Everything Nikon News July edition

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No news is good news

But we only did this last month so there aren't allot of new features to show off.
Regardless here they are. Please and comment these artists to let them know how great they are
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The Wheel of fortune

This month we are going to explain what all those little pictures and letter mean on that wheel located on the top left of your camera and what situations they are best used for.
Okay so not everyone has a wheel for a start. You will find on most older SLRs and Higher end DSLRs that there is a 'Mode' button that is held whilst spinning the right, aft thumb wheel. Anyhoo I have taken the list of functions as found on the Nikon D5100 as this covers most features found on Nikon cameras from film SLRs to digital compacts and here they are:

• Effects
• Auto
• Flash off
• Scene
• Portrait
• Landscape
• Kids
• Sports
• Close-Up
• Shutter-Priority
• Aperture-Priority
• Program
• Manual

The first four modes are the most important functions, that we will tackle last. This leaves us with all the little pictures, Scene and Effects. These settings are fairly exclusive to consumer level DSLR's and compacts. What these settings do is allow a user to get the desired effect with their camera, without necessarily understanding how the camera did it. What they actually do, does vary a little from camera to camera but I have given a little general pointer for you. You could read your manual to see what your camera does for each setting but you might as well read a basic photographic skills book and learn how to do it yourself using A,S,M and P modes.  

• Effects
  This is something relatively new to come to Nikon's DSLR cameras. Basically it allows the user to apply effects to their photographs and videos whilst shooting that would normally only be possible in post production. In the D5100s case you can add all these effects;Night Vision, Color Sketch, Miniature effect, Selective color, High key, Low key and Silhouette. A nice idea when you consider the audience that this is aimed at, now being able to do crazy tricks with their photographs without splashing out on a copy of Adobe Photoshop costing around £500
• Scene
  The Scene mode position on the camera's Mode dial groups the scene modes together, rather than their meriting individual positions on the dial. Scene mode choices  on the D5100 now include Night Landscape, Party / Indoor, Beach / Snow, Sunset, Dusk / Dawn, Pet Portrait, Candlelight, Blossom, Autumn Colours, Food, and Night Portrait.
• Auto
  Annotated with the word 'auto'. This works much like program mode only it also enables the  optional Active D-Lighting mode, which offers an auto mode plus four pre-set levels that add progressively more punch to shadow detail.
• Flash off
  Just as you would expect it turns the automatic flash off whilst shooting in fully auto mode.
• Portrait
  Indicated by a persons head in a box (that sounds scarier than it really is). This optimises the camera for portrait photography with wide aperture to put the background out of focus.
• Landscape
  Indicated by a pair of mountains. This setting drops the aperture size for a larger depth of field to get the whole scene in.
• Kids
  Indicated by a picture of a child. This is similar to portrait but the colour settings are set to vibrant.
• Sports
  Indicated by a picture of a stick man running. This setting prioritises high shutter speeds to freeze the action.
• Close-Up
  Indicated by a picture of a flower. This optimises the camera to take close focused sharp images. It achieves this by choosing an aperture a little below wide open, for sharpness yet keeping the DOF tight.
• Program
  Indicated by an 'P' surprisingly. This is the exact opposite to manual in that all the cameras settings are chosen by the camera. This will generally chose a happy medium between shutter speed and aperture to get the correct exposure. This is best used when in a complicated situation where time to plan ahead or change settings on the fly are not an option, thus giving the photographer the space to concentrate of framing, focusing and shooting whilst the camera does the rest.
•   Shutter-Priority
  Indicated by an 'S' on the dial, this function allows the operator to set the shutter speed required and the camera will change the aperture to get the exposure rite. Change the shutter speed by spinning the thumb wheel on the back right of the camera body. Be careful to not go so high a shutter speed that a Lo symbol flashes on the LCD or to long an exposure that you get a HI. If you have auto ISO on, this will change to give an even broader range or just change the ISO yourself to get the desired effect.
• Aperture-Priority
  Indicated by an 'A'. This setting is more commonly used than shutter priority and allows the  user to chose the aperture setting for the desired depth of field whilst the camera chooses the rite shutter speed for the rite exposure. It is far less common to see a HI or Lo warning as the shutter speed range is far wider than the aperture range but still be aware that this can happen, especially if you are using a flash (generally a flash sync of 1/250 on newer and high end DLSR's). Again this can be helped with auto ISO.
• Manual
  This allows the user to make all the decisions to get the rite exposure. Some people live in this setting and it seems odd as the camera isn't stupid and a little exposure compensation can cure any slight under/over exposure tendency. Manual is useful when in extreme setting like night shooting or in a room with bright windows. In this situation the camera will try to under expose the room to get the windows correctly exposed. But for the sacrifice of the view out the window (normally a distraction anyway) you can dial down the exposure more for the room. This can also be achieved by point metering or by exposure compensation in A,S or P mode.

Well we hope this has helped some of our devious members in understanding what that little wheel does and maybe it might help some of our amateur members venture into the realms of A,S and M.
If you have anything to add of just want to share your thoughts, then head onto our <A href=”everything-nikon.deviantart.co…>Poll</A> to let us know what settings you use and leave a comment to get the discussion going
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Nikons little (big) bit

Nikon as-ever has been busy collecting various biographies, reviews and tips for your to read. Here is a collection of interesting articles that we think you will enjoy.
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Take control of natures light

Nikon lent a D3x and SB-900 to pro photographer Sam Barker. What he created with this simple combination is a great example of what can be done with a very small camera bag and a little improvisation. Take a look at Nikons article Take control of natural light and make your photgraphs shine and see for yourself.
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Composing an image

Have you ever been blundering around the country side and found something amazing but when it comes to taking a picture of it you suddenly find yourself with lwss than amazing results? Don't throw your camera away, just have a read of this article from Nikon Composing an image and you will find some key pointers on what you can do to find that something that cought your eye.
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A basic look at exposure

www.nikonusa.com/Learn-And-Exp…
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50mm f1.8 AF-D vs 50m f1.8 AF-G

Nikon not to long ago announced the release of the new Nikkor 50mm f1.8 AF-G. As we already new there wasn't allot wrong with the AF-D, this beged the question why change it? So for those of us wondering why Nikon did this, the review found on you tube 50mm AF-D vs 50m AF-G sheds some light on this question. I can see that a G will be better for the low end models so they can have the AF and that the bokeh is much nicer on the AF-G but this review misses that most film cameras will have no aperture priority mode with this new lens and that the new curved aperture blades effectively kill star bursts but these are only small points. Watch and enjoy
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Going to extremes

If I were to pick an are of photography that interested me most I would say it was sports. So this interview of professional sports photographer Michael Clark was a great read for me. There are a few good points to take home from this and I hope it helps you to. So have a read of Going to extremes yourself and go  shoot some extreme sports!
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