Nikon D3000 Live View Hack

[Fito Coulter]

Somany of you are saying that the D3000 has flaws, which I do agree. I'm going to take some time to explain to you guys about some stuff. First off, the D3000 is a remarkable, revolutionary, smart, compact, and affordable camera ! It has a great high megapixel resolution also ! SO, let's get down to the bottom of this.. The D3000 just doesn't have a few, but ALOT of flaws that I want to go over before you make your purchase. Many, and I mean many users are saying that the D3000 does not do good in light, which I have to agree because I have seen the shots.

Next lets get into the screen. The screen looks nice when you come to look at it, but if you take a good look, you can see that the screen is not fully great. Remember, this is a compact, entry-level DSLR. If you want a amazing looking screen, go with a D5000 or D90.

Next comes the Live View. Many users are angered that the D3000 does not have live view.

Finally, but sadly, this camera has ranked some bad reviews. "The worst DSLR Nikon has ever made. " - Ken Rockwell.

Ok, so lets sum this all up, as you can see these problems can be common in most the photos you take. My opinion, is that if those bother you, do not get the D3000. For some users, this is not a problem, but for others it is. I would definitely look into the D5000 or D90, if price is a problem, I would suggest you just get the D3000. Overall, it is a great camera, but there is just some flaws to it, which every camera will face.

Originally posted at 8:46AM, 30 September 2009 PDT(permalink)

CA Photographer edited this topic ages ago.

Well i dont think the d3000 is bad at all ... sure it is not the best in low light , but it is a budget camera .. and i've found that iso 800 inst to bad with a LITTLE noise reduction pp... and im sure when i get a nice fast prime lens ill worrie even less about the noise ..

Live view ??? who needs it .. look thru the viewfinder thats what its there for .. its a slr for goods sake lol

Some people complane it dont have a movie mode ...?? once again its a camera not a video camera so... whats the big deal ????

ill keep enjoying it untill i can afford somthing better , but for the price and the great pictures at lower iso...

i dont see any reason to get upset about what ken had to say about it :)

ages ago(permalink)

There is a page on Kens site that he does give thumbs up to the camera, he practically praises it. If the light isnt great, tweak it. Simple. Most of my photos where on a Sony Cybershot 5MP and i've sold hundreds of dollars worth of stock photos with it on istock.com. I've even been published in the paper from hiding a Nokia phone inbetween my fingers! And thats what we all want isnt it? To be published and our work 'out there?' paid or unpaid?

So who gives a shit who review says what? I've done the most on less; i love imprivising, thats half the fun of it all! I'd had the D3000 for about 3 weeks and am taking some great stuff that will only get better. I think the camera is only as good as the photographer!

Ok, back to my beer.

ages ago(permalink)

Not here. I was shotting flying bats in the Botanical Gardens and they came out so clear you could see the viens in thier wings. Of course, having and using photoshop for minor details doesnt hurt!

ages ago(permalink)

OH OH !! Guys I am so sorry ! There is not option where I could of seen the exif data ... ? How did you guys do it ? Anyway, I will edit and take the photo down. My mistake.

ages ago(permalink)

adr does slow it down a bit yea .... but you can also apply adr in post processing in viewnx

the ADR on the camera is only on or off .. in viewnx you have the choice of off , low , med, or high ... so i just use that instead ... but your choice

ages ago(permalink)

My only complaints (which I can work around) are that it has a really weak flash (either increase the flash compensation, or use SLOW/REAR) and that it doesn't look good at high ISOs (set it to max at 800). Also mine seems to imprint a tiny white + sign in the middle of each photo. It's like the size of a pixel, but I don't know why it's there. No big deal. I really like this D3000 though. It reproduces colors truer/better than my D90, for half the price!!

Oh and I really wish Nikon would let me program the FN button to set the Picture Control (STANDARD, VIVID, PORTRAIT, etc) using it. I just leave it on timer because the other options are already on the Info screen so it's not any more convenient to reassign it.

Originally posted ages ago. (permalink)

vigorous orange edited this topic ages ago.

I've had the D3000 for about a month now and I'm really enjoying it. This is our first DSLR and we are really enjoying the quality of the photos that it's producing. It is also easy to operate which is a plus for us.

As for problems....

Low light/High ISO issue. Yeh I was a bit dissapointed after reading a certain review... I have set the Max. ISO at 800 cos I have found that 1600 or Hi are just too noisy. In the future I will definitely be looking for a camera that can handle High ISO. In saying this the D3000 is far better than our previous P&S's and I haven't tried similar price range cameras for comparison.

ADL issue. Yes, if you have ADL set as 'on' in the menu, each photo will take 2-3 seconds to process before you see it on the screen. As mentioned above you can set if 'off' and apply it in playback mode if the picture needs it. I'm not fussed about this at all. Why? well not every picture I take needs ADL so setting it 'off' is fine. Also when applying it in post-processing you get a range of ADL (low, normal or high) rather than just on or off.

That's all the issues I've had with it. On the whole I don't regret the purchase. It's a small, easy to use camera that has great quality pictures and neat features. I will purchase a fast prime lens in the future for low light photography and I imagine a few years down the track will upgrade the body for something more quality (and obviously more expensive!). So for the price range I think you get a good deal! From what I read better than the Canon1000D anyway...

Max

ages ago(permalink)

If somebody needs the test picture used by the Foto-Video magazine, just let me know, i need only your email address. I don't want to post it here, because i am not sure about the copyright...The test picture could be a good start point of your decision before you buy the camera, however i am happy with it.

ages ago(permalink)

Did anyone research this camera before buying it? I knew all of the flaws before i plunked down $550 for it. None were bad enough to deter me. Nor were they bad enough to spend more money for the next best thing.

If you have complaints you should of done a lot more research before buying something that doesn't perform up to your expectations.

ages ago(permalink)

Well Max I own both the Nikon D3000 and the Canon Eos 1000D , and I like both , the canon is more versatile in many respects , EG remote control from a PC (great for focus stacking and model shooting) see the results on screen right away. Talking about remotes I found out that the D3000 only uses an infrared (unless you know different) remote not much use if your behind the camera, live view can come in very handy, and the use of manual lens's such as the old M42 threads are far easier to use, you don't have to guess the exposure . The image quality is far better and noise is better too,

The Nikon's kit lens is sharper and the shots are more saturated, the exposure I find if you use anything but matrix is not consistent. , the build quality is better than the canon and smaller in size but heavier

So I can recommend either camera in this price range

If I was pushed and had to get rid of one then it would be the Nikon due to the type of photography I do

Barry

P.S. I used to own Nikon film cameras and Minolta, could not stand the canon film camera's :-)

ages ago(permalink)

I agree with iannamico1. I knew the flaws of the D3000 before I bought it. For me it was either get an entry-level dslr or the much more expensive D90. For me, the flaws of the D3000 were not even close to warranting spending almost twice as much on the D90.

ages ago(permalink)

First of all, I wish you luck trying to find a new D60. I've been looking. It seems the D3000 has replaced it at exactly the same price point. I can't seem to find a lot of difference between the two except for the live view, and the new one has 11 focus points instead of three on the D60.

The D3000 does use the much better Multi-CAM 1000 AF module with 11 AF points and has a 3" LCD on the back. Those two are pretty significant improvements over the D60. So unless you can find a very good deal on some remaining D60 or you are getting it used, the D3000 is the easy choice. The D3000 also has a built-in beginner tutorial feature (Guide Mode) and auto sensor cleaning.

We Chinese have relatively few last (family) names. Roughly like 10% of the Chinese population has the same last name as mine, and it is also spelled as Chang or Zhang in Romanized Chinese. For example, the retired tennis player Michael Chang has the same family name as mine in Chinese.

Did you know you can download the owner's manual for just about any Nikon camera made in recent years from their support website? If you are seriously comparing these cameras, I recommend you get the manual for both and compare functionality in nitty gritty detail.

More important is when in live view you change exposure or exp comp. you can see in real time the effect on the picture. But i dont know of the D3100 has this possiibility.

Same for D3000, D5000 D90 ....

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