There has been a lot of criticism on internet about how Nikon handles settings. Having migrated from canon, I generally agree with the criticism and find the shooting banks to be useless.
However, these have been around for several years, and I assume some (or many) people must be using them. So I am interested in finding out how many people use them and if so, how are these being used.
If you answer yes to the Poll, please leave a reply on how you use these.
Yes, I have one bank set for "Sports", another for "Tripod/Long Exposures", and another for "Auto ISO". Each bank has a combination of various settings that I commonly use for that purpose.
Typically, when shooting sports, all forms of noise reduction and Active D-Lighting are turned off. When in Tripod/Long Exposure, Exposure delay and noise reduction are activated.
I use Save Settings to work around the problem with Nikon's implementation. Using the work-around gives me some utility to the banks that otherwise they wouldn't have.
I use the U1 setting on my D7000's for studio/portrait nonsense since I switch to RAW and have all of my little nit picky settings, don't use the shooting banks on my D700 though. It's a very nice convience that I don't really miss.
i think the biggest problem is keeping track of what settings change. in the old days with D1 bodies there was just the CSM banks. Now there are CSM banks and Shooting banks. Why not just have one set of banks that when changes are made and saved it reflects on the cameras operation globally!! in other words every single setting can be changed and saved within that bank; even vitals; Aperture SS ISO and WB. the same way a computer has different users that can log in and out, each user experience is totally independent of the others. Im not smart enough to keep track of what gets changed and what stays static switching from shooting banks to CSM banks so I play it short and don't use them at all.
I really dislike the way Nikon implemented these so far, it seems like such a simple firmware change could improve them.
I would like to select "save settings to x.." when the camera is set up a certain way, then be able to restore them at an instant by selecting x again. Then I should be able to make adjustments as needed.
I do NOT want those saved settings to actually be changed unless I again tell it to "save settings"
So far I can't get my head around how you're supposed to use Nikon's implementation and so I really don't use them - just manually set up the camera for every situation.
Mostly I'd want to use this if I was handing my camera to someone non-camera-geeky, so I could revert it back to factory point and shoot mode and then return to my mostly manual preferences when I take it back.
So why couldn't they add a "dynamic or manual" save settings mode for the banks in a firmware update?
workerdrone wrote:
Mostly I'd want to use this if I was handing my camera to someone non-camera-geeky, so I could revert it back to factory point and shoot mode and then return to my mostly manual preferences when I take it back.
This is what I use the Auto ISO setting for . . . it puts the camera in a nearly complete Auto mode, turns on the AF-assist illuminator, provides the shooter with the annoying beep to tell them that the camera has achieved focus, etc.
I have my normal setting for most stuff; a setting for events using jpegs; and one for fast action sports, which isn't too different to my base setting. What these do is ensure that I don't forget a setting. I am not familiar with Canon's settings, but if they speed up things, then I'm all for them.
One other thing: When you make some changes to your camera during a shoot, it can difficult to remember what changes you made. Using banks allow you to get back to a known starting point.
James R wrote:
One other thing: When you make some changes to your camera during a shoot, it can difficult to remember what changes you made. Using banks allow you to get back to a known starting point.
Isn't this one of the problems? If you have shooting bank B selected, and you make a change, that change is automatically saved to the selected bank. Making it difficult to go back, if you forgot what were the changes.
Sorry for not clarifying this. I set up bank 4 just like bank 1. If I make a changes to bank 1 and can't remember what they are, I can always go to bank 4 and I'm back on track. I will reset bank 1 while watching TV. I never mess with bank 2 or 3.
I used it when I had the D700, but I hated it. When I saw that the D600 has the u1/u2 settings, I knew I had to get it. When I switched to the D600, I instantly fell in love with this feature. I would've bought the D800 if it had this feature.. it is THAT important to me.
I travel and shoot a lot of landscapes.. and I've always wished for this feature. I've missed so many great moments because of the stupid custom setting banks.
Imagine shooting a landscape in Yellowstone, with all your settings in place, just waiting for the right light when all of a sudden, you hear a thunderous noise. You look behind you and an animal stampede is taking place. Do you pick up your camera and take your sweet ass time and fumble around the custom menu banks to get the shot? With the D600 (and D7000), you simply turn the dial to U1 or U2 and shoot. I wish Nikon implements this feature on ALL their cameras!
DontShoot wrote:
I used it when I had the D700, but I hated it. When I saw that the D600 has the u1/u2 settings, I knew I had to get it. When I switched to the D600, I instantly fell in love with this feature. I would've bought the D800 if it had this feature.. it is THAT important to me.
I travel and shoot a lot of landscapes.. and I've always wished for this feature. I've missed so many great moments because of the stupid custom setting banks.
Imagine shooting a landscape in Yellowstone, with all your settings in place, just waiting for the right light when all of a sudden, you hear a thunderous noise. You look behind you and an animal stampede is taking place. Do you pick up your camera and take your sweet ass time and fumble around the custom menu banks to get the shot? With the D600 (and D7000), you simply turn the dial to U1 or U2 and shoot. I wish Nikon implements this feature on ALL their cameras!...Show more →
So much this. The u1/u2 method is brilliant because it does what it should: store complete camera settings that can be recalled and retain state unless deliberately changed. The shooting bank/custom bank combination (that doesn't keep state unchanged, and also isn't a single setting, and also needs more than a dial switch to change) is far less useful. It baffles me that Nikon hasn't put the u1/u2 style settings onto the mode button after releasing 2 cameras with the improved utility (sorry I forgot, only "consumers" want convenience).
