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D300s User's Guide:
Custom Setting Menu: Shooting/display
© 2009 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.
Nikon D300s and 35mm f/1.8 AF-S. enlarge.
October 2009 D300s Review More Nikon Reviews
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d1 - d12 Shooting/display
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 d SHOOTING/DISPLAY and click to the right.
What it Does
This menu is a random jumble. These ideally belong in other menus.
What I Change
I change d1 and leave the rest alone.
I'm sorry that Nikon put a menu called Shooting inside a menu called Custom Setting, since it has nothing to do with the larger Shooting Menu. This is something else that needs to be reorganized. Sorry.
d1 Beep top
This is the idiotic and annoying focus confirmation beep.
The D300s is an amateur camera, so therefore this defaults to ON.
For God and man's sake, please set this to OFF. Otherwise you annoy everyone and sound like a moron with your camera beeping for no good reason.
d2 Viewfinder grid display top
This activates hairlines in the finder.
Set them ON to help keep everything straight and level, or OFF to clean up the finder.
d3 Viewfinder warning display top
This sets whether or not the low battery icon shows in the finder when needed.
I have no idea why you'd want to turn this off; leave it ON.
d4 Screen Tips top
This provides more information as you select settings from the INFO panel.
d5 CL mode shooting speed top
This selects the maximum frame rate of the CL (continuous low) frame advance setting. I leave mine on 3 FPS.
d6 Max continuous release top
This selects the maximum number of continuous shots you can make in the CL or CH continuous release modes.
It defaults at 100, and I have no reason to set it to be less. If I want fewer shots, I take my finger off the shutter release.
d7 File number sequence top
This ensures your file numbers keep counting up. Leave this at its default of ON.
If you change it to OFF, you'll start from DSC_0001 every time you reformat. Over time you'll have hundreds of photos on your computer all called DSC_0001. It will drive you crazy and it will be too late to do anything about it.
If you ever do want to reset to DSC_0001, use the Reset option.
d8 Information display top
Auto
Auto lets the D300s light up the 3" rear LCD with your shooting data in black-on-light-cyan in daylight, or gray-on-dark-blue at night.
Manual
Manual lets you fix it at either kind of display.
d9 LCD illumination top
At default, the top LCD only lights up when you spin the light button located with the power switch. I leave this setting this way.
If you choose ON, the top LCD lights up even in daylight.
d10 Exposure delay mode top
This makes the D300s wait 4/10s of a second to release the shutter after you press it.
It flips up the mirror first. Try this if you're using a long lens on a tripod with exposures of between 1/60 and 1/2 second, where mirror shake is the biggest problem.
The Mirror Up mode is better for this.
d11 MB-D10 battery type top
Forget this if you use the usual gray rechargeable EN-EL3e battery packs in the grip.
If you use AA batteries, set this and you'll get more accurate battery level readings.
Leave this alone if you're using throw-away AA alkaline batteries or the EN-EL3e.
Change it if you're using throw-away AA lithium, Ni-MH AA, or crappy throw-away "heavy duty" AA cells, which Nikon graciously calls ZR6 (AA Ni-Mn).
d12 Battery order top
If you change this and you're using the grip, this lets you run down the battery in the camera first, so you have to remove the grip to change it.
Leave this setting alone, so it runs down the battery in the grip first, and only then uses the battery in the camera. This makes much more sense, since it's a lot easier to change the battery in the grip, and when you pull the grip, the battery in the camera is going to have a lot more charge.
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Ken
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