My Menu

One of the features of the newer cameras that I really like is the option to set up a personal menu list of the functions I might want to change during a shoot.  The “My Menu” feature offers the equivalent of bookmarks in a browser, yielding a quick shortcut rather than a longer search.

So what items do I have in “my” menu?  I have the same choices selected in both my Nikon D4 and my D800E, in the same order:

  • Virtual horizon
  • Exposure delay mode
  • Monitor brightness
  • AF activation
  • Multiple exposure mode
  • Long exposure NR
  • AF fine tune
  • Lock mirror up for cleaning

The Virtual horizon choice is for the LCD on the back of the camera.  I have the function button on both cameras set to display the virtual horizon in the viewfinder.

Exposure delay mode locks the mirror up, and allows me to choose a 3 second delay before the shutter trips.

I use monitor brightness to increase the LCD brightness when I’m working in direct sunlight, making it easier to view the LCD.  I much prefer this over using the default “auto brightness” setting.

AF-activation.  While I normally use the back AF-ON button, there are a few times I want to have AF activation on the shutter button.

Multiple exposure mode and Long exposure NR are self-explanatory.

AF fine tune and Lock mirror up for cleaning are rarely used, but it’s more convenient for me to have them listed here.

I haven’t used the image crop mode feature on my D4, and don’t see myself ever doing so.  The D800E is another story.  For landscape work I want the full sensor available, but for wildlife work cropping in-camera (especially the 1.2 crop more) yields plenty of pixels, while reducing file size slightly (which clears the buffer a bit faster).  I could have added image area to my menu choices, but there is an easier way.  I have custom function F6 set so that the AF-L/AE-L  button, when used with the command dial, cycles through the image crop modes.  I can change image area without looking away from the viewfinder.  In fact, this custom setting allows me to choose which crop modes to include and since I don’t care about the 5:4 crop I have it excluded.  Just in passing I also have custom function A5 (AF point illumination) set to “off,” which masks the viewfinder when a crop mode is used.  If A5 is “on,” crop lines are added to the finder image, which gets a bit confusing as I have custom function A6 set to show the viewfinder grid display.  I do wish the camera allowed me to use both the mask overlay and the AF point illumination.

And one “don’t need a menu at all”  feature deserves a special compliment:  being able to activate Auto ISO by holding down the ISO button and turning the command dial.  Bravo!

3 Comments

  1. Jay October 1, 2012 at 6:46 am #

    You are the first photographer that I have heard that likes the new menu system in the D800 cameras. Please write some more or include in your seminars more info please on these menu save systems.

    • John October 1, 2012 at 11:39 am #

      I don’t understand what you mean by the “new menu system in the D800.” The “My Menu” feature which I talk about in this blog has been an option in Nikon camera bodies for quite a few years.

      • Jay October 2, 2012 at 6:45 am #

        John,

        The new D600 has the U1 and U2 save controls. Much have been said about the D800 meny system not being as easy to work with. That is what I thought you were talking about.

One Trackback

  1. By בוטוקס פנים on September 26, 2012 at 7:36 pm

    בוטוקס פנים…

    … בוטוקס שפתיים – רוב רופאי העור אינם מצדדים בשימוש בקרמים מיוחדים, או טיפולים משלמים בוטוקס פנים, הנכללים בתוך המחיר. הסרת שיער אינה מיועדת אל גן אירועים, ביום החשוב בחייך, כשאת מרכיבה משקפיים. … My Menu ……