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| lrh | profile | all galleries >> Other >> By Camera >> Nikon D5000 >> Nikon D5000, Tips & Tricks | tree view | thumbnails | slideshow |
The Nikon D5000 (link)is my best camera (the "other" one being a Nikon D60). It is a 12mp digital SLR with a 2.7" swivel LCD screen and many features for an "entry-level" model--1/3 ISO steps, ISO in viewfinder full-time, bracketing, 11 autofocus points & gridlines in the viewfinder, JPEG size-quality options in RAW+JPEG mode. It also has great image quality, looking good even at ISO 1600, enlarging to 20x30, and with the same "neutral" image-processing tendencies as the much-more expensive Nikon D300, which shares its sensor (and image-processing algorithms) with the D5000. It also is very fast, with lighting-fast reflexes and a 4 frames per second rate. It even runs well in RAW mode, not slowing down until 12 or so RAW images have been shot (JPEG is even faster).
What follows are some tips in getting the most out of your Nikon D5000.
The Nikon D5000 RAW-NEF files aren't technically compatible with the older Nikon Capture NX 1.3 software. However, as the D300 RAW-NEF files are compatible with it--and the D300 uses the same sensor & imaging processing algorithms as the D5000--Capture NX 1.3 can process the D5000 NEF files okay, if it can be tricked into accepting them.
It can. Turns out, the only problem is NX 1.3 doesn't recognize the D5000 model number, but does recognize the D300 model number. Think of it as a garage that doesn't accept the Mercury Sable but does the Ford Taurus, even though the cars are identical in every-way other than merely the name.
There is a simple MS-DOS-based "hack" that will, in fact, rewrite the D5000 NEF files to say D300 instead, so that NX 1.3 will accept them just fine. The process doesn't edit the file in any other way--in fact, the file's date-time remain unchanged--it merely rewrites the model number "in place." The process is reversible, too (although I always perform the operation to copies of the original just to make sure.)
@ECHO off
cls
:start
pushd %~dp0
ECHO.
ECHO ======Nikon D5000 Hack=============
ECHO `
ECHO `
ECHO {1}. "Hack" (Reads D300)
ECHO `
ECHO {2}. "Unhack" (Reads D5000)
ECHO `
ECHO {3}. "Toggle Switch"
ECHO `
ECHO `
ECHO =====================================
set choice=
set /p choice=Enter the number of your choice (0 to cancel)
if not '%choice%'=='' set choice=%choice:~0,1%
if '%choice%'=='1' goto ch1
if '%choice%'=='2' goto ch2
if '%choice%'=='3' goto ch3
if '%choice%'=='0' goto end
ECHO "%choice%" is not valid please try again
ECHO.
goto start
::=================(1)=====================
:ch1
D5000Hack *.NEF D300
goto end
::=================(2)=====================
:ch2
D5000Hack *.NEF D5000
goto end
::=================(3)=====================
:ch3
D5000Hack *.NEF
:end
Note: there is a similar workaround for the D40 and Capture 4.4 available here.
I perform a "batch rename" to the images when they come out of the camera, before editing or uploading to photo-sharing sites. The names will come out with a name like DSC_0702, which isn't very useful. Instead, I came up with a name syntax which tells you everything you need to know about the image merely by viewing its image number.
I found a program named exiv2 (link) which is a MS-DOS program that, nonetheless, can run in Windows (2000, XP, 7--any of them, really) with a BAT file written for it that lets you double-click and run in a "normal Windows way."
I needed a renaming system that did these things--(1) the files would sort oldest to newest by time (2) if I deleted files after renaming the sequence wouldn't be "broken" (1,2,3,4 now 1,2,4..) and (3) if I shot in RAW mode and had a JPEG matched to it, they'd match up by name.
This program, with the matching BAT files, does this. It renames the file to as yyyy_mmdd_time_FileFormatSizeQuality_EditVersion_camera model. (The FileFormatSizeQuality and EditVersion portions are optional.)
If my shots are in JPEG mode, with the highest quality-size settings possible, this presents the simplest rename, as FileFormatSizeQuality isn't needed (Full Size-Quality in JPEG is the "default understood" presumption). The resulting file, assuming a Nikon D5000 is the camera, looks like this:
20100421_204014_d5000This is for a picture taken on April 21st at 8:40 p.m. and 41 seconds.
If I choose to edit this photo, I make a copy and perform it to the copy. However, I wish for the 2 files to have names that simultaneously link them but also distinguish them. To do this, I add the EditVersion suffix (in-between the date-time and camera model section) manually after the fact (before copying the original). I insert "a" to the original, make a copy, and remove any "copy of" additions that Windows performs, and replace "a" with "b" (if other edits are done, then it would be "c" and "d" etc).
Thus, the resulting files would look like this:
Original: 20100421_204014_a_d5000The file-names are the same (thus making it obvious it's the same original photograph) except for the a, b, c portions in the suffix--thus the files are linked as to being the same original photograph, but distinguished as to which "version" (edit) it is.
(Note: you may prefer for this suffix to instead read as "original" and "edit1" and "edit2" etc, as it's more obvious. I do it the a-b-c way because, that way, it automatically sorts it the order I prefer--that is, original first, then each subsequent edit after, oldest-newest.
Question: why don't I have the renaming operation insert every single photo with "a" in the suffix to start with, so you'd only have to change it to "b" (not remove the Windows "Copy Of" portions it adds, etc)? Reason: this way, if a file hasn't been edited and there's only the original, you will know it just by seeing the name, due to the lack of the "a" suffix.
Smart huh?
 20090914_115403_nl_d40x_rz.JPG |
nikon-d5000-18-55-front34l-l.jpg |
d5000_back1.jpg |
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