Tips for Nikon D7000

deepupkn

Hi Moose, I like your reviews and advice. First thing I noticed is the layout of this website - neat, tidy, fonts big enough yet crisp. I am a Nikon D7000 user, but don't get the thought that I am a pro; I am not. I am still trying to learn the basics of photography. I use the kit 18-105mm VR lens. While trying to purchase the camera, I searched for almost 5 months on almost all the forums to decide which camera should I choose. After all the time spent on the internet, I chose the Nikon D7000. Why? I am not among those who change their gadgets every now and then - no offense. I wanted a camera that I could keep for say 10 years, a camera that I couldn't outgrow anytime soon, a camera with commander mode, etc. Well now back to the question, could you kindly post Nikon D7000 tips, tricks and cheats?

ohyeahar

What kind of photography are you looking to do?

If you’ve not done so already, the best thing you can do is to get out of Auto mode. To do so, you must learn the basics of photography which is the exposure triangle. In order to fully utilize your gear, you must be able to answer these questions:
1) What is aperture?
2) What are the pro and cons of opening up and stopping down the aperture?
3) What is shutter speed?
4) What are the pros and cons of slow and fast shutter speeds?
5) What is ISO?
6) What are the pros and cons of high and low ISO’s?

Shoot in M mode. You can still utilize your camera’s light metering to get proper exposure if you turn on Auto ISO. That way, you can change your aperture and shutter speed combination to whatever you want and the camera will bump the ISO up or down to maintain proper exposure. Turn off Auto ISO when you feel comfortable metering the scene yourself. Doing so on the D7000 is super easy; just hold the ISO button and turn the front dial one click.

Play with off-camera flash by getting the SB-700. You’ll probably never want to fire a flash attached to your camera ever again.

deepupkn

Thank you for your reply ohyeahar. Even though I know something about ISO, I am still trying to understand aperture and exposure and the relation between the three and obviously shutter speeds. I don't mind if I made a wrong decision and jumped into the hole by purchasing a DSLR when I don't know anything about ISO or aperture. Now I am trying to learn every bit that I can.

Thank you for this trick. I am trying it right now and learning new things. I decided to hold off on the decision of purchasing a SB-700 as it is little bit out of my reach now.

Thank you.

If you are in America, a belated July 4th greeting.

ohyeahar

Happy Independence Day to you too!
Getting a DSLR is the best way to learn about photography, so don't worry; you've made a great decision.
I find that there's not enough simple explanations on the Internet of how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO affect exposure. If you really go and search for it, you'll find some excellent articles about them, but I think I'm going make a couple of simple Tumblr posts with clear examples to help out fellow beginner photographers. I'll share the link here when I'm done.

ohyeahar

@deepupkn
Hopefully, this could be of help to you
http://forums.cameratips.com/discussion/2177/simple-explanations-with-examples-of-basic-photography-knowledge

deepupkn

Thank you so much ohyeahar. I will go through this and see where I get.

bruto

I would add to the above that just about any advice on general photography, and probably almost everything that applies to the D5100, will be relevant to you. The main distinction of the D7000 and its later relative the D7100, as I understand it, is that it possesses a focus motor and "AI" meter coupling. This means that this camera will meter correctly with a huge number of manual focus lenses, and that it will autofocus with the older 'screwdriver' AF lenses. It is thus the tool of choice for anyone who has, or expects to have, an investment in older lenses, or who wants to shop for older lenses that will work 100 percent.

Other advantages of the D7000 and D7100 such as better autofocusing, more meter and focus points, and such, are great to have, but the technique of using them is not really different.

Poolkas

It has been a year and I am wondering how you are getting on with the D7000? I got one last year, on eBay, low shutter count, very cheap, but I started out 4 years ago with a D3100 (which I would still recommend to anyone starting out, as I have discovered you can get some great bargains on Amazon/eBay if you do your homework). Anyway, having purchased my D3100, I went on an evening course at the local tech college, followed by a more intensive course to get a qualification. It got me out of Auto! Learned about the exposure triangle, composition etc. Joined local camera club and haven't looked back. How have you fared and what lenses have you splurged out on?