All These Years

[Black Pearl]

I have used and owned countless Nikon cameras, talked to and been friends with countless Nikon users, been on Nikon training courses and sold the ruddy things for most my life but only came across this amazing feature this afternoon!!

 

 

 

Avoiding Carpal Tunnel with Release Button To Use Dial

One of the things I love most about modern DSLRs is the degree to which they’re little computers and thus programmable; many of the functions on my Nikons can be adjusted to suit how I like to work. This ability also comes in handy when some element of the camera body’s design doesn’t really make sense to me as a user, even if I suspect there is a very good reason for that element from a design/manufacturing perspective. By this I mean that some of the button locations don’t always seem like the best possible choice, especially when using those buttons requires some seemingly unnecessary dexterity on my part.

 

Fortunately, the aforementioned ability to change the way the camera does certain things can help compensate for that. One of the settings I like most on my D300 and D700 is called Release Button To Use Dial. As mentioned above, some of the camera functions require you to hold one button down while rotating a dial to adjust a given setting, such as changing from Manual to Aperture or Shutter Priority shooting modes, or adjusting settings for bracketed exposures. The latter in particular benefits from changing this setting from its default because you’re using two dials, and remembering to hold the Function Button down while operating two dials AND doing the mental acrobatics required to choose number of exposures and exposure gap… Well, why not make things as simple as possible?

 

Release Button To Use Dial is found at f8 on the D300 and f10 on the D700, and is a Yes or No choice. Select Yes and hit OK. Now when you press the Function Button to adjust your auto bracketing, both command dials remain active relative to your auto bracketing settings until you press the Function Button again, or simply half-press the Shutter Release button, both of which will tell the camera to use the current settings.

 Changing this function took a little bit of getting used to, but it is SO MUCH EASIER than holding the button down while adjusting dials that this is one of my most highly recommended custom functions. A simple tap of the Function Button lets you adjust your settings in peace and with no strain on your ring finger. And it comes in handy for other settings, as well, such as the shooting mode mentioned earlier as well as Exposure Compensation. If you forget to toggle off whichever setting you’re adjusting, when you got to make your exposure, hitting the Shutter while take care of that for you.

[colinb]

An interesting post BP I guess some of the Nikon courses were to do with your Jessops employment? I have occasionally found the manufacturers owners manuals/instruction booklets can miss out on useful tips such as your above (maybe no-one knew when they were printed?) and purchased RockyNook publications for my last 2 Nikons, whilst I'm sure you could use the www. I find the books useful to go back and have a read and a convenient way to re-learn and they do include a little more than the cameras manuals.