Thanks for the detailed reply Don. I too have an iMac now with a very large capacity external Lacie 12TB drive. However the Thunderbolt connection is not reliable so back ups and interface too doesn't happen at times. The drives do have a USB back up access fortunately but it is very, very slow. Apple has now discontinued Thunderbolt as a result of such access problems. Plus in all honesty, some sloppiness by the operator and need to incrementally increase the size for photo files has contributed in duplicates being filed.
Long ago I learned to carefully back up hard disks against crashes; now tho I have over 60 CDs/DVDs and more than 12 discarded hard drives of varying capacities from 250MB to 5TB; I need to cut down on junk/get space so will toss disks & sell some HD's. But of course have the nagging thought I may not have successfully re-uploaded originals of precious shots. Also am sure my current Apple/Lightroom combo won't handle some (maybe many due to format), certainly not any from before I transitioned from Windows to Apple (I do have Apple's external CD/DVD drive). Any of you with similar experiences who had to review/consolidate then wipe with advice to offer? Software suggestions/ways to speed this process?
Think NikonRocks was spot on. In Nikon set cap for max auto iso level, highly valuable. Experiment in advance with your camera at different levels; find what is acceptable to you noise-wise and cap at that. If you use A priority, set minimum click speed so grab shots aren't likely to blur. Auto iso is another wonderful tool not to "miss the shot," right up there with auto focus, auto exposure and auto white balance!
I use the latest (improved) version of Gemini and find it both safe and about as quick as i've been able to find with similar options to what's said about "awesome" above that i haven't yet tried. Not free tho...
I use the latest (improved) version of Gemini and find it both safe and about as quick as i've been able to find.
to FTN just to clarify, it isn't that my shots are "soft" with auto focus, it is that you cannot i.d. what is in them at all, total blur and continual hunting. Clearly the camera is trying hard to focus but is "lost". I will try the reset to factory spec and blow out the innards before taking to Nikon per other ideas here, thank you.
thanks, good idea jefflane!
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good thoughts, thanks, I will.
thanks. agree I have it but need to more carefully read it.
In my experience Nikon auto focusing has been spot on as set and ultra reliable. My D850 however has stopped doing this & I'm having to resort to manual, too slow. BB focus also not working right. I'm sure (?) I'm missing a critical setting but have checked all the logical ones (AF on camera body, slide switches on lens, currently Nikkor 24-120) and the autofocus custom settings bank; also switched lenses, still no go. It auto focuses and beeps when selected in center and lower quadrants but not upper usual head portrait selection using either 55 or 15 spots. No dust observable on the mirror, do I need to try to lock it up? Camera has not been knocked. At the moment, it is looking like another long trip to LI?
Great post!! I have a Q as well. I pretty continuously use auto iso, using the best quality iso for my Nikon as a base with minimum speed usually of 1/400th for most grab and go shots, then adapting the f stop to the desired DOF for the situation. Would/does this idea have any affect on your use of continual BB?
BTW, I'm also one who likes bracketing. Same theory! Get the shot!
Many good comments/perspectives here. This is mine. I'm on a quest for perfect pictures. Very, very rare but I've invested in great equipment that can do so. I also don't have as much time as I'd like. If I did, raw would be all I'd do. As it is, fine jpgs suit 90%+ of my needs saving me time. But ~10% of my shots are the ones I truly cherish. So, since the camera does both and I can have them on the few occasions when I do get OIALT (once in a lifetime) shots worth the extra time to process most carefully, I'm very happy. Otherwise, most always, my Nikons nowadays do a wonderful jpg job. Some people still like manual focus, exposure, darkroom developing their own shots too. Just not my thing. The security of having shots in two places is also a bonus!
This is fascinating to me. Obviously you all prefer the "look" of the results and put up with the inconveniences of which there are usually many. So if I ever do go to a say Nikon Z body even tho physically there seems quite an imbalance of both looks and balance in shooting, it seems there may well be useful even desirable results using their adapter that is worth the downsides of keeping all my old Nikkor and Zeiss lenses ? You all obviously put up with even more challenges, often losing autofocus and auto exposure...