Hey all, Recently I have started working as a photographer for night clubs and I notice that sometimes my control wheel on the D7000 will get bumped to another setting, or i will accidentally brush the shutter speed dial. I was wondering if anyone has any methods or tips to reduce the chances of this happening? For example, i mostly shoot f/4, 1/10, 1000iso with flash. One of my albums that I am editing is mostly f/4, 1/50, 1000 iso which makes the flash incredibly harsh and a PITA to post process.
You have to be careful with your fingers I'm afraid And make sure you check all your settings in the VF before each capture, and adjust accordingly if you do happen to knock something. Are you shooting in RAW? A good rule of thumb is to slightly underexpose - it's much easier to correct in PP because there is usually a lot more detail in the shadows than in the highlights, and you can easily compensate for noise when bumping up the exposure in PP.
This may sound simplistic, but have you tried just using the exposure lock switch once you have it set the way you want? You have to be careful though, if you forget it's on, it can be the cause of frustration. I've accidently turned this to the "L" position and stood there clueless. But it has it's purpose too.
@Lenny: I have tried but I guess I am just going to have to drill the habit in since most of the time I don't even see the numbers when I am shooting and looking through the VF (my mind just tosses them out) @Eddie: doesn't the AE-L only work for 1 photo at a time or can it be made to hold until you turn it off?
Not the AE-L button, the exposure lock switch (just above the "info" button) which is just indicated by a dot and an "L". when that switch is put in the "L" position, it will lock in your exposure settings no matter how much you spin the dials. But like I said, you need to remember that you are using it. I've turned it on by accident and stared at the camera wondering why I can't change my settings.
aha, gotcha. I honestly thought that was only for the auto focus lock. I guess I must have misread that part where it says it also locks exposure. Edit, I will have to play around a bit with mine to find the settings to also lock exposure. Currently it only locks the AF system
How bizarre, it's the other way around on the D700 by default. That doesn't even make sense considering you could just put your camera in manual focus mode and accomplish the same thing.
Bracket, set it to bracket to 3 frames, -.7 EV, -.3EV, 0EV and then use CH. Even when you bump the setting, you have something usable out of a 3 round burst. And shoot RAW. Or, use Aperture priority and set the front dial to be your aperture. harder to hit. Plus, a night club is hardly the place for M. It's a cake gig, not fine art. Set the ISO and aperture, let the shutter float and leave the heavy lifting to the flash. It's what Nikon exceles at. Bring lots of batteries and use the extra battery door that came with the SB800. I don't miss those jobs.
True I might start doing that with the Aperture priority. My manager wants a consistent 1/10 f/4 iso 1000 settings for whatever reason though so I will just have to clear it through him. The only time he wants the shutter speedchanged is for when we shoot the DJs/performers at concerts. I wish there was a battery mod for the SB700 I'm eating through 4 batteries a week.
If your really desperate to lock 1/10 f/4 and iso 1000, could you not set up as you normally use it and then save the settings to U1 or U2. then whenever you take camera out rotate dial away from u1 and back again and voila back to your required standard setup. Jumeira_Johnny method is much better for getting the shots however, but if you really need to lock settings that would be my best shot.
I could, and I know I am just being stubborn, but I have U1 and U2 set up to do bracketing for HDR photos that I take in my free time, and I would prefer not to mess with those settings since they can be a PITA to set up
Ok then the only other method I can think off would be to set your exposure meter off time to 30min or never turn off (custom menu C2) then assign the Fn button to Ev lock so that the exposure is locked until you press the fn button again. no idea if it will work though.
