Here is a short document entitled "In Search of the Perfect Exposure" that I put together for a local photography club meeting after a new member asked "why they has to constantly adjust the camera settings to get a good exposure". I hope it may help your understanding the exposure triangle and how ISO, Shutterspeed and Aperture interact to provide a good exposure in different lighting conditions. Good luck with your new camera. It can provide you a lifetime of pleasure and joy!

Attached file:
(Download)

Out of curiosity, I downloaded the D7200 manual to see if there was any reference to charging the battery via the USB port. I could not find any reference to the use the the USB port under any circumstances, It is not listed in the manual Table of Contents or the Index at the rear of the manual. The only reference I could find was just that it could be used to connect to a high speed USB connection. In the section on cleaning the image sensor, it was not listed as a reliable power source. I imagine charging typical high capacity camera batteries will generate heat that could cause damage if done internally. Unless the manufacturer specifies this as an option, it should be avoided! I have a D7100 and I just use the external charger that came with it.

The lens hood should slip onto the barrel of the lens very easily until it is stoped by the raised tabs on the lens. At this point, rotate the hood slowly right to left (with lens pointed away from you) applying slight pressure toward the back Of the lens until the bayonet mounting tabs on the lens and the hood are properly aligned. The hood can then be pushed a short distance toward the back of the lens. Twist the hood right to left until it will stop rotating. The hood is now at the “lock” point and some additional pressure will lock the hood in place. Reverse the process to remove the hood.

The lens hood is a bayonet type, which simply means you mount it to the lens with a push & twist. It does not screw onto the lens. A bayonet mount lens hood needs to be properly oriented on the lens barrel to work. I do not have this lens so I can not offer any suggestions on markings on the lens or hood to help with alignment. When the hood is aligned properly, with fairly light pressure towards the camera body, the hood should slip into position and a twist of the hood will lock it into place. The locking tabs on the hood and the lens barrel may be worn from improper mounting efforts and not work properly. Many Cannon lens hoods use the bayonet mount.

Generally speaking, if you are allowing the camera to select the final parameter for proper exposure, you can only select 2 parameters ( aperture, shutter or ISO). If you are in A mode, you have selected the aperture and ISO & the camera metering system determines the shutter speed. If you want to control both the aperture & shutter speed, set the ISO to auto.

Thanks vineyard an. I should have included the exposure details. Canon 7D MII. ISO 4000, f7.1 @ 1/800.

I have a Sigma 150-600mm lens and it will not autofocus with either a 1.4X or 2X teleconverter (both are older Tamron units. However, the other day, I decided to experiment with stacking them both on the Sigma lens to take some shots of a Cardinal at a feeder in the back yard. Manual focus was a little difficult but I got some decent shots. The feeder was about 50 feet away. However, the further away you are from the subject, the more difficult it is to get a good manual focus.

If your subject was in bright sunlight, using the "Sunny 16 Exposure Guide", your exposure would be the following @ ISO 100.
1/100 @ f16, 1/200 @ f11, 1/1400 @ f8, 1/800 @ f5.6. Using the camera metering, the actual shutter speed selected may be different because of the meter mode (spot, center-weighted, etc.) and the color density of the subject or background. To check the camera's meter, you may want to try metering off of a grey card to see what results you get.

Aye! 98% of the time.

I shoot RAW 99.9% of the time as it provides the greatest opportunity to provide high quality images. I actually enjoy the Post Processing and consider it the digital equivalent of the darkroom phase of the photography process.