Urgent help needed for Nikon D70...

photocatphotocat Registered Users Posts: 1,334 Major grins
edited January 11, 2006 in Cameras
Hello all, I am leaving for the states again tomorrow, and I suddenly came up with a question. Does anybody know wether there is a difference between the button on the top of the camera for exposure value, or turning one of the dials when in aperture preset, so you go under or over with the dial.
What is the difference between the button and the dial...
I can't believe that after one year with that camera I suddenly have this question. Anybody who can enlighten me in the first five hours, I would be really grateful...
I will travel to Florida, Wyoming, New Mexico and Arizona.

Thanks up front for any possible help. (I do know how to under and over expose and bracket, I just need to know if there is a difference, if so, what?}

Catherine
http://photocatseyes.net
http://www.zazzle.com/photocatseyes

Comments

  • wholenewlightwholenewlight Registered Users Posts: 1,529 Major grins
    edited January 11, 2006
    I don't have my camera or manual in front of me so I'm somewhat guessing (but based on experience).

    I do not believe there is any difference except the exposure compensation button remains set with your +/- adjustment until you modify that adjustment (multiple shots). I believe if you use the "dial" to make an exposure compensation adjustment, it's good for that single shot.

    Hopefully someone else will chime in and say I'm correct or that I'm full of . . . . . .

    Happy shooting
    john w
    http://cspics.smugmug.com/

    I knew, of course, that trees and plants had roots, stems, bark, branches and foliage that reached up toward the light. But I was coming to realize that the real magician was light itself.
    Edward Steichen

  • photocatphotocat Registered Users Posts: 1,334 Major grins
    edited January 11, 2006
    wholenewlight wrote:
    I don't have my camera or manual in front of me so I'm somewhat guessing (but based on experience).

    I do not believe there is any difference except the exposure compensation button remains set with your +/- adjustment until you modify that adjustment (multiple shots). I believe if you use the "dial" to make an exposure compensation adjustment, it's good for that single shot.

    Hopefully someone else will chime in and say I'm correct or that I'm full of . . . . . .

    Happy shooting


    Thank you so much, that is exactly what I am thinking, but I was not sure. I thought it had to be more complicated then this...
    I am asking because I underexposed all my pics of San Francisko, and they have really really bad grain. I did not want to chuck them as I might never get another chance for San Francisco, but hey, they are ruined pics due to amateuristic behavior. Darn it...
    So I was not going to make the same mistake for New Mexico.
    Thanks... thanks thanks...
    http://photocatseyes.net
    http://www.zazzle.com/photocatseyes
  • wholenewlightwholenewlight Registered Users Posts: 1,529 Major grins
    edited January 11, 2006
    photocat wrote:
    I am asking because I underexposed all my pics of San Francisko, and they have really really bad grain.

    It won't help the grain but were you shooting RAW? You may be able to salvage some of your SF shots. And it might be worth it to pick up one of the "noise" reducing products to help it your shots mean a lot to you.

    Have fun in the desert and other sites!
    john w
    http://cspics.smugmug.com/

    I knew, of course, that trees and plants had roots, stems, bark, branches and foliage that reached up toward the light. But I was coming to realize that the real magician was light itself.
    Edward Steichen

  • photocatphotocat Registered Users Posts: 1,334 Major grins
    edited January 11, 2006
    wholenewlight wrote:
    It won't help the grain but were you shooting RAW? You may be able to salvage some of your SF shots. And it might be worth it to pick up one of the "noise" reducing products to help it your shots mean a lot to you.

    Have fun in the desert and other sites!


    I have noise ninja, and I usually shoot to raw, but hec, for this day and I only had one day, so I wanted as much shots on my card as I could, so I switched to jpeg... I could have saved more with raw... I know it.
    We all learn by mistakes, well, lets say I do...
    http://photocatseyes.net
    http://www.zazzle.com/photocatseyes
  • Matthew SavilleMatthew Saville Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 3,352 Major grins
    edited January 11, 2006
    photocat wrote:
    I have noise ninja, and I usually shoot to raw, but hec, for this day and I only had one day, so I wanted as much shots on my card as I could, so I switched to jpeg... I could have saved more with raw... I know it.
    We all learn by mistakes, well, lets say I do...

    IMPORTANT!!!

    There is one thing you MUST KNOW about the D70!

    Okay, first of all, make sure that custom functions 10 and 14 are set to "ON". Now you can dial compensation by simply using the command dial opposite whichever mode you're in. (If you're in A mode, turning the shutter speed (front) command dial will be your compensation dial. And vice versa in S mode.) P mode is almost exactly like A mode, in that the rear command dial will "control" the apeture, and the front dial does compensation, it's just that in P mode the apeture will also change automatically to give a correct exposure. This is useful in some situations, but a little too much for my small brain so I hardly shoot in P mode...

    HOWEVER, when you switch to M mode, from P, S, or A mode, BEWARE! If you have any "exposure compensation" dialed in in any of these P/S/A modes, and then switch to M mode, the D70 will "HIDE" that compensation, and make it the new "0" exposure, which can be VERY misleading, if you don't notice the little +/- sign next to the exposure meter. I never notice it, and continually I flip from A mode with +1 or 2 EV compensation VISIBLY dialed in, to M mode, and then proceed to make the exposure meter again VISIBLY show +1 or +2. ACK! I'm now at +2 or +4 EV!!! No good!

    Beware of this, my friend. For part of this reason, I'm attempting to jump to a D50. (though it does not go well, nobody wants my heavily used D70 lol)

    Good luck, and happy trails! And remember, always check by the histogram / highlights feedback on your LCD with the D70, it has a nasty habit of preserving highlights...

    -Matt-
    “My first thought is always of light.” – Galen Rowell
    My SmugMug Portfolio • My Astro-Landscape Photo Blog • Dgrin Weddings Forum
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