Simple Click – Screamin Winds
Simple Click – Great Stretch!
I have never meet a photographer who didn’t wanna stop and photograph this stretch of road. It’s just great!
Yeah, We Have Our Own Pub….
I just love you guys, you crack us up! Just had a phone call, a “Moose fan” who just discovered after reading the site for a decade that we have our own, quarterly publication. And, as Scott put it, “It’s about photography, not just Nikon.” (Scott’s a Canon shooter). What can I say, I’m not really comfortable pushing my products in folk’s face and say, “See, Like, Buy.” We always figure if folks want it, they’ll find it. But after Scott’s phone call, we thought we’d put up a blog pointing out that yes, we have a quarterly publication. If you want to receive a free sample, just click on the form and request one. Wanna subscribe (even better), you can do that online. And where can you find all of this? Just look up….it’s right above this posting in the menu bar, BT Journal.
AF Settings + Practice = Sharp
From the get go, the AF settings in the D3 have confused folks (and all Nikon DSLRs since). I was no different in the beginning but lucky for me, I was able to ask two of the lovely ladies at NPS back when what to do. They told me exactly what the designer of the new AF system at Nikon told them when asked which is the best. “21 Dynamic, it’s the best!” And that’s what I use the majority of the time ever since. That means, I go into the Custom Setting Menu > Autofocus > a3 Dynamic AF Area > 21 points and then select the AF sensor I want to use. That’s how both of these images were taken. To take advantage of this selection, the lever on the back of the D3x is pointing at the middle icon, not the top or the bottom icon, but the middle icon. This is what I use for basically all my landscape, people and wildlife work and it serves me very well.
And while the power of the D3 AF system makes it possible to not have to manual focus all the time (I still manual focus a lot, old habit), it’s still only part of the equation to getting a sharp photo. The other part is spending a lot of time with gulls so when the great opportunity like the Osprey appears, I’m ready for it. I practice A LOT! Yeah, after doing this for 30yrs, I still practice this on an almost daily basis! Personally, I don’t know of any other way. Now I realize these videos are a bit old (shot before I knew anything about video), but the techniques none the less are still the same. So if you don’t know the techniques that go along with the technology, check these out.
Now I really find personally that using the Nikon AF system is this simple, 21 Dynamic and go, it just works. If you find though the camera searching for focus alot, more times then not, it’s the pilot that’s the problem and not the system. That’s where practice kicks in. And the time I don’t use this AF setting? You’re lookin at it. When I have something in the sky, a single bird, a giant flock and I want the front of the flock sharp or planes in the sky, I switch over to Auto Area AF or what I simply call Triple A. What does this do? It gives you all the attributes of Dynamic; Focus Tracking, Focus Lock and Color Recognition but adds to this list Closest Subject Priority. Added to this is the fact you no longer have to select an AF Sensor to lock onto you subject because the ENTIRE area in your viewfinder is now one, giant AF Sensor! The beauty of this system to me is the ease of operation. All I have to do is move the lever on the back of the camera from the middle icon to the top icon. Wanna go back from Triple A to Dynamic? Don’t have to take the eye away from the action, just flip the lever. Even a Moose can handle that thought process.
Does the AF work 100% of the time? No. Do I focus on a subject, lock focus and then recompose? No! Do I use the back AF Button to activate focus? Can’t get coordinated enough to ever make that work, I’m a spaz! So then do you use the shutter firing button to activate focus? Yes, I can manage that much. Have you tried other combos? What do you think? Do you manual focus? I think I’ve answered that but to make it clear, alot! Will you modify this system since you seem to change other settings with time? I don’t think so, not with the D3 because it works for me. Will it work for you? Only is you go out and practice. If you just set these settings because you read them here and then in a week to two think you can go out shooting and every thing will be sharp, you will be really disappointed in your results. I don’t know anyway around practicing to make this technology work for you and your photography. The D3 AF system does make it possible for this important aspect of photography to take a back stage but it’s still up to you to make it sing!
D3 Camera Settings
Recently I took an informal poll on my FB page asking what folks felt they needed to learn that I could help with. I was rather shocked when the request for camera settings kinda poured in, so much so I even received emails asking for help. I’ve had my D3 Settings posted since day one but I got the distinct feeling more was needed. I can’t see making a video on this topic, but sure can write about it easy enough. Now here’s the deal, these are the setting I use that work for my style of photography. Are these the magic settings for you? Sure, maybe…no clue! We all see, communicate and operate differently with the biggest factor, time behind the camera, all being different so read this with that filter on your mind.
These are the top five settings that I think are essential. Since each camera tends to have these in slightly different places, I can only speak on where to find them on the D3x but your CIM will tell you where to find them in your model. The #1 setting I feel is Color Space (Shooting Menu > Color Space > Adobe RGB) which should be set to Adobe RGB, PERIOD (don’t know why, start searching the web). #2 is Sharpening (Set Picture Control > Standard or Vivid > Sharpening > 5) and I don’t care what anyone says, shooting Jpeg or Raw, this is a MUST! #3 Matrix Metering is what I’m always in! I use the Exposure Compensation / EV button zealously in combination with the Matrix Metering to capture the EMOTION I want from the light and for me, it works. #4 Exposure Mode A = Aperture Priority so I’m in control of DOF which, other then photographing flying aircraft, is the mode I’m ALWAYS in. #5 NEF (RAW) recording is set to 14bit (Shooting Menu > NEF (RAW) recording > NEF (RAW) bit depth > 14-bit). I know, I’ve read, I’ve had many a discussion that switching this to 12bit should have no real impact yet….every time I do and I make the 24×30 print I swear it’s not the same, at 12bit it’s just lacking…something. So I always shoot at 14bit despite the drawbacks (slower firing rate/bigger files).
After these, there is a lot of fine tuning one can do to make the machine work better for your style of photography. For example I’m always in CS firing mode and C focus, shooting in 21 Dynamic all the time except flying aircraft when I switch to Auto Area AF (don’t know what that is…grab the old CIM). In Custom Settings I switch the EV, Metering & ISO to 1/2 increments which I prefer in the 5 stops world digital works. I’ve been doing it that way for 11yrs and just recently I’ve been playing with going back to 1/3 increments (the only constant in my photography is, I have to be behind a camera). And White Balance, what do I use? I am all over the map there because there is NO ONE setting that does it all the time for every subject. White Balance as far as I’m concerned is just as important a quality as exposure when speaking the language of light.
What’s left? Actually there’s a lot, things like Sensor Wrap, GPS setting, World Time, LCD Brightness, the list goes on and on. The D3 Settings PDF has all that listed. Like I’ve already mentioned, these are what work for me, doesn’t mean they will work for you and that’s perfectly fine. If you don’t understand why I use the settings I use, don’t ask and write, rather go out and read and experiment and learn for yourself if they are right or wrong. How do you think I figured them out?
The Thought Process…..
OK, I admit this was a spur of the moment thing. I mounted the S9100 and started talking. Audio is not it’s strong point so we’ll chalk this up as a visual thought process. I’ll go a better one this week and get it up. At least the scenery is purty and the PS lesson at the end has no wind :-)