Lensbaby

I just received my lensbaby composer pro. I shoot with a D7000. I read about non-CPU lenses in the Nikon manual & it says that I should list the focal length and the maximum aperture of up to 9 manual lenses. I looked in "specs" for the composer pro but I don't see this info. Can you tell me, please?
Also - Is this necessary for me to do?
I tried doing the Set-up through the Menu but I find nothing about "shoot without lens" or "shutter lock off" as it says in the demo video.
So is this what I have to do to get the D7000 to operate with the composer pro or am I just totally on the wrong path?
Help! Thanks!

Hi there, I have the D7000 as well , sorry I never heard of this problem. I just put it on the camera and used it ,nothing special and I did not change anything in the menue. Just know with a non-cpu lens your camera meters from the center.Other wise I have never had an issue and I use my composer just about everyday on the 7000 for the last seven months. Hope that helps.

I shoot in Aperture Priority mode and no issues.I have had many camera bodies and many composers on different cameras for the last four years and I have not had any problems or had to set any special settings.Good Luck

My Flickr Page

www.taylorimages.ca



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2012 05:50AM by Lorna Taylor.

Well, I know to meter in the center but it seemed that the shots I took initially, although the meter was in the center, seemed dark so I thought perhaps I should read the instructions.
When I read the manual for non-CPU lenses - that's what it said to do; list the focal length and the max aperture.

Hi Again, Nikon tends to under expose as the camera sensor is calibrated to meter for 18% grey but I know in my use of Nikon that they tend to be a little dark so I usually keep my camera slightly over expose using the EV compensation to plus .03 and on over cast days .07. You really have to watch where the center is taking the meter reading from and try to find on your subject a mid tone to take a reading from. Also in The 7000 it the only metering you can use is center weighted . It won't spot or Matrix meter. Other than that I have not had an issues.Sorry can't be of better help.

I am sure Rich or one of the others will be way more helpful as they are fabulously smart when it comes to the tech side of the camera than I am.

Good luck and I hope you are able to find away to resolve the problem.

My Flickr Page

www.taylorimages.ca



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2012 10:07PM by Lorna Taylor.

That's a huge help thanks. I know the camera is much smarter than me. I just opened the box today on the Lensbaby so it will take me awhile to be comfortable I think. Plus, I do not do photography as a vocation so my shooting is sporadic. I just need to shoot more.
Thanks again for helping! I'm sure I will bug you guys many more times;-)

Deborah actually todays cameras are pretty dumb , they just think they can out smart you & continually try to do so. The LB is not your normal non CPU lens , the meter does not have to allow for closing down during exposure because the aperture remains constant during metering & exposure. So in theory find the right meter compensation , ie. +.7 or what ever and it should remain constant no matter what aperture U R using. I don't use the D7000 but I do use a D1x ,D200 , D300 , D2x, D700 . I don't think the D7000 is much different. Hope this helps. Or try setting you non CPU settings to 50mm f1.2. That should maybe get U Close.:)tony



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2012 08:54PM by TG-J.

Thanks TG-J. I think I told it 50mm and f2.0.
You guys are a lot of help.
I'm grateful for this forum. Thanks.

Thanks Tony , I knew you would know what to do and I even learned something !! ;)

My Flickr Page

www.taylorimages.ca

Hi Everyone,

I have a followup question regarding the D7000 and the Non-CPU-Lens-Setting:

Besides the Composer Pro with the Sweet 35 I own a Walimex Fisheye.

So I have the following two setting sets in my Non-CPU-Lens Data:
Lens number: 1 - Focus length: 8 - Max aperture: 3.5 (for the Walimex)
Lens number: 2 - Focus length: 35 - Max aperture: 2 (for the Lensbaby)

So, when I use the fisheye in aperture priority mode and I change the aperture with the aperture ring on the lens, my D7000 also changes it's aperture value.

When I use the lensbaby on the other hand, the D7000 always shows (and uses) the aperture value which I put in the Non-CPU-Data, regardless of what I set on the Sweet 35. Which is quite annoying because of that aperture mode isn't working correctly (as long as I don't change the value in the settings).

Does anybody here have an idea why that's the case (or even better how to fix that so that the Lensbaby works like my other manual lens)?

thx,
Bapf

Bapf, most lenses have an automatic aperture that is closed down during exposure. That is why U need to program in maximum aperture. Meter readings are taken with the aperture wide open. So if you are taking the shot at f4 & the maximum aperture is f2 the camera knows to adjust the reading it is taking by 2 f stops. This does not happen with the LB , if you are at f8 , the camera is metering through an f 8 aperture , (not f2 then making adjustments). Really the LB settings should be f 0 because the meter doesn't need to make any compensations. So really what you need to do is set the lowest f stop in your menu , then use your exposure compensation to bring it back to 0. After that it should be close no matter what aperture U R using. There will always be discrepancies due to the way a reflective light meter works.
The short answer is . If your other lens has an automatic aperture , the LB doesn't.
Hope this answers your question. Hope it makes sense - (I understand what I'm trying to say).:) tony

yes TG-J, it makes sense ... at least I think so, and the rest will come when I try it out in practice (I hope ;).

thanks for the really quick response!