Settings for the Nikon D100

Anyone have a list of settings for the D100 like Peter did for the D70?? What do you think are the key settings?

http://www.splashdowndivers.com/photo_gall...ettings_d70.htm

I have copied and pasted this from Peter's website and will give my opinion on these - this is my opinion and is personal preference.

Camera Body Settings

Mode Dial - Manual (SAME)

Main (rear) Command Dial - Speed 1/180 for MACRO - this is the D100 MAX synch speed. Note if you have the shutter speed increment set to the wrong steps you cannot get 1/180th!

Sub (front)  Command Dial - F Stop 16-22 (pg. 4) for macro - at ISO 200 all strobes are powerful enough for at least F16

ISO - 200 - I took 25,000 images UW with my D100 - all were at ISO 200. The lowest ISO of the camear

Image Quality - RAW - I agree with this. It also means that you don't have to worry about sharpening, contrast, white balance settings - as these can be done afterwards in Nikon Capture or Adobe Camera Raw. Set White Balance to AUTO!

Motor Drive - Single Frame - SAME

Flash Sync Mode - Front Curtain Sync - SAME

Exposure Metering Mode - MATRIX - spot is too sensitive for UW use for beginners. Centre on the D100 does not account for the cropped sensor compared with the N80/F80 donor camera - which is plain laziness on Nikon's part. Use Matrix - flashing electronics like this are part of the reason your camera is expensive. You may wish to ignore the matrix metering - when shooting in Manual you choose whether to obey it or not. For Macro shooting - where all the light comes from the strobe - you will usually be grossly underexposing what the matrix metering tells you about the available light.

Focus Area - Central Sensor - I always vary this - otherwise all your images end up having bullseye compositions.

Viewfinder Diopter Adjustment Lever - Personal

Focus Mode Selector Switch - AF-C - marked on the camera as C. I prefer continuous Servo AF for UW use - because even if the subject is still - you are not always - so it is good if the camera's AF can keep tracking the subject.

Hope this helps,

Alexo

Alexo,

Thanks for the input, have a couple more questions.

For Tropical waters???

(In Shooting Menu)

Tone Comp

WB

Color Mode

Hue Adjustment

(In CSM Menu)

10. Exposure Comp

11. BKT Set

12. BKT Order

14. AE-L/AF-L

20. Dyn. Af AF-s

21. Dyn AF AF-C (think you answered, same as C on camera?)

22. AF Assist

(In Set Up Menu)

LDC Brightness

Thanks again and if anyone else wants to chime in feel free...

Alex, re"I prefer Continuous Servo AF for UW use - because even if the subject is still - you are not always - so it is good if the camera's AF can keep tracking the subject. "

I'm surprised that you use Continuous Servo AF. I haven't had the nerve to try it because;

1. AF-S - AF-Single Servo (Focus Priority) - The shutter can only be released when the in-focus in indicator (?) is displayed (focus priority). This is a good feature since an out of focus picture is a guaranteed trash picture and you can't tell until you get home if it's in focus or out of focus.

With moving subjects, the camera attempts to focus when the shutter is depressed halfway. When focus is achieved, the in-focus indicator appears in the view finder.

* If the subject is moving toward or away from you when focus is achieved, the camera will continue to adjust the focus as the subject moves. This is good because the subject will stay in focus until you take the shot.

* However, if the subject is not moving when focus is achieved, but then starts moving, the camera will not adjust the focus as the subject moves. This is not good because the subject may not be in focus by the time you take the shot.

Note: In low-light or low contrast conditions, where the camera has a hard time detecting focus, there may be a significant lag between pressing the shutter release and the taking of the picture. Or the camera may not take the picture at all. As a test, try taking a straight on shot of a plain wall. I can't take the picture. Ditto for a featureless side of a ship. But give the D70 an edge or some relief and bam, it locks on instantly.

2. AF-C - AF-Continuous Servo (Release Priority) - The shutter can be released even if the in-focus in indicator (?) is not displayed (release priority). This is a good feature since the picture will be taken without any delay, even under the most adverse conditions. The downside is that the picture may not be in focus.

With moving subjects, the camera focuses continuously, using predictive focusing, while the shutter-release button is pressed halfway. If the subject is moving or starts to move, the focus will be adjusted to compensate. Assuming focus is achieved, this method of operation is superior to the AF-S mode because a subject's movement is always tracked.

However, it's really scary to think of using AF-C due to the risk of coming home with a camera full of out of focus pictures.

Bottom line: Does anyone else out there have any experience using Continuous Servo AF and does it work?

Peter,

Thanks for adding in the more info and opinions the better!!

AF-C.

When I depress the shutter, I want to hear a click right now.

As long as the image tells the story, technical details like tack, or no motion blur, can be inconsequental (depending on the strength of the story).

All the best, James

Hmm, maybe I'm in the minority. I much prefer using MF. I've found the AF extremely frustrating. In either setting. AF-S won't let you shoot at all if it thinks the subject isn't in focus and the AF-C at times, winds the lens in and out and won't focus at the right spot. YMMV

Rand

Hmm, maybe I'm in the minority. I much prefer using MF. I've found the AF extremely frustrating. ...  

Rand

Indeed, I agree. I perhaps should have said that when I do use AF, it's AF-C.

All the best, James

I typically have no problem with AF with my 60mm and 18-35, if well the subject is well lit. For Macro the Nikon 60mm needs a good focus light in anything but bright tropical conditions. For the 60mm and 105mm I broke down and bought a new Fisheye focus light which I hope to try out in the darker waters of Pacific Northwest next week.

I think that the important thing with AF is NOT to think of the shutter button as a switch - that you flick and everything is in focus. The sensor must be aimed at a high contrast subject, and the button pressed with thought and help the camera focus.

I prefer AF-C, but many people do prefer AF-S. I think, like many of these settings, it is a personal preference. I always use AF-C (never MF or AF-S), and I do not think that I loose many images because they are out of focus. But I agree that it is probably just what I am used to rather than being better or worse.

Alex

I don't agree with the front curtian sync. Change your camera to rear curtain sync. At shutter speeds of, say 1/30th and higher using a flash, you won't see any difference. But if you shoot some slower sync pictures, rear curtain gives you a trailing ghosted image as opposed to a forward ghosted image that looks unnatural.

Joe

Thanks for that tip Joe. I've always meant to try some rear curtain shots but never seem to get around to changing the flash. What you said makes sense and I'll give it a try.

Rand

I disagree about rear curtain synch, Joe!

Although this is very much a personal choice. And I would recommend to others to use the classic rear curtain technique that Joe describes.

But for anyone who is interested I'll explain below why I don't use rear anymore and instead use front.

I do agree that if you are shooting scenics then rear curtain synch is probably best - for the reason you state. Most of the subject is non-moving and any swimming fishies are small in the frame and not dominant in the composition.

But during last year I changed from using rear curtain to using front curtain when shooting slow exposures of moving subjects. I don't know anyone else who does it this way - so I may be on to a looser here!

While rear curtain synch does mean that the ghosted trails do go in the right direction - the problem with this technique is that once you press the shutter and the mirror comes up you can no longer see where your subject is in the frame. This means that when the flash goes pop - you don't know where the subject is in the frame. The resulting image will not be composed as you want or worse you may have chopped the fish in half! Basically you loose control. This is OK with a school of fish say - that more than cover the frame - but this is not good for single subjects smaller than the frame.

With front curtain synch - your strobes goes off straight away and freezes your subject where your want it in the frame. So you can fill the frame and compose as you want. The problem is that now if you keep the camera still the trails go in the wrong direction - which ruins the picture. So once the strobe fires then you need to move the camera - accelerating it, panning to overtake the subject so that the trails now go backwards.

So I guess it is a front curtain + panning technique, rather than simply switching the camera to rear curtain. Maybe I am over complicating something that works fine already? But I find this new approach works for me.

Alex

These two images are taken with this technique and I don't believe I would have achieved the same compositions and filled the frame as effectively if I had shot on rear curtain.

Hi Alex,

I suppose we'd need to know how you shot those pictures. If you are using long exposures (say, longer than 1/2 second) and panning, you are correct, you will lose the picture. The amount of blur (motion) in your photo hides the ghosted image, which tells me you are using fairly long exposure time. If, however, you are using 1/15th of a second on a fish, you will have a front ghost, and I believe that is mostly what underwater photographers would want to avoid if they indeed shot slower shutter speeds. So, rather than play who shot willie, you put it best. Plan! Front sync does have its advantages (or they wouldn't have it) and even an old dog like me admits to that. It's just that for me and the photographers I shoot with, rear is the most commonly used setting as opposed to front due to the frequent fill flash 1/30 to 1/15th shutter speeds used (as a whole).

It will ultimately be a matter of taste and situational shooting. I have attached a rear curtain sync shot of a seagull, 1/15th shutter, f8 with fill flash. You can see what I mean about the trailing motion. The foot is actually moving backwards as he flaps forward. A better resolution would show more detail but I think you can understand what I am trying to show. I'd still like to hear how you shot your images...they are quite appealing.

Regards,

Joe

Those two images were taken at:

1/3rd Sec @ f19 and 1/15th @ f22 respectively.

So you are right, Joe, - these are slower that typical 1/30-1/15th rear curtain synch shots.

My point is that front curtain allows you to compose the sharp part of the image - the part created during the flash - accurately. Then I use the rest of the exposure to pan the camera in order to create trails in the direction I want. Pan faster than the subject and the trails go backwards from it in the image and pan slower than the subject (or keep the camera still) and the trails go forward - which I agree is not usually desirable.

Hope that this is clearer.

Alex

Hy,

Great topic this is.

I find composition a bit hard with AF-C, you keep changing your focusareas and then you are still bound to 5 positions, or do you have the AF-L selected at the AE/AF-L button to overcome this problem.

edit: :idea: Ofcourse you have selected AF-L and not AE-L since you are shooting in M, AE-L is useless. I couldn't use the AE/AF with my old camera, so I am not used to it. Whole new possibilities are opening for my eyes right now :shock: .

Thanks.

Yep, interesting one this is!

I belong to the AF-S group for the reason that why having taken a picture out of focus, Ok as Alex said if you help the sensor, you have to do in both ways, I can imagine that even with AF-C the outcome is mostly good. ( but who thinks of this all the time! )

But then I also use the AE-L/AF-L Button with AF-On, so I actually focus with the thumb, compose the image and then shoot. (Very convenient with the Jonah housing)

This also works for fast moving subjects, I never experienced som problems at least.

The Reason why I'm doin this, I think it's hard to press the shutter halfways during the time you compose with the extended lever of an UW housing! Not to imagine the feeling you have of the lever with drysuit gloves.

I haven't heard anyone doin it like this so I maybe a bit strange here! (only maybe!?)

But anyway, what is your oppinion about that?

Then Alex, you are right about the position and the trail about front curtain and I like the images with the fishies, but I think it gives the image a whole different look if you have a strady background or if it is smeared, (as it is with your tecnique when you use front curtain)

But I guess that is a matter of taste and what you wanna acieve with the image.

cheers

thomhard :idea:

Then Alex, you are right about the position and the trail about front curtain and I like the images with the fishies, but I think it gives the image a whole different look if you have a strady background or if it is smeared, (as it is with your tecnique when you use front curtain)

But I guess that is a matter of taste and what you wanna acieve with the image.

You are right. I hadn't thought that through clearly enough. With rear curtain you can of course have a non moving background and a moving subject. Whereas with my technique you have to have a smeared (good word) background - because you are panning the camera.

So for taking movement blur images front and rear curtain are alternative techniques that can be used to create the same effects or slightly different ones.

Thanks,

Alex

But then I also use the AE-L/AF-L Button with AF-On, so I actually focus with the thumb, compose the image and then shoot.

The downside, at least for the D70 is that with AF-ON, the camera focuses when AE-L / AF-L button is pressed. However. the camera does not focus when shutter-release button is pressed halfway.

So it's pick one method or the other but you can't have both at the same time.

To diverge even further, with Canon you get front curtain only unless you have eTTL. No choice in the matter.

The obvious reason we have front curtain sync is that it is easier since you don't need to figure out when to fire the strobe. To do rear curtain you need to know how long the strobe needs to fire completely. Front curtain is what you get by default whether it's what you want or not.

It's nice to know that uw critters don't have motion that's really incompatible with Alex's technique. I'm used to using rear curtain and the lack of it with Canon really irks me. Guess I'll be learning to pan real quick. I like the motion trail of the fin action better than a camera pan though.