Making Use of Shooting Menu Banks
A repost of my Pro Tip on Nikonian Academy:
Switching Banks and Reaping Benefits
No, this is not a Pro Tip on switching your bank accounts or how to invest wisely in this economic turmoil, but it’s something even more rewarding than that. Imagine a familiar situation: You’ve been using your DSLR camera for a long time and have familiarised with all the features it has to offer, but somehow you never really had the need to use some of the cool ones and brag about them to your friends. One such feature is the Shooting Banks, and while I know of this feature on the D300, I have never really have the need to use it until recently when I was shooting food photography for client.
This assignment requires food shots on a table top set up which I had a couple of SB600s set up and controlled with an SU800, but the client also wanted some casual shots of the crew and filming session on the studio floor. Though I was using 2 camera bodies, I’ve set both up with different lenses for the table top shots (one on standard zoom and another on close-up), it would have been a pain in the butt, not to mention time consuming, to keep changing my basic camera settings (WB, ISO, File size, Picture Control etc) when I move between the 2 different shooting environment, with the studio floor having tungsten ambient light (higher ISO setting and no flash allowed) and the CLS-ed table top set up.
Then it hits me that this situation calls for the SHOOTING BANK features on the Nikon D300. This feature, which is also available in the higher range Nikon DSLRs (D700 and above), lets you customise camera settings and save them into different banks that you can switch. To access this menu, click on the Menu button and select SHOOTING MENU (camera icon), and choose the first option: Shooting Menu Bank. Here we have 4 banks that we can customise our settings. I used 2 banks and name mine Studio and Table Top using the Rename option. With Studio selected, I can now go back to the other settings and set my ISO (400), WB (2800K), File size (Large Fine JPG) and my Picture Control and these settings will be used whenever I switch to Studio bank. I can now go back to Shooting Menu Bank again and select Table Top, and change my ISO to 200, 5000K WB and RAW format as photos for this set up needs to be big.
So now that I’ve set up both banks (you can customise up to 4), I can easily switch between them when I’m shooting in different environment, without the hassle of switching cameras settings back and forth. This is a huge time saver, and the great benefit of it all is there’s little chance of messing my settings up when shooting in a fairly fast-paced environment and hugely varying lighting conditions. The other cool benefit of Shooting Banks is that you can choose to use different folders for different banks, so the photos taken are neatly organised in separate folders according to the bank you use.
The next time you pick up your Nikon DSLR that supports Shooting Menu Bank, give this a try and impress your friends by switching camera settings on the fly while they fumble with the camera settings, you’ll be grinning as you capture that winning moment.
Some updates from Nikon
Nikon has updated its Camera Control software to version 2.5 to support the new D5000 camera.
Camera Control for Mac
Camera Control for Windows
via DPReview
D300 mini-site
Nikon has a website set up specifically for its D300 DSLR, containing a wealth of information for owners and those thinking of getting one. The excellent video tutorials are not to be missed. Check it out.
Capture NX 2.2
Nikon’s recently upgraded Capture NX to version 2.2, a free upgrade to v2.0 users. I’ve totally missed this until recently when I had to convert some D3X RAW files from a participant, and realised I’m unable to view them with my 2.0. Apart from support for the D3X RAW file, here’s a list of other updates from Moose Peterson’s blog. If you’re a photography and haven’t been using Capture NX, download the 60-day trial and see what you’ve been missing. Get the update here.
Nikon announces D5000
Nikon D5000
The rumours circulating the web on Nikon’s next DSLR proved to be true, the Nikon D5000 was announced today, featuring HD-video capturing capability at 720p, a Vari-Angle LCD monitor which allows for easy viewing from all angles and more interestingly, 4 Liveview autofocus modes, which should make video recording less painful than the D90. US SRP price is $US850 with AF-S NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens, should work out to roughly RM3099. My guess is street price in Malaysia is about RM2800. Available late April.
More information from nikon.com.my
via Gizmodo
Miniatur Wunderland
If you have a soft spot for intricate details, the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg is, like, so totally awesome:
via Gizmodo
DIY ringlight projects
Psst… do you read Russian? It’s OK, I don’t either but you don’t need to read the text to see how this ringlight is made. Plenty of photos to guide you through the basic recipe. Though it looks pretty home-madey compared to other DIY ringlights, the result is pretty cool for the price you pay, which is close to nil. Check it out: DIY ringlight
Then head on to your local novelty store to get some materials for this fiber-optic flash-based ringlight. Very handy-looking thing to have for shooting macro insects.
* and Andrew thought my ringlight looked horrible
DxO Compares Camera Sensor Quality
Folks at DxO does something cool for all camera geeks out there: quantify camera sensor performance in easy-to-digest numbers. For once when people ask “What are the difference between a Canon and a Nikon camera?”, you can safely tell them “Nikon’s sensors perform better, at least that’s what DxO results indicates”. Comparison between some Nikon DSLR models against Canon’s and Sony’s similar range revealed Nikon’s sensors mostly came out top in areas tested such as Colour Depth, Dynamic Range and Low Light ISO. Go ahead and feel good about your Nikon DSLR.
New workshops and Phototrip announced
Nikonian Academy has announced 3 new photography workshops in the coming months. We’ll be heading to Kuantan and Langkawi for special 2-day workshops respectively with introductory price of RM280 for our Basic To Intermediate and Flash Photography classes respectively, a huge discount of 28% off regular KL class fee. If you’re a residence of Kuantan or Langkawi, don’t miss this once a year event. Click here to know more, or call 03 7955 2988 to book your seats now. Limited seats on a first come first serve basis.
Also announced is our 2009 ex-Malaysia phototrip to Hanoi, Vietnam. This annual trip specially designed for photographers will be an all-expense paid trip inclusive of accommodation, food and photography-centric excursions spanning across 5 days and 4 nights. Date is set at July 9 - 13, 2009. We’re planning to visit some less-touristy places in and around Hanoi, with special trip to Ha Long bay. We’re limiting seats to a low number to avoid over-crowding. Book your seats now.
DTown TV for Nikon DSLR users
A new weekly video show from Scott Kelby and Matt Kloskowski. They’re on Episode 3 now, with topics like Post Processing in Capture NX, Capturing HDR photos and gadget reviews. Looks like a very cool site worth bookmarking for all Nikon DSLR users.
D-Town TV | The Weekly Show for Nikon DSLR Users
