I'm sure I have missed something in the cumbersome Nikon menu system but for the life of me, I can't figure something out. If I am reading correctly, according to Darrell's book and Thom's e book; the Shooting bank and Custom settings are completely separate.

So I was out shooting yesterday and even though I was in the 'A' shooting bank, the camera was also adopting the delay for my 'B' settings in my custom setting menu. (This is for RAW shots with a 1 second delay when used with a tripod).

When I switched to the 'A' setting in the custom menu and then to 'A' in the shooting menu, the camera now shot normally with no delay. I went back and fore several times to confirm that one was having an influence on the other.

Am I missing something?
Thanks for any help you guys can give.

Dan

I presume you are referring to Custom Setting d9 Exposure Delay Mode.

Thom and Darren are correct that the Custom Setting Menu Banks (A-D) are completely separate from the Shooting Menu Banks (A-D). Exposure Delay is part of the Custom Settings Menu, so it will be active when you switch to any Custom Setting Menu Bank where you have set d9 to "ON", but will not be affected by switching between Shooting Menu Banks.

Brian
Welsh Nikonian
Check out the Nikonians Team pages

Hi Brian,
I appreciate you getting back to me. This is the d4 setting in the Custom menu. "Exposure delay mode". I just tried it again and switched it on and off and went back to the main shooting menu. If the delay is activated in the custom menu, then when I go to select one of the four Shooting menu banks, that setting carries over from the Custom settings and I will get the delay.

By the way, although I reside in the USA for many years now, my Grandmother was from Bangor. I sure miss the Welsh scenery!

Dan

>If the delay is activated in the custom menu,
>then when I go to select one of the four Shooting menu banks,
>that setting carries over from the Custom settings and I will
>get the delay.

Yes - if you have Exposure Delay Mode activated in your selected Custom Settings Menu Bank, you will get the delay whichever Shooting Menu Bank you choose. That's how the Banks are designed to work.

Brian
Welsh Nikonian
Check out the Nikonians Team pages

After owning D200 and D300 with similar menu setup, I love the control and versatility it offers and do not find this menu setup cumbersome at all. Since these cameras don't have any preconfigured scene modes, it offers a useful way to configure your camera very closely to your most common shooting situations.

There are 2 independent banks. Each has 4 sets of settings...

Shooting Menu Bank has settings which largely relate to the way the image is processed during and after capture by the sensor. I.e. mostly data related settings. Hence settings for image quality, bit depth, compression, ISO, Noise reduction, Picture modes, white balance, HDR etc. I have mine set up as A=normal light, B=low light handheld, C=low light supported, D=HDR.

The Custom Settings Menu Bank contains all the settings for functions that aid in acquiring and capturing the image. i.e. mostly related to control of how light gets onto the sensor in the first place. Hence exposure compensation, bracketing, flash, autofocus, shutter release methods. I have mine set up for A=Normal, B=Wildlife/Sport, C=Macro, D=Landscape. Other options could include setups for portraiture, flash, night photography etc.

Combining a the type of subject with the ambient lighting/shooting conditions gives up to 16 different camera setups. The advantage of this is that it reduces the amount of fiddling and fine tuning for each new shooting situation that arises. On arrival at a scene I wish to photograph, I assess the conditions and type of subject and then make two menu choices - one for Shooting menu A,B,C or D and the second for Custom settings (A,B,C or D again). Then Voila! - with just two settings my camera is about 95% ready forthat situation. After this preparation, it is most commonly aperture, then focus (AF-C/AF-S) and then ISO settings that I would change manually during shooting.

It is not necessary, nor ever intended by the designers, that A should always correspond with A, B with B and so on.

One day I will take the time to write down and post details of these ettings - at this stage I am still fine tuning them.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Brian,
Ok...now I get it.

It's obviously the incorrect way I have been interpreting the manuals etc. I wish they would show some sort of a diagram that displays the interrelationships between the setting banks instead of them saying they are totally separate.

Now that I correctly understand, I can put the menus to better use and I thank you very much for your explanation.

All the best.
Dan

Dan

Hi James,

Thanks to you also for the help on this. I truly get it now and I think I will use the set up spreadsheets to walk through this at the weekend.

On a side note, I used to live in Durban and Pietermartizburg.
That was where I first discovered my love of photography at the age of 22.
What a great place to own a D800!

All the best,
Dan

Dan

>On a side note, I used to live in Durban and
>Pietermartizburg.

Wow....small world!
I grew up in Pietermaritzburg. Working there too now.

I spend a lot of time in the Drakensberg, hiking and climbing. That's where my enjoyment of photography really took off. D800 is perfect for those mountain landscapes. Finally a DSLR with enough resolution and colour depth to surpass Velvia

I need to get more organised and post a few of the pics in my gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Here's a guide that might help you getting an overview (at the end of the page!!!)

Mike also offers you to use he's settings as a starting point - that's the .bin file.

Remember it's easy to make a backup to a CF card and store your settings once you have a good setup. Then you can always make a factory reset if things act strange after tweeking the settings (it happens )

http://outthereimages.com/publishing.html

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I'd look forward to seeing the pics' James.
All I'll need is a bottle of Castle lager and a few sticks of Biltong!

Dan

>Here's a guide that might help you getting an overview (at
>the end of the page!!!)
>
>Mike also offers you to use he's settings as a starting point
>- that's the .bin file.
>
>Remember it's easy to make a backup to a CF card and store
>your settings once you have a good setup. Then you can always
>make a factory reset if things act strange after tweeking the
>settings (it happens )
>
>http://outthereimages.com/publishing.html

This is great! Thanks very much DK.
Thanks to all for their help.

Dan