Please note that these suggestions are a guide. Many custom function settings will be to the photographer's individual preferences, but leaving these few set as below will assure that anyone who picks up the camera will start off right. That's important for shared equipment.
Shooting menu:
| Image Quality |
| Quality |
HIGH/NEF (raw) |
| Color |
COLOR |
| Resolution |
LARGE |
| White Bal |
Gray card or color temp meter |
| ISO |
NOT ABOVE 640 |
| File No. Seq |
ON |
Playback menu:
You should be familiar with these functions. Generally, you can set them as you desire, with one exception: don't delete files. Files are like uncut negatives, and should always be either all downloaded to the office or the entire disk sent in.
CSM Menu:
| 01 Image Review |
OFF |
| 02 EV Step |
1/3 |
| 05 Anti-Mirror |
OFF |
| 08 Mirror lock up |
OFF |
| 13 Easy Exp Comp |
ON |
| 15 Auto Meter Off |
15-16 |
| 18 Monitor On |
20 sec. |
| 20 ISO Step |
1/3 |
| 23 Image Sharp |
OFF |
| 24 Tone Comp |
24-2 |
| 26 Max Shots |
9 |
| 27 Display |
BOTH |
| 28 NEF Image |
UNCOMPRESSED |
| 29 File Seq No. |
ON |
| 31 ISO Boost |
OFF |
| 32 Color Mode |
Adobe RGB |
| 33 Hue Adjust |
3 |
| 34 No Card Disab |
ON |
| 36 Zoom Playback |
OFF |
Set-Up Menu:
| Date |
make sure date is correct |
| LCD Bright |
4 |
| Monitor Off |
20 sec. |
Helpful notes:
- Always format card in the camera (rather than with your computer).
- Refresh the batteries three times out of the box. (This takes about five hours.) After that, refresh every 10 charges. The white tape on each battery is for you top keep track of the refreshes between charges.
- Clean the CCD regularly. Dust is an issue with picture quality. Use a clean nasal aspirator to BLOW dust off CCD. Never brush the CCD, and never use compressed air to clean it.
- Under shooting menu, we ordinarily ask you to set the quality to JPEG Fine. You may also be asked to sometimes shoot a Nef/RAW file. If that's ever the case, CS 28 (NEF image) must be set at uncompressed.
- If you are mixing flashcards between D1X and D1H cameras, there is an option in playback menu to display all folders. (This is useful in the case that you are reviewing on the monitor and think you have lost images.)
- A gray card is the surest way to correct color balance; correct color balance is the best way to assure you'll expose digital film properly.
Setting the white balance with a gray card:
- Fill the viewfinder with the card. Nothing can be bleeding around the edges.
- In the Shooting Menu, highlight WB and press the multi-selector to the right to display the WB menu.
- Highlight the WB preset and press the multi-selector to the right. Set will be highlighted.
- With set highlighted, press the multi-selector to the right and the message "Please release the shutter" will be displayed.
- With the gray card in place, depress the shutter. A white balance value will be stored in "pre-set 1", but no image will be recorded.
- You have three pre-sets, so that you can store three white balances for three venues.
- If you have a colro temperature meter, you can use it to get close to one of the eight white balance values of the D1X. You can also use the chart on page 218-219 of the D1X manual to fine-tune your setting. A gray card, though, is still your best choice for an accurate reading of teh light under which you're shooting when the goal is neutral color, as it will be much of the time in sports venues.
