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Boots

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Hi
I had a D3000 and upgraded to a D500 2yrs ago, which is a great camera but I am finding difficulties getting excited with my photo's. Sounds silly but I have lost interest in taking the camera out with me as what I take isn't a patch on my old camera which I loved, and I find i,m all fingers and thumbs and by the time I,m ready to take the photo I give up. I know it me but I have no love of the camera is this normal or is it me giving up to easily .
 
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I understand this, I think it ultimately comes down to familiarity and muscle memory. All I can suggest is take the D500 out and persevere. In a previous life someone told me "get good with your gun", I believe the same applies to cameras. Hope it works out for you (y)
 
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Being "all fingers and thumbs" - is that loss of confidence or lack of familiarity with the buttons and dials. Is this arising with action shots where there's a need to be able to switch things around quickly or are you having the same issue with static subjects ?

What do you see as the specific shortcomings of the images you get with the D500 ?
 
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Boots said:
Hi
I had a D3000 and upgraded to a D500 2yrs ago, which is a great camera but I am finding difficulties getting excited with my photo's. Sounds silly but I have lost interest in taking the camera out with me as what I take isn't a patch on my old camera which I loved, and I find i,m all fingers and thumbs and by the time I,m ready to take the photo I give up. I know it me but I have no love of the camera is this normal or is it me giving up to easily .
Click to expand...

There is nothing worse than inertia. Something like losing the love for the camera is caused by a lack of familiarity - which has a root cause of not shooting enough.

There are lots of ways to approach the issue. Certainly you need to get back to basics and photograph enough to become familiar with settings and controls. Settings and controls need to become second nature. But the other part of this is you need to decide what works for you in terms of photographic inspiration. Some people like to test, tinker, and prove things work for themselves. Others benefit from just a good walk in a natural environment with or without a camera. And others use a project to provide focus on photography with a photo a day, a book, documenting a location, or some other personal project.

The nice thing about digital photography is the only cost is your time. You can go out with your camera and a single lens, take a card full of photos, and then delete them all. That's practice. It builds muscle memory and helps to become familiar with your camera.

In classes, one strategy is to go to a single place with one lens, and try to make three or five good photos. One or two are usually obvious, but getting five different, good photos can stretch you a bit. Another class drill is to switch your camera to the Monochrome picture control, and practice shooting black and white in the camera. I'd normally shoot RAW so I can process a good image normally, but you could shoot RAW + JPEG.

The D500 is a terrific camera. The problem is not the camera.
 
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Great advice above, I'd recommend simplifying your setup and field workflow and just getting out and shooting with the D500 until it feels natural. You don't have to use all the bells and whistles, just set it up as close to what you used before and get some field time.

Are there specific setup or use issues with the D500 that are giving you trouble? Folks here can probably walk you through those as many of us shoot or have shot the D500. Is it something about the resulting images that leave you underwhelmed? That could be a set up issue that again folks here could help with.

Or are you just in a bit of a lull concerning photography and your previous favorite subject matter? I've shot some kind of camera since I was a kid but I've gone through lulls or phases where life and other things drew my attention away from photography for a while and my cameras sat on the shelf for far too long. Sometimes a new shooting project or revisiting an old favorite location can get you excited again.

I'd set myself some short term goals with the new camera and some mini photo projects to get out and try and if there are specific things that make the new camera tough to use then post questions here as folks can likely walk you through those difficulties. But in the end if the camera just isn't right for you then perhaps sell it and pick up something that's more to your liking.
 
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Boots said:
Hi
I had a D3000 and upgraded to a D500 2yrs ago, which is a great camera but I am finding difficulties getting excited with my photo's. Sounds silly but I have lost interest in taking the camera out with me as what I take isn't a patch on my old camera which I loved, and I find i,m all fingers and thumbs and by the time I,m ready to take the photo I give up. I know it me but I have no love of the camera is this normal or is it me giving up to easily .
Click to expand...
Do you do any post processing of your images? Do you shoot RAW or Jpeg? Or both?
 
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Each new body take a bit of time for me to dial in. And most of that is not settings. There are light conditions when some things aren't great, focus scenarios etc. I didn't like my D500 for the first shoot or two. Now it is a solid tool, but I also know when not to use it.
 
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Thank,s everyone I think I have been to concerned comparing and need to start afresh. You have given me renewed confidence and great advice to keep trying.
I don,t have trouble with the aperture and shutter speed by them selves but I struggle when I use manual putting them together I now think I should just use one or the other for now. and stick to the basic till I feel happier with the camera.
I don,t have any post processing to use is there any recommendations? :) ups! found discussion about this on forum.
 
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The best thing about digital there is always a reset & delete button.
Just enjoy, wrong settings can sometimes create some amazing images.
You will be amazed at what you can achieve Boots.
 
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Boots said:
Thank,s everyone I think I have been to concerned comparing and need to start afresh. You have given me renewed confidence and great advice to keep trying.
I don,t have trouble with the aperture and shutter speed by them selves but I struggle when I use manual putting them together I now think I should just use one or the other for now. and stick to the basic till I feel happier with the camera.
I don,t have any post processing to use is there any recommendations? :) ups! found discussion about this on forum.
Click to expand...

That would mean using AP or SP mode which might just e the thing to ease you into things again. Good luck.
 
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Don't give up so easily please. Please follow the simple 3P principle. Practice, Patience & Perseverance. I am certain you shall regain your confidence once again soon.
 
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Boots said:
Hi
I had a D3000 and upgraded to a D500 2yrs ago, which is a great camera but I am finding difficulties getting excited with my photo's. Sounds silly but I have lost interest in taking the camera out with me as what I take isn't a patch on my old camera which I loved, and I find i,m all fingers and thumbs and by the time I,m ready to take the photo I give up. I know it me but I have no love of the camera is this normal or is it me giving up to easily .
Click to expand...

You have gone from an entry level camera to a pro spec camera with so much more capability, and to go with that, more things to get your head round. Maybe this was too big a jump and the D5xxx series would have been a better upgrade. If you have difficulty using your camera, you won't use it - simple as, and that's what I tell people who ask me what camera to buy. I tell them to get their hands on several brands and see how the settings are accessed and changed - even if they don't know what they do, how the menus are laid our and if the controls are nicely placed when they hold it. One brand will click with them and that is the one to get. I'm not suggesting that this all applies to you. Having a Nikon already will give you some familiarity but the D500 does not have any help modes (AFAIK) or other aids. Sounds to me like you are not confident in having to make more choices/decisions in the camera set up and settings.
 
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