D200 settings

[Technik]

Hi everyone

I'm not sure whether this topic has been covered before, what are your most favourite setting for your D200?

Cheers
Leon

[the foto fanatic]

"On"

[gstark]

WTS.


I actually think I'm having trouble understanding the question.

[Killakoala]

I don't have one.

[Onyx]

The video mode.

[Oz_Beachside]

on

studio flash: Manual, 1/200th, f8, ISO100 (higher, upto 400 if indoor location with useful ambient light and shutter to match), WB=preset via expo disc (usually 4700 from my lights), AF portrait top point, AF-C via AF-ON button, 135mm.

outdoor sports / candids: Aperture priority, spot meter, f4, ISO to support shutter over 1/400th, WB=auto, AF portrait top point, AF-C via AF-ON button, 200mm.

Is this what you mean?

[Technik]

Sorry I should have rephrased my question!

Bascialy I'd like to see what are your custom settings for your D200 in terms of Sharpening, Tone Comp, Color Mod, Hue Adj etc.

Cheers

[Yi-P]

Sorry I should have rephrased my question!

Bascialy I'd like to see what are your custom settings for your D200 in terms of Sharpening, Tone Comp, Color Mod, Hue Adj etc.

Cheers

Auto auto auto??

I usually leave things on normal, or its just my taste...

But wait... I don't have a D200...

[Ghetto Panda]

I just leave everything set to normal.

[Greg B]

If you shoot RAW, those things can be done in PP. That's what I do.

[gstark]

I just leave everything set to normal.

What is "normal"? I have no understanding of this word.

Technik,

Nikonians have a spreadsheet of some D200 settings that many here have found to be quite valuable. It provides some basic setups for some tyoical shooting situations and suggests that you store those within the banks available to you in the camera.

They provide a very good starting point.

[jamesw]

If you shoot RAW, those things can be done in PP. That's what I do.

I used to be of this belief... but then i found myself constantly going into capture NX for a lot of photos to just increase the saturation or contrast... sure for a lot of photos i go a little bit further with PP, but anything to cut down on workflow, eh...

I shoot with contrast set to med high and maximum saturation, sharpening at normal (i think).

Its also doubly handy for me, as i shoot RAW+Basic, means the jpegs are more indicative of the final product...

(my 2 cents)

[jamesw]

I just leave everything set to normal.

What is "normal"? I have no understanding of this word.

default, hehe.

[gstark]

I just leave everything set to normal.

What is "normal"? I have no understanding of this word.

default, hehe.

Doesn't help. Whose default? If I've lent my camera to somebody, the so-called "default" settings will be those that were the most recently set values.

As soon as you change any setting, the new ones (obviously) become the current settings, and they will be the (default) values in place the next time you pick that camera up.

[jamesw]

I just leave everything set to normal.

What is "normal"? I have no understanding of this word.

default, hehe.

Doesn't help. Whose default? If I've lent my camera to somebody, the so-called "default" settings will be those that were the most recently set values.

As soon as you change any setting, the new ones (obviously) become the current settings, and they will be the (default) values in place the next time you pick that camera up.

default = the settings that will be put in place when you go to 'reset factory settings'.

hows that for a nice, neat definition? hehehe

[gstark]

default = the settings that will be put in place when you go to 'reset factory settings'.

hows that for a nice, neat definition? hehehe

And they would remain in place for .... how long?

Those settings include auto wb, which would be the last thing I, as a somewhat intelligent and informed user, would want to see used on my images.

The whole concept of these settings is, I believe, to provide the user with control of them for the images that the user is making. So why would you abdicate the availability of those settings and lose control of this most important stage of the image making process?

[jamesw]

default = manufacturers standard settings. come with the camera. some people don't change them. some people probably don't even know they exist.



as for relinquishing the creative control that lies in changing these settings... i'm just going to leave that right alone

[olrac]

I shoot with auto WB as I dont have a grey card nor and expodisk.
I also only shoot raw so I can fix any wayward WB in post.

All other settings to normal but after Jamesw's post about saturation and sharpening I think that may change as I now recall I do allot of those changes myself.

I did lend my D200 to my father inlaw and when it came back it took me two weeks to find all the settings he had changed. i.e. the beep on focus (OMG how much I hate that beep)

[gstark]

I shoot with auto WB as I dont have a grey card nor and expodisk.
I also only shoot raw so I can fix any wayward WB in post.

Why?

It's making work for yourself, first of all.

Second, if you're shooting under a particular set of lighting conditions - suppose, for instance, it's a sunny day - then your wb needs are fixed and known.

Using awb under set (unchanging) is only going to screw up your images, and make work for yourself when it's simply not necessary.

All other settings to normal

Again, what's "normal"?

I did lend my D200 to my father inlaw and when it came back it took me two weeks to find all the settings he had changed.

Exactly.

[dawesy]

Again, what's "normal"?

sed 's/normal/factory default/g' http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php?t=29365



Not that I have a d200 but I have to admit that for settings related to WB, saturation sharpness and the like my camera is at factory default. I tend to tweak my AE and AF settings depending on what I'm shooting, though I like them both on spot so I can follow a subject, or pick the part of the frame I want to focus/expose based on and then recompose with focus/exposure locked.

Gary's point re WB is so true though. It seems like a good idea until 2 photos taken 3 seconds apart of the same thing have different WB when you get home!

[olrac]

Why?

Well I am still concentrating on exposure, DOF and composition. This sounds funny but as I am still learning I leave some things up to the camera to think about and I concentrate on the things that it can't.

I can see a time in the future where I will start to think about WB and the like as I am shooting, just not at the moment.

Normal should read factory settings.

[gstark]

Why?

Well I am still concentrating on exposure, DOF and composition. This sounds funny but as I am still learning I leave some things up to the camera to think about and I concentrate on the things that it can't.

Ok, but as noted above, wb is probably the first thing that should go, not the last. You get to a place where you're shooting, you determine the predominate lighting source (sunny, cloudy, incandescent, flash, whatever) for the situation, set the wb, and move on.

As a guide, most of my wb settings are fine tuned to -1 or -2, but again, you get there, you decide, you set. It takes about that long to do it, too.

The only other observation on wb is that you need to pay attention to your surroundings (always a good idea - do you shoot with one or with both eyes open?) in case the conditions change.

[olrac]

do you shoot with one or with both eyes open?

Like writing with my left hand I am yet to master this skill. I have tried but I find it too distracting. I will persevere with it though.

You make a good point about setting the WB before I start shooting at a location. I have sort of thought that this is something to think about for every shot. But if I read your post correctly you set your wb shoot with an eye on changing conditions eg cloud covers the sun....

[gstark]

But if I read your post correctly you set your wb shoot with an eye on changing conditions eg cloud covers the sun....

Yes.

This also holds true for exposure. If you're shooting in a studio using studio flash, for instance, you're shooting under fixed lighting conditions.

And, if you're shooting outdoors in a park, in bright sunshine, while ever the sun is shining brightly, those lighting conditions, too, are fixed.

And if the conditions change and a big cloud comes over and parks itself in the sky giving you some ideal lighting conditions that will be fixed while ever that cloud remains parked there ....

Each of those setups will demand a different set of exposure values from each of the others, but within each of them, the exposure settings - the amount and colour of the light - should not be changing, and thus you should be able to set and forget your wb and work with a set EV.

Don't confuse working with a set EV though with making different exposure settings - your creative senses and desire to make the best of each of each image should still dictate the actual aperture/shutter speed combinations that you'll be using, but those settings will always be guided by the available EV.

[MCWB]

Interesting. I always shoot with AWB and rarely have to change it in post, it just works.

[Onyx]

Interesting. I always shoot with AWB and rarely have to change it in post, it just works.

x2. IMHO the camera only fails under incandescent lighting that falls below the AWB range.

I favour low/less contrast with normal sat for people, enhanced saturation and med contrast for scenery. Half stop settings for aperture and ISO. 1/3 for shutter speed.

[bwhinnen]

I shoot in AWB -1 from memory, this works really well for most daylight style conditions that I shoot in motorsports.

I find that it has a hard time under artificial lighting of any sort though, so tend to shoot RAW more when I do that in case I mess up the WB.

[jamesw]

i shoot in AWB and shoot raw, and find that i rarely have to fix up the WB in post process.

as onyx and brett have said, it only really tends to be a problem in incandescant.

if i shoot JPEG only (rare but sometimes to save time, i will) i'll set the WB manually... but only because im paranoid.

[tasadam]

A great discussion. Always learning something...
I shoot raw + basic. If I am taking something that I suspect will be great, I go to raw + fine.
Generally I leave wb to auto, having read this I might have to review my practices...
Certainly I set manual WB and manual everything when doing panoramas, looking at exposure for brightest and dullest areas then going for an average, making sure I don't have anything washed out on the brightest areas.
Vivid for outdoor stuff like landscapes etc.