Review of Nikon School's "Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting" Pt. II

[nmerrick]

Thank you for the encouraging responses to the first part of this review. I have now added part II to the blog.

You can find the article here, or by visiting:

Review: Nikon School Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting (II) | Zenologue

Many thanks for reading. As usual, all comments and suggestions are welcome.

Nigel

 

[JerryPH]

The 1st DVD is very basic and I feel tries too explain too much equipment instead of relaying info in such a manner that it is less confusing and more effective for the newbie CLS user. In this sense, it needs to get even MORE basic and explain some of the differences between A mode, TTL, manual modes and what they do.

In the second DVD, it shows a lot of really good ideas on how to diffuse light and some very nice pics, but the last shot looks more like a way to show off than be of any real help to the typical CLS user. After all... how many of us here even own 12 speedlights? It would have been more useful to the beginner, whom this DVD set is supposed to be geared for, to show more imaginative and different ways to use CLS with 1-3 off camera speedlight situations.

I'm not saying that they did not do this to some extent, but if one removed the fluff and added more "meat" for the beginner, it would have had greater value to them. How to use CLS in full manual mode, is a big item missing, IMHO.

I'd give it a 6.5 or 7 out of a possible 10, even though I am a HUGE Joe McNally fan.

Edit: I see you found out that this DVD is not available anywhere but the USA. When I bought my set, I had to ship to a US address, else they would not even deliver to Canada. Europe, one could understand, as they have the PAL system... but Canada? Hopefully that has changed.

 

[SlimPaul]

What bothers me, is that Nikon is trying to persuade people to buy their expensive lighting systems. Why do I need to buy 4 $300 speedlights? Most people can't afford that. They should make a video on using the existing light sources like the sun.

 

[JerryPH]

On this I disagree.

This is not a "how to shoot in the sun with any camera" DVD, but an attempt to focus on the benefits of the proprietary Nikon CLS system... something that no other manufacturer has at this level of proficiency.

If you were looking for a "how to use existing light" DVD, there are THOUSANDS of books, blogs, internet articles and DVDs on this, and the Nikon DVDs are not the product that you are looking for.

BTW, Nikon is not looking to sell you anythng. CLS comes FOR FREE in many of their dSLR cameras from the D40 up to the D3. Yes it works only with Nikon specific speedlights, but if you are going to buy speedlights and are a Nikon user, you have the choice of using CLS or not... no one is forcing anything.

I use both CLS and non-CLS methods. It's all about having as many tools and options to have the freedom to decide what you want to do and how.

 

[jlykins]

The 1st DVD is very basic and I feel tries too explain too much equipment instead of relaying info in such a manner that it is less confusing and more effective for the newbie CLS user. In this sense, it needs to get even MORE basic and explain some of the differences between A mode, TTL, manual modes and what they do.

In the second DVD, it shows a lot of really good ideas on how to diffuse light and some very nice pics, but the last shot looks more like a way to show off than be of any real help to the typical CLS user. After all... how many of us here even own 12 speedlights? It would have been more useful to the beginner, whom this DVD set is supposed to be geared for, to show more imaginative and different ways to use CLS with 1-3 off camera speedlight situations.

I'm not saying that they did not do this to some extent, but if one removed the fluff and added more "meat" for the beginner, it would have had greater value to them. How to use CLS in full manual mode, is a big item missing, IMHO.

I'd give it a 6.5 or 7 out of a possible 10, even though I am a HUGE Joe McNally fan.

Edit: I see you found out that this DVD is not available anywhere but the USA. When I bought my set, I had to ship to a US address, else they would not even deliver to Canada. Europe, one could understand, as they have the PAL system... but Canada? Hopefully that has changed.

Wait wait wait, you mean everyone doesn't have 12 speed lights? I thought that i was just getting the essentials when I got my 12th the other day....

 

[JerryPH]

Wait wait wait, you mean everyone doesn't have 12 speed lights? I thought that i was just getting the essentials when I got my 12th the other day....

Uh oh... that means I am not ready either. I am 9 Nikon speedlights down from having "the bare minimum"... lol

 

[Aggressor]

On this I disagree.
BTW, Nikon is not looking to sell you anythng. CLS comes FOR FREE in many of their dSLR cameras from the D40 up to the D3.

Just a minor caveat to this statement. The D40/D40x/D50/D60 does not natively support CLS. It must do this with a commander flash (SB800/SU800).