D300 Owners Thread - Anything related to the D300!

redhed17 said:
View NX shows the focus point you used, not where the camera focussed (in this situation) because you recomposed that focus point away from the eye. The thing you focussed on should still be in focus.
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Thanks for that, i was expecting that view nx would show the point at which focus was locked, not where camera was pointing i.e. centre of bird. I also set camera up to show focus point, the magic book say that the point where focus was locked will show up in display, not for me, its still bang in the middle of the screen.. Sorry if i am being thick here:)
 
If you used the central focus point to focus on the birds eye, and then recomposed, the central focus point will still be active in the viewfinder, and when you open the image in View NX that should show the central focus point too. Whatever is under that focus point in the image, or when you press the shutter button is irrelevant if you kept the shutter half pressed. The camera doesn't know what was under that focus point, just that you/it used that particular focus point. You 'should' know what you focussed on. ;)

What is this 'magic book' you speak of btw?
 
Magic Lantern guide I'm guessing.
 
redhed17 said:
If you used the central focus point to focus on the birds eye, and then recomposed, the central focus point will still be active in the viewfinder, and when you open the image in View NX that should show the central focus point too. Whatever is under that focus point in the image, or when you press the shutter button is irrelevant if you kept the shutter half pressed. The camera doesn't know what was under that focus point, just that you/it used that particular focus point. You 'should' know what you focussed on. ;)

What is this 'magic book' you speak of btw?
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Page 250 of the users manual:D Under focus point, but it doesnt work for me:)
 
is there a way to select the af-on button to lock autofocus? I can see how I can do it on the MBD10 menu but for the the main cam.

cheers
 
scottthehat said:
take your finger off the af button or use afs not afc mode.
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is that a no then?
which af button? tried focusing then recompose and full press but it tries to focus again (just neither at the original or recomposed centre).
 
BazEP said:
is that a no then?
which af button? tried focusing then recompose and full press but it tries to focus again (just neither at the original or recomposed centre).
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turn the af off on the shutter button(menu a5) and use the rear af button on camera and grip.
 
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scottthehat said:
turn the af off on the shutter button(menu a5) and use the rear af button on camera and grip.
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What Scott said, get used to focusing with the AF-ON button rather than the shutter release, so much better once you get used to it :thumbs:
 
I've found an alternative (primarily as I use the AElock button on the back with my thumb) is to set up the preview button (right index finger on front of cam) to lock focus. works a treat for me. got to love the flexibility of this bad boy.
;)
 
http://www.nikondigitutor.com/eng/d300/index.shtml this may help some with basic focus options if not already posted:thumbs:

I am new to the D300, coming from a long serving D70 then D80........the D300 is a great bit of kit and i'm finding my way around it quite simply but it can be complicated, the above is fairly basic but hopefully useful to some?
 
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Hi all
I have had some problems lately with my D300, whilst taking shots on rallies some of the pics have focused behind the cars, I am using a Sigma 70-30 f2.8, when veiwed in veiw NX the shots that are out of focus on the cars do not show a focus point. What I am wondering have I changed a setting in the camera menu which could cause this?
In the menu system A1 AF-C Priority Selection I have my camera set on RELEASE is this correct, or shouls it be on Release and Focus.
Alan
 
rhonddaboy said:
Hi all
I have had some problems lately with my D300, whilst taking shots on rallies some of the pics have focused behind the cars, I am using a Sigma 70-30 f2.8, when veiwed in veiw NX the shots that are out of focus on the cars do not show a focus point. What I am wondering have I changed a setting in the camera menu which could cause this?
In the menu system A1 AF-C Priority Selection I have my camera set on RELEASE is this correct, or shouls it be on Release and Focus.
Alan
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should be set to focus and release.
well both my d300s are set that way and no probs here.
but reading up on it, it should not make that much difference, just if focus and release is selected its still gave priority to release but take focus into considiration.
and just release will fire whatever.
 
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scottthehat said:
should be set to focus and release...
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Agreed - assuming you MUST have focus. The downside is that if the AF response of your lens is a bit too slow for the speed of the action, the lens may not have acquired focus, and won't release when you expect. With 'Release + Focus' in continuous-servo AF mode, you may experience an awkward lag when you press the shutter release fully down and the camera hasn't fixed on the focus yet.

For this reason, a newspaper photographer of my acquaintance tells me he has his cameras set to Release, because 'the editor will say, "Better a slightly out-of-focus shot than no shot at all" '.
 
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Hi Scott, yes I have it made no difference, never had this problem with before don't know whats changed.
Thanks for your reply Ammgram, as above this has only started recently.
 
rhonddaboy said:
... this has only started recently.
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If you were using continuous servo and had A1 set to 'Release', you've in a sense just been lucky that the lens has been responding fast enough to acquire focus fractionally before the shutter opened.

Assuming you're using the same lens, I'm guessing that the conditions have changed in some way that has made it harder for the lens AF to respond fast enough. The obvious suspect is lighting - at this time of year, the light levels may be quite challenging for the lens AF to acquire focus fast.

If you switch A1 to Release + Focus, you won't have the problem of the shutter firing too soon, but the frame rate may drop to provide the lens with more time to get focus. With fast cars, I guess the focus point may then be behind where you intended it to be.
 
spot focus 21 point, thinking about it they were dull overcast days.
 
I use focus+release - you are right, no focus point displayed on the camera or in cNX means that no focus was achieved.

In spot focus (ie single focus point) the number of focus points selected though makes no difference.

I normally use 9 or 21 with the focus point assist (middle position) set.

Yes the speed of the AF motor on the lens does make a difference though, the camera can only ask for the lens to focus, but it might not make it. The Sigma 70-200 in my opinion is pretty slow compared to the Nikon 70-200... but even that can fail too with motorsport, you just have to understand it a bit better to shoot for the most reliable scenarios.
 
Thank you for all your replies, it puts my mind at rest at least there's nothing wrong with my equipment.
 
Just wondered if anyone has any ideas? When i fit the grip to the camera (using the correct and fully charged AA batteries), the display shows that the grip batteries are being used. When i fire of a few shots, switch off the camera and grip, then when i switch both back on the display shows that the camera battery is in use not the grip. Tried clean contact etc, but to be honest it has done the same thing since i got it!

It could be a case of you get what to pay for i guess, anyone any thoughts?:)

Have told the camera what batteries are in use and told it to use grip first and then camera battery.

Thanks - Brian
 
Have you updated to the latest firmware? I vaguely remember reading something about errors using batteries other than EN-EL3e that were fixed, but beyond that my memory's not so good. :)
 
I get a lot of noise with the 300, Thanks for the tip, turning of noise reduction and active d
lighting.Lets see what happens.
 
Kaouthia said:
Have you updated to the latest firmware? I vaguely remember reading something about errors using batteries other than EN-EL3e that were fixed, but beyond that my memory's not so good. :)
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Thanks for that, have just checked and 1:10 is in place:)
 
You're not getting two flashes (well, sort of), you're getting the TTL pre-flashes before the shutter opens, then the flash at the end just before it closes.

The TTL pre-flash sequence basically allows the camera to determine how much power it needs to apply to the flash to get an adequately exposed shot. It has to figure this out before it opens the shutter so that the light from the pre-flashes doesn't contribute to the image.

You can get around it by popping your flash on manual mode, and setting the power level yourself. Then it doesn't need to work anything out, and just fires the regular flash before the second curtain closes.
 
Recently acquired d300s. How is it best to upload from 2 cards. I have cf set to raw and sd set to jpeg. Want to import to LR3. Do you upload one card at a time, either direct from the camera or via a card reader.

Any advise appreciated.

jeff
 
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Get a dual slot card reader (I use a Lexar Pro - not as expensive as the name might suggest, it was 20 quid!), plug in both cards and Lightroom will hoover both up.
 
I don't know comrade, I've never plugged my camera into the computer like that... get a card reader, they make life so much easier!
 
Well after weeks of deciding which body to upgrade to over my trusty D40 i've plumped for the D300. Can't wait to get to grips with it along with the 50mm 1.8 i bought at the same time.

I'm off to a wedding in Cornwall on Sat and can't wait to try it out but the thing is i probably won't recieve the camera till Thursday so i'm not gonna have a chance to 'get to grips with it properly'
Any advice on settings to use? I'm mainly worried about the new 51 point auto focus system as i'm told it gets a bit of getting used too?

I have my 18-200 VRII which i'll slap on the end for this wedding too.
 
I think I'm about to upgrade to a D300 imminently as well. Can I just ask what compact flash cards everybody is using? I use 8gb sandisk extreme 20mb/s at the moment. Don't know how fast I need to go with the D300. Any guidance on where to purchase the cards more than welcome too.
 
Dan - I made the same change about a year ago - such a step up, it will take you a while to get used to everything. Might be worth trying to put it in as easy a mode as possible to start with (depending on what you used the D40 in - but for me it was 9 point focus, A priority, centre weighted eval, C focus)

Graham - I get most of my cards from either 7dayshop or premier-ink. It depends how and what you shoot whether or not you really need the higher speed cards tbh. I run a 400x UDMA 16Gb card in mine if it makes any difference.
 
Well I have just the group of D300 owners. Just brought a second hand one off ebay local to me. Need to pay for it and pick it up first once the seller gets back to me. But it seems good so far only 7500 actuations. Now i need to find a good guide on how to use it and also some decent lenses to benefit most from it.

Ideas please for landscape work and something with a bit more reach. My initial thoughts are Nikon 16-85 and a Nikon 70-300.

Also what speed cars are good the faster the better i presume?
 
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