Nikon manual Nikon D7000 Thinking Outside of the Box

Chapter 1 ■ Nikon D7000: Thinking Outside of the Box 9

■USB cable UC-E4.You can use this cable to transfer photos from the camera to your computer (I don’t recommend that because direct transfer uses a lot of battery power), to upload and download settings between the camera and your computer (highly recommended), and to operate your camera remotely using Nikon Camera Control Pro software (not included in the box). This cable is a standard one that works with the majority of digital cameras—Nikon and otherwise—so if you already own one, you now have a spare.

■AN-DC1 neck strap. Nikon provides you with a neck strap emblazoned with your camera model. It’s not very adjustable, and, while useful for showing off to your friends exactly which nifty new camera you bought, the Nikon strap also can serve to alert observant unsavory types that you’re sporting a higher-end model that’s worthy of their attention. I never attach the Nikon strap to my cameras (although once I put a D3x strap on a Nikon D40 as a jest), and instead opt for a more serviceable strap from Op-Tech (www.optechusa.com) or, best of all, an UPstrap (www.upstrap-pro.com). An UPstrap is shown in Figure 1.1, with its patented non- slip pad that keeps your D7000 on your shoulder, and not crashing to the ground. If you order one of these, tell inventor-photographer Al Stegmeyer that I sent you.

■BF-1B body cap. The body cap keeps dust from infiltrating your camera when a lens is not mounted. Always carry a body cap (and rear lens cap) in your camera bag for those times when you need to have the camera bare of optics for more than a minute or two. (That usually happens when repacking a bag efficiently for trans- port, or when you are carrying an extra body or two for backup.) The body cap/lens cap nest together for compact storage.

Figure 1.1

Third-party neck straps like this UPstrap model are often preferable to the Nikon- supplied strap.