Nikon D7000 Seems slow / always wanting on board flash

CrazeUK

CrazeUK

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CrazeUK
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Hey Guys.
I am using a Nikon D7000, which has been trouble free for a while.
A few days ago i was taking pics of a friends sons birthday party in an indoor kids play area (well lit with lots of kids play equipment).

At the time i used:
Nikkor 16-85mm 3.5-5.6 G ED VR With Hoya UV Filter
Nikkor 55-200mm 4-5.6 G IF ED.

My favourite all rounder lens is the 16-85, although it seems to be really slow taking photos.

Also i found both my lenses wanting to constantly use the on-board flash.

Is this user error or the kit being weird.
 
What mode are you in? Auto mode will activate the flash automatically. Or you may have set a shutter speed to capture movement that the camera decided it needed more light so activated the flash - what flash mode have you got on?

When you say the lenses are slow, do you mean slow to find focus? If so, that could be due to a lack of light on what are fairly slow lenses, i.e. the maximum aperture is quite small, especially when zoomed.
 
Have you checked the battery is still healthy through the menus. I had a similar issue where my camera had become extremely lethargic and unwilling to focus quickly. It turned out the batteries in the grip were nearly depleted and the camera hadnt switched to the main on board battery.

Once I had swapped battery priority in the menu the issues disappeared.
 
I THINK the battery is fine.
It holds charge well.
Never has problems starting up. And gives me good life with LV on most of the time and flash.

Also i store the battery outside of the camera when i dont use it for more than 3 days.

Is there a way of checking the health of the battery via camera or externally?
 
Somewhere in the menus it'll show battery health in a scale from 1-5, 5 being as new and 1 being knackered. The spanner icon thing is probably the best place to look for it. When I had the issue everything worked, but the buttons were a bit unresponsive and autofocus happened at a snails pace.
 
To reduce flash usage, try upping the ISO. The D7000 is supposed to have very good noise handling at higher ISOs so should still give reasonably quiet images at 800 or even higher.
 
CrazeUK said:
it was on auto. shooting kids was painful getting a decent shot.

it was slow focusing.
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The lenses you have are not the fastest, and if light is low, the camera may be having trouble using auto focus.

As for flash, well, that's auto modes for you. Switch auto off and use a semi auto or manual mode. Shutter priority is probably going to be best for you. Indoors, while it may seem bright, it won't be so far as the camera is concerned, so increasing ISO will help.

Go back to basics... read up on exposure and ISO. Get an understanding what the camera is doing.
 
For kids inside, a 50mm f/1.8 is hard to beat, especially at the price. Should speed up AF and might even obviate the need for flash if the play area is well enough lit. IIRC, your D7000 has the AF motor in the body which allows older (hence cheaper) type lenses to be used rather than being limited to the extra expense of AF-S/HSM lenses (which can wipe out any saving made on a lower end body in one or 2 lenses).
 
faddius said:
Somewhere in the menus it'll show battery health in a scale from 1-5, 5 being as new and 1 being knackered. The spanner icon thing is probably the best place to look for it. When I had the issue everything worked, but the buttons were a bit unresponsive and autofocus happened at a snails pace.
Click to expand...

i checked the battery info. it shows it at zero years usage.

20130128_104915.jpg
 
Nod said:
To reduce flash usage, try upping the ISO. The D7000 is supposed to have very good noise handling at higher ISOs so should still give reasonably quiet images at 800 or even higher.
Click to expand...

i will definitely give this a shot. i always get worried about grainy pics.

Pookeyhead said:
The lenses you have are not the fastest, and if light is low, the camera may be having trouble using auto focus.

As for flash, well, that's auto modes for you. Switch auto off and use a semi auto or manual mode. Shutter priority is probably going to be best for you. Indoors, while it may seem bright, it won't be so far as the camera is concerned, so increasing ISO will help.
Click to expand...

i did try the shutter priority but quite a few images still seemed blurry. so moved to auto. the place didn't seem dark to me. i would say the equivalent of a sports hall.

will def try practice with higher ISO.

from earlier when talking about speed of the lens, you mean aperture size? my only problem is bigger aperture is a lot bigger spend. lol


Nod said:
For kids inside, a 50mm f/1.8 is hard to beat, especially at the price. Should speed up AF and might even obviate the need for flash if the play area is well enough lit. IIRC, your D7000 has the AF motor in the body which allows older (hence cheaper) type lenses to be used rather than being limited to the extra expense of AF-S/HSM lenses (which can wipe out any saving made on a lower end body in one or 2 lenses).
Click to expand...

all 3 of my lenses are af-s.

i have a 35mm f1.8, even though i love it for portraits i am a bit uncomfortable using it for normal use because i can't zoom into distant stuff without interfering with the subjects.

will try the 35mm too or would you recommend a 50mm over it.
 
On the grain/noise issue. The D7000 is supposed to be very good in this respect - try some test shots and look at them in your usual final use form, whether that's an A4 print, a 6x4 print, a 1200x800 pixel screen view, Facebook res, whatever and see how high you can take the ISP before it's a problem for you.

On a crop sensor body (like your D7000), a 35mm will have the same Field of View as a 50mm has on full frame and such lenses are what used to be standard lenses before the proliferation of zooms. TBH, I find standard primes a little short for portraits so use something a bit longer but that's a personal choice, no right or wrong choice! Your 35mm will be ideal for indoor kid shots - try it and see how you get on, it might be the answer you're looking for. If you want/need something longer, see if you can find a 50mm on a 2nd hand shelf or in the classifieds here when you qualify for access (you probably already do). You're not restricted by the AF-S issue so can use any Nikon fit AF lens. 50mm lenses (especially the older non-AF-S f/1.8 versions) are cheap as a few bags of chips and you should be able to get back what you paid if you decide it's not for you.

Even an f/2.8 zoom (a 24-70 would be my choice in your shoes) will be fast enough to show an advantage over your current line up and again, a 2nd hand example might be affordable. As always, make sure you try any 2nd hand lens (especially a 3rd party one) before handing over the cash/card.
 
CrazeUK said:
Never has problems starting up. And gives me good life with LV on most of the time and flash.
Click to expand...
You're not trying to focus using live view are you? That's slow even in good light.

As for "the place didn't seem dark to me", it probably is, your eyes are very good in the dark compared to a camera. I'll often be sat in what I think is a nice bright room, but the camera is saying f5.6 1/25 ish with a fairly high ISO (over 2000 certainly) which is never going to end with a sharp image of a moving child. This is why people pay for 2.8 or better lenses for sports indoors.
 
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Nod said:
On the grain/noise issue. The D7000 is supposed to be very good in this respect - try some test shots and look at them in your usual final use form, whether that's an A4 print, a 6x4 print, a 1200x800 pixel screen view, Facebook res, whatever and see how high you can take the ISP before it's a problem for you.

?..........

Even an f/2.8 zoom (a 24-70 would be my choice in your shoes) will be fast enough to show an advantage over your current line up and again, a 2nd hand example might be affordable. As always, make sure you try any 2nd hand lens (especially a 3rd party one) before handing over the cash/card.
Click to expand...

I think i will try that. As a newbie i am always scared of the grain issue. I guess i have to learn to go against temptation.

As for lenses. i found my 35mm was making what looked like 'soft' images. maybe they where just better lit.

How much would i be looking at a used 24-70 f2.8 nikon (ive become a bit of a brand hore)?

maninsuitcase said:
You're not trying to focus using live view are you? That's slow even in good light.

As for "the place didn't seem dark to me", it probably is, your eyes are very good in the dark compared to a camera. I'll often be sat in what I think is a nice bright room, but the camera is saying f5.6 1/25 ish with a fairly high ISO (over 2000 certainly) which is never going to end with a sharp image of a moving child. This is why people pay for 2.8 or better lenses for sports indoors.
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I do seem to use LV a lot. My nose gets in the way a bit. Lol
 
The only time you might want to use LV is with a macro lens on a tripod. It is not the best way to utilise a DSLR.
Try to get used to using the viewfinder to focus and not the display. It will be beneficial I promise.
 
PsiFox said:
The only time you might want to use LV is with a macro lens on a tripod. It is not the best way to utilise a DSLR.
Try to get used to using the viewfinder to focus and not the display. It will be beneficial I promise.
Click to expand...

Lol why dont they make slr's with a nose dent
 
Definitely try out some primes for this kind of requirement. I utilised both 30mm and 50mm primes (f/1.4 lenses but used at about f/2 - 2.8) the majority of the time for my son's birthday party to good effect. The flash was never needed btw.

The 35mm and 50mm f/1.8 offerings from Nikon are relatively cheap and offer great value for money in terms of the performance on offer. I certainly wouldn't jump to a Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens straight away (though I am primarily a prime lens fan rather than zoom lens tbh). If you don't like the prime lenses you can always move them on for minimal loss.

In your case, from what I've read, get used to your camera (not auto!), understand and use the viewfinder more and don't be afraid of letting the camera up the ISO. Have fun! :thumbs:
 
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I never auto focus in live view, takes forever and a day, possibly I would on a tripod for macro but almost certainly in no other situation, I use a 50mm 1.8 occasionally when shooting nightclub stuff, can easily get a sharp image wide open ISO 800 no flash needed, so with the sort of lighting where you are shooting you should have no problems
 
Oops! Trypo!!! Should (of course) be ISO not ISP...

Try stopping the 35mm down a couple of notches (if you can still keep a decent shutter speed). The biggest benefit of the wider aperture lenses is when AFing - they AF wide open and can collect more light.

DSLRs AF in different ways for live view and "normal" - the system used during live view is slower and less accurate than that used in normal use.
 
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