What button on your D-SLR do you use the least?

Golf007sdGolf007sd Posts: 2,840Moderator
edited June 2013 in General Discussions
So the other day I was over looking all the buttons on my DSLR and I realized I don't use this at all...wish I could change it.

What button you ask? Answer: QUAL.

So my question to you is: What button is it for you.

Thanks for your input....cheers.
Post edited by Golf007sd on
D4 & D7000 | Nikon Holy Trinity Set + 105 2.8 Mico + 200 F2 VR II | 300 2.8G VR II, 10.5 Fish-eye, 24 & 50 1.4G, 35 & 85 1.8G, 18-200 3.5-5.6 VR I SB-400 & 700 | TC 1.4E III, 1.7 & 2.0E III, 1.7 | Sigma 35 & 50 1.4 DG HSM | RRS Ballhead & Tripods Gear | Gitzo Monopod | Lowepro Gear | HDR via Promote Control System |
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Comments

  • IronheartIronheart Posts: 3,017Moderator
    The off button, I like to be ready at any time ;-)
    Seriously I don't think I've ever pushed the trashcan button. I don't believe in deleting photos. Cards are cheap, and it's way safer to format a card than delete individual pics.
  • PB_PMPB_PM Posts: 4,494Member
    edited June 2013
    The flash exposure compensation button. I set flash power manually, so it is useless to me. The QUAL button would be runner up. :D
    Post edited by PB_PM on
    If I take a good photo it's not my camera's fault.
  • DXV_PhotoDXV_Photo Posts: 160Member
    My vote would be for the focus selector lock. While technically this is a switch more then a button I have never used this. At least with the QUAL button I have used it as least once but it would get my next vote. Third place would go to the video record button. I rarely take videos.
  • spraynprayspraynpray Posts: 6,545Moderator
    I struggle with the option of naming just one button. I said this a year or so ago on here, I think all the buttons should be programmable with 'snap-in' labels that are illuminated from the rear.

    Maybe the Nikon Grip should have another programmable button or two on it for the price too...
    Always learning.
  • Golf007sdGolf007sd Posts: 2,840Moderator
    @PB_PM & DXV_Photo. LMFAO you both picked the 2nd & 3rd button I have...mayyybeeee used once in the past 3 years.
    D4 & D7000 | Nikon Holy Trinity Set + 105 2.8 Mico + 200 F2 VR II | 300 2.8G VR II, 10.5 Fish-eye, 24 & 50 1.4G, 35 & 85 1.8G, 18-200 3.5-5.6 VR I SB-400 & 700 | TC 1.4E III, 1.7 & 2.0E III, 1.7 | Sigma 35 & 50 1.4 DG HSM | RRS Ballhead & Tripods Gear | Gitzo Monopod | Lowepro Gear | HDR via Promote Control System |
  • MsmotoMsmoto Posts: 5,398Moderator
    The red one for record....but I think it got hit by accident....once....
    Msmoto, mod
  • JJ_SOJJ_SO Posts: 1,158Member
    My favorite button to leave alone is also BKT. Shooting Raw, there's not much of a point for me. The key/? button is also nearly mint and the ISO I set via rear dial. The lock-ring for focus points is another candidate I would not miss- I'd also accept a missing AE-lock, if in exchange the exposure meter mode would be easier to use - normally I set the shutter button to AE-lock, if needed.

    Thanks for not asking which parts of the menu won't be missed. But I know, each of this buttons and menu points gas a reason. Some just not recognizable.
  • NSXTypeRNSXTypeR Posts: 2,286Member
    I don't really use my function buttons. I have mine set to level and change gridlines.

    But that's mostly because I can set all my other settings with a button push and a turn of one of the dials.

    I love the D7000!
    Nikon D7000/ Nikon D40/ Nikon FM2/ 18-135 AF-S/ 35mm 1.8 AF-S/ 105mm Macro AF-S/ 50mm 1.2 AI-S
  • PhotobugPhotobug Posts: 5,751Member
    The QUAL button is my least used button on my D300. Understand why its no longer a button on the D7100.
    D750 & D7100 | 24-70 F2.8 G AF-S ED, 70-200 F2.8 AF VR, TC-14E III, TC-1.7EII, 35 F2 AF D, 50mm F1.8G, 105mm G AF-S VR | Backup & Wife's Gear: D5500 & Sony HX50V | 18-140 AF-S ED VR DX, 55-300 AF-S G VR DX |
    |SB-800, Amaran Halo LED Ring light | MB-D16 grip| Gitzo GT3541 + RRS BH-55LR, Gitzo GM2942 + Sirui L-10 | RRS gear | Lowepro, ThinkTank, & Hoodman gear | BosStrap | Vello Freewave Plus wireless Remote, Leica Lens Cleaning Cloth |
  • Golf007sdGolf007sd Posts: 2,840Moderator
    @Photobug: Ohh but it is...it is the + (zoom) button on the left side you use when you are enlarge a photo on the LCD display.
    D4 & D7000 | Nikon Holy Trinity Set + 105 2.8 Mico + 200 F2 VR II | 300 2.8G VR II, 10.5 Fish-eye, 24 & 50 1.4G, 35 & 85 1.8G, 18-200 3.5-5.6 VR I SB-400 & 700 | TC 1.4E III, 1.7 & 2.0E III, 1.7 | Sigma 35 & 50 1.4 DG HSM | RRS Ballhead & Tripods Gear | Gitzo Monopod | Lowepro Gear | HDR via Promote Control System |
  • kyoshinikonkyoshinikon Posts: 411Member
    I never use the bracket button on any of my cameras...
    “To photograph is to hold one’s breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It’s at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.” - Bresson
  • sevencrossingsevencrossing Posts: 2,800Member
    I never use the QUAL or the WB buttons; wish they could be assigned to focus
  • KnockKnockKnockKnock Posts: 398Member
    Well, on a D60 there aren't a whole lot of options, but I use the Active D-Lighting, rarely. And less often, Bracketing which is also the Flash mode button. Training myself to use both would probably help my photography though.
    D7100, D60, 35mm f/1.8 DX, 50mm f/1.4, 18-105mm DX, 18-55mm VR II, Sony RX-100 ii
  • Benji2505Benji2505 Posts: 522Member
    The movie recording button, same answer as MsMoto. I wouldn't even know how to pp the movie.
  • JuergenJuergen Posts: 315Member
    The Qual Button is definately not the least used one on my D4.
    When doing landscapes, I most of the times also do one in-camera HDR shot of a scene. In order to enable this function, I have to switch from RAW to JPG.
    The least used button for me is probably the WB.
    Jürgen
    D4, D800E, Nikon 1 J2, 600 f/4, trinity, PC-E 45, PC-E 24, 105, 50 f/1,8g, 85 f/1,4, Sigma 150-500
  • spraynprayspraynpray Posts: 6,545Moderator
    So from the diversity of replies, if all buttons could be programmable and 'label-able', we would all be happy.

    Either that or if the cameras had less buttons and the buttons there were more ideally placed?

    On my D7K without grip I sometimes hit the quality button when I am after the ISO. Maybe a grip will sort that
    Always learning.
  • JJ_SOJJ_SO Posts: 1,158Member
    In my experience it will not :( I do have a grip for each body. but the buttons stay confusing. Probably it woul help me more, if those buttons had different designs/shapes. If it's dark I count them, so it's already without visibility.

    Can't imagine they could do exchangeable labels and get the buttons still sort of "weatherproof", but that means nothing, I couldn't imagine a lot of things and am sometimes surprised that somebody tried and succeeded.
  • spraynprayspraynpray Posts: 6,545Moderator
    Don't imagine a hole through the body, imagine a clear window that effects the necessary seal but lets light through from a central LED in a fibre-optic way. The lables could snap into the recesses, or the lable could be the button itself which is movable to other positions.

    I meant the grip will cure the problem with my pinkie slipping under not making the buttons less confusing. I chopped the whole end of my left thumb off years ago and although the hospital did a great job with it, the skin is harder and less sensitive so I struggle to feel the QUAL and ISO buttons. Maybe a small silicone 'pip' on the ISO will help....
    Always learning.
  • JJ_SOJJ_SO Posts: 1,158Member
    edited June 2013
    I'd preferably imagine a touch screen instead of all (no, most of) the buttons. :) Some of them are needed when focussing and when the eye's looking through the finder, I don't doubt that. DOF, Exposure and focus/focuspoints. Two or three function buttons more could do the virtual horizon and a fast switch of focus and exposure modes.

    But when in LiveView, Setup, or playback mode: who needs buttons, if there's a decent touchscreen and a clever thought and designed menu? I don't accept today's standard button layout of Nikon as state of the art. Especially because so much of us would not miss some buttons, so why bother?
    Post edited by JJ_SO on
  • spraynprayspraynpray Posts: 6,545Moderator
    How old are you JJ? When you get older your skin dries out and these whoopeedoo touch screens come to be as much use as a chocolate coffee pot. My new Samsung android phone ignores my touch when my skin is really dry.

    Give me tactile buttons any day.
    Always learning.
  • JJ_SOJJ_SO Posts: 1,158Member
    edited June 2013
    Oh, I don't make bad experiences.

    With iPad and iPods :-\"

    And I'm half a century ("average photoclub age", © @Ton) and also realizing my fingers are sometimes so dry things keep on slipping off them.

    But you have a point: Since Nikon is cuddling with Android, there's hardly a chance we got iPhone screens behind our cams /:)
    Post edited by JJ_SO on
  • MsmotoMsmoto Posts: 5,398Moderator
    Let's not get into the age thing.....LOL...over half a century ago I was in photo school....

    I use all the buttons on my camera...some on purpose and some accidentally....more LOL... :))
    Msmoto, mod
  • catfish252catfish252 Posts: 30Member
    I very seldom use the DOF Preview button, when I have it gets so dark that I can't really distinguish much through the viewfinder. It doesn't seem to be limited to the smaller apertures, reckon I could have a menu option problem?
    Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter. Ansel Adams
  • NSXTypeRNSXTypeR Posts: 2,286Member
    edited June 2013
    Actually, I forgot about the AE-L button. I know you can set it to lock exposure and focus or either one independently, but I've never had to use such a feature.

    I wish you could set it to something else, especially on a D40 style camera because buttons already are at a premium. Also, I never recompose and shoot again.

    If I'm going to move my focus that way I usually manually focus if at all. It's more reliable than trusting the lock function.

    DOF preview is also something I don't use. If anything it's pretty redundant because digital is so cheap it is easier to shoot at multiple apertures than to use DOF preview. But then again, I have a feeling it's because it's something held over from the film era. I also didn't have that feature with the D40 and so I never got used to using it.

    Is Active D Lighting really a button on the D60 or is it a feature?

    The flash button I used to use quite a bit but after the switch to the D7000 I just bump ISO. I used to use it to change flash compensation all the time and I still use it for macros.
    Post edited by NSXTypeR on
    Nikon D7000/ Nikon D40/ Nikon FM2/ 18-135 AF-S/ 35mm 1.8 AF-S/ 105mm Macro AF-S/ 50mm 1.2 AI-S
  • sidewayssideways Posts: 54Member
    WB is most redundant as I almost always shoot RAW. When I do need to change it the menu is fast enough.
    I never use the DOF preview as it's more useful to reprogram that button on the D800. I use it to turn the viewfinder levels on and off instead. QUAL is also unnecessary. I do select basic jpeg for snapping some situations at work that will only ever be embedded in a document or powerpoint presentation, but again this can be done quickly enough through the menus for my purposes.
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