My first blog post about the Nikon 1 V1 was written after a few
hours of owning it and described how I made sure to capture some shots I
was very happy with as my introduction to the camera. Once I felt it was a
machine I could use in a day to day sense the next task was to configure it so
that it would most readily bend to my will, without the need to be constantly
fiddling on with menu selections etc.
I’ll not run through the various controls as though the user
manual were inadequate or the internet did not exist, rather I’ll talk through
the personal selections that I’ve made – my priority is to ensure the camera is
ready to capture an image without the need to pour over its various control
options when ‘in the field’.
The V1 is a modern camera – which is to say its user
interface is a hotchpotch of hardware and software compromises. Expensive but
very convenient switches and dials and the likes along side cheap but fiddly
soft menus. The mark of a good camera is balancing these approaches within the target
budget in a way that means day to day operation is convenient. The trade-off is
that less frequent tasks become more complex as you struggle to navigate
through the adaptive options.
The camera operates in one of five major modes, 4 capture
modes plus Review. The capture mode is selected on the master mode dial and
review is accessed by the ‘Play’ button. The actions related to reviewing are
pretty much the same irrespective of which capture mode you happened to use
last – which is why they separate out the controls like this. Some cameras have
a mode dial that includes a ‘play back’ setting, I don’t like that arrangement
as it means constantly switching out of your current capture mode – so ‘plus 1’
to the V1 on this front for me.
In terms of capture camera needs to be configured at 3
levels:
- Initial
(out-of-box) set-up, i.e. once when you buy it
- ‘Normal’
(for you) pre-setting, i.e. once at the start of a given shoot
- Per-shot
tuning, i.e. prior to tripping the shutter for a given capture.
Getting the second of these right for your personal shooting
style is critical to ensure the third is as swift and simple as possible.
Initial set-up is performed entirely by menu (the Settings
menu). This has 21 entries and the settings can be made no matter what capture
mode the camera is in (or will be in when you use it).
Actually,
2 of these items (Assign AE/AF-L button and Shutter Button AE lock) cannot be
set if you happen to be in Smart Shot mode. If you set the camera up when in
Smart Shot mode you wont be able to set these options. This is actually just
dumb and is, I suspect, a bug in the configuration of the menu system in the
firmware – maybes Nikon will fix this, but it’s not a big worry. It does
demonstrate though how the contents of the menus (and the actions of the
hardware buttons and switches) change depending on the mode.
The full list of options and how (and why) I have set them
is:
Menu->Settings->Reset
Setup Options
This
is one of those get out of jail free cards that fortunately I have never had
use, ever, on any digital device. God help you if you ever find this useful.
Menu->Settings->Format
Memory Card
I
always format memory cards in the camera (never on a PC). I generally move
individual images from the cards and so only reformat them every few months.
Menu->Settings->Slot
Empty release lock
Set
to LOCK and never changed. The shutters in cameras do not have an infinite
life, there’s little point allowing the shutter to fire if I do not have a card
in the camera.
Menu->Settings->Welcome
Screen
Set
to OFF, displaying this just shows a meaningless graphic when I turn the camera
on. What is the point of that? The thing is already plastered with Nikon
iconography, enough is enough.
Menu->Settings->Display
Brightness
Left
at 0 for both monitor and viewfinder as I have no trouble with the contrast of
either. Maybes I’ll use this if/as/when the cataracts develop.
Menu->Settings->Grid
Display
Set
to ON and left ON. A bit disconcerting at first but you quickly get used to the
grid lines which I find really useful in ensuring my shots are suitably square.
Much better to get this right at the point of capture than to throw pixels away
in a perspective correction during post. I think it’s a shame there are 4 grid
lines not 3 though since I’m mostly interested in composing against the
cardinal points.
Menu->Settings->Sound
Settings
Turned
them all off. A camera should behave discretely, the less noise the better.
Menu->Settings->Auto
Power Off
Set
to 5 minutes, why encourage the thing to go to sleep in the middle of a shot?
Menu->Settings->Remote
on duration
I’ve
left it at default since I don’t have a remote.
Menu->Settings->Assign
AE/AF-L button
I
don’t use the AE/AF-L lock button. I regain focus/exposure on every shot, it’s
just how I work. So I don’t care about this setting.
Menu->Settings->Shutter
button AE lock
I
set this OFF, the last thing I want is for the camera to change its mind about
exposure just as I decide everything is right and I press the release. I’d
rather screw up a shot than miss one because the camera thought it knew better.
Menu->Settings->Video
Mode
Set
to PAL, of course – I’m in the UK
Menu->Settings->HDMI
device control
I’m
not connecting via HDMI so I haven’t st this. Turn it on or off depending on
your set-up (Hey, I know that’s not exactly helpful advice…)
Menu->Settings->Flicker
Reduction
Set
to 60Hz, set it to whatever your mains runs at.
Menu->Settings->Reset
file numbering
Never!
The scope for confusion is immense – I do not want raw file name clashes when
I’m shuffling images around.
Menu->Settings->Time
zone and date
Set
to home location values and never changed. I do use daylight saving as I want
the actual time, as I understand it, to be recorded. I don’t change it when on
holiday though… perhaps I should…
Menu->Settings->Language
Set
it to something you can understand.
Menu->Settings->Auto
image rotation
I
set this ON, it does mean portrait images are quite small on review but I
prefer that to swivelling the camera around.
Menu->Settings->Battery
Info
Read
only, check it from time to time especially if the camera loses charge too
quickly.
Menu->Settings->Pixel
Mapping
This
so sounds like a hack. I’m not doing this unless I get some serious image
issues.
Menu->Settings->Firmware
Version
Check
against latest versions from time to time, in case an update is useful.
Normal set-up is a combination of entering menu presets and
also making sure the default behaviour on various buttons has been set, so you
always know how a button will react. If you change a setting for a specific
shot it’s a good idea to change it back straight after, that way the camera
will always behave in the same way when you come to it. If you’re forever
changing a button setting, perhaps you’ve chosen the wrong preset…
There are 28 menu settings and 5 button settings related to
shooting, but not all of them are available in every mode. If you work through
the modes to establish the defaults then switching modes will be a lot easier,
you will know how the camera is going to behave. For each setting I show which
modes that can access the setting (VPSM=Video, Photo, Smart and Motion Image
modes), and also the pre-set value that I am using.
VPSM|Menu->Shooting->Reset
Shooting Options: As needed
Another
get out of jail free opportunity, never use this in the field! You’ll spend the
next hour struggling to set the camera back up.
VP-M|Menu->Shooting->Exposure
Mode: Aperture Priority
I
always shoot Aperture priority with exposure compensation – it’s very
convenient and I can readily set the aperture to get the shutter speed I want –
which is shown in the viewfinder. Things get a little tricky sometimes with
AutoISO - which can take away control of the selected shutter speed – but if I
feel that’s causing me trouble I will turn AuoISO off (see later).
V---|Menu->Shooting->Frame
Rate: 400fps (F Button Slow Motion)
You
can only set this in video mode with SloMo selected by the F Button… I.e. this
will be a fiddly set-up whatever you do, but hey, how often do you want to
shoot a 2 second slow motion movie?
V---|Menu->Shooting->Movie
Settings: 1080/60i
I
keep this set to something that matches my Video processing workflow, I can’t
imagine ever having to change his – but video is just a toy for me really.
-PS-|Menu->Shooting->Image
Quality: RAW+Fine
For
me, the job of the camera is to get the best possible RAW recording. If I have
a good histogram and a large file then I have maximum freedom in post
processing. So I must shoot RAW. Capturing Fine JPG is really just a backup,
but with cheap storage why wouldn’t I?
-PS-|Menu->Shooting->Image
Size: Large
As
above. Why let the camera use less than it’s full sensor size? If I want to
crop I’ll make that decision in post processing, not in the field. After all,
every pixel has been paid for…
-P--|Menu->Shooting->Continuous:
Single Frame
I
rarely use continuous shooting so I set this to single. If I want to continuous
shoot I’ll just have to dip in to the menus.
-P--|Menu->Shooting->Shutter
Type: Mechanical
There’s
not a lot to choose here. Electronic shutter allows faster flash synch and I
may switch to that as the default. This is a pretty odd config though I doubt
I’ll touch it often.
VP-M|Menu->Shooting->Metering:
Matrix
If
the exposure is wrong I will see it in the histogram and adjust – so I want the
camera to just have it’s best chance of getting the exposure right itself. So I
default to it’s most informed mode, Matrix. Rather than change that I’d just
adjust the exposure bias. I doubt I’ll ever need to change this. In the old
days of film I would always spot meter against the zone system – but now we
have hostogram review I tend to shoot and (if needed) adjust exposure
compensation.
VP-M|Menu->Shooting->White
Balance: Auto
The
auto white balance is really good. I leave it on auto and will only fiddle with
this if I get into trouble. I spend a lot of time fiddling with white balance
on the D2x, but the V1 performs well here.
VP-M|Menu->Shooting->ISO
Sensitivity: A400
This
is critical. In exposing a shot there are 3 controls: Aperture, Shutter Speed
and ISO. The V1 gives you one convenient control method (the Zoom button) that
can handle Aperture OR Shutter speed. And other inconvenient controls, either
the command dial or the menu system. If you try to manually control all three
parameters every shot will take a very long time. So I put some of the controls
into the hands of the camera.
By
using Aperture Priority with AutoISO in the range 100-400 I get pretty
predictable shutter speed and ISO selections by the camera when I use the zoom
button to set the aperture. If conditions are tough I may hop into the menu
system to set a fixed specific ISO.
When
I’m shooting without flash this is the ONLY menu setting I need to tweak shot
by shot. Which means when I press the menu button I am already at the right
setting, so changing ISO is fast.
However,
if I am shooting both with and without flash I will also want to use the menus
to change the flash compensation. So I do occasionally find myself shuffling
between the ISO and Flash Compensation menu items – which is fiddly, but that
is the worse case scenario. (If I’m shooting consistently with flash I will fix
the ISO and then I only need to access the Flash Compensation setting in the
menus, so again I find the setting is already selected when I press the menu
button).
VP-M|Menu->Shooting->Picture
Control: Neutral AND
VP-M|Menu->Shooting->Custom
Picture Control: As Needed
These
control how the camera generates JPGs from the RAW capture. Since I work
exclusively with RAW I don’t much care about the JPG rendition, so I just leave
these at neutral. If I ever need to use the JPG it should at least not have
been over processed by the camera.
-PS-|Menu->Shooting->Colo(u)r
space: sRGB
sRGB
is sometimes needed for publications so I stick with it rather than having to
remember to change the colour space later.
-P--|Menu->Shooting->Active
D-Lighting: On
Nikon
does a good job with it’s D-Lighting feature, so I enable this.
-P--|Menu->Shooting->Long
Exposure N(oise) R(eduction): On AND
VPSM|Menu->Shooting->High
ISO Noise Reduction: On
I
suspect the device housing the sensor will know best how to do severe noise
reduction, so here I am trusting Nikon and setting these on.
V---|Menu->Shooting->Fade
in/fade out: OFF
Video
setting, but if I wanted fades I would add them in post.
VP--|Menu->Shooting->Movie
Sound Options->Microphone->Auto Sens.
VP--|Menu->Shooting->Movie
Sound Options->Wind Noise Reduction->On
Again,
video is not key for me so I accept the defaults here.
-P--|Menu->Shooting->Interval
Timer Shooting: As Needed
Haven’t
played with this yet, but this is not so much a setting as a separate shooting
mode. It’s all pretty self-explanatory.
VPSM|Menu->Shooting->Vibration
Reduction: Active
Nikon
VR is great so I leave these active I might change it for a given shot if I
want a really close macro but honestly I’m going to drag the D2x out for those
shots.
VP-M|Menu->Shooting->AF-Area
Mode: Single Point
My
main drive is to have a camera that is no fuss. Although on the D2x I switch
focus modes often, on this little thing I’m happy to select really simple
focussing. So I use single point and mostly acquire focus at the centre, then
compose then complete the shutter release. Occasionally I use the OK button to
shift the focus point, but it’s not often I need to do that. You’ll want to
experiment with this if action photography is your thing.
VP-M|Menu->Shooting->Face-Priority
AF: OFF
This
irritates me, I already know where the face in the shot is and I do my own
focussing on it. So I quickly came to turn this off.
-PSM|Menu->Shooting->Built-in
AF assist: ON
The
V1 is slow to focus to my mind so I give it all the help I can, even though the
focus assist makes the camera less discrete.
-P--|Menu->Shooting->Flash
Mode: Fill Flash AND
-P--|Menu->Shooting->Flash
Control TTL
My
standard settings for using flash.
-P--|Menu->Shooting->Flash
Compensation: -3.0
If
using flash I will dip into the menu to adjust this. Usually this is the only
menu related function I need so it is at least a fast adjustment. The only
problem comes when I am switching between flash and no flash and therefore find
I need to switch between ISO setting and Flash compensation setting in the
menus. This mode of shooing is the only time I find the diminutive V1 fiddly.
If only Nikon had put flash compensation on to the body of the SB-N5…
V---|Button->F:
HD Movie
-P--|Button->F:
Shutter Mechanical
---M|Button->F:
Any Theme
I
ensure I have preset the F button behaviour for each mode, I then hardly have
to worry about it. I wish Nikon had allowed the F button to modify the zoom
button function – then I could have quickly set Aperture and either shutter or
ISO without resorting to menus.
VP-M|Button->Zoom:
Set Aperture
I
shoot aperture priority so this, the most convenient control, sets the aperture
for me.
VP-M|Button->Command
Dial->+/-: Exposure Bias 0.0
This
is also a very convenient control and I use it a lot while shooting.
VP-M|Button->Command
Dial->AE-l/AF-L: Momentary Lock
My
style of shooting doesn’t need this, would have preferred fast access to ISO
setting here.
VP--|Button->Command
Dial->Self Timer: OFF
Used
as needed of course, nice and convenient but possibly more convenient than I
need.
V---|Button->Command
Dial->AF: AF-C AND
-P--|Button->Command
Dial->AF: AF-F
My
preferred Autofocus settings.
VP-M|Button->Command
Dial->OK: AF Point Centre
A
very convenient means to shuffle the AF point, which I use occassionally. Good
that it is convenient for when I do need it.
Having made all of the above settings I’m ready to use the
camera in the field. It may seem like there’s a lot to deal with (21 initial
and 35 shooting settings), but most of the complexity/flexibility has been
dealt with, so my typical shooting operation goes something like:
- Zoom
Button: Set aperture
- +/-
Button/Dial/OK: Set exposure compensation
- Shutter
Release Half press: Acquire focus/exposure
- Compose
- Shutter
Release Full Press
And my trickiest shooting is typically:
- Zoom
Button: Set aperture
- +/-
Button/Dial/OK: Set exposure compensation
- Menu
Button/Right/Right/Dial/OK/Menu/Menu: Set ISO
- OK/Dial/OK:
Set focus point
- Shutter
Release Half press: Acquire focus/exposure
- Compose
- Shutter
Release Full Press
I very rarely have to navigate through menus and I have a
lot of control over aperture, shutter seed, ISO, and Focus – everything you
need to control a shot in fact.
The V1 interface is quite well thought out. The only changes
I would like would be to have similar control over ISO and Flash compensation
that I get with Exposure compensation. A firmware update allowing more
functions on the command dial to be soft assigned could easily achieve that IF
Nikon were to care to give us that kind of flexibility. Unfortunately, I doubt
they will.
