M
-
Welcome to the new forums! Please read this first. For known issues we are working to resolve, click here.
Nikon Users - what annoys you about your cameras?
- Thread starter zenpmd
- Start date
Yes! That is what I want too [you guys beat me to this].
Although, this is not a complaint directed at Nikon, as I know of no other camera manufacturer that offers this ability [let me know if I missed it]. This is a complaint about Asian software/firmware. I'm sure Asians don't have a clue about these ideas; like why would anyone want them? :-(
You guys listed many things. To be clear, let me list them individually:
- Make casual changes volatile; when you turn off the camera, it forgets what you did.
- Make the settings banks non-volatile storage [they already are].
- Group Shooting and Custom settings into one "bank".
- Make it easier to select a settings bank [like a "Bank" button and scrolling].
- Increase the number of banks [memory is cheap]; if not enough in camera, store to media cards.
- Add ability to exclude [on camera] some banks when scrolling.
- Have alternate way to access banks by pressing "Bank" button twice [goes to next bank].
- Put name of bank in viewfinder and on top display.
- Hire an American company to develop a "Bank Setting Utility" that allows users to create, name, and download "Banks" to Nikon cameras. Support Win, OS-X, iOS, and Android.
- Include the ability to copy one bank to another in that utility.
- Include the ability to sync selected changes to selected banks [I added this one].
Last edited:
The things that annoyed me most about the d800 as my first slr are:
- the horizon/level indicator in the viewfinder isn't illuminated
- lack of a reciprocal lock for shutter/aperture so I can dial in a combination manually (for example after taking a reading with a handheld meter) and then changing either the shutter speed OR aperture will automatically change the other to maintain the same exposure
I don't quite understand the way you use "reciprocal"?
If you select P-mode, you can use the rear wheel to do what you seem to want in the rest of your sentence; it changes the exposure times and aperture [one up and the other down] to keep the same "exposure".
Hasa
Senior Member
My point is that 1 unsharp image in a panorama of 6 images destroys the whole panorama. I am going to start using my Sirui carbon monopod. I hope that will help.
Yes it is designed to be that way - I am not so sure about the dslrs, although they have live-view - which also exposes the sensor for quite a while. My friend who has used pro astro ccd's says he newer points his canon d1x at the sun.
Yes it is a great lens and it is a pity Sony did not upgrade that camera to 16 Mpix with video.
--
Smile and the world smiles back!
Attachments
But it does so, as far as I can see, by using the camera's meter. I have a handheld meter, I don't want the camera making metering decisions for me.I don't quite understand the way you use "reciprocal"?
If you select P-mode, you can use the rear wheel to do what you seem to want in the rest of your sentence; it changes the exposure times and aperture [one up and the other down] to keep the same "exposure".
by reciprocal I mean that I want to dial in a specific combination of shutter & aperture determined by a handheld meter measuring the actual light falling on a scene, and then be able to change aperture OR shutter and have the exposure remain the same without the camera's meter having any involvement in the process.
Imagine you're shooting a car race under artificial lighting. You have constant lighting for the event, and can walk out onto the track to measure the light falling in the middle of the track before the race begins. You dial that exposure value into the camera. Now you want to be able to shoot in effectively aperture or shutter priority mode, but you know for a fact that what you are shooting, the cars, is going to be a constantly changing tonal value, and almost never the equivilent of a greycard. How do you ensure every shot has the same exposure value?
if the camera has a way to do that which I've missed, I'm all ears
cheers,
A carbon fiber tripod is not more rigid than an Aluminum tripod; it's lighter. Weight is good to lower vibration frequencies. Using a tripod [any tripod] is essential if you want outstanding panoramas!
Your friend is giving anecdotal advice. Neither the Sony R1 or any modern Nikon dSLR has a CCD sensor! Even if they had CCD sensors, just because one guy refused to point it at the Sun doesn't prove anything. Urban legend...
I have learned that Sony is not to be trusted. This was one of the lessons. There were many others.
OK, I now understand what you are wanting to do. You explained it well!But it does so, as far as I can see, by using the camera's meter. I have a handheld meter, I don't want the camera making metering decisions for me.I don't quite understand the way you use "reciprocal"?
If you select P-mode, you can use the rear wheel to do what you seem to want in the rest of your sentence; it changes the exposure times and aperture [one up and the other down] to keep the same "exposure".
by reciprocal I mean that I want to dial in a specific combination of shutter & aperture determined by a handheld meter measuring the actual light falling on a scene, and then be able to change aperture OR shutter and have the exposure remain the same without the camera's meter having any involvement in the process.
Imagine you're shooting a car race under artificial lighting. You have constant lighting for the event, and can walk out onto the track to measure the light falling in the middle of the track before the race begins. You dial that exposure value into the camera. Now you want to be able to shoot in effectively aperture or shutter priority mode, but you know for a fact that what you are shooting, the cars, is going to be a constantly changing tonal value, and almost never the equivilent of a greycard. How do you ensure every shot has the same exposure value?
if the camera has a way to do that which I've missed, I'm all ears
The obvious, first choice is to use M-mode.
I could also suggest a way to use P-mode, but I'm going to wait to see why you think M-mode won't work...
Hasa
Senior Member
What the my astrophysicist friend said was that too much light would destroy their CCD. You and I would probably never notice the damage though. The astronomers woul be upset by finding non-existant "nebulae".
I specifically said "CCD" meaning CCD - and I know very well that the R1 has a CMOS. That was not my point. The fact is that in some CCD sensors can have a Residual Bulk Image as shown in slide 14 and 15 in this presentation. Astronomers find this issue because they push their equipment to the limits and then pixel-peep: http://www.invensas.com/Company/Documents/Invensas_SensorsCon2013_RBIinCCDandHowToTame.pdf
Though my D800 is not the sort that went onboard the Cassini, here is your RBI explained and what they did to avoid RBI on the Cassini mission. http://www.narrowbandimaging.com/residual_bulk_image_ccd_orig_page.htm
The Residual Bulk Image does not appear in back illuminated sensors. Let us hope it does not appear in our Nikon sensors. The issue with RBI will probably never show up in a well-lit image - but maybe in long exposures. At least this is where they are a nuisance to astronomers.
http://www.narrowbandimaging.com/residual_bulk_image_ccd_orig_page.htm
Maybe laser is worse, could you please do an experiment? It was "only" a Canon that died so maybe a Nikon would be allright?
http://www.quora.com/Do-I-damage-my-DSLR-by-taking-a-picture-of-a-strong-light-source
So don´t do this: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Help/Flare.aspx
http://www.laserist.org/camera-sensor-damage.htm
From half an hour of searching I now think the most serious potential issue (apart from laser) is bleaching of the bayer filters. With normal use it will occur over most of the sensor and therefore easily correctable in post.
There are strong UV point sources (TIG welding) where enoumous amounts of UV light is generated and UV filters should be used - and personally I would NOT use the optical viewfinder but use live view - better to bleach the bayer than my eyes! Additionally there is an IR filter in the sensor filter stack. Some say the sensor IR filter also acts as an UV filter - others say that the sensor is not sensible to UV. The latter statement is on DPR so it must be the truth - and then the bayer organic dies could be in danger with extreme point sources of UV light.
dead pixels from laser damage - from www.laserist.org
--
Smile and the world smiles back!
Last edited:
My point was that there is a difference between what astronomers do w/ CCD sensors attached to telescopes and what photographers do with CMOS sensors attached to cameras. I never thought that you had written "CCD" in error.
The above video has not data about the characteristics of the laser. I have no access to a powerful laser as was obviously used in that video. My concern would be for human eyes; if the laser can damage the CMOS sensor in a camera, it can damage eyes!
But there was a very reasonable and correct comment below that video:
"...shooting the sun should never take you more than half a second to expose. You are highly unlikely to do damage with such a short exposure."
I think the IR filter only blocks IR. That is one reason that light from the Sun is unlikely to damage the sensor in a camera; the IR filter reflects the heat away [back out the lens]. I think the lens blocks the UV. Thus the sensor in a modern digital camera is rather unlikely to be damaged by pointing it at the Sun.
The picture below of "laser damage" again has no data!
However, I think a visible-light laser is much more likely to damage a modern digital sensor than the Sun. It is not so much that it is very powerful [although there are quite powerful lasers], but that the light is collimated. The beam also has a very small diameter. When it enters a lens, it is focused down to a very tiny spot [smaller than the size of a photosite] which has an extreme "power density" [or power per unit area]. It is this extreme power density that punches holes in things!
Last edited:
Locking EV value with D800.But it does so, as far as I can see, by using the camera's meter. I have a handheld meter, I don't want the camera making metering decisions for me.I don't quite understand the way you use "reciprocal"?
If you select P-mode, you can use the rear wheel to do what you seem to want in the rest of your sentence; it changes the exposure times and aperture [one up and the other down] to keep the same "exposure".
by reciprocal I mean that I want to dial in a specific combination of shutter & aperture determined by a handheld meter measuring the actual light falling on a scene, and then be able to change aperture OR shutter and have the exposure remain the same without the camera's meter having any involvement in the process.
Imagine you're shooting a car race under artificial lighting. You have constant lighting for the event, and can walk out onto the track to measure the light falling in the middle of the track before the race begins. You dial that exposure value into the camera. Now you want to be able to shoot in effectively aperture or shutter priority mode, but you know for a fact that what you are shooting, the cars, is going to be a constantly changing tonal value, and almost never the equivilent of a greycard. How do you ensure every shot has the same exposure value?
if the camera has a way to do that which I've missed, I'm all ears
cheers,
--
matt godden
http://www.golgotha.com.au
Enter handheld meter's readings in D800 M-mode, lock AE, change mode, shoot. Here's the detailed steps:
1. D800 in M mode.
2. Turn off Auto-ISO.
3. Configure AE-L button for AE LOCK AND HOLD.
4. Take a reading with handheld meter. For example, a reading of EV=15, which corresponds to f/8, 1/500 sec at ISO 100. Change D800's settings accordingly.
5. Matching the readings and lock it: Point D800 around while watching the exposure reading in viewfinder. Whenever the reading shows no over/under symbols, lock your exposure (with AE-L button). In essence, your camera's exposure is locked to EV=15.
6. Now you can start shooting in A,P or S mode - with Auto-ISO on or off. If you want to shoot in M mode, Auto-ISO must be turned on. During the shoot, viewfinder exposure warning will go nuts, just ignore it. Your exposure will always be the locked value, EV=15.
And more. What if light changes? Readings from handheld meter was EV=15 an hour ago and now it's EV=17?
There is no need to repeat the above steps. Just dial in the needed value (-2) with EC button, the one next to shutter release. D800 allows EC from -5 to +5. It's more than plenty for a day's work.
Last edited:
DWEverett
Leading Member
Agree with several others on the user banks -- the fact that any changes makes them largely useless at least for the way I shoot. I don't know how Canon's worked but the Sony ones I came from didn't change -- though that wasn't always perfect either when I was someplace where I was constantly turning the camera on and off.
The other thing that I still struggle with is getting used to the Nikon being "backwards" vs my Sony. I'm sure long time Nikon users would argue with which platform is backwards but I think I've read that Canon and Sony are the same in which case this would also be true for you.
The lens mount turns the oposite way, when you change aperture or shutter speed, what's an increase on one camera is a decrease on the other. Exposure comp is the oposite direction and in fact, the display of what's + and - in the viewfinder is reversed. I've had the Nikon for a couple years now and am still constantly going the wrong direction with settings.
The other thing that I still struggle with is getting used to the Nikon being "backwards" vs my Sony. I'm sure long time Nikon users would argue with which platform is backwards but I think I've read that Canon and Sony are the same in which case this would also be true for you.
The lens mount turns the oposite way, when you change aperture or shutter speed, what's an increase on one camera is a decrease on the other. Exposure comp is the oposite direction and in fact, the display of what's + and - in the viewfinder is reversed. I've had the Nikon for a couple years now and am still constantly going the wrong direction with settings.
Hasa
Senior Member
The laser that killed the Canon was not a "powerful laser" - just a lightshow and the Laserist site says:
"This means a show may be perfectly safe for eyes, but could possibly damage a camera sensor. One reason is that camera lenses may gather more laser light, and concentrate it to a finer point".
Agreed - that is how I do it - the problem is framing the photo: do you use the optical viewfinder (potential eye damage) or do you use live-view (more than 1/2 sec exposure of sensor). Up to now I have been happy to squint into the optical viewfinder and with a powerful sun say @ 30 degrees (not sunset) I use an ultra wide angle of somewhere between 14, 15 or 20mm. Beautiful sunsets are not a problem - the sun is weak if it is any good for photographing
This is not recommended: http://photo.stackexchange.com/ques...an-image-sensor-damaged-by-long-sun-exposures
My guess is the pink spots could be an effect of bleaching of the blue bayer filter ?
"I took a number of shots of the sun during mid-afternoon and now all my images have pink spot where the sun was. Is there anyway to fix this, or is it permanently damaged?
The camera was pointed at the sun for a few hours. I was using it as a webcam and left it unattended for a while, plus the camera is about 10 years old. Later I was taking shot at 1/400 and moving the camera after, and that still caused some problems."
--I think the IR filter only blocks IR. That is one reason that light from the Sun is unlikely to damage the sensor in a camera; the IR filter reflects the heat away [back out the lens]. I think the lens blocks the UV. Thus the sensor in a modern digital camera is rather unlikely to be damaged by pointing it at the Sun.
The picture below of "laser damage" again has no data!
However, I think a visible-light laser is much more likely to damage a modern digital sensor than the Sun. It is not so much that it is very powerful [although there are quite powerful lasers], but that the light is collimated. The beam also has a very small diameter. When it enters a lens, it is focused down to a very tiny spot [smaller than the size of a photosite] which has an extreme "power density" [or power per unit area]. It is this extreme power density that punches holes in things!
Smile and the world smiles back!
benjaminblack
Leading Member
I wouldn't give any credence to these responses. Instead, rent the gear and draw you own conclusions. Besides, any small annoyances may seem irrelevant after you experience the image quality yourself
The main reason is that in M Mode, I've got to click-count and adjust the aperture or shutter manually to compensate for whatever changes i make, shot to shot - and thats the problem, if you get it wrong, forget where you're up to etc then you've lost your exposure consistency. Now, I could just go to my handheld meter, which has this very function built in - you take a reading, and then you can flip the aperture or shutter settings up or down, and it applies the appropriate counter-setting so the ratio stays constant, or use a reciprocal table iPhone app, but that's all taking me away from the camera.OK, I now understand what you are wanting to do. You explained it well!Imagine you're shooting a car race under artificial lighting. You have constant lighting for the event, and can walk out onto the track to measure the light falling in the middle of the track before the race begins. You dial that exposure value into the camera. Now you want to be able to shoot in effectively aperture or shutter priority mode, but you know for a fact that what you are shooting, the cars, is going to be a constantly changing tonal value, and almost never the equivilent of a greycard. How do you ensure every shot has the same exposure value?
if the camera has a way to do that which I've missed, I'm all ears
The obvious, first choice is to use M-mode.
I could also suggest a way to use P-mode, but I'm going to wait to see why you think M-mode won't work...
What I want is effectively aperture priority, and shutter priority, which use a manually entered value as their reference point, rather than the camera's reflected metering.
cheers
Well, I was wrong [again]. I now don't understand what you want!The main reason is that in M Mode, I've got to click-count and adjust the aperture or shutter manually to compensate for whatever changes i make, shot to shot - and thats the problem, if you get it wrong, forget where you're up to etc then you've lost your exposure consistency. Now, I could just go to my handheld meter, which has this very function built in - you take a reading, and then you can flip the aperture or shutter settings up or down, and it applies the appropriate counter-setting so the ratio stays constant, or use a reciprocal table iPhone app, but that's all taking me away from the camera.OK, I now understand what you are wanting to do. You explained it well!Imagine you're shooting a car race under artificial lighting. You have constant lighting for the event, and can walk out onto the track to measure the light falling in the middle of the track before the race begins. You dial that exposure value into the camera. Now you want to be able to shoot in effectively aperture or shutter priority mode, but you know for a fact that what you are shooting, the cars, is going to be a constantly changing tonal value, and almost never the equivilent of a greycard. How do you ensure every shot has the same exposure value?
if the camera has a way to do that which I've missed, I'm all ears
The obvious, first choice is to use M-mode.
I could also suggest a way to use P-mode, but I'm going to wait to see why you think M-mode won't work...
What I want is effectively aperture priority, and shutter priority, which use a manually entered value as their reference point, rather than the camera's reflected metering.
How would a camera operate in aperture priority w/o using inputs from an exposure meter? If you want to use an external meter, they you would have to devise some way to have it communicate w/ the camera...right? There seems to be no way to take ONE reading from an external meter, transfer it to the camera, and then use modes that inherently require real-time data from a meter.
It seems you don't trust meters that are built into camera bodies. Everybody else trusts them. They are complex because they allow the photographer to control where and how the metering happens. Once you understand, the in-body metering system is wonderful and accurate. Plus if you are serious, you will be using a RAW format, which allows you to make huge changes to the exposure in PP.
by reciprocal I mean that I want to dial in a specific combination of shutter & aperture determined by a handheld meter measuring the actual light falling on a scene, and then be able to change aperture OR shutter and have the exposure remain the same without the camera's meter having any involvement in the process.
if the camera has a way to do that which I've missed, I'm all ears
cheers,
The only thing that annoys me, and this is with any mirror type camera, is the focus inaccuracies. Especially when trying to use fast glass wide open. It's a pain to have to fine tune every lens for every body to be able to hope to nail focus with an f2 or faster lens. I'll be glad when the mirrorless PDAF on sensor and EVF technology improves, so this focus adjustment nonsense will end.
You're overthinking it
All I'm talking about is automating the click-counting of using M mode, because that's the point at which operator error most easily slips in. I want is the ability to put in a specific arbitrary aperture and shutter, and then when I dial one stop of aperture, it automatically dials 1 stop of shutter and vice-versa to compensate - that's effectively the user experience of A & S modes. AE-Lock without the meter being involved, ME-Lock perhaps
You're right, I don't want to trust the meter built into cameras. I want to measure the actual light falling into a scene and shoot that, not the simulation of the light which Nikon's engineers think looks "best" for that sort of scene, or a reflected spot reading which is fundamentally based on the camera assuming that I'm metering off a surface that's 14% grey.
Yes, I'm shooting in raw and I can change things a lot in post, but I'd rather have everything consistent and correct in the first place.
Keyboard shortcuts
- f
- Forum