Camera Tips

[autzig]

As Dean recently pointed out, the technology in our camera gear may be a help or a hindrance to our photo craft. I recently learned some ways to take advantage of that technology, mostly by learning that my camera has capabilities I didn't know about. I'm going to post what I call tips, even though in the first instance, it is just pointing out something the camera is capable of that I didn't know. I invite you to add to the tips list.

Here are mine.

1. When in Live View mode, pressing the zoom button on the back of the camera will enable me to zoom in to 5x and 10x views. (I use Canon cameras but I understand that Nikon has this feature too.) This allows for easy manual focusing. Why would I want to focus manually? When I use my 1.4x multiplier on my 400mm f5.6 lens, the auto focus doesn't work so I must focus manually. There may be other times when you want to focus manually, like when an area in your viewfinder that you want to make sure is in focus is not covered by the auto focus points in the viewfinder. Of course, should you consider adding a Carl Zeiss lens to your inventory of lenses, it will be a manual focus because that's all they make.

2. I like to minimize vibrations in the camera so I use the mirror lockup feature. There are times when using mirror lockup (such as when you want to do time lapse photography) can create a problem. Because the mirror lockup requires you to trip the shutter twice (once to activate the mirror lockup and once to make the exposure) an intervalometer won't work. The solution is to use the Live View mode since it works with the mirror locked up. There are two problems associated with using the Live View mode with time lapse photography. The Live View drains the battery fast and using Live View for very long heats up the camera to potentially dangerous levels. Here's the solution: Turn on Live View and compose your photo. After you take a couple of test shots and you are satisfied with the composition, plug a video cable into the camera's video port. Your camera will think that you are tethering it to a computer and will turn off Live View display on the back of the camera even if the other end of the cable isn't plugged into anything. You get the benefit of mirror lockup without draining the battery or increasing the heat.

Please add any tips you have.

Al

[deaner1971]

Al,

Oooh, tip #2 is very cool! I never would have thought of "tricking" the camera like that.