tom_luongo1

<p>Upon further reflection, iTTL is doing more than just using the distance information. The exposure difference between 2 ft and 4 ft is about what what I'd expect (1 stop). I don't really know there's such a big jump between 4 ft and 7 ft (about 2 stops) when I would have expected. And though there is a difference between 7 ft and 20 ft, it's less than if distance is the only factor.</p>

<p>I was shooting in a small room. So there's some contribution from flash bouncing off the mostly white walls and ceiling. iTTL can probably factor that in some way. iTTL also does something clever with the 1005 segment (or whatever) meter.</p>

<p>By the way, did the original poster ever say what mode the flash was in? I'd assume the flash was in TTL or iTTL and the camera was set to matrix metering.</p>

 

<p>Nadine,</p>

<p>Here's my simplified answer (without getting too technical)</p>

 

<ol>

<li>Use iTTL. iTTL is being used when TTL-BL shows on the back of the flash.</li>

<li>Set the camera's exposure mode to matrix. iTTL isn't available otherwise.</li>

<li>Manually set the camera to get an appropriate ambient exposure. That is, so the background is light, but not too light.</li>

<li>Use direct flash.</li>

<li>Use a compatible lens that gives distance information to the flash. </li>

</ol>

<p>#4 above is key. If direct flash is being used and iTTL knows the distance to the subject, then iTTL can calculate what power to output.</p>

<p>Trying to render the scene as an 18% gray isn't really a concern. It's not too different than how a photographer varies the f-stop in a fully manual system. Usually expressed as a chart on the back of the flash, the equation is f-stop = GN / distance.</p>

<p>With iTTL, the flash can vary the guide number (i.e. flash power) based on the selected aperture. GN = f-stop x distance.</p>

<p>I redid my sample exposure to more clearly show this trend. All camera settings are the same from shot to shot. I even put the camera on a support this time. </p>

<div></div>

<p>At ISO 400, the SB-600 has a guide number of 190 ft with the flash head at a 35mm zoom. With the aperture setting of f/4.2, that's enough reach to get decent exposure past 40 feet. (The SB-800 only gives an extra 10 feet , by the way.)</p>

<p>The issue is the SB-600 cutting off because of the large expanse of white, not that it doesn't have enough power for this shot.</p>

<p>Gary's post processing maintains the detail altar cloth at the left edge of the photo. But that comes at the expense of creating a gray bridal gown. Not a good trade-off. (And though Focus Magic and Noise Ninja are useful software packages, they aren't really pertinent for this particular discussion.)</p>

 

<p>Built-in flash mode= -- and a shutter speed of 1/320 in FP mode. The built-in commander will send the sync pulse before the first curtain opens and won't appear as highlights anywhere.</p>

<p>Instead of firing the remotes once when the shutter is fully open, FP mode works by rapidly strobing as the shutter curtain slit moves across the sensor. So the only way the commander flash can send an appropriate sync pulse is to do it before any of the sensor is exposed.</p>

<p>It's simple to test this by triggering a remote while pointing the camera at a mirror. Shutter speeds 1/250 and below will show the commander flash going off. Shutter speeds above 1/320 won't show the commander flash. You can see some shots I did to demo this at the following posting - <a href="../nikon-camera-forum/00NjiR">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00NjiR</a></p>

<p>But as previously mentioned, the SG-3IR and SU-800 are better solutions.</p>

 

<p>A little post-processing fixes the altar shot very nicely. The D300/D700/D3 series can do this when shooting in-camera jpegs. (See Active D-Lighting on the shooting menu.)</p>

<p>I prefer to shoot stuff like this in RAW and as far as I can tell, the D-Lighting setting does not affect the RAW capture. Plenty of discussion about this in the Nikon forums.</p>

<p>The Fuji S5 has a "funny" sensor that's supposed to capture a high dynamic range with two sets of pixels, one tuned for shadows and another for highlights, but the appropriate file recording mode needs to be selected.</p>

<div></div>

<p>To correct something Peter Kervarec said above: Most of the dark tones are in the background and not as relevant to the final image as the white dress of the bride. Your "typical problem" with Nikon TTL is that it avoids blowing out highlights. Blown highlights are harder to recover in post-processing than slight underexposure.<br /> <br /> When used in TTL/BL mode with the flash head pointing directly at the subject, the Nikon flash system uses focus distance information it receives from compatible lenses. If you miss and get the focus on something far in the background, the system thinks it needs to put out more power and you end up with an out of focus subject with blown-out highlights. The camera must also be set to matrix metering for this to work. This distance capability is what Nikon means when they use the term "3D Matrix Metering". (This also means that if you miss the focus, you can end up with a badly overexposed foreground.)<br /> <br /> I don't know how well all of this works with non-Nikon lenses and camera bodies. Jeremy is using a Fuji S5 which is based on a Nikon D200. The S5 uses the same focusing system but I don't know if Fuji changed the way metering works. It's pretty easy to duplicate the test below with find out.<br /> <br /> I've never done a test but when bouncing the flash the focus distance probably isn't be used for the flash output calculations as there's no way for the camera to know how far the flash is traveling or the reflectivity of the bounce surface.<br /> <br /> The SB-600 is capable. I'd get an f/2.8 zoom before another flash. The larger aperture makes it easier to fill in the dark background more. And the SB-800 isn't available new anymore anyway and doesn't have so much more output than the SB-600 that it will make a huge difference. The biggest difference between the two is that the SB-800 can be used in Commander mode. And Jeremy will have to pony up $450 for an SB-900.<br /> <br /> The images below were all shot at 1/30 @ f/2, ISO 200. Note that this is manual exposure on the camera body only. The flash is going to do whatever it darn well pleases, but the results work for me. At an actual event indoors, I'll set the camera to give the desired background exposure and let the flash decide the foreground exposure by running it in TTL/BL.</p><div></div>

<p>Here's a recent sample.</p><div></div>

<p>I like my copy. I haven't used it enough to have an opinion on the VR.</p>

<p>If you are going to print, you should use the "Save As..." command and select "JPEG" in the pull-down menu for Format. That will maintain the dpi setting in your jpeg file.<br>

<br /> "Save for Web and Devices..." is meant to create files that are to viewed in web browsers and other screen devices.</p>

<p>Shun - It wasn't something I did on purpose. I am in the habit of shutting off the camera when changing batteries as well as when switching lenses and definitely when switching memory cards. But occasionally, if being careless, it can happen that the camera hasn't been switched off when the pack is pulled out.</p>

<p>My guess now is that the D700 is designed to disable the battery pack if any sort of abnormal voltage is detected, as would happen momentarily if the contacts connect with power on.</p>

<p>William - The pack gets disabled if I do this by accident. It's not just a matter of the battery meter being slightly off. Switching the camera on and off does not clear the condition. The pack has to be physically removed and reinserted (power off) to clear the condition.</p>

<p>If someone wants to be familiar with details of how the equipment works, there's nothing wrong with that.</p>

<p>I'd also take issue with calling this "trivial". If there were some sort of trivial electrical malfunction inside the camera, I'd probably want to send it back for service to make sure that more serious malfunctions aren't present.</p>

<p>The D300 does not behave the same as the D700. That's the only reason I wondered if the D700 might have had an "issue".</p>

 

<p>Is my D700 broken?</p>

<p>With my D700, if I'm not careful to shutoff the camera before inserting the AA pack into the vertical grip, the camera will show the power level on the batteries in the grip as 0%.</p>

<p>My D300 doesn't care.</p>

<p>This is easy to demonstrate on the D300. Display the battery info screen and pull the AA pack out and put it back in. The display updates the way you would expect - the MB-D10 half of the display appears and disappears showing whether or not batteries are inserted in the MB-D10.</p>

<p>Do the same on the D700 and the display shows 0% on the MB-D10 when the AA batteries are reinserted.</p>

<p>Neither camera cares when I do the same thing with the EN-EL3e holder.</p>

<p>Does anyone else's D700 act like this or is there something wrong with my unit?</p>

<p>And yes, I know the instructions say to shut off the camera before inserting the battery pack, but the instructions don't say what happens if you forget to shut off the camera.</p>

 

<p>Open source <strong><a href="http://7-zip.org/">7-Zip</a> </strong> will handle RAR and a bunch of other formats. But as previously mentioned, you shouldn't need any utilities to run a self-extracting archive.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>To fill in a little bit on the "how", the setting is "Image Area" in the Shooting Menu.</p>

 

<p>There's minimal CA (chromatic aberration) because it's shot at f/11.</p>

<p>I see the stuff that the OP is talking about. This is possibly a combination of pixel peeping and maybe a bit underexposure in the dark areas of a high dynamic range photo. (I'm not somewhere where I can really look at the RGB curves right now.)</p>

<p>The noise doesn't really look all that unusual to me. Point the camera at a clear blue sky and you'll probably see something similar. But if you post the RAW file somewhere it can be downloaded it, I'd be happy to check it out for you.</p>

<p>I never bother to shoot 14-bits because I don't see any difference with 12-bits for my applications.</p>

 

<p>Arash -</p>

<p>"<em>sharpness is usually poor for prints because the algorithms that are wired in Expeed are very basic</em> " is probably claiming more than you really know because I doubt you have access to the source code of the Expeed processor. No disrespect intended. Maybe you are an electrical engineer and know the inherent limits of an ASIC. (I know I don't)</p>

<p>Richard -</p>

<p>With ACR, you can pick an NR setting at post-processing time, but ACR probably ignores any NR tag that might be in the file. The only way to use the NR setting in the file is probably with Nikon software.</p>

 

<p>David -</p>

<p>Since you already said you don't use Capture NX, if you shoot RAW, you will not get an <em>identical </em> jpeg file.</p>

<p>With respect to noise only, are you better off shooting in-camera jpegs only? Probably not. If you shoot RAW, you can tweak the noise reduction in post-production, whether it be in LR, Aperture, or other processing program or add-in of your choice.</p>

<p>The general consensus is that in-camera NR is applied to jpeg files but does not affect RAW files. Only Nikon knows for sure, but it would be easy to shoot a low light scene with high ISO using NR on and NR off and see if there's a difference. (Note: When doing the experiment, you have to download the RAW file to your computer. In-camera image previews do have Expeed processing applied and are an unreliable indicator of the RAW file.)</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Arash, just about everything you say is right on. The one statement I'd have a minor quibble with is</p>

<blockquote>

<p><em>With RAW your computer's Intel Core 2, Core quad or Core i7 becomes the "Expeed" processor with far more firepower than the small chip in the camera</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>When it creates a jpeg from RAW data, the Expeed processor seems to blast through the steps of applying white balance, sharpening, saturation, contrast, brightness, and compression far more quickly than any desktop that I've used. The Expeed processor does these steps whether or not a jpeg file is saved because there is always a jpeg preview embedded in the RAW file.<br>

I've always attributed the efficiency of the Expeed processor to the image algorithms coded in silicon instead of the software run by the general purpose desktop CPUs.<br>

And undoubtedly, the Expeed processor has more horsepower per watt. This is a very good thing for battery life.</p>

 

<p><em>"just not getting the sharpness I desire"</em><br>

Are you shooting jpegs? It might be a matter of tweaking the in-camera sharpening or adding it in post-processing.<br>

If you post a photo of what you mean, it will make it easier to help. A full-frame overview with a 1:1 crop would probably be ideal.</p>

 

<p>The f/1.8 lens will be able to autofocus in lower light. It will also be easier to manually focus.</p>

 

<p>If I were shooting with an FX body instead of a DX body and the same lens, I'd move closer to the subject to make up for the difference in "crop factor".</p>

<p>Since the lens is now closer to the subject, the depth of field is therefore reduced, given the same aperture.</p>

<p>Jonas - especially if you are using a wide aperture, try continuous servo single point AF, with selecting an AF point on the eye. If you are using single servo, it's possible you are locking focus then moving forward or backward before taking the picture. (It may also help to change the continuous servo AF priority setting from release priority to shutter priority.)</p>

<p>Post a couple of examples and we'll be better able to help.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>From Nikon websites -<br>

The D300 has "advanced dust and moisture protection" - <a href="http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/ProductDetail.page?pid=25432">link here</a><br>

The D700 is  "tested to stand up to the rigors of the globetrotting photographer and is weather sealed using precision O-rings where connections are made to effectively combat dust and moisture." - <a href="http://press.nikonusa.com/2008/07/the_agile_new_nikon_d700_fxfor.php">link here</a><br>

The D3 has a "comprehensive series of O-rings and other specialized seals" - <a href="http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Digital-SLR/25434/D3.html">link here</a></p>

<p>You can get a used D200 at KEH for $750.   I've also seen them at <a href="http://www.eplevine.com">EP Levine </a> in Boston for <a href="http://www.eplevine.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=EPL&Product_Code=109758">$650.</a><br>

If you have a significant investment in Canon lenses, then you should probably get a Canon body of some sort.</p>

 

Deleting files leads to disk fragmentation. Disk fragmentation leads to reduced performance. I'll skip other details.

 

But I honestly have no idea if that's what causes these freeze ups. I've occasionally seen this same thing. Like you, I just press the play button twice to fix it.

 

I've never see it happen five times in two minutes but I'm usually too busy shooting to do much chimping. It's never caused me to miss a shot, as far as I know.

 

Of the four or five bodies listed above, you seem to have the worse case other than the guy who sometimes has to shut off the camera.

 

As frustrating as it might get, it seems worthwhile to ask Nikon tech support what they think. They'll probably start by asking you to upgrade to the latest firmware, try a different memory card, etc.

Mike, what about the other two questions?

 

Do you use the card all the way, or at least most of the way, to capacity? If so, that could be an issue based on my experience. As I mentioned before, I've never seen it affect my shooting, only playback.

 

Do you ever delete images? For technical reasons, that could be a factor that slows the card down.