nikon school

anyone going to the nikon school feb.28th in orlando.....i'll be

there if anyone wants to low rate me in person......

i attented one of those and it sucked big time. it was like paying someone to give you a sales pitch about nikon products for 8 hours w/one lunch break. the speakers hardly touched on anything that had to do with technique. all they kept on saying was, "you should shoot with this lens with this body (F5, D1X, and AFS lenses),""you should have atleast 2 flashes...better if you have 3 (back than was the SB80),""if you are not digital, than you should get the nikon LS8000 scanner," etc etc etc. it was not worth the $$$!

That's strange. I attended it twice, and on neither occasion did they review any equipment. It was all about techniques and shooting styles. Ligting, Composition, Color, Framing, etc. -- that's all we had going on for the whole day. The equipment was out for review outside of our classroom.

 

Thanks -- dev.

I attended one about 5 or 6 years ago. The one I want to was not a sales pitch but more like Buddhadev's experience.

I have to second Buddhadev's and Rob's responses. I attended one in NY several years ago. And while the equipment was shows outside the classroom, the actual class was equipment-neutral. Of course they're going to show Nikon equipment as examples, but the techniques and "rules" discussed are applicable anywhere.

 

Now, IIRC, the class is tought by different people in different places, so YMMV, but when asked roughtly 1/3 of the class were repeating and maybe 1/2 of that for the third or more times. I think the class is outlined, but not scripted, so beter teachers make better classes.

I've gone to one and I doubt you can pick up too much considering the crowded room and the instructor's need to stick to their outline. For the same money and time, I should have gone out and spent the day walking the countryside and experimenting with my camera & lens and shooting lots of film or memory cards. It is you and not the camera. The more you try things out for yourself the more you will develop you and your style. Forget what other people (or companies like Nikon) are doing. Why does everyone have to photograph like everyone else? Go out and have fun! The technical stuff will come to you as you need it. If you are a complete novice to photography, just get a few of the excellent books on the subject. It will get you going in only a few hours or less. Good luck.

I went about 6 years ago. It was all techniques--no sales. Plus you got a copy of The Nikon School handbook which I still refer to from time to time and is useful to have regardless of what brand you use. Joe Smith

I've been to all of the Nikon schools except the underwater school, and I can

absolutely recommend them as being very worthwhile. But then I know people that

were formally educated, along with me, from my early childhood, that never got

anything out of it. Now who's fault do you think that was?

 

I don't believe that anyone has sat through an 8 hour sales pitch disguised as a Nikon

School. However, I do believe that some would describe the classes that way.

I have never attended one, but I think your experience will highly dependent on your own experience/capability as a photographer. If you are already quite advanced, maybe you'll realize that there isn't much more to learn from a more general class. If you are a beginner, you'll pick up a lot of useful information.

 

Douglas, I would bring a CF card to the class though. I would imagine that they'll have demo D2H there and you can shoot some more test shots to bring home with.

well, i attended one here in Los Angeles about 4 years back. it was nothing but a sales pitch. one of the speakers even said, a qoute straight from him that,"some of you might start thinking that this is nothing more than a nikon sales seminar..." anyway, my experience was not that great. however, the two reps did go over some techniques, but they would also follow it up with statements like this, "inorder for you to achieve this lighting you'll need 2 nikon sb80 speedlight, better if you have 3" or "inorder to capture this image, you'll need a good lens like a 80-200 afs."

 

but to be fair, i attended the course with some experience under my belt. i attended the course hoping that it would help improve my photography. the course might be great for beginners but i would never recommend it to anyone who is an advance photographer.

All of the classes that I attended had pro's among the attendees. Everyone should

have learnded something, if they were open to learning, certainly the pro's agreed

that they learned something. I will tell you that nobody remembers all of the info that

was offered.

I went to a class a few years ago in Anaheim, CA. While I did not learn anything it really helped to have pros verify what I knew to be true. I will be going to the digital 201 class in LA coming up. The class is intence and thick. It is not a 4 hour class with fluff to make 8 hours. It is all good.