Information at Your Fingertips

Our friend (and frequent TOP contributor) Gordon Lewis, of Shutterfinger fame, has authored, for Canon, a set of carry-along quick reference guides for your camera bag. Gordon refers to them as "cheatsheets" in his write-up about the project at Shutterfinger; Canon calls them "QuickGuides." They're free for download from the Canon Learning Center, and they're formatted so you can print them out, fold them up, and take them with you. If you shoot Canon, check 'em out.

Mike

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Comments

[Christopher Lane]

What I wouldn't give for a Nikon version.

[Mike Johnston]

"What I wouldn't give for a Nikon version."

Hey, suggest it to Nikon! Gordon's available for hire, I'm pretty sure. (Assuming he isn't booked up.)

Or maybe Thom would do something like this.

Mike

[Dave Ralph]

There is for Nikon. In the private market, though. Photobert cheat sheets.

http://www.photocheatsheets.com/?n=11

For the SB flashes, Nikon has a downloadable cheat sheet. (I laminated one at Staples.) I suspect this is because of the infuriating button menus on the SB 800 that can make it nearly impossible to set up if only used occasionally, like myself. Photobert told me he does not address remote set up of flash in his.

http://www.nikonusa.com/Assets/Common-Assets/PDF/FastTrack_To_WirelessSpeedlights.pdf

[Tom Brenholts]

I have the camera shown in the example, the 7D. And it is one fine camera, no doubt about it. It also isn't any fun to use, because I need a cheat sheet to figure out all the various parameters.

How about another photography law: "If a camera needs a cheat sheet, it is getting in between you and your photography."

[Dennis Ng]

Since my first dSLR D70, everything Nikon you can guess without manual. I knew this is not true as the first Nikon book I have is the big cheatsheet by Rob Galbraith "The digital Photojournalist's Guide" 4th Edition which is evolved from an expanded cheat sheet for Nikon D1 series. You do not need any cheat sheet for basic operation about the body.

In fact everything even wireless operation is easy on the body. The only one difficult feature is how to use, say, my Pentax 67 lens on a D300 but even that I figure it out without manual.

But not SB800.

"With the unit on, press and hold SEL for two seconds. The display will change." and "To reset the SB-600 and SB-800 units to normal TTL operation, reverse the steps above or hold ON/OFF and MODE button for two seconds. "

If you are not using this for a while, it really did not occur to you which button to press and for how long. Last time (just a few weeks ago in fact) I have to use my iPhone via 3G to find out the instruction (as usual for Nikon stuff, via Ken Rockwell site :-)).

It is just not natural.

I do not have SB900 but look at the cheat sheet you find out they do not have this press ... for ... second thing.