D90 Questions

[GadgetRick]

Ok, as you may know, I'm borrowing a friend's D90. I may wind up buying it from her as she never uses it and has mentioned she may be selling it. Anyway, before I do, I have some questions after using it for a couple of days...

1. Auto Focus--I have played with each of the AF Area Modes but can't seem to understand exactly what they're doing.I get the Auto Area (seems like it picks what to focus on for you) but I don't know what the Single Point, Dynamic Area or 3D Tracking does. I can't seem to find a mode which allows me to select the focus point manually as I'd like to for certain types of shooting.

2. Burst Mode--I see I can set it to take 4 pics per second, however, I can't seem to get it to take a bunch of shots at once by holding the shutter down and letting it fire away. It only takes one shot at a time. Can't seem to find anything anywhere in the menus for this.

3. Seems like the D90 has a lot of things it can do to pictures as you take/after you take them. I think I turned all of them off but missed Active D Lighting. What are you thoughts on all of these things? I, typically, haven't cared much for these kinds of things. I'd prefer to have the control during pp.

4. Color space--what color space do you shoot in with your D90? This was set to sRGB. I know that's better for web shots. Should I shoot in Adobe RGB? I know, this is a bit of a touchy subject but I know I can always chance my color space later if needed.

5. Metering Mode--how do you change the metering mode? Can't seem to find anywhere and it seems like the icon on the LCD indicates it's in matrix metering.

6. How do you actually shoot video? Can't seem to find the answer to that anywhere.

I think that about covers my questions for now. I can't seem to find answers to these questions elsewhere.

Thanks.

[OsmosisStudios]

1: AF Area chooses what to focus on, Dynamic area uses a smaller subset, single point uses a single point (that you specify) as a target. 3D tracking is similar to dynamic area.

2: On the top of the camera, right hand side, there's a button for the drive mode. Hold it and spin the rear scroll wheel.

3: picture controls are only applicable to JPG files, not RAW. If you shoot RAW, as most people suggest, you don't have to worry

4: sRGB is a larger colour space than Adobe RGB, if I remember correctly. Stick to sRGB.

[Raoul Isidro]

To shoot video, just press the LV button above the OK button.
This will black out the viewfinder and LiveView will come up on the screen.
Press the OK button and the movie capture starts, confirmed by a red dot on screen (recording).
To stop the movie capture, press OK again.
To get out of LiveView and back to normal viewfinder, press LV.
The mirror will slap down and the camera returns to normal finder viewing.
Cheers!

Try to use the fastest card possible. The recommended maximum clip length may not be achieved and cut out from movie mode sooner if the card is slower than the transfer rate from the buffer.

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

1: AF Area chooses what to focus on, Dynamic area uses a smaller subset, single point uses a single point (that you specify) as a target. 3D tracking is similar to dynamic area.

No matter which setting I have it on I can't seem to get it to allow me to select which point to focus on. I'm guessing it should be the same as my D50...push the directional button the the back to select the focus point. When I do that--no matter which AF mode I select--it doesn't change the focus point. :::scratching head:::

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

2: On the top of the camera, right hand side, there's a button for the drive mode. Hold it and spin the rear scroll wheel.

Ah...thanks!

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

3: picture controls are only applicable to JPG files, not RAW. If you shoot RAW, as most people suggest, you don't have to worry

Thanks again. I do shoot RAW.

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

4: sRGB is a larger colour space than Adobe RGB, if I remember correctly. Stick to sRGB.

Is it that way or the other way around? I know sRGB is better for Web pics and I know a lot of people say to use Adobe RGB when editing files during pp. So I'm not sure which one. It's currently set to sRGB though.

Oh and, what about metering? The icon on the lcd show it's set to matrix (if it's like my D50) and I don't, typically, like matrix.

Thanks a bunch!

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by Raoul Isidro

To shoot video, just press the LV button above the OK button.
This will black out the viewfinder and LiveView will come up on the screen.
Press the OK button and the movie capture starts, confirmed by a red dot on screen (recording).
To stop the movie capture, press OK again.
To get out of LiveView and back to normal viewfinder, press LV.
The mirror will slap down and the camera returns to normal finder viewing.
Cheers!

Try to use the fastest card possible. The recommended maximum clip length may not be achieved and cut out from movie mode sooner if the card is slower than the transfer rate from the buffer.

Got it...thanks. You'd think they would make it slightly more intuitive...

One question about that though, how do you get it to keep focusing as you pan the camera while recording? I'm guessing I'd have to select a different AF mode?

Thanks.

[Shokinen]

Originally Posted by GadgetRick

I know sRGB is better for Web pics and I know a lot of people say to use Adobe RGB when editing files during pp. So I'm not sure which one. It's currently set to sRGB though.

Oh and, what about metering? The icon on the lcd show it's set to matrix (if it's like my D50) and I don't, typically, like matrix.

Thanks a bunch!

AdobeRGB is actually wider but the difference is minimal. Keep in mind you also need a printer that will support AdobeRGB and there is not much around. I would stick to sRGB unless you have a need for the other. It's the standard anyway.

As for the metering, matrix is the term Nikon use to mesure the light in the entire frame. The second choice is a dot with semi-circle beside. If you look in your viewfinder, it will mesure the light exactly in the center of the frame within the red curve lines. The last choice the light on a specific point.

Hope this help

[sk66]

Originally Posted by GadgetRick

No matter which setting I have it on I can't seem to get it to allow me to select which point to focus on. I'm guessing it should be the same as my D50...push the directional button the the back to select the focus point. When I do that--no matter which AF mode I select--it doesn't change the focus point. :::scratching head:::

There is a lever switch which surrounds the directional buttons on the upper end cameras. It has to be in the unlocked position in order to use it to move the focus point. I looked at some D90 images and it appears to be a separate switch located below the directional...Marked L (locked) and . (point select)

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by sk66

There is a lever switch which surrounds the directional buttons on the upper end cameras. It has to be in the unlocked position in order to use it to move the focus point. I looked at some D90 images and it appears to be a separate switch located below the directional...Marked L (locked) and . (point select)

Ah! I was wondering what that lever was for! It wasn't in L but I thought that was for some type of lock so I figured it should have been there. Apparently, it's the other way around...select L to allow you to change.

Thanks!

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by Shokinen

AdobeRGB is actually wider but the difference is minimal. Keep in mind you also need a printer that will support AdobeRGB and there is not much around. I would stick to sRGB unless you have a need for the other. It's the standard anyway.

As for the metering, matrix is the term Nikon use to mesure the light in the entire frame. The second choice is a dot with semi-circle beside. If you look in your viewfinder, it will mesure the light exactly in the center of the frame within the red curve lines. The last choice the light on a specific point.

Hope this help

Thanks for the explanation on sRGB. I kinda figured this was the case.

I know what matrix metering is, I don't usually like to use it because I like to meter off my subject but can't figure out how to switch it off matrix metering as the icon on the top LCD looks like what my D50 looks like if I have it in matrix metering. I also can't find anything in the menus to even switch it.

[Sterling]

I know what matrix metering is, I don't usually like to use it because I like to meter off my subject but can't figure out how to switch it off matrix metering as the icon on the top LCD looks like what my D50 looks like if I have it in matrix metering. I also can't find anything in the menus to even switch it.

The button on the top panel that is also marked as one of the format buttons is used to change metering. Press it and spin the rear dial to cycle through Matrix, Center Weighted, and Spot metering.