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Nikon D300 User's Guide:
Custom Setting Menu: Bracketing/flash

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Nikon D300

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e1 - e7: Bracketing/flash

How to Get Here

Press MENU, go to the left and select up and down to the pencil icon. You'll then see CUSTOM SETTING MENU on the color LCD. Click down to e BRACKETING/FLASH and click to the right.

What it Does

It sets flash function and completely unrelated bracketing options.

What I Change

I change e4, and leave the rest alone.


e1 Flash Sync Speed        top

This lets you select a slower maximum flash sync speed. You might want to choose a slower speed to let in more ambient light, but I select that with the next option.

This menu lets you select 1/60 through 1/250.

It also is where you must select AUTO FP if you wish to use the trick FP high-speed sync modes.


e2 Flash Shutter Speed       top

This selects the slowest shutter speed with flash in the P and A modes.

1/60 is default. I usually set about 1/30 or 1/15 to let in more ambient light to prevent my backgrounds from blacking-out.

Slower speeds like 1/8 let the backgrounds stay much lighter, but greatly increase the chances of motion blur.


e3 Flash cntrl for built-in flash       top

This sets what the built-in flash does.

TTL (default)

By default it works like a TTL flash. That's good; it works great.

M (Manual)

You set the flash brightness manually. I use this mode if I'm shooting my studio strobes and using the built-in flash to trigger my power pack.

RPT (idiotic repeating strobe mode)

Har har, you can start you own hamster disco with this one.

C (commander mode)

This is how to set the built-in flash to become the commander to talk to a wireless remote flash, which today is the SB-600, SB-800 and SB-900.

Under this menu you can set two groups of external flashes separately, as well as how much light comes from the built-in flash.

"Comp" is the exposure compensation (brightness) for each of these groups of lights.

You can set lighting ratios of remote flashes, right from the D300!

Trick: You probably have to set Channel 3, not the default of 1, to get this to work! My SB-600 defaults to channel 3. You can use any channel, but the flash and camera have to match. Different channels are handy if you have a lot of photographers shooting in the same arena. No, I have no idea why the D70 defaults to 3 as does the SB-600, and the D300 defaults to ch. 1.

Leave the rest of it alone. Set your flash for remote operation, and away you go.

See my page on how to use remote flash. It's an incredible feature, and it's free if you have an SB-600, SB-800 or SB-900.


e4 Modeling Flash       top

Turn this off!

Otherwise you'll go blind, because at its default, a design flaw, it fires a zillion flash shots as a modeling light if you tap the Depth-of-Field preview button.


e5 Auto BKT Set       top

This controls what changes when you have the D300 bracket.

You can have everything change exposure, or just the flash, or the ambient light, or have the WB bracket.

I never use these. Bracketing is for the weak. Use your LCD and look at your pictures. This feature is a left-over from film cameras, and real photographers never used bracketing with film either.


e6 Auto bracketing (mode M)       top

This controls what changes when letting the D300 bracket itself in manual exposure mode.

I never use this.


e7 Bracketing order       top

This sets the order in which the various bracketed exposures are made.


PLUG

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Ken


Back to Top of D300 User's Guide or Top of Nikon D300 Review

KNOBS and BUTTONS

     FRONT

     TOP PANEL

     BACK

MENUS

     PLAYBACK   

     SHOOTING MENU

     CUSTOM SETTING MENU

          a Autofocus

          b Metering/Exposure

          c Timers/AE&AF Lock

          d Shooting/Display

          e Bracketing/Flash

          f Controls < < NEXT

     SET UP MENU

     RETOUCH MENU

     MY MENU MENU

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