Fill Flash Gone Wrong on Nikon D90!

The Nikon D90 pop-up fill flash is a handy tool for many occasions but can become a nasty flood light in certain tricky situations. A situation which I encountered today.

It was an extremely sunny day here today and an attempt was made to capture some kids shots at the shaded foyer. My first attempt was to usually do it without flash or compensation. Alas! The darkened faces confirmed that the camera is struggling to accommodate the humongous light spectrum. Unsurprisingly, the Nikon D90 kept the background intact at the expense of darkened faces.

As it turned out, the use of the pop-up flash to act as a filler was a very bad idea in this case. The background was blown out of recognition (complete overexposed) while the kids' faces are too, blown out like solar flare! What happened? You tell me. Thankfully, to quickly savage the situation, I instantaneously whipped out my Nikon SB-900, slide out the built-in diffuser and fired away. Yeah! Peace sets into the valley soon after. Both the background and kids' faces have been brought back into the hills of acceptance. The Nikon SB-900 rocks!

O right, the above shot was taken in F/2.8 with the Nikkor 35mm G lens in Aperture priority mode. The SB-900 was mounted on camera for this shot.

Calibrating Nikon D90 and Nikkor Lens - A Need or Want?

So the saga continues, and I finally got back all my three lenses with the Nikon D90 today. All lens were calibrated with the body now and the sensor is now spanking clean after a thorough sensor cleaning via liquid solutioning. I am ready to do some serious shoot again after that whole one week of not doing so. This coincidentally matches up with the upcoming public holidays in my country. O yes!

As for the front/back focusing discrepancies I encountered, I am specifically told by the Nikon Engineer that I should engage AF-S mode to avoid unintentional recomposition focus error. Manual selection of the 11 AF points are still preferred after all. Hmm...so much for using AF-A all this while.

Lens calibration will become a need as the lens wears down and remains more of a want for me at this point of time. I was told that for my case, the re-calibration was but a very small marginal reset. Anyway, better to do this every 6 months, being still within the warranty period.

Front/Back Focusing Check on Nikon D90

Each lens is designed to varies in convergence point onto the sensor and the Canon Top-notch 1D Mark III even has a built-in function to correct and register them! Now, that brings me to question how the Nikon D90 accomodates such discrepancy.

Today, I am told by the Nikon Service center that they do have a sophisticated diagnostic software to verify this and that some sort of corrections will be made if a problem is detected! Interesting indeed...

Let me send my camera in to check this out soon.

First Nikon D90 Bug Detected!

Upon activating the LV mode of the Nikon D90, the indicated Shutter speed will cease to automatically update its value to indicate the changed settings on the camera.

"In LV mode the shutter speed is frozen at the value taken at the moment of activation. It doesn't change where ever you point the camera. However, it does meter correctly, but this new value is not seen after you shoot.

This also applies for the top level LCD and it doesn't work with Camera Control Pro either.

Nikon support has confirmed this bug."

Abstracted from DP Review.

Warning - Nikon D90 AF Assist Illuminator Range

Ever wonder why your camera fail to focus tact sharp on your intended subjects at times? Screwed up contrast management in AF module due to insufficient light. Here's when your AF illuminator fires up. Right, its only up to 3m in range. So, don't go away thinking this wonder light to reach anything beyond that!

One more surprise I found - remove the lens hood to use it effectively on any lens with a 24-200mm focal length! Gotcha! I was surprised too. See page 55 of your manual.

Want a break from this limit? Get the Nikon SB-900 to throw the AF capability further via its built-in AF-Assist Illuminator!

"Problem" Encountered Today with Nikon D90

Fine black lines begin to appear on my viewfinder today as I switched my Nikon D90 on to shoot. Perhaps, they have been there all along...I am not very sure. They are not those lines you turned on via menu D2 - Viewfinder grid display but very fine horizontal/vertical black lines interconnecting the focus brackets at the center of the viewfinder.

I will be paying the Nikon Service Center today to find out if it can be rectified during lunch hour.

Will keep everyone posted what happens next...

UPDATED - According to the Nikon D90 manual - page 9, this situation is classified normal. Don't panic.

3D Matrix Metering II Deactivated on non-Nikon Lenses

Reviewing the possible reasons why non-Nikon lenses performed so poorly in my recent shoot-out, I came to realize that the Nikon D90 will activate only the Matrix Metering II metering method on Sigma, Tamron etc. ie. lenses that are not made by Nikon!

The 3D Matrix Metering II engine is reserved only for Nikkor G/D lenses according to Nikon official specification chart. Hence, possibly, if you shoot in purely spot or partial metering mode only, the result with the use of these cheaper lens may turn out slightly more predictable and perhaps better?

As for me, I am sticking with Nikkor-only lenses with my Nikon D90.

Solving the Problem of Smallish Viewfinder of Nikon D90

Sometimes, you swear what you composed was razor focused, only to find that its not in Aperture 2 or Nikon ViewNX. Blame it on the small viewfinder or get a new pair of specs after an eye check. Or forget about using the default viewfinder piece - Nikon DK-23 rubber eye cup, while replacing it with the Nikon DK-21M.

It promises a magnification of your viewfinder by over 17%, giving you greater confidence of knowing what you are aiming is what the camera is aiming.

Note to adjust your diopter dial to make effective use of the upgrade. Retails for $24.95.

Limitation of P Mode and Auto WB in Nikon D90

As I clocked more scenario and time in my shoot out, I am beginning to see why the A and the S mode is, to most professional, a better way to operate their camera on. Frankly, I was getting quite comfortable in my "P" education level. In fact, 98% of the shots in my gallery was taken in the lazy man "P" mode.

I kinda dreamt about this moment in writing the need to graduate from the automatic mode of photography some days back. Using the F/1.8 aperture of the Nikkor 50mm has indeed taught me that not always, bigger is better. The very shallow DOF just messed up quite a few of my shots recently. Also, in my eagerness, I may have also broken the law of the closest focal length of the lens.

The Auto White Balance also turn screwy as color rendering began to look confused when in focus of strong-colored subjects and ambient! So, I guess that's why there is indeed more to learn and write about in photography after all! Check the above image as an example of color overrun in one of my shoot.

Solution to F-- Error in Nikon D90

Being the first-time owner of a decent DSLR, you may have or intend to only use the provided kit lens for all your shoot as long as its possible. And perhaps, you have heard or are led to believe that interchanging lens frequently will only adulterate the cleanliness of the sensor.

But you may (like me) also encounter more of the dreaded "F--" error on the control panel when you switch the Nikon D90 on. Reason? The CPU contact points are just too new and are not properly seated in contact with your CPU contact points on your kit lens.

Solution - Do manually unlock and lock your kit lens (without the need to remove the lens from the body entirely) into position occasionally before each shoot. You only need to do this for a brief month or so as the sensor points gets seasoned and responsive with a lens itself.

Cleaning the sensor points with a lint-free cloth on both the body and lens is also advisable.