Picture Controls – Shooting Menu (D300)

[peter868]

Thought I had the features under control only to ‘discover’ Nikon Picture Controls’ – Standard, Neutral, Vivid, and Monochrome (the latter I get). Would these settings make any difference in the final image?

Too many features! It’s difficult to ascertain whether you have set (all) the features for optimum results. I’m jaded!

D300 - Too complicated for an amateur!

I miss the good old days when all that mattered were Film Speed, F stop and Shutter speed. Think I'm going to put aside the D300 and 'revive' my Nikon FM -I have since acquired a Slide Scanner.

[herc182]

if you have a computer with photoshop elements then add the effects you want on the software.

alternatively take a shot with each setting (on a tripod) and see if you like them!

another alternative is to put your D300 aside over here in north London. i will gladly look after it :D

[VTEC_EATER]

The picture controls are just like the different "Image settings" that were in any other Nikon camera, they are just under a different name. Vivid will give you the most saturated colors, Standard will be, well standard colors, and Neutral will be rather washed out colors. And Monochrome is black and white, but with the red,blue, and green channels still active.

You can adjust each of these settings even more and add more brightness, contrast, saturation, and hue to them, but for now, just try out the 4 and see which one you like.

I do not believe it is possible to adjust "Standard" to be as lively as "Vivid", nor "Neutral" to be as lively as "Standard".

Lets not forget that Nikon has the downloads for the 3 D2X modes as well. I have not tried those modes out yet, but I will have experiment with them a bit when I get rid of this head cold I have had for the past few days.

[erichlund]

Thought I had the features under control only to ‘discover’ Nikon Picture Controls’ – Standard, Neutral, Vivid, and Monochrome (the latter I get). Would these settings make any difference in the final image?

Too many features! It’s difficult to ascertain whether you have set (all) the features for optimum results. I’m jaded!

D300 - Too complicated for an amateur!

I miss the good old days when all that mattered were Film Speed, F stop and Shutter speed. Think I'm going to put aside the D300 and 'revive' my Nikon FM -I have since acquired a Slide Scanner.

Really? You should think about this. Back when you shot film, did you always shoot the same type? Or, did you sometimes shoot B&W, sometimes a print film with a fairly neutral color, maybe a fast film, then sometimes a vivid slide film? Do you see the possibilities here? You only have one sensor, but it can become several film types, just by adjusting camera settings. You can't change the sensor, like you can with a film camera, so you must use settings.

For now, choose your favorite type of film, set that in the picture controls, and then you are simply back to doing what you just said, ISO, f-stop and shutter speed (and white balance, so you don't have to use filters to do the same thing).

[peter868]

I’m learning – bear with me - and thanks for the support. Just thought that Picture Controls were a duplication of Image Quality and Image Size. Now that you explained it in the context of Film Types I get the drift.

VTEC Eater – hope you feel better soon. The cold is also making its rounds in Trinidad & Tobago.

After years of using an SLR I guess some sort of relationship/comparison with SLR and DSLR helps. Wonder whether Nikon would consider such a manual.

[tcadwall]

Peter it is a bit early for a review let alone a book, but Thom Hogan has very good books for model specific Nikon cameras. I highly recommend them for knowing what settings do what, and general information about how your camera works. You can watch for it on his website http://www.bythom.com