I’ve been a Nikon fan for several years. The cameras are always first rate and they have some of the best lenses in the business. But it is more than just hardware that keeps me coming back to this manufacturer.

Nikon has continuously been developing their software and web presence to add value to their product line. This coupled with their Nikon Schools educational arm provides a wealth of information on just on cameras but on camera techniques.

Today I received an email introducing another educational opportunity available. Nikon has developed an iPhone App called Nikon Learn & Explore. This free app provides access to articles and information from the Nikon educational archives.

The interface to the app is well laid out. You can select information by image with a matrix of photos displayed. Selecting a photo thumbnail displays a larger version of the picture as you would expect.

From there you can click on Info to get information about the photo including photographer name. You can also select View Article, which will show the article from Nikon World magazine that featured the photo. Where applicable there are also videos about the photo or the article.

Next to the Image tag on the main screen is a learn icon that provides Insights & Techniques including imaging editing, shooting techniques, and fundamentals of photography. These lessons are well done and very helpful.

The Nikon World magazine is a valuable tool and the app provides digital access to the information separated by issue.

The app is like having a desk reference and photography teacher right at your fingertips. It is a great app with a good interface and invaluable information. For anyone interested in taking pictures whether you use a Nikon camera or not you will find valuable information contained within it.

My daughter Tiffany is currently taking a photo journalism class at college. She is extremely talented, much more so than I am so it has been fascinating to watch her progress through this class. Each week they are given an assignment to complete using different techniques.

This week her assignment dealt with strobe lighting and flash photography. When these assignments come up it usually results in a sit down meeting between the two of us where I am responsible for figuring out the technical aspects of the shoot while she lays out the artistic side.

It works out surprisingly well. I am able to impart to her some of the technical details I have found through years of trial and error and she provides me creative ideas that I would never have thought of on my own. This assignment though was a bit more difficult than either of us planned.

When I first bought my Nikon D200 and subsequent D300 cameras one of the selling points was that they could be used to trigger Nikon SB-600 and SB-800 flash units. I remember wondering to myself when I would ever need such a capability. Well, that question was just answered.

Remote flash triggering is not something I make a habit of using in most everyday photography and therefore that kind of thing doesn’t just roll off your head as to how it is accomplished. Luckily, I had tried this once before so I was aware of what needed to be set, I just didn’t remember exactly what I had to change.

A quick review of the Nikon D300 owner’s manual and the SB-800 flash assured me that what I was trying to accomplish was feasible but the details in the manuals were not exactly the easiest thing to follow.

There are two steps that need to be completed in order to correctly configure the equipment for remote wireless strobe. The first step is to set up the camera. While the settings differ with each model of camera, I will try to give you the correct settings for the Nikon D200 and D300 which is what I was using.

I decided I would use the on-camera built-in flash as the master flash unit that would trigger the other off-camera flashes. You could use a Nikon SB-800 as the master flash and this would be required if you are shooting with a Nikon D2, D2x, or D3 which do not have a built-in flash on the camera. For this example though I will stick to using the built-in pop-up flash.

On the back of the camera press the Menu button to display the main menu on the LCD screen. Move up or down to the set-up menu with the Pencil icon. Scroll down to the e Bracketing/Flash settings. Once there navigate to e3: Flash cntrl for Built-in Flash. Set the built-in flash to C Commander Mode. These instructions are the same whether you are using a Nikon D200 or a D300.

Commander mode basically sets the built-in flash as the master that will control the off-camera slave flash units. You can choose whether to use TTL, A, or M modes for the flash units. I set everything up for TTL since Nikon does a good job of metering. Within the D300 you can also adjust the flash power for the slave to increase or reduce flash power.

The next series of steps are done on the Nikon SB-800 or SB-600 flash unit. On the back of the flash, press the mode button until it displays TTL BL FP and other assorted data. This puts the flash unit into TTL mode which is the easiest mode to deal with at first.

Press and hold down the center selector button for approximately 3 seconds. The display on the flash unit will show a series of boxes. Using the selector button navigate to the box that shows two flashes with a couple of squiggly lines (yeah I know it sounds technical doesn’t it?)

Select that box with the select button and a series of choices will be displayed. Select REMOTE from among the choices. This choice will set the SB-800 as a remote slave wireless flash. Press and hold down the SEL button and the display on the flash will change to REMOTE. There will be two boxes, at the top is the Channel Box and at the bottom is the Group Box.

It is important that the flash be set for the same group and channel as you selected when setting the camera flash settings. The Nikon D200 and D300 will support one channel and four groups. If you want more than one channel you will need a wireless commander module to do that.

It should be noted that the built-in flash does need to be popped up in order for this to work. If you forget to pop-up the flash the camera will not remotely fire the other flashes. If you have set the channel and the group correctly on both the camera and flash, when you take a picture the built-in flash will fire as will all flash units set to be remote slaves on the same channel and group.

The Nikon SB-800 flash will remain in this mode even if it is turned off so don’t forget to reset the flash before attempting to use it on camera again. This has bitten me a couple of times so I figured I should mention it to save you the frustration.

An off-camera remote strobe allows you to get rather creative with your lighting. I like to use a flash behind the subject especially at hair level to give some additional highlights to the hair in a portrait. Positioning the flash off camera will also allow you to take some interesting shots with dramatic lighting effects.

You may find that this opens your creativity and gives you another tool in your photography arsenal. At a minimum it will get you through an assignment in a college level photo journalism class.

I’m a total technology geek. I am always looking for a new toy or tool that will make my life easier or just plain more fun. It doesn’t matter what aspect of my life I am talking about; I am always looking for fun new toys. This winter my son was selected to play on an AYSO tournament soccer team. As a former soccer player myself I was enthusiastic at this selection. As a nervous father I tend to pace the sidelines and over analyze each moment of play. In order to keep my sanity and not get thrown out, my wife suggested that I take my Nikon D300 and D200 cameras and take pictures. She is now regretting that suggestion as I have filled hard drives with pictures and begun to make a list of camera accessories that I “need” in order to get the best possible shot.

I already had a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8D ED Autofocus VR Zoom lens that I was using to try and capture the action on the soccer field. This is my favorite lens and works great especially in low light and high-speed action shots to freeze the ball and player. The problem was that it just wasn’t quite long enough to reach out and get that close up shot across the field. Since most of my shooting was as a parent with no possibility of making money I knew my options for a new lens was limited. I sat down to begin making a list of requirements and where I would be willing to make compromises to meet my needs in a cost effective manner.
From this exercise I established the following criteria:

• Minimum of 300mm length to capture action from a distance
• Total length of the lens must be less than 11 inches
• Width of lens must be less than 5.5 inches
• Lens should be sufficiently fast enough to shoot hand held
• Autofocus must be fast enough to capture moving players in game action
• Lens must be compatible with DX and full frame cameras
• Low light abilities would be preferred for shooting dusk and night games
• Lens must be Nikkor brand

Obviously a lens meeting the above capabilities is not possible so some of these criteria would not be met. Before deciding that though I should probably explain the why behind some of these statements. The 300mm length should be self-explanatory. Since a soccer field is larger than a football field and many tournaments quarantine photographers to a specific area it becomes necessary to have a long focal length to capture action that is occurring across the field.
The length and width of the lens at first might seem like strange requirements. The reason they are there are because some sporting venues such as MLB, NBA, and NFL stadiums are now cracking down on fans bringing “professional” cameras and lenses. After contacting the local teams and stadiums it seems that at least in Phoenix they have defined “professional” lens as being longer than 11 inches or having a lens opening larger than 5.5 inches. These measurements were devised to allow an usher to check equipment using a piece of paper. The lens can’t be longer than the paper or wider than half a sheet of paper. I know, it sounds random to me too but if I am getting a new lens I need to make sure I am able to use it in all venues.
Many stadiums also prohibit the use of tripods and monopods meaning that the lens must be able to be used as a handheld model and produce sufficient results. Since most of my shooting is sports action the autofocus motor needs to react quickly to make sure the subject is spot on focus. Many of the fields are poorly lit or have dark areas so a fast lens would take precedence over a slower one. I prefer the quality of the Nikkor lenses. I’ve had very good luck with the Nikon brand and want to continue to use them where possible. Finally I currently have a DX format camera but hope to move up to a full frame. I would prefer not to have to replace the lens when I make the camera switch.
Given the above criteria my choices quickly diminished to where the most logical selection was the Nikkor AF VR Zoom 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED lens. This was one of Nikon’s earliest VR lenses and provides the necessary length for me to reach action at long distance. The lens itself is fairly heavy weighing 48 ounces. The weight is both a blessing and curse. On the plus side its bulk provides a good balance to the camera itself. On the minus side, this lens on a Nikon D300 is HEAVY! This will take its toll on you after 4 or 5 games where you are holding it up all day.
The focusing motor is on the slow side and there have been times when the pictures were not in focus due to the motor not being able to adapt quick enough. It requires you to be a little more creative and plan the shot or at least the distance ahead of time on a breakaway. I would love to have had a slightly faster lens than f/4.5-5.6. I typically shoot at f/4 to get the necessary depth of field so having 1.5-2 f/stops more makes some of the shots seem a little cluttered due to the focusing plane. It’s not extremely bad but is not necessarily optimal.
I’ve taken this lens attached to a D300 camera to several events and in all cases it has passed through security without any question as to its length. Fortunately in this case the zoom mechanism changes the length of the lens so if I keep it at 80mm when going through security it is well within the 11 inch length limit. With a diameter of 3.6 inches that too makes it well within the rules. Some of the security personnel have commented on how nice the camera and lens were but none have complained that it was out of compliance.
The pictures produced with this lens have been very good and I have had several people comment on the quality and length. The action seems to come alive with the extreme focal length. This lens has definitely found a place in my bag when I am shooting action sports especially in daylight when the overall speed has less significance. In low light it does falter but with the noise reduction capabilities of the D300 bumping the ISO has resulted in successful pictures. If you have similar needs as I did I suggest looking at the Nikkor AF VR Zoom 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED lens.

For my birthday this year Trina had given me a Nikon D300 camera. Since then I have been in digital camera heaven. I have been interested in photography since high school and have owned several cameras during my life. Many of these are chronicled in the About page on my Photo Blog. When I initially suggested that I wanted a Nikon D300 camera Trina was less than enthusiastic. Part of the reason for her apprehension is that I already owned 3 digital SLR cameras. She could not understand why in the world I would need another one especially since I had stated on several occasions that the Nikon D200 I owned was probably the most perfect camera I had ever used. This was definitely a mistake on my part. Not that the D200 is not a great camera; just that I should never let my wife hear that I am content with anything otherwise it makes my life miserable trying to justify why I need a new toy.

I’ve now had the Nikon D300 for 2 months and during that time I have shot over 1200 pictures. Some of these have been posted on 1Photo2Share and others are being readied to be part of an online album on my web site. I thought I would provide a little feedback on this camera and my experiences with it. My shooting style is action oriented and I am constantly challenging myself and the camera to focus and shoot quickly trying to capture each fleeting moment. The D300 is quite suited to this style assuming the lens is capable of complying. What I mean by that is that the D300 seems to focus relatively quickly and maintain that focus through the shot. The camera is bound by the speed of focus of the lens not the other way around. That means that if you have a fast focusing lens you can get quite a few shots off.
I take a lot of pictures at Chase Field. This is probably because I spend a lot of time at Chase Field. I usually try to take my camera to at least one game every series. I am usually shooting form my seat in Section 112 and I will use either the Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens or the Nikkor 18-200mm f/4.5-5.6 lens. On those days that I carry the 70-200mm I am able to get several shots in a burst capturing a pitcher’s wind-up or a batters swing. The focus is flawless and fast. The same cannot be said for the 18-200mm lens. Its focusing motor is much slower and I am unable to get as many shots as I do with the 70-200mm. I like the flexibility of the 18-200mm lens and the ability to carry just one lens but I do miss some shots because of its lack of speed. The 18-200mm being much slower also challenges the D300 and requires me to use a much higher ISO to capture the action of a baseball game. With the Nikon D200 I would end up with a grainy picture that I would have to manipulate in post-production. I don’t have that problem with the D300. Its noise level software is much better than previous generations of the Nikon DSLR cameras. This has opened up my creativity without having to worry so much about lower levels of light coupled with higher ISO settings.
Battery life on the D300 seems very comparable to what I experienced with the D200. I am able to continuously shoot game action and not have to stop to replace the battery. This is much better than I had when the D100 was first released. I don’t know whether the extended battery life is a result of better power management within the camera or better battery construction but either way I’m happy. I do keep an extra battery pack with me just in case but very rarely am I required to use it.
The color rendition of the D300 is fairly good but still a little muted for my tastes. I therefore have to tweak the color and saturation slightly when I bring the pictures into my editing program. I think I was spoiled in the film era by shooting Fuji Velvia and therefore like things a little brighter. I’m sure there is probably a setting in the D300 that will allow me to modify that a little but I have been so busy with games and events that I have not had a chance to completely go through the manual.
Speaking of manuals, the one that comes with the Nikon D300 is adequate but leaves a lot of unanswered questions in my mind. Third-party books on the D300 have been quite sparse with many of the major publishers not having technical manuals available yet. Several field guides are scheduled to be released in the next month so hopefully I’ll pick one of those up and review it at a later date.
Overall I have been very happy with the Nikon D300. The 18-200mm f/4.5-5.6 lens is a good everyday lens but does suffer from a slower focusing motor making it better suited for family events than for serious stop-action shooting. I would highly recommend the 70-200mm f/2.8 lens but you should be aware that the size of this lens does make it difficult to get into many sporting events. Teams and venues have begun limiting the size of lens they allow fans to bring so you should check with the stadium before taking your camera and lens to a game. As I get more comfortable with the camera I’ll post pictures and settings that I have found that have made my life easier.