Nikon D7xxx owners thread

[specialman]

Camerafan - I would look on amazon, 7dayshop or camerapricebuster.co.uk for better prices and faster cards. Go for Class 10 SDHC as a minimum.... I got 16gb transcend cards off amazon for a tenner each. Seem fine for burst shooting and HD video....Faster, 45mbps cards can be had for £15-20...

 

[JulesP]

Does anyone know if these (please see links below) will work on the Nikon D7000 I am intending to buy tomorrow – the cards seem to cheaper at Argos than in some camera shops. I am advised that some cards might be cheaper still on the internet but I need to get one tomorrow from a shop as I don’t think the memory card is included when I get the D7000.

I was told earlier that I might get 500 pictures on an 8 gb card (on a D7000) so, since I sometimes take a 1000 pictures, I better get a 16 gb card.

These are the links referred to above:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5707700.htm

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5690549.htm

Sandisk cards should be no problem but those ones linked to are only class 4 so they are quite slow. Ideally you want class 10 or UHS1 cards.
Also depends on which settings for how many pics on any particular card

 

[Camerafan]

I used the Sandisk Exterme III 16GB cards which have a write speed of 45MB/s compared to the 5MB/s cards you're looking at.

Thank you for your advice John.

So you think I should get this one (link below) for the digital stills I will be taking on the D7000? How many digital photographs do you think I might be able to get on that?

Here is the link referred to above:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5692145.htm

 

[Camerafan]

Camerafan - I would look on amazon, 7dayshop or camerapricebuster.co.uk for better prices and faster cards. Go for Class 10 SDHC as a minimum.... I got 16gb transcend cards off amazon for a tenner each. Seem fine for burst shooting and HD video....Faster, 45mbps cards can be had for £15-20...

I will be buying a Nikon D7000 tomorrow and need to use it straight away. So I will have to purchase a memory card immediately (probably 8 GB). I will get a second one - perhaps 16 GB - off a website (such as one of those you kindly recommend above) soon after.

 

[JulesP]

Thank you for your advice John.

So you think I should get this one (link below) for the digital stills I will be taking on the D7000? How many digital photographs do you think I might be able to get on that?

Here is the link referred to above:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5692145.htm

That should do you. Don't forget the D7000 has two card slots. What I do is use slot one for raw images and use a smaller card in slot two for jpegs

 

[Camerafan]

Don't forget the D7000 has two card slots. What I do is use slot one for raw images and use a smaller card in slot two for jpegs

Thank you for your reply Jules.

So each time you take a picture on the Nikon D7000 you can decide which of the two memory cards in it to send it to? Can one have two cards which are the same brand and MB in each slot or does one have to put two different types of cards in it?

I am going to need an urgent lesson here in this thread tomorrow evening on the basics of using the D7000. I will be using it straight away and I will urgently need to know what settings to have the camera on for basic photography.

What would I press for 6 fps shots and how would I switch to one photograph for each time I press the button?

I have used a pocket-sized digital camera for a while now but I am new to DSLR.

 

[JohnBradbury]

Thank you for your advice John.

So you think I should get this one (link below) for the digital stills I will be taking on the D7000? How many digital photographs do you think I might be able to get on that?

Here is the link referred to above:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5692145.htm

That's a class 10 card so you shouldn't have any problems using it with your D7000.

If I recall correctly the NEF files out of the D7000 vary between 16-25MB depending on the image. Keeping in mind you don't get the full 8GB for storage (the file system uses up space) I would say around 300-350 images as a rough estimation.

 

[ausemmao]

This may be a silly question, I currently have a D7000 but the master plan is to move to full frame at some stage, when depends on finances obviously.
I've just today decided on the Nikon 24-70 2.8, which I should be collecting tomorrow, just about everyone says it's a wonderful lens but there are the odd review or comment that it's not wide enough on a DX body, the question is do you buy less expensive DX lenses? Surely this is false economy as when I do finally move to full frame these lenses will need upgraded, my idea is buy the best I can now and that will suit me for hopefully a long while to come.
Am I doing the right thing

The problem is that the only other zoom you could choose is the 17-55, and that isn't much cheaper.

If you want a standard zoom and you know you're going FF, a 24-70 makes a lot of sense. 24-105 could have been an option if you had other fast lenses.

That aside, there simply aren't viable less expensive DX lenses, apart from the 35 1.8 (the biggest thing that irritates me about Nikon DX - the last proper lens was the 35 in 2009, before that...the 17-55 in 200...3? .) In my kit I have ONE DX lens. Not because I'm wanting to move to FF or anything (though it will probably happen at some point because it's the only way to get the FoVs I want), but because for the FLs I want it's that or nothing (and in some cases still nothing. How can there still not be a 16mm 1.8 or 1.4 after 10 years?)

That's something micro 4/3 did right.

 

[Camerafan]

That's a class 10 card so you shouldn't have any problems using it with your D7000...Keeping in mind you don't get the full 8GB for storage (the file system uses up space) I would say around 300-350 images as a rough estimation.

Thank you for your reply John.

I am going to need more than one card since I might not get much than 300 pictures on the card. I may have to get a 16 gb class 10 card tomorrow when I purchase a new DSLR - on the assumption that if one can get about 300 photographs on an 8 gb class 10 card then about double that number might fit on a card twice the size.

Or I could just get an 8 gb card tomorrow - and buy a larger class 10 card off the internet next week. If my DSLR 8 gb class 10 card fills up I can always do some additional pictures on my pocket-sized digital camera until I purchase a bigger memory card off the internet for my new DSLR.

 

[Phil1974]

Thank you for your reply John.

I am going to need more than one card since I might not get much than 300 pictures on the card. I may have to get a 16 gb class 10 card tomorrow when I purchase a new DSLR - on the assumption that if one can get about 300 photographs on an 8 gb class 10 card then about double that number might fit on a card twice the size.

Or I could just get an 8 gb card tomorrow - and buy a larger class 10 card off the internet next week. If my DSLR 8 gb class 10 card fills up I can always do some additional pictures on my pocket-sized digital camera until I purchase a bigger memory card off the internet for my new DSLR.

You'll get about 450 raw files on a 16gb card and over 1000 large fine jpegs. Have a look at play.com as well. I use their own brand class 10 16gb cards and they work just fine. They're around £8.99 - bargain!!
As for settings for 6fps set it to ch (iirc) on the mode dial (under the main settings dial)

Phil

 

[dejongj]

I use the Sandisk Extreme Pro 90MB/s cards...1x64GB and 1x32GB...Nice and fast write speeds for clearing the buffer...

 

[MBZ3147]

Does anyone know if these (please see links below) will work on the Nikon D7000 I am intending to buy tomorrow – the cards seem to cheaper at Argos than in some camera shops. I am advised that some cards might be cheaper still on the internet but I need to get one tomorrow from a shop as I don’t think the memory card is included when I get the D7000.

I was told earlier that I might get 500 pictures on an 8 gb card (on a D7000) so, since I sometimes take a 1000 pictures, I better get a 16 gb card.

These are the links referred to above:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5707700.htm

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5690549.htm

I just ordered two 32gb, Sandisk Extreme from mymemory at £25.99 each, that looked like a decent price.

 

[Bilko]

Please tell me I'm missing something here.

When I take a photo, the image doesn't come up on the screen for review. I have to press the play button on the top left to review it.

Never mind, found it! :bonk:

 

[Camerafan]

I just ordered two 32gb, Sandisk Extreme from mymemory at £25.99 each, that looked like a decent price.

Thank you for your reply MBZ3147 and for the link (posting number to 1252 to this thread).

 

[Camerafan]

I use the Sandisk Extreme Pro 90MB/s cards...1x64GB and 1x32GB...Nice and fast write speeds for clearing the buffer...

Thank you for your reply dejongj and for the link (posting number 1251 to this thread).

 

[specialman]

I will be buying a Nikon D7000 tomorrow and need to use it straight away. So I will have to purchase a memory card immediately (probably 8 GB). I will get a second one - perhaps 16 GB - off a website (such as one of those you kindly recommend above) soon after.

I take it you'll have your camera now? I was fortunate that I ordered SD cards to arrive at the same time as my camera, but I can see how the excitement means you wouldn't be able to wait

 

[dejongj]

Thank you for your reply dejongj and for the link (posting number 1251 to this thread).

That link wasn't mine, the board must insert it. It is an insane price for that card...I paid less than half that on Amazon

 

[rob-nikon]

I use class 10 sandisk extreme 30mb/s 8gb cards with my d7000. I've brought 4 of these when they were on offer on amazon (£10 each). After having a memory card fail on me when I first got the camera I would rather lose the images from one 8gb card than a 32gb card. If you are going to use video then a larger 32gb card may be a good idea. I only take stills so 4 8gb cards works well for me. I did read on here that he d7000 can only write at max 25mb/s speed so there isn't much point wasting money on the faster cards unless your computer can use the faster read speed. Try amazon as £25 for that card is a lot. You will be surprised at how many you can get on a card, i use 2 cards in overflow so it fills one then the other. Even using raw I haven't yet filled both cards in a day (or used a full battery!).

 

[dejongj]

Not sure I agree with that, but hey if it works for you...

Here is an interesting test
http://sportsphotoguy.com/nikon-d7000-raw-burst-test/

 

[Camerafan]

specialman wrote: I take it you'll have your camera now?

Yes, I am just back from the camera shop having bought a Nikon D7000 . The battery is already charging up . It is my first DSLR.

I would like to thank all users of this camera here who have helpfully answered my questions about it.

specialman wrote: I was fortunate that I ordered SD cards to arrive at the same time as my camera, but I can see how the excitement means you wouldn't be able to wait

As I need to use my new D7000 straight away I haven't got the time to get its first memory card off the internet so I went to a shop and (as advised here) bought a SanDisk Extreme 8 GB card. I did not buy the card in the shop I purchased the camera from but went to another which had it on sale at a lower price (plus a special offer of a further £5 off). It might not have enough room for the photographs I intend to do on my D7000's first outing but I can take some pictures on my pocket-sized digital camera as well.

I need at least two more SanDisc Extreme 8 GB cards (or a 16 GB card of the same kind) for the D7000 and will be getting those off the internet next week.

 

[Camerafan]

rob-nikon wrote: I use class 10 sandisk extreme 30mb/s 8gb cards with my d7000.

I have just bought one of those from a shop. The price was probably lower than in many other shops at this time. How many JPEG pictures do you think I might be able to get on it? I would have preferred to buy it off the internet at lower cost but there isn't time as I need to use my new D7000 immediately. I will order two more of the above-named card (or one of the above at 16 GB) off the internet next week.

rob-nikon wrote: After having a memory card fail on me when I first got the camera I would rather lose the images from one 8gb card than a 32gb card.

I am sorry to read that the memory card failed. I absolutely agree that using 8 GB memory cards could well be better than relying on one larger card such as 32 GB. As you imply Rob, if an 8 GB card fails, then that it is less photographic work lost than if a 32 GB one goes faulty. I think I might stick to 8 GB cards and will get a couple more next week off the internet.

rob-nikon wrote: If you are going to use video then a larger 32gb card may be a good idea.

I have a video facility on my small pocket-sized digital camera but it is never used. However, I might use the HD video on the D7000 when I go on holiday so I will remember your suggestion, Rob, that a 32 GB memory card might be the best one to use for that.

rob-nikon wrote: You will be surprised at how many you can get on a card, i use 2 cards in overflow so it fills one then the other. Even using raw I haven't yet filled both cards in a day (or used a full battery!).

Great...I will see very soon just how many JPEG pictures I can get on an 8GB SanDisc Extreme memory card. I am thinking it might hold about 350, but DSLR photography is new to me so I could well be wrong on that.

 

[rob-nikon]

Not sure I agree with that, but hey if it works for you...

Here is an interesting test
http://sportsphotoguy.com/nikon-d7000-raw-burst-test/

Thanks dejongj for that information, i won't now believe everything I read on here from now on. To be honest I don't have the need to rattle many consecutive frames but for sports photograph I can fully understand the need to. I take at most 5 consecutive frames at any one time, the 30mb/s card so far had worked well.

 

[Camerafan]

I need an urgent lesson in the basics of using the Nikon D7000. Can anyone here help please?

I bought a D7000 today and the battery is already charging up .

I have to use the new camera - my first DSLR - almost straight away.

Obviously, I can't learn everything about it tonight but any advice on how to get it working quickly to do some photographs would be greatly appreciated.

I do not know whether to use RAW or JPEG (nor do I know how to choose between the two on the D7000).

Once that is decided I just want to know about settings (i.e. for photography in dull weather) and how I switch between 6 fps and just one shot each time I take a picture.

I notice that the D7000 comes with a disc - presumably software for the computer to be used for downloading photographs I take. Do I have to download this onto the computer before I can actually use the camera to take pictures this coming weekend? I don't mind waiting a couple of days to do that - this weekend's pictures are a greater priority.

My lenses are: Nikon AF Nikkor 70 - 210 mm (old lens), Nikon AF Nikkor 24 - 50 mm (old lens) and the Sigma 10 - 20 mm (new - purchased today with the D7000). The memory card in the camera will be the SanDisk Extreme 8 GB.

If anyone can help me right now with essential points on how to learn quickly basic usage of the D7000 I would be most grateful. I appreciate that it comes with an instruction book (of 326 pages) but I will not have the time to go through it at length tonight.

Thank you.

 

[rob-nikon]

I have a video facility on my small pocket-sized digital camera but it is never used. However, I might use the HD video on the D7000 when I go on holiday so I will remember your suggestion, Rob, that a 32 GB memory card might be the best one to use for that.

I haven't used video so get some advice from someone who does on that before purchasing one. My thinking is you don't want to be changing cards often as video would take up more room than stills.

Great...I will see very soon just how many JPEG pictures I can get on an 8GB SanDisc Extreme memory card. I am thinking it might hold about 350, but DSLR photography is new to me so I could well be wrong on that.[/QUOTE]

My camera says 291 to an 8gb card but it usually seems to under estimate, 350 sounds about right. I find I do go through them and delete the totally out of focus shots during breaks in the day. Next yet sure if it's good practice or a bad habbit.I have found I'm taking less since I started using RAW due to the time it takes to process them, it's made me more selective when I press the shutter now.

 

[vizzair]

the disk comes with viewnx, this converts RAW and displays what you set up in the camera, if you shoot jpeg, you can simply put the SD card in a card reader without the viewnx software, but viewnx is very good imho.
I always shoot raw, camera shows 398 shots with a 8Gb card (i have two in the camera )
Selecting between raw and jpeg is as simple as pressing the "qual" button on the back and rotating the command dials on top right of the camera, ( page 85 onward in the manual )
release mode (single or continuous, page 77 onwards )

and as they alway say : RTFM ( Read the Fine Manual ) - replace fine with whatever F word you like !

Have fun, its a good camera.

 

[vizzair]

Now my question, I noticed mentions of a sigma 10-20 super wide earlier, has anyone had experience of the sigma 10-20 F3.5 , as opposed to the sigma 10-20 F4-5.6, the f3.5 looks nice, but is it any good ? How about the tokina 11-16 f2.8.
I like taking landscapes, but for a complete amateur, is it worth the cost just to get another 10 deg over the 18mm kits lens , or should I just stick to taking 3 pictures and stitching them using microsoft ICE or pano tools ?

 

[Camerafan]

Camerafan wrote: I am thinking it might hold about 350, but DSLR photography is new to me so I could well be wrong on that.

rob-nikon wrote: My camera says 291 to an 8gb card but it usually seems to under estimate, 350 sounds about right. I find I do go through them and delete the totally out of focus shots during breaks in the day. Next yet sure if it's good practice or a bad habbit.I have found I'm taking less since I started using RAW due to the time it takes to process them, it's made me more selective when I press the shutter now.

For me, 350 is not going to be enough. I can manage this weekend because I also use a pocket-sized digital camera which can hold up to about 1000 pictures. But next week I am going to buy at least two more SanDisk Extreme 8 GB memory cards of the internet for use on my new D7000.

Can you tell me, Rob, if I can convert RAW pictures into JPEG? What is the difference between RAW and JPEG? I store digital photographs I take on the computer and then copy them to DVD discs (although I have been advised that storage on a memory stick is a good alternative). I would like to know which is the better for storage on DVD disc - RAW or JPEG.

I think the pictures I have taken with the pocket-sized digital camera I have are JPEG.

 

[Camerafan]

vizzair wrote regarding the Nikon D7000: ...I always shoot raw, camera shows 398 shots with a 8Gb card (i have two in the camera )...

Are RAW shots better than JPEG? Can one change RAW shots into JPEG later? This is my first DSLR - so this is all new to me.

vizzair wrote regarding the Nikon D7000: Selecting between raw and jpeg is as simple as pressing the "qual" button on the back and rotating the command dials on top right of the camera, ( page 85 onward in the manual )...release mode (single or continuous, page 77 onwards )...

Thank you for this very useful advice, vizzair.

How do I switch between 6 fps photography and single shots?

Can I use the D7000 before the software which comes with it is downloaded onto my computer?

vizzair wrote regarding the Nikon D7000: Have fun, its a good camera.

Thank you, vizzair. I am very much looking forward to using it. I bought a wide angle lens with it - I started off in SLR photography using wide angle and I am to start taking wide angle pictures again.

I was shown a D7000 with its viewfinder on in the shop today and it looked great.

My D7000 battery is now half-charged up - so not too long now before I can have a go on it for the first time .

 

[Bilko]

I'm still getting my head round this camera. I feel quite intimidated by it. It is a stunning piece of kit.

 

[Camerafan]

I'm still getting my head round this camera. I feel quite intimidated by it. It is a stunning piece of kit.

I've spent the last three or four hours with my new D7000 and can see that - because it is so extensive in its abilities which will require time to learn - I shall be taking the majority of my photographs this weekend on my pocket-sized digital camera.

 

[Camerafan]

Can any owners of D7000's help me with a few questions I have now that I have operated my new D7000 (purchased yesterday) for the first time.

How do I select RAW or JPEG before taking photographs?

How do I set the camera for 6 fps and how do I then change the setting so it takes one picture each time?

The D7000 instructions say that after formatting the memory card the camera display at the top will say (approximately) how many pictures I could fit onto the card. But when I tried formatting the memory card no such information about the number of photographs appeared on the display (top right of camera). Does this mean that the card has not been correctly formatted - or not formatted at all? The camera is taking photographs and so I assume that they are actually stored on the memory card (the card is SanDisc Extreme 8 GB).

The pictures I took on manual setting came out very dim - or totally black screen. These photographs were taken in the home about an hour ago (obviously with artificial lighting). What settings - when the D7000 is in manual mode - should I use so that photographs such as those taken just over an hour ago do not come out dim or with a black screen?

Where do I find the list of options such as 'night', 'day' or 'landscape' etc.?

I hope someone can help answer the above questions.

By the way, the shop and instructions say that it should take about 2.5 hours to charge the D7000 battery. It actually took less than that the first time I used the recharger (about 2 hours). Have any other readers found that the battery is full and ready in less than 2.5 hours?

I am hoping to do some photography with my new D7000 today and tomorrow and answers to the above questions and other helpful advice about the D7000 would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[coopersim]

Can any owners of D7000's help me with a few questions I have now that I have operated my new D7000 (purchased yesterday) for the first time.

How do I select RAW or JPEG before taking photographs?

How do I set the camera for 6 fps and how do I then change the setting so it takes one picture each time?

The D7000 instructions say that after formatting the memory card the camera display at the top will say (approximately) how many pictures I could fit onto the card. But when I tried formatting the memory card no such information about the number of photographs appeared on the display (top right of camera). Does this mean that the card has not been correctly formatted - or not formatted at all? The camera is taking photographs and so I assume that they are actually stored on the memory card (the card is SanDisc Extreme 8 GB).

The pictures I took on manual setting came out very dim - or totally black screen. These photographs were taken in the home about an hour ago (obviously with artificial lighting). What settings - when the D7000 is in manual mode - should I use so that photographs such as those taken just over an hour ago do not come out dim or with a black screen?

Where do I find the list of options such as 'night', 'day' or 'landscape' etc.?

I hope someone can help answer the above questions.

By the way, the shop and instructions say that it should take about 2.5 hours to charge the D7000 battery. It actually took less than that the first time I used the recharger (about 2 hours). Have any other readers found that the battery is full and ready in less than 2.5 hours?

I am hoping to do some photography with my new D7000 today and tomorrow and answers to the above questions and other helpful advice about the D7000 would be appreciated.

Thank you.

You can set JPG or RAW by pressing the Info button and scrolling to the Image Quality option as seen on the rear screen (page 85 of the manual)

Taking single or continuous shots can be selected by using the Release-Mode Dial (page 7 of the manual) press and hold the small button on the far left of the Mode Dial, and turn the knurled wheel (S for Single Shot, CL for continuous low speed, CH for continuous high speed)

You may need to adjust a setting in the menu to show the remaining shots available on the card rather than the ISO (this will be on the right side of the top LCD) Menu option d3 (page 216 in the manual) labelled ISO Display and Adjustment - select the option Show Frame Count.

Your next question about dark photos, sounds like you're on Manual mode, possibly without flash, and your exposure is wrong. Did you check the meter reading, as visible in the viewfinder? (see page 9 of the manual, and page 72 for further information on reading the meter)

It might be worth switching over to P or Auto until you're fully familiar with the settings

Your last question seems to relate to 'Scene' Turn the Mode Dial to Scene, then use the Main Command Dial to select the appropriate scene (see page 40 in the manual)

Hope this helps!

It's a mighty piece of kit, I'm still getting used to it two weeks on!

 

[dejongj]

I would just keep it on auto (the green icon) for this weekend and give yourself a bit more time if you want any keepers. You most definitely can progress immensely from there, but you just won't be able to pick that up in an hour through some internet chats...

Personally I would just forget about the scenes, even more to learn on how to apply them and where. Just leave it in auto, and raw and you can fix most things there after. However if you understand what Aperture means and the relationship it has with ISO and Exposure times you can improve by going into Aperture priority mode and single focus point. But if you have no idea what I just said, do yourself a favour and stick to auto for now.

It is a beast to tame, I was a dSLR user for 6 years prior to switching to the D7000 which I now have for one year and I am still discovering things and ways to tame it and use it...

 

[AlfyB]

Now my question, I noticed mentions of a sigma 10-20 super wide earlier, has anyone had experience of the sigma 10-20 F3.5 , as opposed to the sigma 10-20 F4-5.6, the f3.5 looks nice, but is it any good ? How about the tokina 11-16 f2.8.
I like taking landscapes, but for a complete amateur, is it worth the cost just to get another 10 deg over the 18mm kits lens , or should I just stick to taking 3 pictures and stitching them using microsoft ICE or pano tools ?

I don't know about the sigma but after reading reviews on here I got the tokina for my d7000 and I'm very impressed.

The difference between 10 degree and 18 degree is quite big. I did a blog post for a course that I'm doing that shows the field of view differences,
http://bushtography.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/focal-length-and-angle-of-view/, which includes the difference between 11 and 17.

 

[rob-nikon]

Can you tell me, Rob, if I can convert RAW pictures into JPEG? What is the difference between RAW and JPEG? I store digital photographs I take on the computer and then copy them to DVD discs (although I have been advised that storage on a memory stick is a good alternative). I would like to know which is the better for storage on DVD disc - RAW or JPEG.

I think the pictures I have taken with the pocket-sized digital camera I have are JPEG.

RAW is basically the digital equivalent of a film negative. They have to be converted (i use viewNX2) and then processed in post production software (photoshop, Lightroom) to make it into a finished JPEG. RAW gives you the option to make adjusts such as changing the white balance, altering the exposure etc. if you put the camera on JPEG it applies all the post processing itself but you can't make changes as easy if process them later.

RAW files are larger and take up more space than a JPEG. I store both the RAW and finished processed JPEG files on my computer. Sometimes I try to process a old RAW file to improve it later on if I'm not happy with the first attempt.

When I got my first dslr I used JPEG then decided to start using RAW when I upgraded to the d7000. I only process about 20-30 images from a day shooting (try to select the best ones), to be honest I wouldn't have the time to process hundreds of RAW files as it so time consuming.

 

[optimist5]

Could be anything. Externally there could be a crack, especially where it landed. Internally there could be a dislodge mirror mechanism. Two of many issues that could arise.

Or it could be totally fine...

I take it by your question you've dropped it? Is it showing signs of damage? Does it still work? Does it focus? Is the image coming out okay. Does the flash still pop up and fire? Do the command dials work? Are the LCDs still working and undamaged?...

Thanks for your reply! It appears to be ok, functioning but focus seems a little slow. You have given me lots to think about so I think I will take it to Fixation for a check. I hope all is well but not hopeful...

 

[vizzair]

I always shoot raw and use viewnx, which does a good job of processing the images you see on the screen. I only convert to jpeg is when Im posting on the web or printing, otherwise they stay as raw, as I can always convert again later. Most images dont even need tweeking as they come off the camera, maybe a quick touch of exposure and contrast.

 

[dejongj]

RAW is basically the digital equivalent of a film negative. They have to be converted (i use viewNX2) and then processed in post production software (photoshop, Lightroom) to make it into a finished JPEG. RAW gives you the option to make adjusts such as changing the white balance, altering the exposure etc. if you put the camera on JPEG it applies all the post processing itself but you can't make changes as easy if process them later.

RAW files are larger and take up more space than a JPEG. I store both the RAW and finished processed JPEG files on my computer. Sometimes I try to process a old RAW file to improve it later on if I'm not happy with the first attempt.

When I got my first dslr I used JPEG then decided to start using RAW when I upgraded to the d7000. I only process about 20-30 images from a day shooting (try to select the best ones), to be honest I wouldn't have the time to process hundreds of RAW files as it so time consuming.

To be honest, RAW processing does not have to take any more time than JPEG depending on what tools you use. If you have a Mac, and I'm certain with the right applications on a PC it will be the same, you can just use iPhoto or Aperture and there is no difference in importing, managing etc compared to JPEG. You will get a few additional controls compared to JPEG that you can choose to use or ignore.

Also for the record you can achieve the same results in JPEG but with a few provisos. Quality will be stunning when you get all the settings right in the camera first time. And quality can still be great and edited afterwards if you don't, only difference is that you can't non-destructively edit, so you will make copies of copies and at some stage the compression will start to take its toll. There is no argument though that if you severely messed up with exposure etc that it will be easier to restore and get good results from a RAW.

My main point being really is that with tools like iPhoto, Aperture (and I have seen reported Lightroom) there really doesn't have to be additional develop and processing time compared to JPEG shooting.

 

[TCR4x4]

Can any owners of D7000's help me with a few questions I have now that I have operated my new D7000 (purchased yesterday) for the first time.

How do I select RAW or JPEG before taking photographs?

How do I set the camera for 6 fps and how do I then change the setting so it takes one picture each time?

The D7000 instructions say that after formatting the memory card the camera display at the top will say (approximately) how many pictures I could fit onto the card. But when I tried formatting the memory card no such information about the number of photographs appeared on the display (top right of camera). Does this mean that the card has not been correctly formatted - or not formatted at all? The camera is taking photographs and so I assume that they are actually stored on the memory card (the card is SanDisc Extreme 8 GB).

The pictures I took on manual setting came out very dim - or totally black screen. These photographs were taken in the home about an hour ago (obviously with artificial lighting). What settings - when the D7000 is in manual mode - should I use so that photographs such as those taken just over an hour ago do not come out dim or with a black screen?

Where do I find the list of options such as 'night', 'day' or 'landscape' etc.?

I hope someone can help answer the above questions.

By the way, the shop and instructions say that it should take about 2.5 hours to charge the D7000 battery. It actually took less than that the first time I used the recharger (about 2 hours). Have any other readers found that the battery is full and ready in less than 2.5 hours?

I am hoping to do some photography with my new D7000 today and tomorrow and answers to the above questions and other helpful advice about the D7000 would be appreciated.

Thank you.

I know it's exciting to have a new camera, and you want to get out and use it, but I suggest you slow right down. The questions you have asked are all very basic things, and with a read of the manual will be answered. You say you don't have time to read the manual, but the time you have spend posting on this thread would have provided most of the answers to your questions. Nikon manuals are laid out pretty much in order of how they expect you to progress, with the basic stuff at the start, and then gradually getting into more deeper stuff.

Things like the scene modes "night" "landscape" etc are all covered very early on in the manual.
Also as you are struggling with the concept of exposure, I suggest you tale the time to learn the relationship between ISO, aperture and shutter speed. The reason you got black shots inside is because you did not set the exposure correctly and the camera was massively under exposing. . For now, don't worry about using manual mode. Use P, or A or one of the scene modes until you get comfortable with setting things your self.

YouTube can also be very usefull. I my self have made detailed videos about the Nikon D3100, covering every single button and setting. I imagine others have made the same for the d7000 so, have a look on there. It's often easier to learn by doing and watching rather than reading.

Just slow down, and be methodical. Rushing will lead to disappointment. You have bought a very powerful and not particularly beginner friendly camera, so there is a very steep learning curve ahead.

 

[Bilko]

YouTube can also be very usefull. I my self have made detailed videos about the Nikon D3100, covering every single button and setting. I imagine others have made the same for the d7000 so, have a look on there. It's often easier to learn by doing and watching rather than reading.

Just slow down, and be methodical. Rushing will lead to disappointment. You have bought a very powerful and not particularly beginner friendly camera, so there is a very steep learning curve ahead.

Tom's right.
Definately go to Youtube. There's some good videos on there for the D7000