Travel Photography - pocket-sized reference card for Nikon D300?

Does anyone know if anyone has put together a pocket-sized reference card for the Nikon D300? Something like, if you're shooting in X conditions, these are the settings you might want to consider adjusting and how... I'm not talking about the obvious stuff like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, but things like D-lighting, metering modes, and exposure compensation. When I say "conditions", I'm thinking things like high-contrast vs. low contrast or outdoor with shadowed vs. unshadowed subjects, not just things like "flash" or "action".

As I've mentioned in other threads, I lost my D200, and in getting the D300 as a replacement, I have come to realize just how much of the camera's capabilities I wasn't taking advantage of. Now I'm somewhat overwhelmed. I got Thom Hogan's guide, which I really am enjoying, but I need something more compact to carry around. If worse comes to worst, I'll probably just write the card myself; but if someone has already done it, I can save myself the effort.

In the short time I've had the new camera, I've been completely thrilled with the results, both for shooting people and landscapes. The quality has been miles better than my D200, but I'm not sure how much of it is the camera, how much is the new glass (adding the 50mm f/1.4 portrait lens), or how much has been understanding the camera settings better. (I was shooting with the 18-200mm VR kit zoom in program mode mostly with the D200).

Does anyone know if anyone has put together a pocket-sized reference card for the Nikon D300? Something like, if you're shooting in X conditions, these are the settings you might want to consider adjusting and how... I'm not talking about the obvious stuff like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, but things like D-lighting, metering modes, and exposure compensation. When I say "conditions", I'm thinking things like high-contrast vs. low contrast or outdoor with shadowed vs. unshadowed subjects, not just things like "flash" or "action".

As I've mentioned in other threads, I lost my D200, and in getting the D300 as a replacement, I have come to realize just how much of the camera's capabilities I wasn't taking advantage of. Now I'm somewhat overwhelmed. I got Thom Hogan's guide, which I really am enjoying, but I need something more compact to carry around. If worse comes to worst, I'll probably just write the card myself; but if someone has already done it, I can save myself the effort.

In the short time I've had the new camera, I've been completely thrilled with the results, both for shooting people and landscapes. The quality has been miles better than my D200, but I'm not sure how much of it is the camera, how much is the new glass (adding the 50mm f/1.4 portrait lens), or how much has been understanding the camera settings better. (I was shooting with the 18-200mm VR kit zoom in program mode mostly with the D200).

I am not aware of such a product, but you can create your system using Nikon's Custom Settings Menu Banks (A-D; you rename them) which can store different presets for different conditions. Shooting Menus can also be used for slightly different settings, although that system is not nearly as robust.

It is fairly simple to create presets like Indoor, Outdoor, Sports, and Low Light using the Custom Settings Menus and then add tweaks with the Shooting menus, creating in effect 16 different presets.


For a fairly good explanation of the Custom Settings Menus and Shooting Menus, see:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d300/users-guide/menus-custom.htm
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d300/users-guide/menus-shooting.htm

(I don't have Thom Hogan's book yet but it probably also has explanations for these).

You can also use the Function button to give you some instant options. For instance, I have assigned spot metering to it so I can quickly check the metering for the focus spot and then decided whether to use matrix or spot.

Cheers,
T.

The Magic Lantern Guides (http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Lantern-Guides-Nikon-D300/dp/1600593054/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248361339&sr=8-7) to cameras include a pocket reference card.

these have been pretty handy...maybe not exactly what you're asking about but close.


www.photocheatsheets.com

Wirelessly posted (Nokia N97 / Palm TX: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D050; Blazer/4.3) 16;320x448)

these have been pretty handy...maybe not exactly what you're asking about but close.


www.photocheatsheets.com

Great tip....