Getting To Know Nikon D90 Lens Mount

Nikon D90 has F-Mount with AF coupling and AF contacts


What is Nikon F-Mount?

The Nikon F-mount is a type of interchangeable lens mount developed by Nikon for its 35 mm SLR cameras.

The F-mount was first introduced on the Nikon F camera in 1959, and features a three lug bayonet mount with a 44 mm throat and a flange to focal planedistance of 46.5 mm.

The large variety of F-mount compatible lenses makes it the largest system of interchangeable flange-mount photographic lenses in history. Over 400 different Nikkor lenses are compatible with the system. The F-mount is also popular in scientific and industrial applications, most notably machine vision.

The Nikon F-mount is one of only two photographic lens mounts (the other being the Pentax K mount) which were not abandoned by their associated manufacturer upon the introduction of autofocus, but rather extended to meet new requirements related to metering,autofocus, and aperture control.

Brands of F-mount photographic lenses include Nikkor, Zeiss, Voigtländer, Schneider, Angénieux, Sigma, Tokina, Tamron, Hartblei,Kiev-Arsenal, Lensbaby, Vivitar, and others. F-mount photographic cameras include current models from Nikon, Fujifilm, Sinar, and Horseman. Numerous other manufacturers employ the F-mount in non-photographic imaging applications.

The F-mount has a significant degree of both backward and forward compatibility. Many current autofocus F-mount lenses can be used on the Nikon F, and the earliest manual-focus F-mount lenses of the 1960s and early 1970s can, with some modification, still be used to their fullest on all professional-class Nikon cameras.

Incompatibilities do exist, however, and adventurous F-mount users should consult product documentation in order to avoid problems. For example, many electronic camera bodies cannot meter without a CPU enabled lens, the aperture of G designated lenses cannot be controlled without an electronic camera body, and non-AI lenses (manufactured prior to 1977) can cause mechanical damage to later model bodies unless they are modified to meet the AI specification.

Originally all Nikon bodies and lenses were manufactured in Japan. Since 1991, however, increasing amounts of high-volume production (mostly consumer bodies and lenses) has been shifted to production centres in Thailand and China.

Most Nikon F-mount lenses cover the standard 36×24 mm area of 135 film and the Nikon FX format, while DX designated lenses cover the 24×16 mm area of the Nikon DX format, and industrial F-mount lenses have varying coverage. "DX" lenses may producevignetting when used on film cameras. However, Nikon lenses designed for film cameras will work on Nikon digital system cameras with some limitations.

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Nikon Speedlight Compatibility

Which Nikon Speedlights are compatible with your Nikon digital SLR camera’s flash features? 
The best way is to refer to the camera’s instruction manual to see which features are available for you camera.

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Free eBook For Nikon Club Member

As to thanks for visiting this Nikon Club, here is gift for you :)

Free ebook "Shoot Digital Pics Like Pros"

Download and Enjoy Reading!

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Where To Focus When Shooting?

Over the years, there have been conflicting thoughts as to where the optimal place is to focus your camera when shooting portraits (the cheek, the tip of the nose, the hairline, etc.).

Luckily, today the consensus is fairly clear (you'll still find some cheek holdouts here and there, but don't let them throw you): focus directly on the subject's eyes.

By shooting at f/11 and focusing on the eyes, this will give you a nice level of sharpness throughout the face (and most importantly, the eyes will be tack sharp, and in portraits that is absolutely critical).

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The Trick to Shooting Waterfalls

Ever want to get that silky waterfall or that stream effect you see in those pro photos?

The secret is leaving your shutter open (for at least a second or two), so the water moves while everything else (the rocks and trees around the waterfall or stream) remains still.

Here's what you do:

Switch your digital camera to shutter priority mode (the S or Tv on your camera's mode dial), and set the shutter speed to 1 or 2 full seconds.

Now, even if you're shooting this waterfall on a bit of an overcast day, leaving your shutter open for a few seconds will let way too much light in, and all you'll get is a solid white, completely blown-out photo.

That's why the pros do one of two things: 

(1) they shoot these waterfalls at or before sunrise, or just after sunset, when there is much less light.

Or they (2) use a stop-down filter. This is a special darkening filter that screws onto your lens that is so dark it shuts out most of the light coming into your camera.

That way, you can leave the shutter open for a few seconds. Such little light comes in that it doesn't totally blow out your photo, and you wind up with a properly exposed photo with lots of glorious silky water.

Now, if you don't have a stop-down filter and you run across a waterfall or stream that's deep in the woods (and deep in the shade), you can still get the effect by trying this: put your camera on a tripod, go to aperture priority mode, and set your aperture to the biggest number your lens will allow (probably either f/22 or f/36). This leaves your shutter open longer than usual (but that's okay, you're in deep shade, right?), and you'll get that same silky-looking water.

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Trick for Low-Light Shooting

Although you usually should use a tripod when shooting the formals (the group shots after the ceremony with the bride, groom, family members, etc.), when shooting the wedding ceremony in a low-light situation like a church, you'll often need to hand-hold your shots.

This is a problem because hand-holding in low-light situations is almost a guarantee of having blurry photos (because of the slow shutter speeds of low-light situations).

So, how do the pros get those crisp low-light shots in a setting like a church?

Two things:
(1) they increase their digital camera's ISO (the digital film speed). Today's digital SLR cameras (in particular, the Nikons and Canons) let you shoot at very high ISOs with little visible noise. So how high can you go? At least ISO 800 (see LCD panel above), but you can usually get away with as high as ISO 1600 in most situations. This lets you get away with hand-holding in the low light of a church, while avoiding the camera shake you'd get at ISO 100 or 200.

(2) They shoot with their fastest lens (your lens with the largest available f-stop, like f/1.4, f/2.8, or f/3.5), which lets in more available light, allowing you to shoot in lower light without blurring your images.

If you're shooting in very high ISOs, you'll want to know about a popular Photoshop plug-in for wedding photographers called Noise Ninja (from PictureCode.com). Besides reducing noise, a happy side effect is that it also smoothes skin.

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15 Steps To Take Great Flower Shots

1) Wide-Angle Lens Have Their Place
If you'd like to show an individual plant or a group of plant in their surrounding,
then the wide-angle lens is the tool for the job. Dept of field is also increased, so your image will be sharp all the way from foreground to background.

2) Experiment with Flash
Flash can help you produce impressive image, but be careful not to overdo it.

3) Move Indoor
No day light waiting and no worry about subject moving.

4) Switch-Off Auto focus
Dept-Of-Field is so narrow in closed-up photography that precise focusing is critical.
To ensure your shots are sharp, try switch to manual focus.

5) Composition Skill
Composing with the subject off-center can instantly give your image a professional look.

6) Choose the right view point
Take from eye level to the subject.

7) Just add water
Adding a few drops of water can really help to bring your flowers photography to life.

8) Use Tripod
You can fine-tune composition and keep the point of focus exactly where you want it.

9) Go Telephoto
This is good if you plan to take individual plane.

10) Remote Release
Use it when possible to get sharp image.

11) Watch The Weather
Check out if you want to take under direct Sun light.

12) Use a Reflector
It will help to reduce shadow area.

13) Marco Lens
Get close to subject to fill the frame.

14) Shoot in Manual
Freely adjust aperture and shutter will result in getting what you want.

15) Watch Your Backgrounds
Be careful messy background can ruin you image.

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Understand Colour Temperature

Colour temperature can be quantified scientifically using a temperature scale marked in degrees Kelvin. Lighting can vary in ‘colour temperature’ between 2000 degrees Kelvin (warm) and 9500 degrees Kelvin (cold). This derives from the fact that the light emitted by heated objects produces a spectrum which changes as the temperature increases. Low temperature lighting is progressively warmer (more red/yellow), while high-temperature lighting grows progressively colder (more blue).

This is what the white balance control on a digital camera is designed to compensate for. You can either leave it set to ‘automatic’ and hope for the best, or choose a manual preset to match the conditions. Some high-end digital cameras quote white balance values in degrees Kelvin, but most use named presets corresponding to specifi c conditions, like Daylight, Tungsten and Shade. Our chart illustrates the variations in colour temperature you might encounter with a range of subjects and shooting situations.

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Exposure Top 10 Tips

On the face of it, exposure seems a pretty straightforward business. In order to produce a good range of tones in your picture, the camera has to make sure the right amount of light reaches the sensor. And it does this (or you do) by adjusting the length of the exposure (the shutter speed) and the light intensity (the lens aperture). The image is formed by the accumulation of light on the sensor during the exposure. All digital cameras incorporate exposure systems which will do this automatically, so what’s the problem? Even the most sophisticated metering system is unable to understand what the camera’s looking at, or what the photographer’s intentions might be. This is where you need to take control. Here are 10 good tips to guide you to get what you want.

1) TAKE A MID-TONE WITH YOU

Pack a grey card in your camera bag – or buy a mid-toned camera bag which you can meter off.

2) LOOK AT THE HISTOGRAM

Don’t rely on a simple playback image to judge exposure – let the camera show you precisely

3) WATCH THE BACKGROUND

Be aware of how the tone of a background can influence your camera’s meter.

4) BE AWARE OF HIGHLIGHTS

When exposing for dark subjects, look for any bright areas that might be blown out as a result.

5) SWITCH TO SPOT METERING

For tricky lighting and small areas, there’s no substitute for spot metering if you’re not in a rush.

6) RESTORE THE WHITENESS

If your subject’s large in the frame and bright white, spot meter off them and add 2 EV to 2.5 EV.

7) METER FOR HIGHLIGHTS

As a general rule, it’s best to meter for the highlights and let the shadows fall where they will.

8) CARRY A SET OF FILTERS

Always pack a graduated neutral density filter and polariser – they’re not just useful for ‘pure’ landscapes…

9) DIAL DOWN YOUR FILL FLASH

With digital cameras so good at picking up shadow detail, you’ll be surprised how little fi ll fl ash you need.

10) GET CREATIVE

Don’t always chase the ‘perfect’ exposure. Experiment with going to extremes.

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Aperture and shutter speed Does Matter

Digital cameras control exposure using both shutter speed and aperture. Why both? 

Wouldn’t one or the other do the job? There are creative advantages to these two means of exposure control. Smaller lens apertures offer more depth of fi eld (near-to-far sharpness), while fast shutter speeds let you freeze fast-moving objects. Shutter speed and aperture are interchangeable, so that if you want to use a smaller lens aperture, you can compensate with a longer exposure. Or, if you want a shorter exposure, you simply set a wider lens aperture. For example, if your camera indicates an exposure of 1/250sec at f/8 but you want to shoot at 1/1000sec, which is two stops, or EV values, faster, you need to increase the aperture value by two stops as well, to f/4. Some cameras allow you to adjust shutter speed and aperture values in 0.3 EV steps, but the same principle applies – a change in one must be mirrored with a same-sized change in the other.


Adjusting exposure

So how precise do you have to be with exposure? Even though digital cameras only have a certain amount of ‘exposure latitude’, in practice there are many different ways of interpreting a scene, and many exposure errors can be rectifi ed or at least improved with a bit of image-editing. To give you an idea of how the subject brightness changes with exposure, here’s the same scene at seven different exposure values, all shot at the same lens aperture, but with shutter speeds 0.5 EV apart. These also demonstrate the idea of exposure latitude and dynamic range. There isn’t one shot where detail’s been recorded both in the foreground and the garden outside – the scene is outside the dynamic range of the camera’s sensor. You might prefer the ‘overexposed’ shot because it shows the subject’s face with a nice high-key effect, or a darker silhouetted version. Or you might open one of the in-between shots in Photoshop and attempt to balance the tones more evenly.

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Source Digital Camera Magazine - Master Exposure

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