You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2011.
Thanks to all those who have read my eBooks, and who hopefully are making use of them to learn to take control of your dSLR and take better photos. As a result of your interest, two of my dSLR guides are now in the top five bestselling Photography Reference books in the Amazon Kindle store!
OK, so the rankings change hourly, so that may not last, but I’m thrilled at the moment!
If you are interested in any of my ebook guides to the Nikon D7000, Canon 60D, or Canon T2i and would like to learn more about them please have a look at the PDF versions on my Full Stop eBook website HERE, the Kindle versions on Amazon HERE, and the Nook versions on Barnes and Noble HERE.
I’ve spent a significant amount of time with the new Nikon D7000 as I was researching and writing my ebook user’s guide Nikon D7000 Experience. It has been interesting to contrast it with the recent Canon 60D, as they sit in a somewhat similar position in each brand’s current dSLR line-up.
They are both excellent cameras and are both highly customizable for you to set up for the way you shoot. But I have to say I’m incredibly impressed with the higher amount of customization options offered by the D7000. Nikon offers the opportunity for advanced shooters to fine-tune many settings of the D7000 – options that the 60D just doesn’t have.
Advanced settings of the Nikon D7000 include:
White Balance – many more fluorescent options and the ability to tweek any of the WB settings along the blue-amber and green-magenta axes – including the ability to make blue-amber adjustments on the fly without going into the menus by using the WB button. The 60D not only doesn’t offer this level of adjustment, it doesn’t even have a WB button on the body of the camera.
Frame Rate – The Continuous Low release (drive) mode can be set for between 1 to 5 fps. Canon only offers 3fps in Low Speed Continuous. This is not such a big deal on the 60D because High Speed Continuous is 5.3 fps. However with the Canon 7D, this would have been an incredibly helpful option. The 8 fps of High Speed is blazing fast, typically too fast for real life use as the scene barely changes from image to image yet the large files can quickly fill up a card. But then 3 fps is too slow for action use. I have long wished for a 5 or 6 fps option on the 7D.
Metering – With the D7000 you can change the size of the area metered in Center-Weighted Area metering mode if you wish for more or less precision or if you are working with a subject of a particular size. The camera can be set to meter a circle of various sizes: 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, 13mm, or even an average of the entire scene (Average will act like a very dumbed down Matrix (Evaluative) Metering and just average the entire frame and not take selected AF points into consideration). The 60D does not offer this ability but does offer Center Weighted metering mode and Partial metering mode (which meters a center circle that is 6.5% of the viewfinder). Both cameras offer Spot Metering for very precise metering.
Exposure – In the D7000 you can fine tune the default settings of each of the metering modes to slightly under- or over-expose. This is an adjustment done behind the scenes and not exposure compensation. This is something I would find very handy on my 50D because it always overexposes by about 1/3 a stop in Evaluative Metering mode. So instead of using -1/3 exposure compensation all the time, I finally settled on using Center Weighted Average metering. But with the D7000, you can fine tune the camera to always underexpose. For example if you were to have this slight overexposure problem in Matrix metering, you could fine-tune Matrix for -1/3 and then it would be fixed. You could use exposure compensation on top of that when necessary. You can also customize the controls for exposure compensation (EC) so that your EC adjustment applies to only the next photo taken or to all subsequent photos.
Autofocus – The D7000 offers AF Fine Tune (or AF Micro-Adjustment as Canon users may know it) to slightly fine tune the autofocus of multiple lenses if any of them are slightly back- or front-focusing. This feature was on the 50D but was disappointingly dropped from the 60D. The D7000 also allows you to choose from all the AF points or just 11 of them, which could be helpful to those just getting the hang of selecting their own AF point instead of allowing the camera to choose what it thinks you wish to focus on. (You should nearly always be choosing your own AF point!)
So as you can see, the D7000 offers many advanced customization and fine-tune options in the Menus and Custom Settings that the 60D just doesn’t offer. Keep in mind however that these are pretty advanced features, and if you are not going to be making use of them, don’t be swayed by them when choosing a camera.
For a more detailed comparison of these two cameras, see my post Nikon D7000 vs. Canon 60D.
If you would like to learn more about all the Menu and Custom Settings of the Nikon D7000 or the Menu items and Custom Functions of the Canon 60D, be sure to have a look at my ebook user’s guides for each of these cameras:
Nikon D7000 Experience – The Still Photographer’s Guide to the Nikon D7000
Your World 60D – The Still Photographer’s Guide to the Canon 60D
In these books I cover all of the menus and custom settings, along with their recommended settings for general photography and travel photography use. These kinds of settings are what make these cameras very powerful and precise tools that you can – and should – set up to work for the way you photograph. They are worth learning, understanding and making use of.
If you wish to compare the Canon 60D with the other Canon dSLRs, see this post Canon 5D vs. 7D vs. 60D vs. 550D/T2i and if you wish to compare the Nikon D7000 with the other Nikon dSLRs, see this post Nikon D7000 vs. D90 vs. D300s.
Nikon D7000 User’s Guide
I have completed a Nikon D7000 e book user’s guide, Nikon D7000 Experience – The Still Photographer’s Guide to Operation and Image Creation that goes beyond the D7000 manual to help you learn when and why to use the various controls, features, and custom settings of this powerful camera. As one reader has said, “This book, together with the manual that came with your camera, is all you need to start discovering all the potential of the D7000.”
The Nikon D7000 is an incredibly powerful and customizable image-making tool, and in order to get the most out of it you will need to learn how to take advantage of its features, controls, and custom settings. Like my previous ebooks, including the bestselling Your World 60D, Nikon D7000 Experience not only covers the various settings, functions and controls of the Nikon D7000, but it also explains when and why to use them for your photography. And it describes every D7000 Shooting, Setup, and Playback Menu Setting and every Custom Setting, with recommended settings to get you started quickly, including Movie Mode menu settings. Note that it focuses on still-photography and not video except for a brief introduction to video menus and settings to get you up and running. Sections include:
- Setting Up Your D7000 – All of the D7000 Custom Settings and Shooting, Setup, and Playback Menu settings, including movie mode menus, with brief descriptions and recommended settings for practical, everyday use. Set up and customize the powerful advanced features of your dSLR to work best for the way you photograph.
- Auto Focusing Modes and Area Modes and Release (Drive) Modes – How they differ, how and when to use them to capture sharp images of both still and moving subjects. Also how and when to use focus lock.
- Aperture Priority Mode (A) and Shutter Priority Mode (S) – How and when to use them to create dramatic depth of field or to freeze or express motion.
- Exposure Metering Modes of the Nikon D7000 – How they differ, how and when to use them for correct exposures in every situation. Also how to make use of exposure lock.
- Histograms, Exposure Compensation, Bracketing, and White Balance – Understanding and using these features for adjusting to the proper exposure in challenging lighting situations.
- Composition – Brief tips, techniques, and explanations, including the creative use of depth of field.
- The Image Taking Process – A descriptive tutorial for using the settings and controls you just learned to take photos.
- Photography Accessories – The most useful accessories for day-to-day and travel photography.
- Introduction to Video Settings – Some basic settings to get you started.
This digital guide to the Nikon D7000 is a 72 page, text-only PDF document (also available in Kindle, iPad and Nook formats) that builds upon the information found in the D7000 manual, to help one begin to master their dSLR and learn to use the Nikon D7000 to its full capabilities. The guide cuts through all the information thrown at you in the manual and focuses on essential settings and information to help you get out there shooting in the real world. It is packed with helpful information applicable to the new and intermediate dSLR photographer – to begin to turn you into an advanced digital photographer!
View a preview of it here. The preview shows the table of contents, a bit of the intro, a page of the Menu Settings, a page of the Custom Settings, and a couple text pages.
Author: Douglas Klostermann
Format: PDF – Instant Download – read on your computer and iPad, plus print on your printer.
Page Count: 72
Price: $11.99 on sale $10.99
(plus 6.25% sales tax for residents of Massachusetts)
Secure payment with PayPal or Credit card
or 
This version is in PDF format, text-only, 8.5″x11″, which can be read on your computer screen, printed on your printer, taken with you on your laptop, and can also be read on the iPad. The Nikon D7000 Experience ebook is also available on Amazon.com in Kindle format, on BarnesandNoble.com in Nook format, and on Apple iTunes/ iBooks in iPad format. See here for direct links to the other formats.
What Readers of Nikon D7000 Experience are Saying:
It’s the first guide I’ve read which has taken me through all the settings in an understandable way. I now feel that I have control over the camera.
-Peter S.
I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get a quick start to using the D7000. Manuals are nice, but this eBook highlights the important information and gives a quick easy to understand explanation of most all of the functions and controls.
-Ray M.
This manual is a clearly written, concise and useful explanation of the rationale for the seemingly infinite and often confusing settings options for the D7000. Used in conjunction with the Nikon manual I feel a bit more confident in understanding how to at last proceed in getting better photographs.
-WLS
I found the Nikon manual good for understanding how to set things up but not much on the why – this book really focuses on the “why.” Prior to reading the book I was setting up my metering on Spot Metering thinking it was much better than Matrix – the guide helped me understand why to use specific settings for specific needs. The Custom Settings sections helps to make firm decisions on how to apply settings by understanding the usage of each in addition to knowing how to set them up. I would like to thank you for saving me time – now I’m confident that my camera is well tuned!
-Benoit A.
This book, together with the manual that came with your camera, is all you need to start discovering all the potential of the D7000.
-Max M.
It’s clear, concise and gets to the heart of the camera’s multiple and often confusing options. Very highly recommended – for experienced user and beginner alike. As previous reviewers have remarked, the official manual is very good on what to do, but not so clear on why.
-GSA
See and purchase your D7000 on Amazon:
Nikon D7000 with 18-105mm kit lens on Amazon.com
Word on the street is that there is going to be a 5% price increase for many Canon lenses and Speedlites starting February 1, 2011. Here is one list showing potential increases ranging from 1% to 11%.
(I always find it a bit silly and obsessive when photographers take photos of their own gear but, well, I needed an appropriate image!)
So make that decision now and buy that awesome new lens you’ve been desiring, before the prices go up! Don’t know which lens(es) to buy? Be sure to check out one of my most popular posts, Best Lenses for Humanitarian and Travel Photography to get the run down on several recommended lenses (which also applies to general and everyday photography).
If you decide to purchase from Amazon.com, I would appreciate it if you use my referral links on that post, or use this link to enter Amazon and make your purchases! Amazon will give me a little something, which helps to support this blog. Thanks!
Thanks to all my blog visitors over the year! I hope you continue to come back in 2011 for more insights about photography, equipment, and the photographic creative process.
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads “Wow!”
Crunchy numbers
The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 95,000 times in 2010. If it were an exhibit at The Louvre Museum, it would take 4 days for that many people to see it.
In 2010, there were 77 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 130 posts. There were 44 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 48mb. That’s about 4 pictures per month (this doesn’t count all the photos hosted externally on Flickr).
The busiest day of the year was August 27th with 1,138 views. The most popular post that day was Canon 5D vs 7D vs 60D vs 50D vs 550D / T2i.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were dojoklo.com, facebook.com, google.com, fatwallet.com, and en.wordpress.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for canon 50d vs 60d, 50d vs 60d, canon 60d vs 7d, 60d vs 7d, and canon 7d vs 60d.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
1
Canon 5D vs 7D vs 60D vs 50D vs 550D / T2i August 2010
37 comments and 3 Likes on WordPress.com
2
Canon 50D vs. 60D October 2010
5 comments
3
Canon 5D vs. 7D vs. 60D vs. 550D / T2i Part III July 2010
6 comments
4
Canon 7D vs. 5D vs. 50D part II (plus 550D / Rebel T2i) May 2010
3 comments
5
Your World 60D – Canon 60D User’s Guide and Tutorial September 2010
3 comments
