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Camera Guides
Nikon CoolPix950 Instructions for OneShot360™
Recommended Camera Settings for OneShot360
- When turning the CoolPix950 on, put it in M-Rec mode by turning the power dial two clicks over from the OFF position.
- Set the Image Quality to Full-Fine by holding down the “QUAL” button and rotating the command dial until you see it change from “XGA FINE” to “FINE”. This is the Full-Fine setting.
- Use the Zoom to exactly fill the digital camera LCD viewer screen with the circular image. If you zoom in too much, you will lose part of the field of view. If you zoom in too little, you will not get maximum resolution. Note also that the OneShot image may not be exactly centered in the LCD screen – this is normal.
Disable the flash by pressing the button located to the right of the small LCD screen until the “flash-disabled” icon appears in the display.
- Manually set the Focus by holding the “M-focus” button and dialing in a distance with the command dial. A distance of 5ft is recommended for most shots with the Nikon 950.
- Note: The button for placing the camera in manual focus mode is the same as that for setting the timer. If you want to use both the timer and a manual focus setting, you must enable the timer first by pressing the “m-focus” button until you see the timer icon in the LCD, then hold the button down and dial in the focus distance. Pressing the “M-focus” button again will set camera
back to auto focus mode.
- Set the camera to aperture priority (“A”) mode. This is done by holding down the "MODE" button and rotating the command dial until the letter "A" appears in the lower left hand corner of the LCD screen.
- Now select an aperture value, which is displayed in the lower middle portion of the color LCD. Rotate the command dial to select the aperture. We recommend using an aperture setting of f7.0.
Take care to watch the shutter speed when in aperture priority mode. If the light level is low, you will need a tripod when the shutter speed is slower than 1/125sec. The shutter speed is displayed on the bottom of the LCD panel between the “A” mode and the “F7.0” display.
By pressing the "MENU" button just above the color LCD screen, you will have access to a list of additional camera settings. Scroll through the menu using the zoom controls and make your selection for the following:
- Set the white balance. Automatic setting is usually adequate.
- Set the Metering to Matrix Metering, this gives the best results for OneShot360 images.
Recommended Camera Settings for OneShot360Plus
Because the Oneshot360Plus uses 4 images, it is best to make sure that all 4 images have the same exposure. This will ensure the end result will have a continuous tone and density throughout the image. The best way to do this is to use the Exposure Lock option in the camera. To do this, use all of the above settings, then the following:
- Press the menu button to display the shooting options, and press it again to get to page two of the options. The third menu down on page two is EXP. Select this by navigating with the zoom buttons and select ON under AE Lock. Press the menu button again to complete the selection. You will know the exposure lock is working by the WB-L AE-L display on the LCD.
- After checking the camera settings for Oneshot360, take the first image of the series. Exposure and white balance settings are fixed at the values used in the first image after the AE-Lock has been selected.
- Continue to take the next three images to finish the 360x360 image.
Before beginning the next 360x360 shot, you should return to the AE-Lock menu and select RESET. This will start a new exposure lock for the current lighting conditions.
- You can turn the lock function off to allow the camera to set exposure and white balance separately by going back to the same menu and selecting OFF from the AE-Lock menu.
Optional Menu Settings
By pressing the "MENU" button just above the color LCD screen, you will have access to a few more settings you may find useful. While in these menus, use the zoom buttons to scroll up and down and to make your selections:
- Under the "SET UP" sub-menu, you may want to change the "AUTO OFF" setting to a longer time period such as 5 minutes. Although this feature helps to save battery life, the default value (30 seconds) may not be enough time to set up for a OneShot360 image, at least until you are more familiar with the process.
- Also under the "SET UP" sub-menu, there is an option called "CONTROLS" which leads to another sub-menu. You may want to check the first three options in this sub-menu. This will maintain the flash setting, and the mode (aperture priority or manual) and focus settings even if you turn the camera on and off between shots. However, you will still have to place the camera in manual
focus mode every time you want to use the timer for a shot (because the timer switches off after every shot, and pressing the timer/M-focus button to re-enable the timer switches the camera back in to auto-focus mode).
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