My D7000: Closing in on 20,000 pictures

I'm about 1500 pictures shy of turning over my D7k for the second time.  I've only had the camera for 1 year and two months.  I've been taking pictures like a crazy woman.  I'm still learning lots of neat things about my camera.  In July, I learned how to and experimented with shooting in continuous mode.  That was fun!

For the month of August, I will be learning to use my camera in manual  mode.  I still have a lot to learn about taking better pictures.  Learning to look.  Learning about exposure.  Learning more about shutter, aperture, and ISO and how they play together.  My head is already swimming from all the information I've gathered.

Funny.  My FB photo challenge/assignment for the month of August is:  Learning to Look.  I will be sharing and teaching my fellow FB friends...how to take better pictures by learning to look.  This month, they learned about taking pictures based on a theme I gave them.  They also had to think outside the box.  They were really creative in the pictures they took.

The month of August will hold many challenges for me as I progress into becoming a better photographer.  That's my goal.

More Real Life Experiences with My Nikon D7000

My camera is only 51 days old.  I've taken 3,636 pictures so far.  My third battery charge produced over 1300 pictures while I was using both VR and non-VR lenses.  I used my external flash on the camera about 50% of the time.  I did use the LCD monitor quite a bit, especially during VBS.  A lot of the kids had asked me to take their pictures and then they wanted to see it on the LCD screen.

I had the opportunity to watch my D7k fill up slot 1 and continue into slot 2.  Slot 1 contained a 4GB SDHC card while slot 2 contained an 8GB SDHC card.  I set the camera to let slot 2 be the overflow card.  It didn't take long to fill up the 4GB.  It was neat to see the camera switch from one card to the next.  It worked nicely.

I've been extremely happy with this camera and I'm happy with the results I'm getting.  I do get a lot of "wow" pictures.

The Magic Number...1427

That's the number of pictures I took on one battery charge...1427. As I was taking more and more pictures, I watched the battery display go down and down and down. I can also see the % status reading in the menu. It eventually went down to 1% and I was still able to take about a dozen or more shots. Incredible. This week will be a busy photog week for me. I've been asked to take pics of VBS at my church. Way cool as I need more practice with my camera settings. I'll be back later this week to give another update....

Outdoors and Overexposed

Early this morning, I grabbed my camera and headed into Old Town to check out the local farmer's market. Again, I had my 50mm lens attached and quickly realized I could have used my 35mm lens instead. The market was crowded and there were instances where I had to zoom out with my feet and avoid bumping into people.

One of the "cons" in several reviews I've read on the D7k mentioned how the camera tends to overexpose in bright light. I have to agree with them. I forgot to adjust my camera and here's the results:


















I think it's time I start using the U1 and U2 modes on the camera and configure the camera for outdoor/bright light settings. That's another dial on the camera that I haven't even experimented with...yet.

BTW...the D7k created a new folder after it reached 999 files on my SD card. Interesting.

Camera Stats: 721 shots at 51% charge

Back in the middle of June, I posted here that I took 718 shots on my first battery charge. I'm now using my 2nd battery (backup) and have taken 721 shots and the battery is showing 51% charge. My, oh, my. That's unheard of.

So what am I doing differently between the two battery charges? One, I'm using the menu system less. I've already tweaked the settings and I pretty much know my way around the menus. Two, I'm not "staring in awe" at the the LCD monitor as much. When I first got the camera I was just awe-struck going from a 2.7" to a 3" LCD screen. I kept zooming in and out to look at the pictures. Three, I'm just shooting pictures like crazy and not having to review each one after each shot. Sounds like "I'm becoming one with my camera". That's happened before with my beloved D40. That's a good thing!

It's been a month since I've purchased my fun-D7k camera. So far, I've taken 1439 pictures. At the rate I'm going, I will have taken 10,073 pictures at the end of this year. Now, that will be a first for me to turn over the camera back to 0001 in under a year or 7 months to be exact. I've already rolled over 3 other cameras, but it took a year to accomplish that.

I'll be back to post the results/stats of my 2nd battery charge. I'm anxious to see if I can get over 1000 pictures on a single charge. So far, it's looking good!

718...Pictures Taken on a Single Battery

That's the total number of shots I took with my first battery on my new D7000. I got the blinking battery light and then I could no longer autofocus for the next shot. I couldn't preview the pictures I've taken nor could I access the menu system. The battery was truly expired. So now, it sits in my charger...getting rejuvenated. It should take less than 2-1/2 hours to fully recharge. When I initially did the first recharge on May 30th, it took less than 2 hours. I popped that battery into my camera and kept taking pictures until this evening. My, my...718 pictures later. Truly inspirational.

Now, Nikon says on average I should be getting roughly 1050 pictures on a single charge. For as long as I keep turning on my LCD display, to preview pictures taken or wander around the menu system...I don't think I'll come close to that number. I'm fine with that because 718 pictures taken is A LOT on a single battery. I would have easily gone through 3 batteries on my old D5000.

We'll see what the next picture count I get on the 2nd battery. Oh yeah...it's my new spare battery. I think having two batteries is enough for now. I'll end up buying another one, a year from now and so on. As batteries go through charge cycles, they will eventually deplete or lose their original strength. Out of habit, I always buy another one a year later.

I'm ready to take more pictures this weekend. I currently have my 28-105mm lens attached to the camera...waiting for some action tomorrow. On Sunday, I plan on using my 35mm/1.8 or my 50mm/1.4 lens. I just have to remember to "zoom with my feet".

More later....