No reply from the OP so maybe he found an error in his settings.

Surely a two button salute is the first thing you would try...

I have been working with my D800E all evening in manual mode. I have been chimping for fine focus with a manual lens. All bracketing is off. I haven't had a problem. I do have Auto Bracketing set to AE.

I had the same problem...went into my bracketing/flash menu and made some adjustments and changed the Auto Bracketing Set to AE and made a few minor setting changes within the Bracketing/Flash (I don't remember what they were now...but could list my settings if you are interested)...anyways...it's no longer adjusting the shutter speed! Finally!!!!

does sound like a firmware update may be needed, i would speak to nikon Tech support, id chaeck my camera but mine is in nikon HQ having the focus fixed and while its there ive asked they clean up the oil splatters that have popped back up after i last cleaned it lol oh the joys hahaha

Has anybody spoken to Nikon? Sounds like a firmware update will fix it.

I had this issue as well this past weekend. I had it in manual mode, verified bkt was turned off and my shutter speed would be set at 1/250 and it would adjust any where from 1/60 to 1/1000. Once I noticed the problem I would watch inside the view window after each click and it would adjust on it's own. Even when I hadn't viewed in on the lcd screen and removed the grip (so not as to have those buttons or dials as a variable). I was hoping someone had heard what else might have caused the issue... I will keep watching posts

Hello! I bought my camera in London, but actually I live in Brazil. I`m facing exactly the same problem... Today was my first test with the camera in a studio and after each shoot the shutter speed changed to 60 or 4000 instead of staying on 125.
I`m 100% sure that everything was on manual mode, plus, I was photographing with other 2 pro photographers...

The possibility that came in to my head, and I say just possibility, is that the act of chimping is the cause? We all know that the command dial can be set to do different things whilst in shooting mode (rear screen off) and while reviewing an image. Seems to me that what is needed (if it hasn't been done already) is to reproduce the phenomenon and systematically go through the various actions that took place before the change, and eliminate them one at a time. Alternatively in an ideal world you'd have access to another D800 without these problems and compare settings. Hey, now there's an idea........save your settings to the memory card, do a factory restore and see if the problem still occurs. If it doesn't, the fault lies somewhere in your saved settings.

Well, I'm not an expert or a pro, but I was the one that mentioned the BKT, simply because if I remember correctly the OP said it was changing 1 stop in either direction. I think he was shooting at 1/160th and it kept changing to 1/80 and 1/320th... It just seemed like having the BKT button on the top dial it might be easy to hit. I wonder if the OP ever figured it out?

luke james href="http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=6800#post-102962">said:
Maybe it being in BKT mode is the problem though ?

I think you may have hit the nail on the proverbial head
I have been shooting for 50+ years and still make this mistake

Hey mate, I've also had this issue. I first noticed it when I was shooting some pano's the other week. With Panorama's you want the frames you stitch together all to have the same shutter and aperture so you shoot in Manual mode and fire off how ever many frames you need.

BUT I noticed the shutter was changing after each frame and I had manually had to set it back to the desired shutter. I was very confused as why should we have to manually dial in our settings on MANUAL mode ?! I've seen that you got involved with a thread on this on "The Photo Forum" but the guys trying to solve the issue didn't seem to take it seriously. Maybe it being in BKT mode is the problem though ? but I'm not sure... My thought was that there might be some setting with metering that is changing the shutter but I am not a pro such as yourself. It must be something we missed because a DSLR that is changing in Manual mode is a problem, a big one !

Hi guys, quick question. I've been a pro shooter for 20 years, just as background. I did my first corporate job with my d800 today. I shot with d3s and d700 prior and still. Did a series of lit portraits on location with camera settings on manual and found that my shutter speed would change on me for the slightest reason. After missing a few shots and paying closer attention, it appears to happen when I chimp (zoom in to the screen to make sure someones eyes are open or there are no shiny spots on the forehead etc.) apparently using the controls to zoom and scroll through the screen changes my shutter speed and I have to manual change it back every time before shooting again. This is repeatable and does not happen on any of my other cameras. Anyone else experienced this?

please repost in this thread: http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=4860&page=13

Got the box last week during the middle of several shoots and wanted to see how the D800 performed in my studio using a 1980s vintage Chimera softbox, SB-900 and PocketWizard to trigger a full power dump.

I'm using my 1990s 85mm PC Micro-Nikkor lens which doesn't communicate well with any of my bodies--Even at f/2.8 it says it's f/51 and varies widely as I turn the aperture dial.

To tweak the tilt of the lens to cover the angle of the silver bucket, I'm using Liveview to zoom in to adjust the focus planes. So far, easier to use the LV than the D300s, D700 and the D3/D3s. A simple push of the button gets me in and out, thus the camera is

I'm using the D800 at 1.2x just to get me a little more room and running the lens about f/18 and ISO 400.

The camera has been set to my preferred settings including 12-bit, compressed raw, auto-balance, etc., similar to the rest of my bodies. Since the photos were also taken with my D3s, this was simply to see how the the D800 would work out in a similar situation. I have not looked at images from both the D3s and D800 side-by-side.

Looking at the embeded images in Photo Mechanic, I can see no issues due to focus and very little diffraction issues. They look sharp! Looking at the ACR 6.7 post-processed image at 100%, all 6144x4080 pixels, I see detail I can only view with a loupe!

First impressions is that with good lenses and good technique, this camera is a winner! Wish I could share the photo, but I don't like to show commissioned work until my client has had a chance to review and choose what he needs! You'll just need to trust me until I've had a chance to shoot my own work which happens when all the paying work is completed...

you did a great job of retouching those! i wouldn't have wanted to take on all of that water.

I can see you wanted a underexposed background and a well let contrasty foreground. I love that style of image as well.

as a thought. if you are on location you might want to try this;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP6a47BQA70

you could have someone on the boat and another boat alongside for sidelight.

you do great work!

wow!!
Thats amazing i do some wakeboard photography myself and i have had an awesome idea now!

Thanks!

i liked the photographers when i first saw them(i go to fstoppers daily)
Please post more stuff in the future!

patrickhall said:
JorPet, it's actually much harder than you would think to get the perfect shot. Not only do you not have time to make subtle changes in the light but you also have to get the prefect moment for the splashes. It actually takes a lot more energy to hold these poses than it does to do the trick behind a boat because you might be suspended for 4-5 mins each turn. It would be fun to do this again outside and over power the sun in a real environment but when I did this it was already getting cold outside.

Totally understand how hard it is, especially for the athletes. You can see them shaking in some of those poses trying to keep it. I've taught skiing for over 30 years, so understand very well that dynamic movements are easier to do than to hold a static position for any length of time.

My son's comment was that you should do this whole thing over an infinity pool, that would actually look pretty cool. It would also look like the "real" environment to a degree.

I was going to ask the temp of the water you were using, Patrick. After about the 20th splash I think I'd be asking for a space heater.

JorPet, it's actually much harder than you would think to get the perfect shot. Not only do you not have time to make subtle changes in the light but you also have to get the prefect moment for the splashes. It actually takes a lot more energy to hold these poses than it does to do the trick behind a boat because you might be suspended for 4-5 mins each turn. It would be fun to do this again outside and over power the sun in a real environment but when I did this it was already getting cold outside.

Simply amazing. Those photos are spectacular.

Whether used for product shots or athlete bio type pics, there is most definitely a place for this type of photo. Would love to be able to just sit and watch a group like this set up the shots and work through the entire shoot.

Patrick:
Its your art. Dont worry about it. If we all listened to all the bad advise we get then no one would get anywhere. Great shot by the way.
~Cheers

Hi Patrick,

Very nice pictures!

As to the criticism I saw that was negative, well, it was from anonymous sources - the same as you find on graffiti on rest room walls and ransom notes; how can you put much stock in it?

My best to you,

Mike

Great work as usual, Patrick. They're just jealous, probably.

I don't see what the problem is here, honestly. First of all, nobody can fault the technical quality of the images, which are very well done. Second, as you point out, these kinds of shots are done for other sports all the time; it's not as though you're wandering into unknown territory. Third, and perhaps most importantly, you're not representing this as anything other than a studio shoot.

I remember a recent discussion on this forum about shooting "canned" wildlife versus photographing it on the hoof (nature preserve or zoo versus forest, for instance), and the general consensus seemed to be that it wasn't a sin to get shots of, say, captive wombats, as long as you didn't pass those shots off as something you'd traveled to Kenya to get. Had you used a green screen with the same shots to make it look as though you'd shot them on the water, then yes, I could see people being up in arms, but as it stands, you've nothing to be ashamed of. It's your critics who could stand to have their horizons broadened.