. These are just some very basic settings which can impact your images or ease of use. The thing is no one can tell you what setting changes you might need to make because we don't know what subjects you intend to shoot. As I already mentioned, you might need to change settings when you are out shooting depending on your subject.

Once you have dialed in your settings, then what subjects are your preference, and what lenses do you own? Are you looking for tutorials on how to use your D3 to shoot landscapes, people/portraits, sports, etc? Or are you looking for tutorials on how to make setting changes?

If you were looking for tutorials on what settings to use, then search YouTube for specifics on the suggestions I made above (AF-S vs AF-C, metering, etc). Honestly I'm really not sure what types of tutorials you are interested in - ones for settings or how to use the camera for sports vs. landscape vs. people vs. wildlife. If you can elaborate a little more on what types of tutorials you are looking for, maybe we can hone in on some that will be helpful.

DevPreach said:

Hi all,
Are there any good tutorials or videos on YouTube that would help me get up to speed with this camera?

Click to expand...

Yes.

From what I remember, the D300 had the exact same menu as the D3.... I would be guessing that the D300S would also have the same menu.

Shouldn't be too much to learn... just a few buttons in different places.... be prepared to be in awe of how quickly it focuses.