Mastering the Nikon D3000

Mastering the Nikon D

Mastering the Nikon D3000

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Mastering the Nikon D

Darrell Young - Author

Darrell Young (DigitalDarrell) is an information technology engineer by trade and has been an avid photographer for over  years. He has a rather large family, with his wife and five children, so he has a constantly interesting flow of photographic opportunities. In fact, his entire family uses Nikon cameras to pursue what has become a cohesive family hobby. Darrell delights in using Nikon’s newest digital cameras but if pressed, he will admit to being a “closet” film user too. Living next to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has given him a real concern for, and interest in, nature photography. Darrell loves to write, as you can see in the Resources area of the Nikonians. org community. He joined the community in the year , and his literary contributions led to his invitation to become a Founding Member of the Nikonians Writers Guild.

Mastering the Nikon D

Mastering the Nikon D3000

Darrell Young

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Mastering the Nikon D

Darrell Young (aka Digital Darrell) Editor (Rocky Nook): Gerhard Rossbach Editor (Nikonians): Tom Bone´ Production editor: Joan Dixon Copyeditor: Judy Flynn Layout and type: Jan Martí, Command Z Cover design: Helmut Kraus, www.exclam.de Printer: Friesens Corporation Printed in Canada Front cover photo: Nikon USA Back cover photo: Darrell Young st Edition © Nikonians North America  Rocky Nook Inc.  West Mission Street Ste  Santa Barbara, CA -

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Young, Darrell, Mastering the Nikon D / Darrell Young. -- st ed. p. cm. ISBN ---- (alk. paper) . Nikon digital cameras--Handbooks, manuals, etc. . Single-lens reflex cameras--Handbooks, manuals, etc. . Photography--Digital techniques--Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title. TR.NY  .’--dc  Distributed by O‘Reilly Media  Gravenstein Highway North Sebastopol, CA  All product names and services identified throughout this book are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. They are used throughout this book in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies. No such uses, or the use of any trade name, are intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with the book. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner. While reasonable care has been exercised in the preparation of this book, the publisher and authors assume no responsibility or errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. This book is printed on acid-free paper.

This book is dedicated to

This book is dedicated to: My mother, Barbara, who birthed me … My father, Joe, who guided my early life … My wife, Brenda, who puts up with my grouchiness, and feeds me while I’m at the keyboard … My kids, Autumn, David, Emily, Hannah, and Ethan who see the back of Daddy’s head often … My Nikonians editor, Tom Boné, without whose assistance I could not possibly write books … My friends, J. Ramon Palacios and Bo Stahlbrandt, who make it possible to belong to Nikonians.org, the world’s best Nikon User’s Community … And, finally, to Nikon, who makes the world’s best cameras and lenses.

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Table of Contents

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Table of Contents

xiii

Foreword

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Preface

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Examining the Nikon D3000

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Digital Sensor Basics, or Why Does a DSLR Make Better Images? Section  – Initial Camera Configuration External Camera Controls First Use of the Nikon D Initial Camera Setup Formatting the Memory Card I Want to Take Some Pictures Now! Section  – Adjusting the Nikon D’s Settings The Difference Between the Information Screen and Information Edit Menu My Conclusions

      

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2 28    

Nikon Guide Menus – Basic Use Shoot Guide Menu – Basic Use Shoot Menu – Easy Operation Shoot Menu – Advanced Operation My Conclusions

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Guide Menu – Advanced Use

 

Shoot Menu Screen Review Shoot Menu’s More Settings Selection Shoot Menu’s Timers & Remote Control Guide Menu’s View/Delete Selections Guide Menu’s Set up Selections My Conclusions

   

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4 90

Playback Menu

      

Delete Function Playback Folder Display Mode Image Review Rotate Tall Slide Show Printing Pictures without a Computer Section  – PictBridge Printing Section  – Print Set (DPOF) Stop-Motion Movie My Conclusions

   

5 128 Shooting and Information Edit Menus                     

Using the Shooting Menu Using the Information Edit Menu Reset Shooting Options Set Picture Control Image quality Image size White balance ISO sensitivity settings Active D-Lighting Color Spaces Noise reduction Release mode Focus modes AF-Area Modes AF-Assist Metering Built-in flash Flash Compensation Exposure Compensation Flash Modes My Conclusions

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6 178 Setup Menu                         

Reset Setup Options Format Memory Card LCD Brightness Info Display Format Auto Info Display Clean Image Sensor Mirror Lock-Up Video Mode Time Zone and Date Language Image Comment Auto Image Rotation Dust Off Ref Photo Auto Off Timers Self-Timer Delay Remote on Duration Beep Viewfinder Options File Number Sequence Buttons No Memory Card? Date Imprint Active Folder Firmware Version My Conclusions

7 224 Retouch and Recent Settings Menus                 

Section  – Retouch Menu D-Lighting Red-Eye Correction Trim Monochrome Filter Effects Color Balance Small Picture Image Overlay NEF (RAW) Processing Quick Retouch Color Outline Miniature Effect Stop-Motion Movie Before and After Section  – Recent Settings My Conclusions

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8 258 Aperture, Shutter Speed, and Focal Length                 

Understanding the Camera’s Aperture How Does the Aperture Work? – An Experiment What Is an Aperture Number? Using Older Lenses with an Aperture Ring Using the Camera’s Aperture Understanding Depth of Field Effect of Focal Length on Depth of Field Understanding the Camera’s Shutter Speed Using the Aperture and Shutter Speed Together for Great Pictures A Little More Exposure Detail General Shutter Speed/Aperture Exposure Rule Aperture and Shutter Speed Chart Focal Length Vibration Reduction (VR) Lenses Focus Motor in the Lens A Simple Warning My Conclusions

9 280 Exposure Metering System, Exposure Modes, and Histogram               

Section  – Exposure Metering Systems D Color Matrix II Metering Center-Weighted Metering Spot Metering Section  – Exposure Modes P – Programmed Auto Mode S – Shutter-Priority Auto Mode A – Aperture-Priority Auto Mode M – Manual Mode My Recommendations on Exposure Mode Selection Full AUTO and Scene Modes Why Have Scene Modes? Section  – Histogram Understanding the Histogram (An Overview) My Conclusions

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310 White Balance

326 Multi-CAM 1000 Autofocus

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        

How Does White Balance (WB) Work? Color Temperature Method  – Setting White Balance with the Information Edit Screens Method  – Setting White Balance with the Shooting Menu Mired WB Fine-Tuning Values Measuring Ambient Light and Using PRE Selecting the WB from a Previously Taken Image Auto White Balance Should I Worry about White Balance if I Shoot in RAW Mode? My Conclusions

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                

What is the Multi-CAM  Autofocus Module? AF System Override with Lens Setting Understanding the Focus, AF-Area, and Release Modes Focus Modes in Detail Auto-servo AF mode (AF-A) Single-servo AF mode (AF-S) Continuous-servo AF mode (AF-C) Manual focus (MF) AF-Area Modes in Detail Single-Point AF-Area Mode Dynamic-Area Autofocus Auto-Area Autofocus D-Tracking ( Points) Autofocus Release Modes in Detail Single Frame Mode Continuous Mode Three Additional Release Modes My Conclusions

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12 346 Speedlight Flash Photography         

What is a Guide Number? Using the D’s Flash Settings Shutter Curtain Information Understanding the Flash Modes What is the Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS)? How Does the D Fit into the CLS Scheme? Selecting a Nikon Speedlight Flash Unit My Conclusions about Flash Conclusion

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Foreword Nikonian Darrell Young, known to us as for many years as Digital Darrell, has consistently been a source of instructional wisdom delivered with a touch of friendly humor. His extensive collection of informative articles has been a valuable resource in the articles knowledge base, Resources at Nikonians. This new work represents yet another progression in the rapid growth of our international community of photographers from all walks of life, recently exceeding , members from nearly  countries, and is a way to further confirm our Nikonians vocation in education, reopening an additional communication channel—books—to our existing more than  interactive forums, The Nikonian eZine, Nikonians Academy Workshops, Nikonians News Blog, Nikonians podcasts, etc. Nikonians has earned a reputation as a friendly, reliable, informative, and passionate Nikon user’s community thanks in great measure to members like our own Digital Darrell, who have taken the time to share the results of their experiences with Nikon imaging equipment, despite the pressures of their day jobs. The Nikonians community has long been known as a welcoming, worldwide home for Nikon users, and Darrell’s specialty in his writing is the ability to share his knowledge in the spirit of a friendly uncle who may be visiting with you in the comfort of your own living room. He understands that many owners of the Nikon D may be just entering into the world of DSLR cameras and he takes time to guide them through some of the basics of photography. Darrell’s easy and friendly approach is appreciated by the increasing number of our community members who have been fortunate enough to acquire the D. We would like to congratulate Darrell for his work on this project, and special thanks goes to Tom Boné, Nikonians Chief Editor who has helped in streamlining the publication process in this, the sixth of the NikoniansPress books, in association with Rocky Nook. Bo Stahlbrandt (bgs) and J. Ramón Palacios (jrp) Nikonians Founders www.nikonians.org

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Preface

Preface I grew up looking at pictures. Ever since I was a baby my mother took hundreds of photographs of our family life, capturing small pieces of time frozen in little negative squares. Today, I can still look back at those images and they awaken memories that would otherwise be forgotten. In , my dear Mom gave me my first Brownie Hawkeye camera, and that little camera ignited a fire in me for taking pictures. I remember my mother’s words of instruction, “Load the film in a dark place, never open the film door until after you rewind, and keep the sun behind you when you shoot”. From that day forward I often carried a camera with me. I took the fuzzy pictures of a -year-old as I hiked up the Roosevelt Mountain in Rockwood, Tennessee, USA, with my brother Steven and my friend named Scott. Every major event of my life has a few frames attached. As an adult, I began photographing my own family, and to this day I’ve been documenting the growth of my five children. From my earliest memories, photography has been a part of my life, and I’ll keep on shooting as long as I am able. The year  was a milestone for me; that’s when I got my first Nikon camera. It was a nearly new Nikon FM, and I reveled in its incredible build, and the unbelievable images it produced. Before then, I had been shooting with Kodak  and  cameras, and although those images have priceless personal value, they would win no contests. I graduated from negatives to transparencies in , as I realized that even sharper and less grainy images could be created in those delightful little two-inch squares. I loved film, and shot a lot of it. I wanted to shoot even more, but the cost of raising kids took precedence over the cost of film and processing. The year  changed everything for me photographically. I had been playing around with a Kodak point-and-shoot digital camera, and I finally got a Nikon Coolpix . While the pictures were fun and easy to make, they did not equal the quality of my mm images, so I viewed digital cameras as only toys. Then Nikon released the  MP D, and Digital Darrell was born. Never before had I shot so many images. With the “free” use of the camera, I took thousands of photographs

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that I would never have considered taking with expensive film, and thus I moved to a new level of photography in the process. Digital cameras can offer an educational course in photography within themselves. My love of digital photography grew, as did my relationship with the world’s premier Nikon User Community, www.Nikonians.org. I came on board as a charter member in late , and after my D arrived I really become involved as a member. I wrote a camera review that J. Ramón Palacios liked, (JRP is one of the co-owners of the Nikonians.org website, along with Bo Stahlbrandt) and he asked me if I’d like to write a few articles for Nikonians.org. At that time, I didn’t even know I was a writer! Thank you, JRP! I practically lived on Nikonians.org, spending hours there each day, first as a moderator, and then as a founding member of the Nikonian Writer’s Guild. JRP asked me to write as often as I could, and he posted my articles for others to read. Wow, did my ego swell! Now, I am privileged to write instructional books for Nikon users. This book is the fifth book I’ve authored in the Mastering the Nikon DSLR series, which is a joint effort between Nikonians Press, Rocky Nook, and myself. Since , I’ve used nearly all of Nikon’s DSLR cameras. All of them were excellent and gave me great images. Now, in , I have the new Nikon D. Since I carry a camera with me everywhere, I love the small size, the large LCD screen, and the new automatic shooting modes. With the video mode I can easily switch from shooting stills to video, and then later I can make wonderful computer presentations, combining music, stills, and video. And of course, the image quality from the camera is simply outstanding. The D is an impressive little camera with many user-friendly features. In addition to the new automatic modes, it can be used in rather complex manual modes; therefore this book should help you to understand it thoroughly. Additional help is available to you at the world’s premier Nikon User’s Community, Nikonians.org. This truly is an International Community of over , Nikon users. Talk about a Nikon resource! As a Nikon user, you are

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probably already a member, but if you’re not, please log on to www.Nikonians.org and become at least a Silver member. Nikonians.org is a goldmine of photographic knowledge for Nikon users and is unmatched by any other resource available. Mastering the Nikon D has a coupon in the back offering  off a Gold Membership at Nikonians.org. The Gold level gives you a lot of benefits, such as a personal blog, a large gallery, access to private forums, personal business cards, photographer’s ID, membership certificate, and your own Nikonians.org email address. If you use the coupon, it will basically pay for the price of this book! I feel greatly privileged to be a Nikonian, to have such knowledgeable and friendly associates, and to help provide yet another, much requested resource in the form of a printed book. I hope you enjoy this book and that you greatly benefit from it, and most of all that you find joy in using your chosen photographic tool … the Nikon D. Keep on capturing time … Digital Darrell (Darrell Young)

Colors and Wording Legend

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Colors and Wording Legend Throughout this book you will be presented with words displayed in two colors along with the use of italics. The two colors are blue and green, and are used as follows. t
The camera’s physical features are in blue. t
Function and settings viewed on an LCD screen are in green. t
Textual prompts given by the camera on a screen are in Italics t
On select occasions, Italics or Bold Italics are used for special emphasis.

Here is an example of the colors and italics in use: Press the Menu button to reach the Setup Menu and then scroll to Format memory card option by pressing the down arrow on the Multi selector. You will see a message reminding you, All images on Memory card will be deleted. OK? Select Yes and then push the OK button.

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Examining the Nikon D

Examining the Nikon D3000

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Examining the Nikon D

Examining the Nikon D3000

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The Nikon D may turn out to be one of the most popular cameras ever made by Nikon. Why do I say that? Well, its predecessor—the Nikon D—was one of Nikon’s best-selling cameras. The D adds more features, including a more powerful autofocus system and the new Nikon Guide Mode for new users. I think in the long run it will outsell the D. Many people are seeing the need for higher image quality for various reasons. Some just want to make big enlargements. Others may want to sell digital images on stock photography websites. A digital single lens reflex (DSLR) is significantly better than a point-and-shoot camera for making sharp, noise-free images. Thus, a lot of people are leaving

the point-and-shoot world and moving into the DSLR universe. Who uses a Nikon D camera? I gave this some thought and arrived at the following user types. See if you recognize yourself in our D Photographer Type list: . A new user of the DSLR camera type . A student photographer learning to use the full power of photography . A photographer on a budget who wants superior images . An experienced photographer who needs a backup camera . A traveling photographer who wants a lightweight DSLR camera . A photographer who wants a camera on their person at all times

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Examining the Nikon D

I’m sure you can come up with even more types of photographers and reasons for using this small, inexpensive yet powerful camera. It certainly is a capable little thing, with robust manual and fully automatic features. In fact, I’m surprised at how many ways you can access the features and functions built into this Nikon. It has the old-style text-based menu system familiar to long-time users of Nikon DSLRs. It also has a new, fully graphical, userassisting Nikon Guide Mode that covers the same features as the text-based menu system plus offers some useful basic training on things like aperture and shutter speed. And finally, it has a shortcut system called the Information screens that can be used as either a graphical or text-based way to edit the camera’s most important functions. We’ll look at all these in detail as we go through this book. I consider myself a number  from my Photographer Type list. I want a camera with me everywhere I go. People have grown accustomed to seeing me with a Nikon bag or camera over my shoulder. I think I’d look strange to many without the omnipresent camera. Are you like that? Do you look at the world around you in wonderment and want to capture those little slices of time called photographs, at any moment or place? The D is so small and light that you can slip it in a briefcase or purse and have it with you for those once-in-a-lifetime shots that make others say, “I wish I had a camera with me!” I’ve used all of Nikon’s DSLR cameras over the last several years, and have noticed a “personality” in each of the

camera types. The Nikon D is no exception. It does its best to allow an experienced photographer to take excellent images, and it’s ready to help an inexperienced photographer “learn the ropes”. The D is a transitional camera for many. It’s a stop on the way to even more powerful Nikons. It is a place for learning to shoot with an interchangeable lens camera for quite a few. Some have come over from the Nikon Coolpix point-andshoot world, having developed the desire for even higher-quality pictures and the ability to use all sorts of lenses for creative control. DSLRs are for those with a “passion” for photography. Let’s briefly explore some interesting information on DSLR camera types, and then we’ll examine the controls on the camera body so that we’ll have a reference point for the rest of this book. Next, we’ll look at the initial setup of the camera for those just opening the box on a new D. Finally, we’ll look into the various menu systems and Information screens, so that you can decide which best fits your needs and then make adjustments to your new camera. We’ll cover each of these briefly here in this first chapter and in great detail in subsequent chapters.

Basic Camera Setup Please note that the first time you turn on the D, it will present you with a series of five setup screens that you must configure. So it is a good idea to continue reading a little of this chapter before proceeding. In the very least, read the following section under the heading Initial Camera Configuration to learn about the choices you must make when you first turn the camera on.

Digital Sensor Basics, or Why Does a DSLR Make Better Images

Digital Sensor Basics, or Why Does a DSLR Make Better Images? Your D’s large-sized sensor can provide an image quality that is unobtainable by even the best point-and-shoot cameras. Many people don’t realize why a DSLR can make such high-quality images, so let me explain. All digital cameras have an imaging sensor that has very tiny, light-gathering points called pixels—an abbreviation of “picture elements” (pix-els). Your D has about . million usable pixels on its sensor in an array , pixels wide and , pixels tall (, x , = ,, pixels, or just over  megapixels). To follow Nikon’s literature, I’ll refer to the megapixel rating of the D as . “effective” megapixels. A point-and-shoot camera has a digital imaging sensor about the size of your little fingernail. Imagine cramming millions of pixels into such a tiny area. Those pixels are so small that they’re not very light sensitive. For a

point-and-shoot camera to make a good picture, especially in lower light levels, the power gain must be turned up on the pixels, which boosts the signal but also increases noise, thereby degrading the image. On the other hand, the Nikon D has an imaging sensor about the size of a postage stamp; . x . mm in size. That’s a big difference! Its pixels are much larger than a point-and-shoot camera’s and thus can gather light much more efficiently. The image quality from your new DSLR is sharper and has better color, contrast, and dynamic range, and its photos can be enlarged more effectively and with higher quality. You’ll be amazed at the difference, and so will your friends and family. So that you can get the best use out of your much more complex DSLR camera, let’s examine the external camera controls and the most important settings for first use of the camera.

User and Reference Manuals The Nikon D comes with two manuals: a -page User’s Manual and a -page Reference Manual. The User’s Manual is a printed booklet that is included in the box. The larger Reference Manual is available as a PDF file on an included CD titled Nikon Reference Manual. You’ll need the free Adobe Reader to view the PDF Reference Manual from the CD. Go to www. adobe.com and look for a download link to the free Adobe Reader, download it, and install it on your computer. D CCD . Megapixel Image Sensor Unit

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Examining the Nikon D

Section 1 – Initial Camera Configuration This chapter is divided into two sections. In section , we’ll look over the camera’s external controls and prepare the camera for first-time use. In section , we’ll briefly examine the menu systems used to adjust the camera’s internal functions. Each menu system will be covered later in this book in full detail. Let’s work our way from the outside of the camera to its internal settings.

the body of the camera. We’ll use these external controls often while working through this book, and you’ll need to become very familiar with what each button does. I’ve counted  buttons,  switches, and  dials on the D. We’ll look at

External Camera Controls Before we move into the configuration of the camera, let’s look in detail at the various dials, switches, and buttons found on

FIG B – Back of camera

FIG A – Front of camera

External Camera Controls

them all in detail. I strongly suggest that you bookmark this place in your book so that you can refer back to these control locations as we study what they each do. In future chapters, I’ll refer to the names and sometimes the numbers of these controls. Each of the control references is numbered in FIG A to FIG C. I have labeled each control with a number that corresponds to the reference numbers in the figures. Here is a list of controls on the camera body’s front (see FIG A): . Flash Mode and Flash Compensation button (two functions) . Self-timer and Fn button (two functions) . Lens Release button Here is a list of controls on the camera’s back (see FIG B): . Playback button . Menu button . Thumbnail/playback zoom out and Help button

. Playback zoom in and Information edit button

. Diopter adjustment control slider (hidden behind rubber eyecup) . AE-L/AF-L button (Auto Exposure lock and Autofocus lock) .Command dial .Multi Selector (very important, learn this) .OK button .Delete button

FIG C – Top of camera

Here is a list of controls on the camera’s top (see FIG C): .Mode dial .Information (info) button .Exposure-compensation and Aperture button (two functions) .Camera On/Off switch .Shutter-release button The most important controls for adjusting the camera are the Multi Selector (), OK button (), Command dial (), and the Menu button (). These will get a lot of use and references throughout this book, so be sure you remember where they’re located.



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

Examining the Nikon D

First Use of the Nikon D3000 You’ve just opened the box and buried under the plastic wrap, wires, manuals, CDs, and warranty registration card you find your new digital camera. What next? Attaching the Lens

One of the powerful things a DSLR like the D can do is use a variety of lenses to achieve various “looks” or perspectives in your images. Most likely you have purchased your D as part of a “kit” that includes an AF-S Nikkor –mm f/..G VR lens. If you bought the camera with no lens, then you can skip this section on attaching the lens. If you’ve never put a lens on a DSLR, please read this carefully so you won’t damage the lens or camera body. Nikon ships the camera without the lens attached. Instead there is a body cap and lens cap that must be removed before you mount the lens to the camera body. In FIG D, you see the camera and lens with both caps still attached (see red arrows). Leave the camera turned off while attaching or removing lenses. I’ve never damaged a Nikon camera’s electronics by leaving the camera on during the

FIG D – Preparing to attach the lens

Dust is a Sensor’s Enemy Before removing the caps, or when switching lenses, blow away any dust you see on the front of the camera or on the rear of the lens so it won’t get inside the camera body and end up on the sensor. If dust gets on your sensor, it can cause spots on your pictures. Always change lenses in a dustfree area when possible.

changing of lenses, but there’s always a first time. Sometimes, in the heat of shooting and quickly changing lenses I forget and just change it with the camera on, so it’s probably not too dangerous. However, I may just have been fortunate. I recommend that you don’t take chances with an expensive camera or lens. Now, let’s remove the caps and prepare to attach the lens to the camera. To remove the camera’s body cap, you’ll press and hold the Lens release button (see FIG E), turn the body cap clockwise until it stops, and then pull the cap straight out. It uses a “bayonet” mount with three ears, just like a lens. The lens cap is just a little plastic see-thru cap that you pull directly off the lens. It’s just pressed on,

First Use of the Nikon D



FIG E – Removing the body and lens caps

not mounted, so you can just pull and twist it until it slides off. It isn’t hard to attach the lens to the camera, and when you’ve done it once, you’ll have no problems in the future. So, let’s mount the lens. The lens attaches to the camera using a Nikon F bayonet-style mount that’s been in production for over  years. Nearly any lens ever made for a Nikon film SLR or DSLR will mount on your D. Isn’t that incredible! In this book, we’ll refer to the AF-S Nikkor –mm f/.-.G VR kit lens most of the time. Notice in FIG F, image , how the lens has a white dot that must line up exactly with a corresponding white dot on the

FIG F – Mounting the lens on the camera

camera body. The lens must be inserted into the front of the camera until the two dots are close together as in FIG F, image . Once the lens is fully inserted into the bayonet mount and the dots are lined up, slowly turn the lens counterclockwise (rotate left) until the white dot on the lens is under the K of the Nikon logo on the front top of the camera. The dot on the lens will then be straight up and just below the Nikon logo. Do not force the lens to turn. If it does not turn easily to the left, please make sure that it has been fully inserted into the body before you start turning it toward the locking position.

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

Examining the Nikon D

When you get the lens’s white dot in the up position, you’ll hear a “snap” as the lens locks to the body. To remove the lens in the future, you’ll have to hold in the Lens Release button (see FIG A, image ), turn the lens clockwise until it stops, and then pull it straight out. Removing the Lens

Here are the steps I use to remove and change a lens quickly, without dropping the camera or lens. Try this method and see if it works for you. If not, simply invent your own way of holding the camera while changing lenses. . Hold the camera body in your left hand with your finger reaching around the front ready to depress the Lens release button. . Press the grip side of the D into your body to stabilize the camera. The camera’s back will be facing the left side of your body. . With your fingers that are holding the camera, press and hold the Lens release button. . Using your right hand, turn the lens clockwise until it stops, then pull it straight out of the camera body. If you’re a left-handed person, this method will still work. Our cameras are designed for right-handed people, so a “lefty” may find this awkward the first few times. I suggest you keep trying to learn it because this method allows you to hold the camera and lens very securely while making lens changes. It would be a shame to drop and break either the lens or camera body.

If this list of steps doesn’t work for you, just lay the camera down on its back, press and hold the Lens release button, rotate the lens to the right, and pull it out of the body. Lens Controls

While examining the lens for later use, you will notice four controls that you’ll need to use (see FIG G). Most Nikkor lenses, and even aftermarket lenses, have the same types of controls. FIG G shows the following four numbered controls that I’ll discuss next: . Focus ring – The focus ring is not often used on a camera with autofocus. However, for things like closeup (macro) shots, it’s sometimes easier to turn off the autofocus and focus manually so that you can control exactly where you want to place the sharpest point of focus. You can use the A/M switch () to turn autofocus on (A) and off (M). Use the Focus ring only when the A/M switch is set to M or you could damage your Nikkor -mm kit lens. Some lenses allow “fine-tuning” of the autofocus, even when the A/M switch is set to A. However, the –mm kit lens

FIG G – Lens A/M and VR switches, focus and zoom rings

First Use of the Nikon D

is not one of them. If the Focus ring feels stiff when set to A, do not turn it by hand. . Zoom ring – This ring is the most used control on the lens. You’ll use it constantly to zoom in and out; from mm to mm and any point in between. The mm setting is a wide-angle setting that allows you to take group portraits or get sweeping landscape shots. The mm setting is a short telephoto position that magnifies the subject slightly, but is very close to what your eye sees as “normal” size for objects in your image. Use the mm setting to pull a subject closer and fill the image frame. We’ll discuss “focal length” in a later chapter. You can use the zoom ring to select the exact focal length—between  and mm—you’ll need to make the best image composition. As you turn the zoom ring, you’ll see the numbers turn with it. The numbers shown on the lens are , , , , and . Each number represents a focal length in millimeters (mm). In FIG F, image , you can see the number  next to a white dot. This means the lens is set to mm. Place any number from  to  next to the dot for a particular focal length position. In between the stamped numbers are other focal lengths. Let’s say you turned the lens half way between  and mm. That is about  or mm, as expected. It’s constantly variable as you turn the Zoom ring.



. A/M switch – Many Nikkor lenses have an A/M switch and a VR On/Off switch on the side. The A/M switch stands for autofocus (A) or manual focus (M). If you would rather manually focus the lens by turning the Focus ring (), you can do so after you move this switch to M. Don’t force the lens to manually focus when in A mode or you will damage it. If you really want to manually focus the lens, simply set the switch to M. This disengages the autofocus motor and the Focus ring will turn freely. . VR On/Off switch – VR stands for “vibration reduction”. If you are using the newest Nikkor -mm kit lens, you’ll notice a big gold VR near the A/M switch. This lens, and others with the VR moniker, is able to compensate for small shaky movements while pictures are being taken, resulting in much sharper images. This doesn’t mean you can wave your camera around like a fire hose and still get sharp images; it means that the lens will try to compensate for natural hand shakiness. It allows you to use slower shutter speeds and still get sharp images. According to how shaky you are while handholding, you may take pictures with shutter speeds up to three stops slower with the -mm kit lens. We’ll discuss what a stop is in the chapter titled Aperture, Shutter Speed, and Focal Length, later in this book. Once the lens is mounted you’re almost ready to use the camera. Does your battery have a good charge?

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

Examining the Nikon D

Using VR Lenses on a Tripod There are two types of VR lenses currently on the market: VR and VR II. Your mm kit lens uses standard VR. The more advanced form of VR—called VR II—has algorithms that notice when the camera is very still and disable VR. Why have vibration reduction when the camera isn’t vibrating? According to Nikon, you should be okay when shooting on a tripod with VR II turned on. However, I always flip the switch to off anyway, unless I’m using a shaky tripod. Nikon says that the Nikkor -mm kit lens has standard VR, which should be switched off for tripod use. Check the specs of any new lens you buy to determine if it has standard VR or VR II. VR II adds an additional stop of vibration reduction, so you could handhold up to four stops slower. VR II is found on the more pricey lenses in the Nikkor lineup. An easy way to tell if you have VR or VR II is by how many extra-slow stops you get. If the lens’s sales literature says three stops, it is VR. If four stops, it is VR II.

Charging and Inserting the Battery

If you’re like me, you’ll open the box, put the lens on your camera, insert the battery, and take your first picture. Wouldn’t it be a better idea to wait an hour to charge the battery and only then take the first picture? Sure it would, but I’ve never done that, and I bet you haven’t either. Nikon knows this and doesn’t send out new cameras with dead batteries. Most of the time the battery is not fully charged, but it has enough charge to allow you to do the initial camera setup and then take and review a few pictures. Think about it. How would you test a brand-new battery? You’d charge it and see if it will hold a charge. Nikon doesn’t send batteries that are untested, so most of the time, you can play with your camera for at least a few minutes before charging the battery. I’ve purchased nearly every DSLR model Nikon has made since , and not one of them has come in with a dead battery. When you insert the battery in the included MH- battery charger, you’ll notice that the small LED light—next to the words CHARGE and END—blinks orange while the battery is charging and

FIG H – Charging the battery

First Use of the Nikon D

then changes to continuous orange when the battery is fully charged. FIG H shows the correct way to insert the light gray EN-ELa battery into the charger. When my D arrived, the battery was about  percent charged. I played with the camera for an hour before I charged the battery. However, let me mention one important thing. If you install the battery and it is very low, for example below  percent, it’s a good idea to go ahead and charge it before shooting and reviewing too many pictures. Maybe you can get the initial camera configuration done and test the camera a time or two, but go no further with a seriously low battery. To insert the battery, make sure the camera is turned off, and then open the small door on the bottom of the grip with a fingernail. Insert the battery as shown in FIG I with the Nikon name exactly as shown. The battery has a small lip to prevent it from being inserted in the wrong direction. A white arrow tip painted on the battery should point toward the camera as you insert it.

FIG I – Inserting the battery



Avoid Completely Discharging the Battery

The D uses a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery pack. While this type of battery doesn’t develop the memory effects of the old nickel-cadmium (NiCad) batteries from years past, there can be a problem if you let them get too low. A Li-ion battery should not be used to complete exhaustion. The battery has an internal protection circuit that keeps it from working again if a cell gets below a certain key voltage. If you completely discharge a lithium-ion battery or let it go too long without a refresh charge, the battery may never work again. When your camera’s battery gets down to the  percent level, please recharge it. I don’t let mine go below  percent for any extended use. That said, the optimum situation would be to restrain yourself from turning on the camera until after the battery is fully charged. That’ll give you some time to read this section of the book and even check out the Nikon D User’s and Reference Manuals.

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

Examining the Nikon D

Initial Camera Setup

Language

The first time you turn the camera on, you’ll be presented with five sequential screens as follows: . Language . Time Zone . Date Format . Daylight Saving Time . Date and Time

The D is multilingual, or multinational. It can display its menus in  languages. Various distributors around the world will have the camera preconfigured to some degree, so it will most likely already be configured in the language spoken in your area. Here is a list of the languages available in the D, firmware version .: t
Danish t
German t
English t
Spanish t
Finnish t
French t
Italian t
Dutch t
Norwegian t
Polish t
Portuguese t
Russian t
Swedish t
Traditional Chinese t
Simplified Chinese t
Japanese t
Korean

Following are descriptions of the screens you’ll see and what you’ll need to initially configure. (See the section titled External Camera Controls earlier in this chapter for locations of the controls mentioned.)

FIG  – The Language screen

Here are the steps to select the language you want to use: . Refer to FIG  for the Language menu the camera presents on startup. . Use the Multi Selector to scroll up or down until your language is highlighted. . Press the OK button to select your language. The camera will now switch to the next screen in the camera setup series: the Time zone screen.

Initial Camera Setup



Time Zone

Date Format

This is an easy screen to use as long as you can recognize the area of the world in which you live on the small map. Here are the steps to select the correct time zone for your location: . Refer to FIG  for the Time zone screen. You’ll see yellow arrow tips pointing to the left and right on either side of the small black and gray world map. . With the Multi Selector, scroll to the left or right until your location is highlighted in yellow. It’ll show as either a vertical yellow strip or a tiny yellow outline with a red dot. At the top of the screen below the words Time zone, you’ll see the currently selected time zone. Mine is New York, Toronto, Lima, as shown in FIG . . Press the OK button once you’ve positioned the yellow selection strip or outline and your time zone will be locked in place.

The English-speaking world uses various date formats. The Nikon D gives us the ability to choose from the most important ones. There are three date formats you can select (see FIG ): t
Y/M/D = Year/Month/Day (//) t
M/D/Y = Month/Day/Year (//) t
D/M/Y = Day/Month/Year (//)

The camera will now present you with the next screen in the series: the Date format screen.

FIG  – The Time zone screen

Residents in the U.S. usually prefer the middle format: Month/Day/Year. However, you may prefer a different format if you’re from a different English-speaking part of the world. Here are the steps to select the date format of your preference: . Refer to FIG  for the Date format screen. . Using the Multi Selector, scroll up or down to the position of the date format you prefer. . Press the OK button to select the format. Once you have the date format selected, the camera will switch to the Daylight saving time screen.

FIG  – The Date format screen

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

Examining the Nikon D

Daylight Saving Time

Daylight saving time set to On. Why not

Many areas of the United States observe daylight saving time. In the springtime, many American residents set their clocks forward by one hour on a specified day each year. Then in the fall they set it back, leading to the clever saying, “Spring forward, fall back”. To enable automatic daylight saving time, follow these steps: . Refer to FIG  for the Daylight saving time screen. . There are only two selections, On and Off. Choose the one you prefer by scrolling with the Multi Selector and highlighting it. . Press the OK button to select your choice.

let the camera automatically change this value twice per year? Now that you’ve made the daylight saving time decision, the camera will move on to the last screen in the series of five; the Date and time screen.

If you turned daylight saving time on, your D will now automatically “spring forward and fall back”, adjusting your time forward by one hour in the spring and back one hour in the fall. Recommendation: If you live in an area that observes daylight saving time, it’s a good idea to set your camera to make this adjustment automatically. I always leave

FIG  – The Daylight saving time screen

Date and Time

This screen allows you to put in the current date and time zone. It is in year-month-day (Y,M,D) and hour-minutesecond (H,M,S) format. Here are the steps to set the date and time: . Refer to FIG  for the screen you’ll use. . Using the Multi Selector, scroll to the left or right to select the various date and time sections. Scroll up or down to actually set the values for each one. The time values are using a -hour clock, or military time. Use the to -hour time conversion chart to convert to the -hour time you are probably using (for example, : p.m. equals :). . Press the OK button when you’ve finished inputting the date and time.

FIG  – The Date and time screen

Formatting the Memory Card

- to -Hour Time Conversion Chart Here is a - to -hour time conversion chart for your convenience. A.M. Settings: : a.m. = : (midnight) : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : P.M. Settings: : p.m. = : (noon) : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = :

Formatting the Memory Card You’ll need to learn the location of this particular function on the Setup menu— either in the Nikon Guide Mode or the old-style text menu mode—since you’ll be using it frequently. It’s a good idea to use your camera, not your computer, to format the memory card that holds your pictures. That way, the card’s format is customized to the camera. It’s a relatively simple process to format the card. First, let’s look at how the memory card is inserted in the D. To the right of the Multi Selector there’s a small door for the memory card. You’ll find the word “Card” on the door along with three raised lines to help you get some traction on it. With a finger, pull the little door toward you. When you pull it toward the back of the camera, it will pop open as FIG  shows. Insert the card into the card slot in the camera with the label facing toward you. The cut-off corner of the SD/SDHC card will be up when you insert the card. Press it in all the way until you feel it latch. To

Note: There is no : time (midnight). After : comes :.

Now that you have completed the five basic setup screens, your camera is ready to use. Hopefully you have a nice fresh SD or SDHC memory card ready to go. If so, let’s look at how you can format it for first-time use in the camera.



FIG  – Inserting a memory card

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

Examining the Nikon D

remove it, just press in on the end of the card and it will pop out a short distance so that you can grasp it and pull it the rest of the way out. Now that you’ve inserted the card, let’s get it formatted and ready for use. Shown in FIG A and FIG B are the screens involved in formatting a memory card. First we’ll look at the Nikon Guide Mode menu screens to format a memory card. Follow these steps to format a memory card from the Guide menu (see FIG A): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. That will enable the Nikon Guide Mode and its graphical menu screens. . Press the Menu button and you’ll see the Guide menu screen as shown in the leftmost screen in FIG A. . Scroll to the right with the Multi Selector until you’ve selected Set up. . On the next screen—in the middle in FIG A, image —scroll down several times with the Multi Selector until you see that Format memory card is highlighted.

FIG A – Formatting a memory card – Guide mode

. Press the OK button and the Format memory card screen will ask you All images on memory card will be deleted. OK? (see the screen on the right in FIG A). . With the Multi Selector scroll up to the Yes selection. . Press the OK button to start the formatting process. During formatting, a black screen will show displaying the words Formatting memory card. When it is done formatting, the screen will briefly show Formatting complete, and then the camera will switch back to the Set up menu. At this point the camera’s memory card is formatted and ready to accept images. Now let’s see how to format the card using the standard text menu system. These text menus are what most previous Nikon DSLR owners have grown accustomed to. The D is the first camera to use the new Nikon Guide Mode screens.

Formatting the Memory Card



FIG B – Formatting a memory card – Text Menu Mode

In FIG B are the screens to format the memory cards. Make sure that you’ve moved the Mode dial (on the camera’s top) away from the GUIDE selection. Try setting it to one of the P, S, A, or M settings for this formatting operation. Here are the steps: . Press the Menu button and scroll to the Setup menu screen as shown in FIG B. The icon looks like a little orange wrench. . Scroll to the right once with the Multi Selector to enter the Setup menu, then scroll down and highlight Format memory card. . Press the OK button and the Format memory card screen will ask you, All images on memory card will be deleted. OK?

. Scroll up to the Yes selection with the Multi Selector. . Press the OK button to start the formatting process. During formatting the screen will show Formatting memory card. When the memory card is formatted, the screen will briefly show Formatting complete, and the camera will switch back to the Setup menu. These are the two ways to format a memory card. Use whichever you are most comfortable with. The results are exactly the same, a freshly prepared memory card formatted for the Nikon D.

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

Examining the Nikon D

I Want to Take Some Pictures Now! Auto Mode

You’ve charged the battery, examined all the controls, configured the camera for use, and formatted a memory card. I bet you’d like to take some pictures now, wouldn’t you? Here’s a chance to take an intermission and enjoy your camera for a little while. If you have little or no experience with a DSLR, you can still get great images by setting it to AUTO mode. FIG C shows a powerful setting on your camera’s Mode dial. It has one simple word, AUTO, and a tiny green camera icon. Why don’t you put the camera in AUTO mode and go shoot some images? You’ll need to have images on your memory card to fully work with the settings in this book. In AUTO mode your camera is a powerhouse of intelligence. This mode represents years of experience in designing camera functionality and thousands of stored sample image parameters to help you make great images while using the camera as a point-and-shoot. Like an oversized Nikon Coolpix on steroids, your

D can handle the automatic side of life better than many cameras. The image quality—due to the size of the sensor and processing power of the computerized camera—will simply amaze you and your friends. When in AUTO mode, the camera will adjust itself for the optimum image each time. It will even know when to use flash. While you are reading this book, and learning to be a creative advanced photographer, why not use the AUTO mode for fun times? You won’t have to think about anything except composing a great picture and the camera will do the rest. Once you’ve created some satisfying pictures, come on back and read some more. Take it in stages so as to not become overwhelmed. There’s a lot to learn, but this book will make it easy. Go have some fun and come back when you’re ready.

Intermission

Ah, you’re back! Okay, let’s continue on into the inner workings of your D. Are you ready? FIG C – Auto mode

I Want to Take Some Pictures Now



FIG  – The camera help system

The Built-In Help Button

Diopter Adjustment Control

Nikon knows that a camera as complex as the D might require a little help sometimes. Often, you’ll be out shooting and won’t have this book or a manual with you, so the D gives you an easy solution with the Help button. Notice in FIG , image , that the Thumbnail/playback zoom out button (red arrow) has a small question mark just above it. This marks the button as having a dual function. It is context sensitive. If you are viewing a picture and press the button, the camera will “zoom out”, showing multiple images on the LCD. However, when you are using any of the menu systems in the camera, the same button provides a useful help comment for the selected function or setting. Try it! You’ll need to hold down the Help button to make the help comment stay on the screen. In FIG , image , you can see that I have selected Clean image sensor from the Setup menu. Next, I press and hold the Help button (image ). Finally, in the third image, you see the help screen that shows for the Clean image sensor selection. Any time you have a menu screen on the LCD monitor, you can hold down the Help button and see a helpful commentary on whatever function is highlighted on the menu screen. That’s all there is to it!

I mentioned this control as one of the three switches available on the D. Unfortunately, it is hard to see this switch when looking at the camera directly from the back, as is shown in our external camera control reference figures (FIG A, B, and C). It’s hidden behind the rubber eyecup. In FIG  you can see a much better view of the Diopter adjustment control. It’s a switch that slides up and down. The purpose of this switch is to adjust the camera’s viewfinder sharpness to your eyesight. You can set it so that the image in the viewfinder doesn’t cause you any eyestrain during extended camera use. Here are the steps to set the Diopter adjustment control to your eyesight: . Look through the viewfinder and cause the camera to autofocus on something close by.

FIG  – Diopter adjustment control

1

1



Examining the Nikon D

. Slide the Diopter adjustment control slider all the way to the top. . Now while you are looking through the viewfinder at your focused subject, slide the Diopter adjustment control down, one notch at a time, until the view appears sharpest for your vision. Recommendation: This control is important to adjust for you personally. Each person’s eye focuses differently, especially as we age. I wear trifocals but use the distance-viewing part of my glasses to look through the viewfinder. I find that setting the switch about midway works best for me. My -year-old son seems to prefer a setting closer to the bottom of the slider’s travel. Play with this until you have it set just right for you.

Section 2 – Adjusting the Nikon D3000’s Settings This second section of chapter  is designed to give you an overview of the three user interfaces for adjusting the settings in the Nikon D. We’ll consider three distinct menu systems that allow you to adjust the same basic internal camera features and functions. Nikon made a camera interface for all user types. The three menu systems are as follows: t
Information Screen and Information Edit Menu t
Nikon Guide Mode t
Standard Text-based Menu System

Let’s start by briefly examining each of these interfaces. Later, we’ll cover them in detail as we progress though the book.

The Difference Between the Information Screen and Information Edit Menu Through the course of this book you will be seeing references to the Information screen and the Information edit menu (or Display). The terms may sound similar but the functions of these two D features are not. You may have noticed that unlike other Nikon DSLRs, the D doesn’t have a small rectangular LCD screen positioned on top of the camera between the Shutter release button and Command dial. This missing feature is called the camera’s Control panel. This extra LCD panel has been left off the D in order to make the camera much smaller. Cameras with a Control panel allow you to glance down at the top of the camera for a quick look at basic and advanced camera settings. Since the D has no Control panel LCD display on top of the camera, it instead provides similar data on the Information screen that appears on the back of the camera on the -inch LCD monitor. The main thing to remember is that the Information screen is a “read-only” look at the current camera settings, while the Information edit menu allows you to “edit” or change those same settings. Both provide similar information, but the Information edit menu will be your main portal to changing the most used camera settings. On some occasions you may notice these two items described as either screens or displays. Don’t worry

The Difference Between the Information Screen and Information Edit Menu

t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t




about that. In this case, the terms are interchangeable. The big difference is whether you are looking at the Information screen, or the Information edit menu (or display). These two screens are the first ones I want to show you, because you may find yourself using them more than any others. They are shortcut screens and are very convenient. FIG  shows pictures of both screens. In FIG , image , is the standard Information screen that you see when you turn the camera on, or press the Shutter release button halfway down with nothing showing on the monitor. You can also get to this screen by pressing the Info button to the left and behind the Shutter release button. This is a “read-only” reference screen that gives you a lot of information about how the camera is currently configured. On the Information screen you’ll see these settings: t
Exposure mode t
Which picture control is in use t
Beep on/off t
Battery charge level t
Aperture and shutter speed t
Image quality and size t
White balance t
ISO sensitivity

That’s a lot of information to digest at once. At first it might seem a little overwhelming, but you’ll become familiar with each of these settings as you read this book and use your new camera. In FIG , image , we see the same information presented by the Information edit menu, but this time you can adjust any of these items. This second, lessgraphical screen, gives you the Information edit menu, and is accessible by pressing the Playback zoom in/Information edit button twice. Unfortunately, you cannot get to this screen by pressing the Info button on the camera’s top. You’ll have to use the button on the lower left of the monitor LCD to activate the Information edit menu. Notice how this dual-purpose button has

Information Screen

Information Edit Menu

FIG  – Information screen and Information edit screen

Release mode Focus mode AF-area mode Metering mode Active D-Lighting (ADL) Exposure compensation Flash compensation Flash mode Active AF sensor point

1

1



Examining the Nikon D

a small icon (Information edit button) just above the button with the “magnifying glass with a plus in it” (Playback zoom in button). See FIG B number , earlier in this chapter, to make sure you know which button I’m referring to. You’ll use this button often as you adjust your camera. Anytime the regular Information screen is showing, you can press the Information edit button once to get to the Information edit menu. If any other or no screen is active, you’ll have to press the Information edit button twice. If this is confusing to you, just press the Information edit button multiple times, until the Information edit menu is visible. We’ll consider these screens and all their settings in complete detail in the chapter titled Guide Menu – Advanced

FIG  ¬– Nikon Guide Mode

Information Screen vs. Information Edit Menu Since this can be confusing, I think it is worth repeating: t
The Information screen is a read-only look at the current camera settings. t
The Information edit menu allows you to edit or change those same settings.

Use. For now, I just want you to know where the screens are located and what they are used for. You’ll need to learn about each of the Information edit menu settings if you use the D as more than an automatic point-and-shoot camera. Now, let’s review the Nikon Guide Mode screens.

The Difference Between the Information Screen and Information Edit Menu

Nikon Guide Mode

The Nikon Guide Mode, or Guide menu, screens are Nikon’s newest user interface, first seen on the D. They allow brand-new DSLR users to graphically step through a series of screens, gradually setting up the camera for the type of photography they are about to do. FIG , image , shows the first screen you’ll see when you first access the Nikon Guide Mode. You get to this screen by setting the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE, and then pressing the Menu button on the camera’s back. If the screen doesn’t show GUIDE MENU when you press the Menu button, you don’t have the Mode dial on top set to GUIDE. Here are the steps to use the Guide Mode menus: . When you have the opening Guide Mode screen on your camera as you see in FIG , image , select Shoot and press the OK button. . Now you’ll see the Shoot menu, as shown in FIG , image . You can select Easy operation, Advanced operation, or Timers & remote control. . Select Easy operation, (FIG , image ) and then use the Multi Selector to scroll to the right. Scroll up and down in this Easy operation menu, and you’ll find all sorts of different shooting styles you can select from. You’ll see things like Auto, Distant subjects, Close-ups, and several more styles. Each will configure the camera for a style of shooting without you doing anything else except selecting the style. I chose Auto from the menu in FIG , image .



. Now scroll to the right, and look at the final screen (FIG , image ) so that you can select Start shooting or More settings. . If you select Start shooting, the camera is ready to go. The More settings selection let’s you continue to set up your image style on a more detailed basis that requires a little more knowledge of camera settings. Whenever you see a Start shooting selection, the camera has finished setting up a basic shooting style. You can go ahead and take pictures or customize the selected style with More settings. I suggest that you don’t use the More settings selection until you’ve read the chapter titled Guide Menu – Advanced Use. You’ll need to understand various internal camera settings before you try to adjust them using the More settings menu selection. Browse these menus for a few minutes and start familiarizing yourself with how the camera wants to help guide you. If you examine the Advanced operation menus, you’ll even find some tutorial screens to teach you about things like how to soften backgrounds or freeze motion. For now, I am just introducing you to these menus so that you can play around with them and know where to look for them. The chapters titled Guide Menu – Basic Use and Guide Menu – Advanced Use are devoted to covering each of these Guide menus in full detail. This first chapter just introduces them. But wait, there’s more! Let’s go retro. If you’ve ever used an older Nikon DSLR, you’ll be familiar with the old-style text-based menus.

1

1



Examining the Nikon D

FIG  – Standard text-based menus

Standard Menu System

The standard text-based menu system has been around as long as there have been Nikon DSLR cameras. For many it is very simple to use and preferable. These menus are divided into four different primary parts, as shown in FIG : t
Playback menu t
Shooting menu t
Setup menu t
Retouch menu In previous Nikon DSLRs there was another set of menus called the Custom Settings, but to simplify the D’s operation these have been done away with as a separate menu. What were previously called Custom Settings in other Nikon

DSLRs have been folded into the other menu systems in this camera. The D is truly simpler to configure and operate— once you’ve decided which of the three user interfaces you’ll use: the Information screen and Information edit menu, the

FIG  – The Recent settings menu

My Conclusions

Nikon Guide Mode, or the standard textbased Menu System. There is also a menu in the D called the Recent Settings menu. This is an ordered list of the most recently adjusted camera functions. If you regularly use a certain setting that might be deeply hidden in other menus, it will appear on the Recent Settings menu for immediate access. There is room on this self-created menu for up to  items. So, you’ll have immediate access to the last  items you changed without having to search through the other menus to find the setting. We’ll consider each of the five textbased menus in full detail in later chapters of this book.

My Conclusions You’ve reached the end of the first chapter in your new book. I hope I’ve covered the basics of the camera in enough detail to help you find your way around a little better. Here’s a sample image of a Victorian-era building taken with the D and the Nikkor –mm kit lens. Just look at this camera’s excellent imaging capability! As you progress through the rest of this book, we’ll cover all the parts of your D in full detail. In addition, there are chapters on the basics of photography. This book is not intended to teach you how to take great images—there are plenty of books out there on that subject. This book will help you to understand the basics of how the camera works— how to use things like the histogram and exposure modes for excellent exposures, the aperture and shutter speed for



creative control, the built-in and external Speedlight flash units, and the autofocus system with its related functions to help you capture subjects in motion. With this book and your new Nikon D, you’ll be able to grow as a photographer. This book is designed to go way beyond the User’s and Reference Manuals included with your camera, covering many of the same functions that are listed in the manuals, but in more detail to help you understand when and why you should use each function and control. You will find my personal recommendations to help you use the camera well as you learn to control it completely. If you’ll take the time to read through this book—with your camera in hand— you’ll come away with an advanced knowledge of each of its controls, settings, and functions. You will, indeed, be a “master” of the Nikon D.

Glenmore Mansion, Jefferson City, Tennessee, USA.

1



Nikon Guide Menus – Basic Use

Nikon Guide Menus – Basic Use

2



The Nikon Guide Mode is designed to help a new DSLR camera user make better pictures while they learn how a DSLR works. The D is the first Nikon camera with this brand-new feature.

For instance, by setting the Mode dial on top to GUIDE and selecting Easy operation from the Shoot menu, you can choose nine different styles of photography. You may select a style, like Landscapes or Portraits, and then simply choose Start shooting and go make pictures, or you can customize the style with the More settings selection (described in the next chapter). The Shoot menu also gives you an Advanced operation selection. This mode lets you receive instruction from the camera on things like aperture and shutter speed, with graphics to guide you. It allows you to configure the camera, with instructions, along the way. The Guide menu is designed for new photographers. If you have experience with a Nikon DSLR of any other type, you may be more familiar with the normal text-based menus and not need the guidance the Guide menu offers. Even if you have experience with Nikon DSLRs, you may want to read over this chapter anyway, just to see how this guide system works. If you have no experience with a DSLR, then please do spend some time with this chapter. These menus may help ease your transition into the DSLR world. When I first got my Nikon D, I was amazed that Nikon had given users three separate ways to access the exact same

functionality in the camera. The Guide menu, five text-based menus (Playback, Shooting, Setup, Retouch, and Recent settings), and the Information edit menu. The Guide menu’s basic Shoot menu has two parts: The first is designed for letting a new DSLR user select specific styles of shooting and educate them on aperture and shutter speed. The second part allows the user to configure the camera in a deeper way. This presents a problem for an author because the second part—called More settings—takes the user into configuration of some of the same settings that the text-based menus and graphical Information edit menu also control. If I wrote a chapter on all three of these menu systems separately, I would be repeating the same thing three times because they all adjust the same camera settings. What I chose to do in this chapter is to cover the first part of the Guide menu, which helps a new user get a feel for the camera, and then to pull all the various advanced configuration menus into another chapter. That way, all the settings themselves will be fully explained, along with each user interface to locate those settings. The next chapter will cover the Guide menu’s More settings along with the View/edit and Set up menus. In this chapter, we’ll cover the first part of the Nikon Guide Mode menus. We’ll examine the More settings camera configuration as part of the next chapter, Guide Menu – Advanced Use.

2



Nikon Guide Menus – Basic Use

2

FIG  – GUIDE Mode and the Guide menu opening screen

Now, let’s examine the basic use of the Guide menu. FIG  shows the Mode dial set to GUIDE, and the first Guide menu that will appear when you press the Menu button on the camera’s back, left side. Let’s start by looking at the new Guide menu’s three submenus: t
Shoot – This menu allows you to operate the camera in a very basic or more advanced way. Plus, it let’s you set how fast your D takes pictures and the self timers for remote control of the camera. It has three submenus: Easy operation, Advanced operation, and Timers & remote control. This chapter is devoted to the Easy and Advanced operation menu. The Timers & remote control section is considered in the next chapter. t
View/delete – This menu lets you work with the images you’ve already taken. You can view single photos, groups of photos, or even photos from a specific date. You can do a slide show or even delete images. It’s divided into five sections. We’ll consider this section of the Guide menu in the next chapter. t
Set up – This menu has  sections allowing you to configure what Nikon

feels are the most important functions for a newer DSLR user. You can set things like the image size and quality, the time zone, your language, or imprint dates on your pictures. You can create “print sets” on your camera’s memory card that you can later plug into a PictBridge-enabled printer and print directly. Each of these settings, and many more, are available in the normal text-based or Information edit menus too.

Shoot Guide Menu – Basic Use Before we get deeply into the Guide menu system, I want to reiterate one important detail. There are two sets of More settings menus to which the basic Shoot menu connects. These are the configuration menus that will be considered in the next chapter. The Shoot menu uses a progressive series of screens that stop at one of the screen types shown in FIG A, with a selection called Start shooting at the bottom. The screen will vary in how it looks according to whether you are using the Easy operation or Advanced operation menu. In this chapter, the main points

Shoot Guide Menu – Basic Use

of interest on these screens are the Start shooting menu choices. FIG A shows the three “ready to shoot” ending screens types you’ll see. The first one is from the Easy operation menu, the second is from Advanced operation > Soften backgrounds, and the third is from Advanced operations > Freeze motion (people). There is another one for Freeze motion (vehicles) but it looks the same as Freeze motion (people), other than the title difference. In FIG A, on any of the three menu varieties, you’ll notice that underneath the Start shooting selection is the advanced More settings choice that I’ll cover in the next chapter. I want you to realize that when you notice a menu with Start shooting, as seen in FIG A, you’ve reached a decision point: . I can take pictures now by selecting Start shooting. . I can use the More settings selection to configure the camera on a deeper level. In other words, whenever you see one of these screens, the camera is basically saying to you, “Okay, we’ve reached a point where an inexperienced user can stop playing with the menus and take some pictures”. If you choose the Start shooting selection,

FIG A –Start shooting or More settings selections



you can then take pictures based on your menu selections up to that point. However, if you would like to make more adjustments, or fine-tune your camera configuration, you can choose the More settings selection and you’ll be presented with some lower-level configuration options for specific camera functions. The reason I’m mentioning this before I go into a detailed examination of the various Shoot menus is because they all end up on one of the screen types shown in FIG A. Moving past that point— choosing the More settings selection— requires a little more knowledge about using DSLR cameras than some new users have. We’ll look at both sets of More settings menus—Easy and Advanced—in the next chapter. This chapter will focus on the settings and screens up until you get to a screen containing the More settings selection. I consider everything before the More settings selection to be Guide menu “basic use” and everything after More settings to be Guide menu “advanced use”. That’s why we have two chapters for the Guide menu. In other words, I’ve deliberately divided our consideration of the Guide menu into two separate chapters, based on the More settings selection as a stopping point.

2



2

Nikon Guide Menus – Basic Use

Now, let’s look into the Shoot menu. Please don’t confuse the Nikon Guide Mode’s Shoot menu with the older-style text-based Shooting menu discussed in a later chapter, titled Shooting Menu. The Nikon Guide Mode’s Shoot menu has three sections: t
Easy operation t
Advanced operation t
Timers & remote control We’ll consider Easy and Advanced operation in this chapter and Timers & remote control in the next chapter. Let’s look at the Easy operation menu first.

FIG  –Shoot menu – Easy operation screens

Shoot Menu – Easy Operation The four screens shown in FIG  allow you to select nine different shooting styles (image ). Notice how image  shows the ending menu screen, with Start shooting and More settings, as we discussed previously? Get used to this type of screen being a stopping point for basic Shoot menu adjustments, unless you want to use the advanced More settings choice to drill deeper. You aren’t required to, and really shouldn’t unless you fully understand what each of the More settings menu choices do!

Shoot Menu – Easy Operation

Here are the steps used to select a shooting style from the Easy operation menu (see FIG ). . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the camera’s back. . Select Shoot from the Guide menu and press the OK button (see FIG , image ). . Select Easy operation from the Shoot menu (see FIG , image ) then scroll to the right with the Multi Selector (or press the OK button). . Use the Multi Selector to scroll up or down in the Easy operation menu choices and select the style of shooting you want to use for this shooting session (see FIG , image ). See the upcoming list of the nine basic shooting styles for information on what the styles do. . Highlight one of the styles, and scroll to the right with the Multi Selector (or press the OK button). . Highlight the Start shooting selection and press the OK button (see FIG , image ). . Go take pictures with the style you’ve just chosen. If you desire, you can continue to modify the settings using the More settings selection below Start shooting (see FIG , image ). However, it is entirely optional at this time.



The nine basic shooting styles are as follows: . Auto – This automatic mode allows the camera to make basic exposure and focus decisions for you. This should be considered a general-purpose mode for when you are shooting a variety of subjects. This mode is very similar to the AUTO exposure mode selection found on the Mode dial on top of the camera. Basic default camera settings: The camera defaults to the Standard (SD) Picture Control, and Auto-area autofocus. The built-in flash will automatically pop up when needed, and the AF-assist illuminator will shine when autofocus needs a little more light. . No flash – This is a very simple mode. If you select it, the flash is turned off. Be careful in darker areas since you might have camera shake and blur your pictures if there is not enough light for a fast shutter speed. Use this mode when you want to use natural light or where flash isn’t allowed. The camera works as if you had it set to Auto mode (), except that the flash is disabled. . Distant subjects – This mode is especially good for sports—or any distant subject that moves—since it tends to set fast shutter speeds for images with low blur. If you are shooting a basketball, football, or soccer game for your child’s team, this mode is the one you want. You get results from this mode that are

2



2

Nikon Guide Menus – Basic Use

similar to the results you would get if the camera was set to the Sports scene mode on the Mode dial. Basic default camera settings: The camera uses the Standard (SD) Picture Control and seemingly the Single point AF-area mode. This lets you move the autofocus (AF) point around your camera’s viewfinder until you choose one of the  points that best covers the area with the most important focus. This setting is very similar to the Moving subjects selection (). The flash and AF-assist illuminator are disabled in this mode. . Close-ups – If you like to take pictures of things up close, use this mode. It is the equivalent of the Close-up selection on the Mode dial. This is good for “macro” photography, with those special lenses for extreme close-ups, or you can just use your -mm kit lens to get as close as possible. Basic default camera settings: The camera uses the Standard (SD) Picture Control and the Single point AF-area mode. The flash and AF-assist illuminator are automatically used when needed in this mode. . Sleeping faces – This is an unusually named style that is similar to the Child scene mode on the Mode dial. I guess they named it Sleeping faces since young children tend to sleep more. How many parents can resist taking pictures of sleeping babies, for instance? If you want to take pictures of

wiggly awake or sleeping children, use this mode. Basic default camera settings: The camera uses the Standard (SD) Picture Control and the Auto-area AFarea mode. Unlike with the Child scene mode, the flash and AF-assist light are disabled in Sleeping faces, so it won’t wake up those sleepy kids with a burst of light. . Moving subjects – This is also a good mode for sports or any moving subject. When I noticed that this particular selection closely resembled the Distant subjects setting (), I was a little confused. Nikon USA’s technical support department helped with an explanation. It appears that the folks at Nikon wanted to “cover the bases” in the styles of shooting, so they put the same functionality under two headings. To test this, I shot carefully controlled images using both Distant subjects and Moving subjects. Both took the picture with exactly the same settings—shutter speed, aperture, histogram, picture control, and ISO sensitivity. Basic default camera settings: The same as Distant subjects (). . Landscapes – If you are out shooting nature and want those beautiful scenics, or you’re visiting New York City or Tokyo and want a sweeping vista shot of all the skyscrapers—from a distance—choose the Landscapes mode. This mode is for when you want to take

Shoot Menu – Easy Operation

wide shots of non-moving distant subjects with lots of detail. Basic default camera settings: The camera uses the Landscape (LS) Picture Control and Single point AF-area mode. The flash and AFassist light are disabled in this mode. . Portraits – This mode looks for people’s faces in the frame using facial-recognition technology. It also adjusts the camera for smooth-looking and accurate skin tones. Take pictures of individuals and groups of people using this mode. The camera will seek out their faces and automatically focus on them. Basic default camera settings: The camera uses the Portrait (PT) Picture Control and the Auto-area AF-area mode. The flash and AF-assist light are automatically used when needed in this mode. . Night Portrait – This mode is similar to Portraits mode () except that it uses the flash differently. Where the Portraits mode uses normal Fill flash (front-curtain), the Night portrait mode uses Slow sync flash. If the light is truly low, you really should be using a tripod when shooting night portraits. You should also ask your subjects to stand very still. The camera will use a very slow shutter speed to balance the low ambient light with the necessary flash. If you’re trying to handhold the camera using this mode, you’ll have a nicely exposed person because the



flash will light the face well, but since a slow shutter speed is being used, the surroundings may be blurred. Use a tripod, or at the very least brace yourself against something when taking a night portrait. Basic default camera settings: The camera uses the Portrait (PT) Picture Control and the Auto-area AFarea mode. The flash and AF-assist light are automatically used when needed in this mode. The flash uses Slow sync. This mode is discussed in more detail under the chapter titled Speedlight Flash Photography. Use the screens shown in FIG  to select one of the nine modes as your needs change. These modes will cover the usual subjects that you might want to photograph. They are, in a sense, “presets,” which means the camera decides how to best configure itself. You can use the More settings menu to change some of the camera’s basic default settings as your experience with using a DSLR grows. If you decide to do that, just select the More settings menu choice instead of the Start shooting selection (see FIG , image ). Refer to the next chapter for details on how to use the More settings menu. Now, let’s move on into the Advanced operation menu and discover even more powerful ways you can use your camera.

2



Nikon Guide Menus – Basic Use

Shoot Menu – Advanced Operation

2

Where the Easy operation menu takes only four screens to arrive at a basic shooting style, the Advanced operation menu takes six. The reason it uses more screens is that the camera tries to teach its users some basic photography principles as they walk through the advanced menu. FIG  shows the six screens you’ll use to configure the camera. Soften Backgrounds

First we’ll consider the Soften backgrounds selection on the Advanced operation menu. There are two other menu selections that we’ll look at too—the two types of Freeze motion settings. But, first, here’s Soften backgrounds information.

FIG  – Advanced operation – Soften backgrounds

Use these steps to select the Soften backgrounds choice (see FIG ): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the camera’s back. . Select Shoot from the Guide menu and press the OK button (see FIG , image ). . Select Advanced operation from the Shoot menu and then scroll to the right with the Multi Selector, or press the OK button (see FIG , image ). . Select Soften backgrounds from the Advanced operation menu, and then scroll to the right with the Multi Selector, or press the OK button (see FIG , image ).

Shoot Menu – Advanced Operation

. Read the instructional screen found in FIG , image , and then press the OK button. . Use the Multi Selector to scroll up or down and select an aperture number, such as F. Once you have the aperture number you want to use, press the OK button (see FIG , image ). . The final screen that allows you to begin taking pictures with your selected aperture now appears. Select the Start shooting choice from the menu and press the OK button (see FIG , image ). Remember that you can use the More settings selection shown in FIG , image  to adjust even more settings. It is optional. Refer to the next chapter for details on how to use the More settings menu. Notice the graphical representation of the aperture blades found in the lens of your camera in the last two screens of FIG ? These aperture blades control the amount of light your lens passes into the camera. The larger the opening, the more light gets in; the smaller the opening, the less light gets into the camera. Let’s also discuss how this aperture setting affects how soft or sharp the background will be in your images.



The Soften backgrounds screens can also be used to sharpen the background! Large aperture numbers sharpen the background, while small aperture numbers soften the background. This menu is trying to teach you about a photographic principle called “depth of field”. What depth of field means is how much of the picture is in sharp focus. Is just your subject in sharp focus and the background not in focus, or are the subject and background both in sharp focus? It is the size of the camera’s aperture opening that determines the depth of field. If only your subject is in focus, then the image is said to have shallow depth of field. If the subject and background are in sharp focus, then the picture has deep depth of field. In FIG A you can see the effect of the aperture with a small number (f/.) and a large number (f/). See how the small aperture number causes the background to be soft looking but the large aperture number causes the background to be sharp? I focused on the girl in red in both pictures. The small aperture number softened the background. The large aperture number sharpened the background. In

FIG A – Aperture numbers affect the background sharpness

2



2

Nikon Guide Menus – Basic Use

both pictures my primary subject, the girl in red, is sharp. However, the sharpness of the background varies according to the aperture number value. The first picture in FIG A has shallow depth of field, and the second picture has deep depth of field. In FIG , image  you can see how to select different aperture numbers. For instance, I have selected an aperture called “F”, which is commonly written as f/. This is a medium-sized aperture. FIG , image  asks you to select small values to soften the background. What that means is simply that you will select smaller aperture f/numbers. Here is a list of apertures, running from small values to large. As the f/number gets bigger, the background loses blurriness. Your camera’s -mm kit lens has a maximum aperture size (small number) of f/., which is between f/. and f/: <— Small F/number to large F/number —> f/., f/, f/., f/, f/., f/, f/, f/, f/ In this example, the f/ number is smaller than the f/ number. If you used f/, the background would be much more blurry, than if you used f/. I chose f/, which is a medium aperture. The subject will be in sharp focus and even some of the background at a medium aperture like f/. When you select bigger and bigger aperture f/numbers (f/), farther and farther into the distance the background will get sharper. As you select smaller and

smaller aperture f/numbers (f/.), your distant background will become softer or blurrier. This book has a chapter devoted to understanding how to use the camera’s aperture to control depth of field. For much more detailed information on this subject, please refer to the chapter titled Aperture, Shutter Speed, and Focal Length. Later, when you have gained a deeper knowledge of the camera, you can get the same effect from the Aperture-priority exposure mode, or A on the Mode dial. These Soften backgrounds guide screens simply provide a way to help you understand how to later use a more advanced mode in the camera. Freeze Motion (People) and (Vehicles)

While the section on Soften backgrounds was about setting the camera’s aperture to control how sharp or soft the background may be, this section on freezing motion for people and vehicles is about the camera’s shutter speed. There are two menu selections in the Advanced operations menu concerned with stopping motion—Freeze motion (people) and Freeze motion (vehicles). There is no point in having two separate sections for these two menu items. They work identically and are concerned only with the type of action you are trying to freeze. All the screens are the same, except for slightly different text. The textual difference is about how fast the shutter speed should be for the two types of moving subjects. Clearly, a person

Shoot Menu – Advanced Operation

walking along will not require as fast a shutter speed to freeze the motion as a car traveling  mph (. kph). In this section you’ll see the screens (FIG )—and steps to use them—for freezing (or blurring) motion of the two types of subjects, people and vehicles. I chose to use the screens for vehicles instead of people. You can use either set of screens for either type of subjects. It makes absolutely no difference. The only difference in these two menu varieties is the text where it specifies people or vehicles (FIG , images  to ) and the text on maximum shutter speeds to freeze motion (FIG , image ). The two Freeze motion menus have exactly the same effect on the shutter speed, and it does not matter which you use for people, vehicles, or anything else moving quickly. The primary thing you need to remember is that, the faster the subject is moving, the faster the shutter speed

FIG  – Advanced operation – Freeze motion



that’s required to freeze the motion. Otherwise you’ll have blurred motion in your picture—which may be a good thing for some motion! Here are the steps used to set the camera’s shutter speed to the correct value for your subject matter: . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the camera’s back. . Select Shoot from the Guide menu and press the OK button (see FIG , image ). . Select Advanced operation from the Shoot menu, and then scroll to the right with the Multi Selector, or press the OK button (see FIG , image ). . Select Freeze motion (people) or Freeze motion (vehicles) from the Advanced operation menu, then scroll to the right with the Multi Selector, or press the OK button (see FIG , image ).

2



2

Nikon Guide Menus – Basic Use

. Read the instructional screen found in FIG , image , and then press the OK button. . Use the Multi Selector to scroll up or down, and then select a shutter speed number, such as /. Once you have the shutter speed you desire, press the OK button (see FIG , image ). Use / and above for people or animals and / and above for fast-moving objects like race cars and airplanes. If the subject looks blurred, you’ll have to increase this value to freeze the subject. You can select up to / to help stop the action. Most fast action will be frozen by a number between / and /. You may have to experiment to find the best

FIG A – Deliberately blurred water motion

shutter speed number since it will vary according to the speed of the subject. You can use a really fast shutter speed, like /, only when there is a lot of available light. . The final screen that allows you to begin taking pictures with your selected shutter speed now appears. Select the Start shooting choice from the menu and press the OK button (see FIG , image ). At this point you could use the More settings selection to make other adjustments (see FIG , image ). I will cover this more advanced use of the Guide menu in the next chapter.

My Conclusions

You can use these Freeze motion screens to freeze or even deliberately blur motion. When you’re taking a picture of a beautiful mountain river cascading over the rocks, you may not want to abruptly stop the water. Most of the time you want beautiful flowing water, like in FIG A. If you used a fast shutter speed, the water would not look like the picture shown. Instead it would be frozen and odd looking. The shutter speed for the small waterfall picture was around / second long. I took this picture from my tripod. You can’t handhold a camera with a shutter speed this slow if you want sharp pictures. You can select shutter speeds from  seconds to / of a second with your D camera (see FIG , image ). Make sure you are using a tripod for any pictures you shoot with a shutter speed shorter than / of a second (/ on the menu), otherwise your whole picture may be blurry from camera movement. I’ll discuss shutter speed in great detail in the chapter of this book titled Aperture, Shutter Speed, and Focal Length. In the meantime, experiment with how changing the shutter speed makes your moving subjects look. Later, when you have advanced in using a DSLR camera, you can get the same effect from the Shutter-priority exposure mode, or S on the Mode dial. These Freeze motion guide screens are simply a way to help you understand how to later use a more advanced mode in the camera.



My Conclusions By using the first part of the Guide menu, you can control specific styles of shooting with the Easy operation menu, or you can learn about aperture and shutter speed with the Advanced operation menu. This chapter taught you to use the camera in a basic way, but with even more control than the Scene and AUTO exposure modes provide. The upcoming chapters will take you deeply into advanced configuration of the D. You’ll be able to move out of a basic stance and learn to control your camera. Instead of it making decisions for you, you’ll make decisions for it. Or, you can share the responsibility. The Nikon D is a very flexible camera, designed to allow a new user to get familiar with working a DSLR. It also allows an interested user to get right into the deep parts of the camera and configure it for advanced photography. As I’ve mentioned before, the D is designed to let you grow as a photographer. So, now, let’s move into deeper “Advanced” settings and start growing.

2



Guide Menu – Advanced Use

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

3



The Nikon D is a little unusual in the world of cameras. There are all sorts of settings that can be configured, like Image size and quality, ISO sensitivity, which Picture Control to use, Flash modes, Focus modes, Release modes, AF-area modes, Noise reduction, White balance, Active D-lighting— and the list goes on. That’s not what’s unusual though. What’s a little different is how many ways Nikon has given you to access those settings. There are three distinct user interfaces that allow you to adjust the same camera features. Not all the settings are available from all three user interfaces. The most comprehensive are the olderstyle text-based menus like the Shooting menu—not to be confused with the Guide Mode’s Shoot menu. The easiest to use is the Information edit menu (Quick settings), but it only covers a subset of the entire range of settings, albeit the most important ones. Then there are the advanced sections of the Guide menu, which this chapter will consider. The Nikon Guide Mode menu system is composed of three main menus, as we discussed in the previous chapter. They are as follows: t
Shoot menu t
View/delete menu t
Set up menu The Shoot menu is composed of a series of three menus: . Easy operation . Advanced operation . Timers & remote control

The View/delete menu has five settings concerned with using already taken images. The Set up menu has  settings that are selectively chosen from the most important settings found on other camera menus. The first two choices in the Shoot menu—Easy operation and Advanced operation—are divided into two natural parts; first, an easy part that lets you select a style of shooting (covered in the previous chapter) and second, a more detailed part that lets you select advanced camera functions, which we’ll cover in this chapter. What Nikon has done with the Guide Mode menu system is selectively choose all sorts of settings found all over the camera’s more advanced menu systems, and bring them to one place. This makes it easy for a new DSLR user to learn to operate the camera and gradually exposes them to the more advanced way of using a DSLR, setting things in the older-style Playback, Shooting, Setup, Retouch, and Recent settings menus. Later in this book we will cover each of those more advanced menu systems in detail. This is important, since the Guide menu does not cover all the available settings. Nikon has made it easy for a new user to learn how to take pictures with a DSLR—by giving them a “hand-holding” Guide Mode. The way the Guide menu combines various settings from the other older-style menus makes it difficult to describe in a book without constant repetition of the same bits of information.

3



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

For instance, the Set up menu of the Guide Mode has an Image quality setting. Well, so does the Information edit menu and the older-style Shooting menu. The funny thing is, all three of these menus (user interfaces) simply set the same underlying Image size for the camera. Can you imagine how boring this book would be if I wrote the exact same information in each chapter, as we consider each user interface (menu)? Since it is the same setting being approached from three user interfaces, I’d have to repeat things over and over in different chapters. What I have chosen to do, instead, is to give a basic description of each setting in one place, with a reference to the more detailed information in the primary location for that setting. While I hate to have users referring to other chapters to get detailed information, I think that is preferable to having the book be three times larger than necessary and repeating the same information over and over in different chapters. Since the Guide Mode menu system is a basic system for new users, I will give only brief references to what the more advanced settings do in this chapter. In later chapters, with more advanced user interfaces, I’ll give much more detailed information on the settings and include a reference to them in this chapter. If you see a setting that you really want to learn more about and the information is not detailed enough for you in this chapter, the cross reference will allow you to dig deeper.

By providing three distinct user interfaces to adjust the same settings, Nikon has given you tremendous flexibility. However, you can imagine how difficult it is to condense this information into a book, while still making it readable and not boring from repetition. I appreciate your patience with this process.

Shoot Menu Screen Review Here is a look at the Guide Mode menus contained within the Shoot menu. The first, in FIG A, is for the Easy operation menu. The second, in FIG B, is for the Advanced operation menu. There are a sizable number of screens to get into the Guide Mode’s More settings section, which contains three or six configurable settings, according to which “operation” mode you are using, Easy or Advanced. From this display of screens, you’ll see why I don’t often use the Guide Mode’s Shoot menu for setting options that are more readily accessible under other menus. As we work with the Shoot menu’s More settings choices in this chapter, we’ll start with FIGA, image  or FIG B, image . Otherwise you’d have to repeatedly look at these same screens for each advanced setting we cover. If you get confused about the order of screens, please refer back to this section to understand how to get to the More settings selection. Easy operation –FIG A shows the six screens necessary to go all the way through the Easy operation Guide menu. Normally you’ll stop on the fourth screen

Shoot Menu Screen Review

at the Start shooting selection and go make pictures. That is what we covered in the last chapter. In this chapter, we’ll cover all the screens that come after—the More settings screens. FIG A, image  shows the actual More settings screen for the Auto shooting style when you’re using the Easy operation menu. It is composed of only three settings, while the Advanced operation menu has six (considered next). Here are the steps used to get into the More settings menu for Easy operation: . Set the Mode dial on top the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the camera’s back. . Select Shoot from the Guide Menu and press the OK button (see FIG A, image ). . Select Easy operation from the Shoot menu (see FIG A, image ), then scroll to the right with the Multi Selector (or press the OK button).

FIG A – Shoot menu’s Easy operation menus



. Use the Multi Selector to scroll up or down in the Easy operation menu choices and highlight the style of shooting you want to use for this shooting session, and then scroll to the right with the Multi Selector (see FIG A, image ). I chose Auto as an example. . On the informational screen, highlight the More settings selection and scroll to the right with the Multi Selector (see FIG A, image ). FIG A, image  shows the actual More settings screen for the Easy operation menu, with its three available settings— Flash mode, Release mode, and AF-area mode. Image  shows how you can finish after you have modified one of the three settings. You simply scroll to the bottom and select Start shooting. Our primary concern, in this chapter, is for the three settings found in FIG A, image . These are normal camera settings

3



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

that are also available from the other two camera user interfaces, the Shooting menu and Information edit menu. We’ll examine each setting and show how to use all the available interfaces to adjust them. Now, let’s look into the Guide Mode’s Advanced operation screen flow to the More settings section (see FIG B). Advanced operation – FIG B has nine screens for Advanced operation instead of the six screens in Easy operation. That’s because Advanced operation gives you six More settings options instead of just three like the Easy operation menus. The three settings shown in FIG B, image  are exactly the same on both menus, while the other three, shown in FIG B, image , are exclusive to the Advanced operation menu.

FIG B – Shoot menu’s Advanced operation menu

Here are the steps to get to the More settings option for the Advanced operation menu: . Set the Mode dial on top the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the camera’s back. . Select Shoot from the GUIDE MENU and press the OK button (see FIG B, image ). . Select Advanced operation from the Shoot screen’s menu and then scroll to the right with the Multi Selector, or press the OK button (see FIG B, image ). . Select one of the three choices on the Advanced operation menu. As an example, I chose Soften backgrounds. Now scroll to the right with the Multi Selector, or press the OK button (see FIG B, image ).

Shoot Menu Screen Review

. Press the OK button when you see an instructional screen like the one found in FIG B, image . . Use the Multi Selector to scroll up or down and select an aperture number, or shutter speed if you chose one of the Freeze motion selections instead of Soften backgrounds. Once you have the option set, press the OK button (see FIG B, image ). . The final screen that allows you to begin taking pictures with your selected setting now appears. Select the More settings choice from the menu and press the OK button (see FIG B, image ). . FIG B, images  and  show the screens that contain the six More settings options that you’ll learn to configure later in this chapter. .FIG B, image  shows how you can start taking pictures once you have configured one or all of the six settings. Simply choose Start shooting from the menu as shown in FIG B, image .



We discussed the screens in FIG B, images  through  in the previous chapter, but now we’ll go further. As mentioned, images  and  in FIG B contain six settings: . Set Picture Control . Exposure comp. . Flash compensation . Flash mode . Release mode . AF-area mode We’ll consider these six choices from the More settings menus in the next section. In review, the more detailed or advanced part of the Guide menu starts with a selection called More settings, as seen in FIG A, image  and FIG B, image . In this chapter I call everything past that selection the More settings menu, although they’re really just a continuation of either the Easy or Advanced operation menus. I think you’ll see why I do it this way as you read the next few sections. Keep a bookmark in this section as you read this chapter since I’ll refer back to FIGs A and B. These will be reference points to finding the choices after reaching the More settings selection.

3



Guide Menu – Advanced Use

Shoot Menu’s More Settings Selection

3

Now let’s switch attention to the actual six items found in the More settings menus. Here is a description of each setting, along with the menu screens used to find and adjust them (see FIG A): . Set Picture Control – (Only available on the Advanced operation menu) Picture Controls are designed to give a certain look to your image. In the example screens in FIG A, you see the last screens in the long series of screens presented previously in FIG B. We are starting on the same screen found in FIG B, image . In FIG A, image , you’ll see the three available Picture Controls listed here: t
SD – Standard: Gives your images a balanced color and contrast that provides nice saturation for landscapes and natural skin color for portraits. Use this control, at first, so that you can learn your camera’s capabilities, and use it as a guide of other “looks.” t
VI – Vivid: Very saturated colors and higher contrast. This control is for people who like their pictures to have a lot of color. Reds and greens will really be saturated, although not entirely realistic. However, many

people love the look. Try it for fun. It is not overpowering, but significantly more “punchy” than the balanced look of the SD control. t
MC – Monochrome: If you love to shoot black and white images, this is the control for you. It provides nice dark blacks, clean whites, and good intermediate grays so that you can experiment with those moody black and white images you crave. Here are the steps to configure your camera for one of the three available Picture Controls: a) Refer to FIG B, and the steps listed below it, to get your camera to the More settings menu in image . This will be the same screen as shown in FIG A, image . b) Referring to FIG A, image , select More settings and then scroll to the right. c) Choose Set Picture Control from the top of the menu shown in FIG A, image , and then scroll to the right. d) Choose one of the actual Picture Controls (SD, VI, or MC) and then press the OK button to select it. (If you’d rather keep the current control, select the little U-shaped arrow in the lower-right corner of FIG A, image . When you

FIG A – Set Picture Control from the Advanced operation menu

Shoot Menu’s More Settings Selection

press the OK button it will let you “Exit without changing settings.”) e) The camera will return to the previous screen. Scroll down to the Start shooting selection, as shown at the bottom of FIG A, image , and press the OK button. Go take pictures! . Exposure comp. – (Only available on the Advanced operation menu) As shown in FIG B, you can use Exposure comp. (compensation) when you want to override the camera’s light meter. If you feel that a picture is too light or too dark, you can force the camera to add or subtract up to five EV steps (stops) of light—in / steps. What that means is that you will select a compensation value, as shown in FIG B, image , in a sequence of steps like ., +/-., +/-., +/- ., +/- ., and so on. When you’re using this function, you’ll see a tiny picture of vegetables that will get brighter or darker as you add or subtract EV values. When you’ve taken your picture after using this setting, please remember to set the Exposure comp. back to . (no compensation), or all the pictures you take will keep the previous compensation setting and over- or underexpose accordingly. I mention this because I



often forget to set it back and six or seven pictures later I notice that my image is too dark or light. Here are the steps to configure your camera for extra or less exposure using the Exposure comp. setting: a) Refer to FIG B, and the steps listed below it, to get your camera to the More settings menu in image . This will be the same screen as shown in FIG B, image . b) Referring to FIG B, image , select More settings and then scroll to the right. c) Choose Exposure comp. from the top of the menu shown in FIG A, image , and then scroll to the right. d) Use the Multi Selector to scroll up or down where you see the little up/down arrows with a . between them (FIG B, image ). Once you have selected a compensation value, press the OK button. Remember, . equals no compensation. Scrolling to + (plus) brightens exposure, while scrolling to – (minus) darkens exposure. e) The camera will return to the previous screen. Scroll down to the Start shooting selection, as shown at the bottom of FIG B, image , press the OK button, and go take pictures!

FIG B – Exposure compensation from the Advanced operation menu

3



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

. Flash compensation – (Only available on the Advanced operation menu) As shown in FIG C, Flash compensation is very similar to Exposure comp., discussed previously. You can adjust the output of the camera’s pop up flash, or an external Speedlight inserted in the camera’s hot shoe on top. If the flash is too bright or too dark, simply add or subtract compensation until it looks the way you like. You are limited to adding  extra EV step of brightness, but you can subtract up to  EV steps of light, in / EV steps. Here are the steps to configure your camera for extra or less exposure using the Flash compensation setting: a) Refer to FIG B, and the steps listed below it, to get your camera to the More settings menu in image . This will be the same screen as shown in FIG C, image . b) Referring to FIG C, image , select More settings and then scroll to the right. c) Choose Flash compensation from the menu as shown in FIG C, image , and then scroll to the right. d) Use the Multi Selector to scroll up or down where you see the little up/down arrowheads with a . between them (FIG C, image ). Once you have selected a compensation value, press the OK button. Remember, . equals

no compensation. Scrolling to + (plus) brightens exposure, while scrolling to – (minus) darkens exposure. e) The camera will return to the previous screen. Scroll down to the Start shooting selection, as shown at the bottom of FIG C, image , press the OK button, and you’re ready to go take pictures! . Flash mode – (Available from both the Easy and Advanced operation menus). The best thing for me to tell you right now about the Flash modes is that they are rather complex and that the various modes are not available at all camera settings. In some settings, such as Easy operation’s Distant subjects mode, the flash modes are not available at all and the screen is grayed out. Here is a list of all the modes that are available in the camera. Not all will be available from the Guide menus. t
Fill flash (front-curtain sync) t
Rear-curtain sync t
Slow sync t
Red-eye reduction t
Slow sync + red-eye reduction t
Rear curtain + slow sync t
Auto t
Auto + red-eye reduction t
Auto + slow sync t
Auto + slow sync + red-eye reduction t
Off

FIG C – Flash compensation from the Advanced operation menu

Shoot Menu’s More Settings Selection

I will cover these modes in great detail in a later chapter of this book, where you’ll discover what modes are available and how each works. Since this is a chapter for new users about the Guide Mode, for now let me recommend that you use the Advanced operation menu’s Fill flash or Red-eye reduction modes (see FIG D, image , first two selections). Or, if you are using the Easy operation menu, select Auto or Auto + Red-eye reduction mode (see FIG E, image , first two selections). You’ll find the names of each mode in text above the picture in the last screen of each menu. It’s easy to pick the “red-eye reduction” modes by looking for the little eyeball symbol in the icon. If you need more information on these modes, and how to determine when each is available, please refer to the section “Using



the D’s Flash Settings” in chapter , Speedlight Flash Photography. Here are the steps to configure your camera for extra or less exposure using the Flash compensation setting: a) If you’re using Easy operation menus, please refer to FIG A, or B if using the Advanced operation menus. Use the steps listed below them to get your camera to the More settings menu. This will be the same screen as shown in FIGs D or E, image . b) Referring to image  of FIG D (Advanced operation) or E (Easy operation), select More settings, and then scroll to the right. If you are using the Advanced operation menus, you’ll need to pass right by the screen shown in Figure D, image .

FIG D – Flash mode from the Advanced operation menu

3



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

c) Choose Flash mode from the top of the menu shown in FIG D, image  or FIG E, image , and then scroll to the right. d) Select one of the flash modes (see chapter , Speedlight Flash Photography, for detail on the modes). e) The camera will return to the previous screen. Scroll down to the Start shooting selection, press the OK button, and you’re ready to go take flash pictures! . Release mode – (Available from both the Easy and Advanced operation menus). This set of five choices affects how the camera releases its shutter. t
Single frame – One shutter press takes one picture. t
Continuous – One shutter press, held down, fires the camera continuously, for up to three pictures per second. t
Self-timer – When you press the shutter, the camera autofocuses, then beeps and flashes the AF-assist illuminator for  seconds, and then finally takes the picture. During the last couple of seconds the camera beeps and flashes twice as fast. t
Delayed remote – You don’t press the Shutter release manually in this mode. Instead you use the Nikon ML-L Infrared Remote Release shown in FIG H. You can use this little, low-cost,

FIG E – Flash mode from the Easy operation menu

wireless, infrared release from as far away as  feet ( m) and cause the camera to autofocus and take the picture. Be positioned first, because you have only  seconds before the camera fires. The camera’s light will blink for the  seconds just before it takes the picture. t
Quick-response remote – Similar to Delayed remote, except that there is no delay. As soon as you press the button on the little ML-L Infrared Remote, autofocus will happen and the shutter will fire. Here are the steps to configure your camera for using the Release mode settings: a) If you’re using the Easy operation menu, please refer to FIG A, or B if you’re using the Advanced operation menus. Use the steps listed below them to get your camera to the More settings menu. This will be the same screen shown in FIGs F and G, image . b) Referring to image  of FIG F (Advanced operation) or FIG G (Easy operation), select More settings and then scroll to the right. If you are using the Advanced operation menus, you’ll need to pass right by the screen shown in Figure F, image  by selecting Next and scrolling right.

Shoot Menu’s More Settings Selection



3

FIG F – Release mode from the Advanced operation menu

FIG G – Release mode from the Easy operation menu

c) Choose Release mode from the menu shown in FIG F, image  or FIG G, image  and then scroll to the right. d) Select one of the Release modes (see chapter , Shooting Menu, for detail on the modes). e) The camera will return to the previous screen. Scroll down to the Start shooting selection, press the OK button, and you’re ready to go take pictures!

FIG H - Nikon ML-L Infrared Remote Release



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

The Release modes will be covered in much more detail in chapter  of this book titled Shooting Menu. In addition, the first two Release modes—Single frame and Continuous—are featured heavily in chapter  called Multi-CAM  Autofocus. . AF-area mode – (Available from both the Easy and Advanced operation menus). This mode affects how your camera’s autofocus system knows how and where to focus. There are four modes:

t
Single point – This mode allows you to move a single AF Point around the viewfinder with the Multi Selector control. You can use the AF Point to select a certain area of your subject to place the best focus on that place. You can see the selected AF Point move around the  AF Points in the viewfinder when you press the Multi Selector control in any direction. The selected AF Point is the only active

FIG I – AF-area mode from the Advanced operation menu

FIG J – AF-area mode from the Easy operation menu

Shoot Menu’s More Settings Selection

point for autofocus. This is best used for static or slowly moving subjects. t
Dynamic area – The mode works in a similar way to the Single point mode, and it even seems identical when you use it while looking through the viewfinder. The only difference is that the AF Point you are moving around with the Multi Selector is not the only active point for autofocus. The four AF Points surrounding the one you see are also active, even though they don’t light up like the selected point. This mode is good for shooting sports or where the subject will be moving erratically. t
Auto-area – This mode turns your D into a heavy point-andshoot camera. The autofocus is completely handled by the camera. It will flash up various AF Points in the viewfinder as it decides what the most important subject is. It uses facial-recognition technology to find people’s faces in the frame and focus on them with higher priority. Use this mode at parties, or anytime you don’t want to think about autofocus. t
D-tracking ( points) – This mode is similar to Dynamic area, except that all  of the AF Points are active for tracking a subject. You will still only see one AF Point in the viewfinder and can move it around to select a starting point of focus on your subject. However, if the subject moves, the camera will track it across all the  AF Points, using the color and contrast of the subject to keep the camera focused in the right place. Use



this mode for tracking wildlife and at air shows, races, or any event where your subject is moving quickly and you need to have the camera track it and stay focused while it moves. Here are the steps to configure your camera for using the Release mode settings: a) If you’re using the Easy operation menu, please refer to FIG A; if you’re using the Advanced operation menu refer to FIG B. Use the steps listed below them to get your camera to the More settings menu. This will be the same screen as shown in FIGs I or J, image . b) Referring to image  of FIG I (Advanced operation) or J (Easy operation), select More settings and then scroll to the right. If you are using the Advanced operation menus, you’ll need to pass right by the screen shown in Figure I, image  by selecting Next and scrolling right. c) Choose AF-area mode from the menu shown in FIG I, image  or FIG J, image , and then scroll to the right. d) Select one of the AF-area modes (see the chapter entitled Shooting Menu for details on the modes). e) The camera will return to the previous screen. Scroll down to the Start shooting selection, press the OK button, and you’re ready to go take pictures! The AF-area modes will be covered in much greater detail in chapter , titled Shooting Menu. Now, let’s move on to the Shoot menu’s > Timers & remote control menu.

3



Guide Menu – Advanced Use

Shoot Menu’s Timers & Remote Control

3

To make it easier to get to the often-used Release modes, which we discussed in the preceding section, Nikon isolated a portion of the More settings menu in a standalone menu called Timers & remote control. Timers & remote control is an exact duplicate of the Release mode’s final menu screen and lets you select the exact same settings as the latter. Compare FIG  with the final screens in FIG F or G. They are duplicates! Here is a brief recap of the Timer & remote control modes, which are really the Release modes: t
Single frame – One shutter press gives you one picture. t
Continuous – Hold down the shutter button for up to three pictures per second. t
Self-timer – Press the shutter once for a -second delay and the camera takes a picture. The camera beeps and blinks its AF-assist light until the camera fires. t
Delayed remote – Use the ML-L infrared remote, with a -second delay. t
Quick-response remote - Use the ML-L infrared remote, with no delay.

FIG  – Timers & remote control

Here are the steps used to select and use Timers & remote control, a.k.a. Release modes (see FIG ): . Set the Mode dial on top the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the camera’s back. . Select Shoot from the GUIDE MENU and press the OK button (see FIG , image ). . Select Timers & remote control from the Shoot menu (see FIG , image ) and then scroll to the right with the Multi Selector (or press the OK button). . As FIG , image  shows, select one of the Timer & remote control (Release) modes (see chapter , Shooting Menu, for details on the modes). . Press the OK button to select a mode, and you’re ready to go take pictures! (See FIG , image .) We covered these same settings in this chapter’s section “Shoot Menu’s ‘More Settings’ Selection”, under the section called “. Release mode”. These are the Release modes. We will also cover these settings in much more detail in chapter , Shooting Menu.

Guide Menu’s View/Delete Selections

Guide Menu’s View/Delete Selections The View/delete menu is designed for someone who knows very little about operating the external controls on the camera. If you set the Mode dial to GUIDE mode and press the Menu button, you have access to various functions that let you view or delete the pictures you’ve already taken. There are five sections to this menu. Most of them are concerned with viewing pictures in various ways. One helps you delete images, again, in various ways. Many of these functions can also be done by merely pressing the Playback button, the Zoom in or Zoom out button, or the Delete button. The slide show function is also available under the old-style Playback menu. Let’s see how they work. View Single Photos

The View single photos selection of the View/delete menu allows you to duplicate the pressing of the Playback button. If you would rather use multiple menus instead of a single button press, you can use these screens (see FIG ).

FIG  – View single photos



Here are the steps to view a photo or a series of photos already on your camera’s memory card (see FIG ): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select View/delete from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select View single photos, and press the OK button. . The LCD monitor will then display a picture. . View other photos by pressing right or left on the Multi Selector. There is an alternate way to do the same thing. Use external camera controls: . Press the Playback button—found on the top left of the camera’s back. It looks like an arrow pointing right with a rectangle around it. (See chapter , FIG B, number .) . Look at the pictures on the LCD monitor by scrolling back and forth with the Multi Selector. Now, let’s see how to display a group of thumbnails on your camera’s LCD monitor so that you can choose one to view.

3



Guide Menu – Advanced Use

View Multiple Photos

3

In the preceding section, you SAW how to view one picture at a time. This one is for viewing images as thumbnails so that you can see four images at the same time on the small LCD screen. You can scroll up or down with the Multi Selector to view all your images. When you find one you want to see, you can select and view it (see FIG ). Here are the steps to use the View multiple photos menu (see FIG ): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select View/delete from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select View multiple photos, and press the OK button. . The LCD screen will then display four pictures. . View other photo groups by pressing up or down on the Multi Selector. . Select a photo with the Multi Selector and press the OK button to open it to full size. The camera displays four thumbnails as a default, but you can change the number by using the Thumbnail/playback zoom out or Playback zoom in buttons, as found in

FIG  – View multiple photos

chapter , FIG B, numbers  and . They are the last two buttons on the bottom left of the camera’s back and look like magnifying glasses. The top one zooms out to multiple images, and the bottom one zooms in to one image. They will change the number of images shown from as few as  to as many as  tiny thumbnails displayed on the LCD screen. If you zoom in past the  images displayed point, the screen switches to a date display to let you choose a certain date to view images. Here is a rundown on what the Playback zoom in button gives you: . Starts with  images on the screen when you select View multiple photos (see FIG , image ). . One press of the Thumbnail/playback zoom out button shows nine images. . Another press of the Thumbnail/playback zoom out button shows  images. . A final press of the Thumbnail/playback zoom out button switches to a calendar display to choose a specific date from which to view images. Using the Playback zoom in button reverses the process and finally ends up with just one image on screen. Play with this a moment and it will become easy.

Guide Menu’s View/Delete Selections

You can duplicate this functionality without using the menus by following these steps with external camera buttons: . Press the Playback button—found on the top left of the camera’s back. It looks like an arrow pointing right with a rectangle around it. (See chapter , FIG B, number .) . Look at the pictures on the LCD screen by scrolling back and forth with the Multi Selector, or… . Press the Thumbnail/playback zoom out or Playback zoom in buttons to show more than one image or return to one picture— exactly the same way as described for the View multiple photos menu. You can zoom in and out anytime you see a picture on the screen. Learn the external button locations and you’ll view your images much more quickly than stepping through menus. However, those menus are there if you don’t know how to use the buttons or forget. Choose a Date

When you select Choose a date, instead of displaying pictures, the camera shows you a calendar that you can use to view images taken on a specific date. It displays the current month and year and lets you choose a day from the calendar. You can

FIG  – Choose a date



tell that you have pictures available on a certain day because it shows a tiny image thumbnail instead of a gray square (see FIG , image ). Here are the steps to open and use the Choose a date menu (see FIG ): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select View/delete from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select Choose a date, and press the OK button. . The LCD screen will then display a calendar, as shown in FIG , image . . Scroll around the calendar with the Multi Selector, stop on a date that has a picture thumbnail, and then press the OK button to view the image (or series of images). . Or, you can use the small scrolling preview display on the right side of the calendar to select an image to view. Select a date with images, and then press the Thumbnail/Playback zoom out button to jump to the small display (see chapter , FIG B, number  for button location). You can scroll up or down in the display, choose a single image, then press the OK button to view it.

3



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

You can duplicate this functionality without using the menus by following these steps with external camera buttons: . Press the Playback button—found on the top left of the camera’s back. It looks like an arrow pointing right with a rectangle around it. (See chapter , FIG B, number .) . Press the Thumbnail/playback zoom out button four times, and you’ll zoom out to the calendar display. Slow down! There may be a pause between the second and third button press because the camera may have to prepare to view  small thumbnails as it zooms past that screen to the calendar. Now, let’s have some fun and view a slide show! View a Slide Show

The D will allow you to view a slide show directly on your camera’s monitor. It’s a lot of fun when you have a bunch of images. You can let your friends view your pictures or just enjoy them yourself. Start the Slide Show – Here are the steps to start a slide show using the default viewing time (Frame interval) of  seconds per image (see FIG A): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE.

FIG A – View a slide show

. Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select View/delete from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select View a slide show, and scroll to the right with the Multi Selector (or press the OK button). . Select Start from the menu, as shown in FIG A, image . This will display all images found in the current folder, in sequence, with a -second delay. However, you may ask, “What if I want to use a slower or faster timing on my slide show?” Well, you can change that time value with the Frame interval menu selection seen in FIG A, image . Let’s see how (see FIG B): Change the Frame Interval (display time) – These steps will allow you to change the Frame interval to , , , or  seconds (see FIG B): . Refer to the steps for FIG A to get to the first screen shown in FIG B, image . . Scroll down to Frame interval and then scroll to the right with the Multi Selector. . Select a Frame interval value between  and  seconds, and then press the OK button. . The camera will return to the previous screen. Scroll back up to Start, and press the OK button to view your slide show with the new Frame interval setting.

Guide Menu’s View/Delete Selections

Pause, Adjust, and Restart the Slide Show – You’ll notice in FIG B, image , the message Pause—>OK below the Frame interval selection. That’s not a selectable item; it’s just a reminder that you can pause the slide show at any time by pressing the OK button. Once you have a slide show running, just press the OK button and you’ll see the first screen in FIG C being displayed. This first screen in FIG C is the screen that shows when you press the Pause

FIG B – Changing the frame interval (display time)

FIG C – Pause slide show



button. The primary reasons for pausing a

slide show are to change the Frame interval display time or Exit the show. Those items are available from the menu as follows: . Restart – This just continues the slide show on the next image. . Frame interval – This works just like the Frame interval choices mentioned earlier in this section. Fig C, images  through  show a sequence of steps that’s similar to the ones we discussed in the previous section,

3



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

“Change the Frame Interval”. Notice how I changed the interval from  to  seconds in those screens (see the red arrow)? . Exit – This does exactly what it says and exits back to the View/delete menu with View a slide show selected. Now that we’ve fully examined slide shows, let’s see how you can get rid of images you don’t like. Delete Photos

With the exuberance we all display at vigorously taking digital pictures with our cool Nikon cameras, we invariably end up with a few that don’t meet the grade. Delete time! You could just format the memory card, but that would delete everything on it. So, you can use the Delete photos menu to selectively delete certain images. The D gives you several ways to delete a picture, the easiest of which is to just view the unwanted image on the LCD screen and then press the Delete button. It’s located below the OK button on the camera’s back and looks like a garbage can with the lid raised (see chapter , FIG B, number ). However, you may want to delete several images, all pictures from a certain

FIG A – Delete photos

date, or every image in the current memory card folder. The D obliges with the menus shown in FIG A. Here are the steps to make a selection from Delete photos (see FIG A): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select View/delete from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select Delete photos, and scroll to the right with the Multi Selector (or press the OK button). . Select one of the three choices from the menu, as shown in FIG A, image . Let’s look at each of the three deletion methods shown in FIG A, image . First let’s see how to delete one or multiple images from the Delete multiple photos selection. FIG B takes up where FIG A leaves off. To delete one or more images from your memory card’s current folder, follow these steps while referring to FIG B: . Refer to the steps for FIG A to find the screen shown in FIG B, image . This will allow you to start the multiple image deletion process. . Select Delete multiple photos, as shown in FIG B, image .

Guide Menu’s View/Delete Selections

. As shown in FIG B, image  (red arrows), use the Multi Selector to select an image and then use the Thumbnail/Playback zoom out button to add a little trash can icon to the upper-right corner of each image thumbnail that you want to delete (see chapter , FIG B, number  for button location). The button acts like a toggle and turns the trash can on or off with each press. . Once you’ve marked all the images you want to delete, simply press the OK button. The camera will switch to the final deletion screen, so be sure you’ve marked the right images. FIG B, image  shows the final step before image deletion actually occurs. It will show the number of images you’ve marked for deletion just under the Delete? prompt. I previously marked three images with the trash can symbol. . Choose Yes from the Delete? menu and press the OK button. After a moment, the screen will darken, the word Done

FIG B – Delete multiple photos

FIG C – Delete photos by date



will appear briefly, and the camera will return to the previous screen. The selected images are deleted. There are two other ways to delete images from your memory card. The next method is to delete images by date. The camera will segregate the images by date and offer you image deletion by checking off specific dates. Let’s see how (see FIG C). Use these steps to delete images by specific dates (see FIG C): . Refer to the steps for FIG A to find the screen shown in FIG C, image . This will allow you to start the deleteby-date process. . Select Delete photos by date, as shown in FIG C, image , and then scroll to the right with the Multi Selector. . If you have images taken on several dates, you’ll see a screen like the one shown in FIG C, image . It allows you to select specific dates. All images

3



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

under the dates you select will be destroyed. Use the Multi Selector to scroll up or down to select individual dates. On each date you want to delete, simply scroll to the right with the Multi Selector, and the camera will place a small check mark in the box to the left of the date. You can also uncheck an already checked date by scrolling to the right again. You can validate the images under a specific date by pressing the Thumbnail/playback zoom out button. This will take you into the actual images for that date only. Once you have validated that you want to delete those images, just press the Thumbnail/playback zoom out button again. . Once you have checked all the dates with images you want to delete, simply press the OK button to continue. The camera will switch to the next screen with a prompt that asks, “Delete all images taken on selected date?” If you are ready to delete, just scroll up to the Yes selection and press the OK button. After a moment, the screen will darken, the word Done will appear briefly, and the camera will return to the View/delete selection on the Guide menu. The selected images are deleted. Finally, there is a way to delete all the images from the current folder of the memory card. Your camera creates a folder called D on its memory card. The only time you’ll see this folder is if you plug the memory card into your computer and use a file browser to examine the card. If you have loaned your card to another person, using a different

camera, the friend’s camera may have created its own folder on the memory card. For instance, I plugged my camera’s card into my wife’s Nikon D and took a couple of pictures. It didn’t write its pictures into the D folder. Instead, the D created its own folder named NCD. Your camera is smart enough to know that you may not want to delete the images taken by the other camera, so it won’t automatically display or delete images from another folder. You can force it to do that by using the Set up menu—which we’ll be discussing next—and selecting Playback folder. This will allow you to select only your current D folder, which is displayed in-camera as simply the D playback folder, or you can select All, which will make the camera display and/or delete every image in every folder if you’d like. We’ll discuss this more in the next section. For now, let’s look at how we can delete all images from the current D folder—or all folders if Playback folder > All is selected. FIG D shows the screens you’ll use. Here are the steps to delete all images from the current memory card folder (see FIG D): . Refer to the steps for FIG A to find the screen shown in FIG D, image . This will allow you to start the Delete all photos process. . Select Delete all photos, as shown in FIG D, image , and then scroll to the right with the Multi Selector. . You’ll now see the Delete all photos screen, with it’s Yes/No selection and the dire warning, “All images will be

Guide Menu’s Set up Selections



3

FIG D – Delete all photos

deleted. OK?” If you are sure and ready to delete all images in the folder, simply choose Yes and press the OK button. . After a moment, the screen will darken, the word Done will appear briefly, and the camera will return to the View/ delete selection on the Guide menu. All images are deleted. You’ve seen every way the Guide menu offers to delete images except one; the Format memory card selection on the Set up menu. Let’s move into those menus next.

configuration with the Guide Mode’s Set up menu. One thing I want to mention again is that you should be careful not to get confused about which menu system we are using. The camera has an older-style menu called the Setup menu. The name is suspiciously similar to the Set up menu found on the Guide menu, isn’t it? In fact, many of the same functions are found on both menus. Let’s start our foray into the Set up menu with a look at Image quality.

Guide Menu’s Set up Selections

Image Quality

The Set up menu is composed of  selected settings. You can set these same settings under one of the other two interfaces, the older-style text-based menus and the Information edit menu. Since the Guide menu is designed for brand-new users, not experienced ones, I am going to limit this section of the book to instructions on how to use the settings and a brief description of what each does. As you move deeper into this book, you’ll start learning about the other user interfaces. I’ll go into much deeper detail about each setting when we discuss those more advanced menus. For now, let’s see how to do some fairly advanced

The “quality” of your image is directly related to what image format or type you use. The Nikon D has two specific image types that can be used alone or together. It supports the following image types: t
NEF (RAW). The NEF stands for Nikon Electronic Format. t
JPEG Fine, Normal, and Basic. t
Combination of NEF and JPEG at the same time. (Same image stored twice, one as a NEF, the other as a JPEG.) FIG  shows the screens used to select a particular Image quality.



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

FIG  – Image quality

Here are the steps to choose your particular image format or quality (see FIG ): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select Image quality from the Set up menu, and press the OK button. . You’ll now be presented with a list of five Image quality selections. If you are unsure how to use the NEF (RAW) quality, it may be a good idea to simply select JPEG fine at this point. The JPEG normal and basic are just lower-quality versions of JPEG fine (higher image compression ratios). If you’re like me, you want the best-quality picture you can get, so JPEG fine is probably the best choice for a new user. We’ll discuss the various image formats and their pros and cons in great detail in the chapter , Shooting Menu. For now, here is the best way to look at Image quality: t
NEF (RAW) is best used by those who have experience, time, and interest in doing extensive image editing on their

personal computers. A RAW image has to be converted to some other type of file, like JPEG fine, TIFF, EPS, PNG, GIF, or some other recognized image format. People shooting RAW are looking for the highest-quality images their camera can create and don’t want the camera imposing anything on the RAW image. That’s why it’s called RAW. People who sell images for money often use the NEF (RAW) format so that they can prepare the image for their client’s needs later. t
JPEG fine is a better format for a beginning photographer because the image is immediately usable without doing conversion or extensive work in the computer. The camera creates an image with everything in place and ready to go. You can take it directly off of your memory card and print it, give to friends, post it on Facebook or Flickr, or send it by email. JPEG is the worldwide industry standard for digital photographs. Now that you’ve decided on a format (Image quality), let’s look into the Image size.

Guide Menu’s Set up Selections

Image Size

There are three image sizes available in the D. Personally, I’ve never used the smaller sizes, but there could be circumstances where they might come in handy. If you just wanted to document something but have no need for high quality, the medium or small size could be used. Most of us will just leave the camera set to L-Large and go take great pictures. The Image size affects the megapixel (MP) size of the image. In effect, you can reduce the megapixel rating by one-half to threequarters, changing from a MP camera to . MP or . MP. Here are the three settings under Image size (see FIG ): t
L (Large) – x – . megapixels t
M (Medium) – x – . megapixels t
S (Small) – x – . megapixels This selection applies only to images captured in JPEG modes. If you are shooting with your D in NEF (RAW) mode, it doesn’t apply and the Image size selection will be grayed out. If you are shooting in NEF (RAW) + JPEG basic mode, it only applies to the JPEG image in the pair. Here’s how to select the size of the image (see FIG ):

FIG  – Image size



. Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select Image size from the Set up menu, and press the OK button. . Choose Large, Medium, or Small (L, M, or S), and then press the OK button. The camera will switch back to the Set up menu, and you’re ready to shoot. Now, let’s look at Active D-Lighting, which helps control the contrast in your image automatically. Active D-Lighting Active D-Lighting tries to extend the “dy-

namic range” in your images so that you can record more detail in dark areas and keep from “blowing out” or “clipping off ” image data in the highlights. We’ll look in depth at controlling the situation where there’s more light than your camera can handle in the chapter , Exposure Metering System, Exposure Modes, and Histogram. Basically, the Active D-Lighting setting does two things: . Opens up the shadow detail in an image . Protects the highlight detail from turning pure white

3



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

In effect this lowers the contrast in an image. On a cool overcast day, it may not be necessary to use Active D-Lighting because the contrast is already low. However, on a bright sunny day there is so much light that the contrast can be higher than the camera can capture. That’s when Active D-Lighting comes in handy. The only dangers from using Active D-Lighting all the time is that it tends to take away some of the “snap” (contrast) in an image and can introduce extra noise into the darker areas as the camera reveals image data by turning up the power on darker sections of the frame. Here are the steps to turn Active D-Lighting on or off (see FIG ): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select Active D-Lighting from the Set up menu, and press the OK button. . Choose On or Off, and then press the OK button. The camera will switch back to the Set up menu, and you’re ready to take some pictures. Now, let’s look at the Playback folder, which allows you to select whether your

FIG  – Active D-Lighting

camera displays all images on the memory card or just the current folder. Playback Folder

The Playback folder is normally a folder on your camera’s memory card with a designation of D in the camera’s Set up menu. It contains all the Current images found in this folder. You have two selections under the Playback folder: . Current – This represents the folder you have selected currently, which is the D folder. If you look at the memory card in your computer, you will find a folder called DCIM, and within it you’ll see another folder called D. This is the D folder containing your Current pictures. With Current selected, no other images will be displayed except the ones in the Current folder. . All – If you are using a memory card that has images from another camera on it, they will be in a different folder from your D Current folder. You won’t be able to see any of the images in other folders unless you select All. This selection tells the camera to display any compatible images it finds in any folder on the memory card. I normally leave my camera set to All

Guide Menu’s Set up Selections



3

FIG  – Playback folder

because I might have borrowed a memory card from one of my other cameras and forget that there were images in another folder. Then, since I can’t see the other pictures, I might format the card in the D and lose any other folders. All is a safe selection. If you have All selected, the images in all the folders will show when you are doing image playback on your LCD screen. We’ll talk much more about this in the chapter entitled Playback Menu. Here are the steps to set All or Current under the Playback menu (see FIG ): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select Playback folder from the Set up menu, and press the OK button. . Choose Current or All, and then press the OK button. The camera will switch back to the Set up menu, and you’re ready to take more pictures. Now, let’s look at Print set (DPOF), which allows you create “print orders” that will print your pictures on a

PictBridge-compatible printer without involving your computer. Print Set (DPOF)

Some photographers would rather not use a computer but still be able to print their pictures on a home ink-jet printer or DPOF-compatible print kiosk at the local superstore. If your printer is a PictBridge type, you can simply create print orders that are saved to your computer’s memory card. Then you pull the card out of the camera and insert it into your printer—or a printing kiosk—and the device will ask you if you want to print the print order on the card. This print order allows you to select the number of copies for each image that you want printed. You could select three copies of one image, six copies of another, and just one of an additional image, and the PictBridge-enabled printer or kiosk will obey your print order. It’s really convenient to use. I’ll often take a bunch of pictures, then just sit down with my camera and use Print set (DPOF) to select my favorites for printing. When I insert the memory card into my printer—an Epson PictureMate PM — it puts this on its monitor screen: “DPOF data detected. Do you want



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

to use the DPOF data? Yes/No.” I answer yes and it starts printing my print order. I come back later to a nice pile of pictures. You can have information on the shutter speed, aperture, and date of each image printed right on the lower-right corner of the picture if you’d like—if your printer supports it. Here are the steps to use Print set (DPOF) to create a print order on your camera’s memory card for use in your PictBridge-compatible printer (see FIG A): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button (see FIG A, image ). . Select Print set (DPOF) from the Set up menu, and press the OK button (see FIG A, image ). If it is grayed out, you have no pictures on your memory card. Take some pictures! . Choose Select/set from the Print set (DPOF) menu, and then scroll to the

FIG A – Print set (DPOF) – preparing a print order

right with the Multi Selector (see FIG A, image ). We’ll talk about Deselect all? shortly. . You’ll be presented with the Select/ set screen and a thumbnail listing of the current images on your memory card (see FIG A, image ). You can scroll up or down to see all your images. To select an image and set the printing quantity, highlight it with the small yellow rectangle surrounding the thumbnail. Press and hold the Playback zoom in button to view a larger thumbnail of the image. To set the print quantity on a selected image, hold down the Thumbnail/playback zoom out button and press up or down on the Multi Selector until the number you want appears in the top-right corner of the image, next to a tiny printer symbol (see red arrows in FIG A, image ). Once you have all the images that you want to print prepared with printing quantities, just press the OK button. . Now you’ll see the Data imprint and Imprint date selections on the second

Guide Menu’s Set up Selections



3

FIG B – Print set (DPOF) – deleting a print order

Select/set screen. You can select Data imprint if you want aperture and shut-

ter speed information printed on the lower-right corner of the print. You can also select Imprint date if you want a date there too. To put little checks in the check boxes, as seen in FIG A, image , simply highlight the selection and scroll to the right. You’ll see a check mark appear in the little box. Be sure to scroll back up to the Done selection and press the OK button. I often forget to do this and lose my settings as a result. . Once you have the selections made and press the OK button, you’ll see the screen shown in FIG A, image  briefly show on your camera’s LCD screen. Then it will switch back to the Set up menu, and you’re ready pull out the memory card and insert it into the DPOF-compatible device for printing. Now let’s see what the Deselect all? screen does (see FIG B). This series of screens begin where FIG A, image  leaves off. It allows you to delete any existing print order on the memory card by removing the print quantity markings on all existing images. Here

are the steps to deselect all markings (see FIG B): . Refer to the screens shown in FIG A, images  to , to find the Deselect all? screen. We’ll use the Deselect all? selection instead of the Select/set choice (see FIG B, image ). . On the Deselect all? screen, you’ll see a question with the words, Remove print marking from all images? You have the choice of Yes and No. Choose Yes and then press the OK button to remove the markings (see FIG B, image ). . The camera will briefly display the screen seen in FIG B, image , and then switch back to the Set up menu. You can then create a new print order or go take more pictures. By the way, in case you are curious, DPOF stands for Digital Print Order Format. Now you can impress your friends by telling them that your new D camera will create on-the-fly print orders in the Digital Print Order Format. Then you can show them the large pile of pictures you just printed with very little effort.



Guide Menu – Advanced Use

Format Memory Card

3

This is a function you’ll use often. Today’s memory cards can hold hundreds, if not thousands, of images. However, eventually your card is going to get full and you’ll need to transfer the pictures and format the card. Be careful with this function because it permanently removes all images from the memory card, including any in folders you can’t see (see the section earlier in this chapter on the Playback folder setting). It is better to format the memory card in your camera instead of your computer so the format is customized to your particular D. Here are the steps to format a memory card in your camera (see FIG ). You did transfer all those pictures to your computer’s hard drive, right? . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select Format memory card from the Set up menu, and press the OK button (see FIG , image ). . Choose Yes (or No to back out) from the Format memory card screen, as seen in FIG , image . The format screen will

FIG  – Format memory card

give you a final dire warning, “All images on memory card will be deleted. OK?” Simply select Yes and press the OK button. While the formatting process is taking place, you’ll see a black screen with the words “Formatting memory card.” Once the process is done, it will briefly display “Formatting complete.” and then switch back to the Set up menu. Make sure that you don’t format a memory card with unseen pictures from another camera hiding on it. The best way to make sure of that is to set the camera’s Playback folder selection to All (see the section earlier in this chapter about the Playback folder). LCD Brightness

The LCD brightness setting allows you to control how brightly the LCD screen displays its screens. If you are shooting on a very bright sunny day, it may be helpful to turn the brightness up, or down on a darker day. However, please be aware of one thing. When you have the LCD screen set too brightly, it may fool you into thinking that an image the camera has underexposed is just fine. It is important that you do not depend on the LCD

Guide Menu’s Set up Selections

screen completely to decide whether

an image is exposed well, or not. Learn to use your camera’s Histogram, as discussed in the chapter titled Exposure Metering System, Exposure Modes, and Histogram. This little readout will protect you by displaying a visual reading of whether the exposure is good or not. With this knowledge, just set the LCD brightness to a value that makes it comfortable to view your images. I’ll often set mine to - or , according to the brightness level of the ambient light. It’ll fool you though, so be careful. Learn to use your camera’s Histogram! Here are the steps to adjust LCD brightness (see FIG A): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE.

FIG A – LCD brightness



. Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select LCD brightness from the Set up menu, and press the OK button (see FIG A, image ). . There are two selections on the following screen, LCD brightness and Auto dim. I’ll discuss Auto dim in a moment. Select LCD brightness from the menu and scroll to the right with the Multi Selector (see FIG A, image ). . Now you’ll see the actual LCD brightness screen (see FIG A, image ). Notice the  between the yellow up and down arrow tips (see red arrow in image )? Using the Multi Selector, you can scroll up or down here to raise or lower the

3



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

brightness level of the LCD screen. It is adjustable in both directions by three levels (+/- ). Select your preferred setting while watching the graduated bands of black to white vary in brightness. It will help you see when the screen is too dark or light. Up is brighter, down is darker. . Press the OK button when you’ve selected the brightness level you prefer. The camera will switch back to the Set up menu, with your new LCD brightness level set. There is another setting called Auto dim that we need to examine. This function causes the LCD screen to initially display the brightness level you have previously selected using the screens in FIG A. The

FIG B – Auto dim

screen will then gradually dim to a lower brightness level over several seconds. This setting is useful to conserve battery life, but I don’t use it because the battery lasts so long on the D. If I were overly worried about depleting the battery, I’d just buy an extra one to keep with me. Here are the steps to enable or disable Auto dim (see FIG B): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select LCD brightness from the Set up menu, and press the OK button (see FIG B, image ).

Guide Menu’s Set up Selections

. Select Auto dim from the LCD brightness menu and then scroll to the right with the Multi Selector. . The Auto dim screen gives you two menu choices, On or Off. Select your favorite choice and then press the OK button. The camera will then switch back to the Set up menu. Most people will set their camera’s LCD brightness when they first configure it and then forget about it. I leave mine set to . Info Background Color

You can modify the color of the Info screen that you see when you first turn the camera on—if you’re not using the GUIDE MENU. You can also use this Information screen when you press the Info button just behind the Shutter release button. The default color of the Information screen is a teal color (greenish blue) that Nikon calls Green. You can also select Black or Brown for the Info screen color. In

FIG A – Info screen background color samples

FIG B – Setting the Info screen background color



FIG A you’ll find a sample of all three colors—Green, Black, and Brown, in that order. I prefer the black color. Here are the screens and steps to choose your favorite Information screen color (see FIG B): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back left. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select Info background color from the Set up menu, and press the OK button (see FIG B, image ). . Now you’ll see the Info background color screen offering you the three colors. Select Green, Black, or Brown from the menu and then press the OK button. . Press the Info button on the camera’s top near the Shutter release button and make sure you like the color of the Information screen.

3



Guide Menu – Advanced Use

Auto Info Display Auto info display is a setting that allows

3

the Information screen to show whenever you press the Shutter release button halfway down. Normally this screen comes up when you first turn the camera on (except in Guide mode) and when you press the Info or Information edit buttons. If you don’t have the camera configured to show the picture on the LCD screen each time you take one, this screen will show after each picture. Some do not like this screen to appear when they partially press the Shutter release button. Personally, I leave this selection set to Off so that I can tap the Shutter release button to turn off the display and save battery life. Here are the steps to enable or disable Auto info display (see FIG ): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back.

FIG  – Auto info display

FIG  – Video mode

. Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select Auto info display from the Set up menu, and press the OK button (see FIG , image ). . Now you’ll see the Auto info display screen offering you two choices. Select On or Off from the menu and then press the OK button. . Press the Shutter release button partway and make sure the Information screen shows or doesn’t show, per your selection (Off = no show). Video Mode

You can connect your D directly to an old-style non-HD television or a VCR using an audio/visual (AV) cable. You’ll be able to show a slide show on the TV or record a slide show to videotape or DVD. However, before you connect it, you should make sure the camera’s Video mode is configured for your equipment. Most U.S. devices will be NTSC format, while

Guide Menu’s Set up Selections

European equipment requires the PAL format. To determine the correct format, please refer to the instructions for the device to which you want to connect your D. Here are the steps to configure the proper Video mode setting for your D (see FIG ): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select Video mode from the Set up menu, and press the OK button (see FIG , image ). . Now you’ll see the Video mode screen offering you two choices. Select NTSC or PAL from the menu and then press the OK button.

FIG A - Time zone and date setup – main screen

FIG B - Time zone setup



Time Zone and Date

There are several functions to set under the Time zone and date section of the Set up menu. These are probably already configured since they were covered when I explained the initial camera setup. However, let’s briefly examine each function again, in case you want to modify the settings later. Here are the four parts of the Time zone and date configuration: t
Time zone t
Date and time t
Date format t
Daylight saving time As I cover each of the four selections, I won’t include the opening screens in the figures and instead will start with the Time zone and date screen shown in FIG A, image .

3



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

Time zone – FIG B shows the Time zone configuration screen’s world map interface for selecting the area of the world in which you are using the camera. I selected New York (Eastern) time zone. To set the Time zone, use these steps (see FIG B): . Refer to the steps for FIG A and get to the screen shown in FIG A, image  and B, image . We’ll start with the Time zone and date screen. . Select Time zone, and then scroll to the right. . Use the Multi Selector to scroll left or right until your time zone is under the yellow vertical bar (or yellow highlight with a red dot) in the center of the world map screen.

FIG C - Date and time setup

FIG D - Date format setup

. Once you have your Time zone selected, press the OK button to save the setting. Date and time – FIG C shows the Date and time configuration screens. The final screen in the series allows you to select the Year, Month, and Day (Y, M, D) and the Hour, Minute, and Second (H, M, S): . Refer to the steps for FIG A, and get to the screen shown in FIG A, image  and C, image . We’ll start with the Date and time screen. . Select Date and time, and then scroll to the right. . Using the Multi Selector button, scroll left or right until you have selected the value you want to change. Then scroll up or down to actually change the value.

Guide Menu’s Set up Selections

. When you have set the correct date and time, press the OK button to save the settings. Please note that the time setting uses the -hour military-style clock. To set  p.m., you would set the H and M settings to :. I set mine to :: which is equal to : p.m. (and  seconds). Date format – The D gives you three different ways to format the date (see FIG D): t
Y/M/D = Year/Month/Day (//) t
M/D/Y = Month/Day/Year (//) t
D/M/Y = Day/Month/Year (//) Owners of the D in the U.S. will probably use setting  , which matches the MM/DD/YYYY format so familiar to Americans. Other areas of the world can select their favorite date format. To select the Date format setting of your choice, do the following (see FIG D): . Refer to the steps for FIG A and get to the screen shown in FIG A, image  and D, image . We’ll start with the Date format screen. . Select Date format, and then scroll to the right. . Choose the format you like best from the three available formats. . Press the OK button.



 Hour Time Equivalents For your convenience, here is a listing of the -hour time equivalents: A.M. Settings: : a.m. = : (midnight) : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : : a.m. = : P.M. Settings: : p.m. = : (noon) : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : : p.m. = : Note: There is no : time (midnight). After : comes :.

3



Guide Menu – Advanced Use

3 FIG E - Daylight saving time screens

Daylight saving time – Many areas of the United States use daylight saving time to “spring forward or fall back”. In the spring many American residents set their time forward by one hour on a specified day each year. Then in the fall they set it back, leading to the clever phrase quoted above. To configure the Daylight saving time setting, do the following steps (see FIG E): . Refer to the steps for FIG A and get to the screen shown in FIG A, image  and E, image . We’ll start with the Daylight saving time screen. . Select Daylight saving time, and then scroll to the right. . Select On or Off from the menu. . Press the OK button. If you chose On, your D will automatically “spring forward and fall back”, adjusting your time forward by one hour in the spring and back one hour in the fall of the year. I always leave mine set to On because I want my camera to record an accurate time on each image. Anything that keeps me from having to remember an annual

adjustment is good. My computer adjusts its own time, and my camera can do the same. Language

Nikon is a company that sells cameras and lenses around the world. For that reason, your D can display in up to  languages. In FIG  are the screens used to select your favorite language. The D using firmware version . includes the following languages: t
Danish t
German t
English t
Spanish t
Finnish t
French t
Italian t
Dutch t
Norwegian t
Polish t
Portuguese t
Russian t
Swedish t
Traditional Chinese t
Simplified Chinese t
Japanese t
Korean

Guide Menu’s Set up Selections



3

FIG  - Language selection

Your D should default to the language of the area in which you live (or in which you purchased it). However, you may choose to use a different language from your multilingual camera. Here are the steps to select a language (see FIG ): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select Language from the Set up menu, and press the OK button (see FIG , image ).

. Now you’ll see the Language screen offering you  choices. Select your Language from the menu and then press the OK button. Auto Off Timers

The Auto off timers allow you to control how long the screens stay on when you’re looking at images or configuring a setting and how long the light meter stays on after use. You can adjust these settings using the following chart: Here are the steps to configure Short, Normal, or Long timings (see FIG A): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE.

Auto Off Timers

Short Normal Long Custom

Playback/menus Image review Auto meter-off  seconds  seconds  seconds  seconds  seconds  seconds  seconds  seconds  minute Set each of these times individually (see FIGs B to D).

FIG A – Auto off timers



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

. Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select Auto off timers from the Set up menu, and press the OK button (see FIG A, image ). . Now you’ll see the Auto off timers screen offering you four choices. Select your choice from the menu and then press the OK button. I’d choose Long if I didn’t want to take the time to configure the values using Custom.

FIG B – Auto off timers – Custom – Playback/menus

FIG C – Auto off timers – Custom – Image review

FIG D – Auto off timers – Custom – Auto meter-off

Now, let’s look at the Custom screens, which allow you to configure the timings on an individual basis. There are three sections, and each has its own configurations. Please refer to FIG A so that you can see how to get to the screen with the Custom selection. We’ll start with that screen on each of the next series of screens, one for each Custom setting. Here are the steps to configure each of these timers. We won’t consider all three individually because the same process is used to set each one. Use these steps

Guide Menu’s Set up Selections

to configure any of the three—Playback/ menus, Image review, or Auto meter-off (see FIGs B through D): . Refer to FIG A to see the screen flow to get to the first screen in FIG B through D. . Select Custom from the Auto off timers menu, and scroll to the right (image ). . Select one of the three items that need Custom timing, and scroll to the right (image ). . Select an Auto off timer custom time (image ). I prefer longer timings, except on the Auto meter-off, which I leave at  seconds. I like to leave my Playback/menus and Image review timing set to  minute ( min.) each. That gives me time to configure a menu or look at an image well. . Press the OK button to lock in a timing for that particular function. Now let’s decide whether to let our cameras beep at us. Some like the beep, some don’t mind it, and some can’t stand it (me). No beep for me! Not after that grizzly bear let me know he didn’t appreciate my invading his territory. He’d never have known if I hadn’t left Beep turned on!



Beep

All the little point-and-shoot cameras beep when they have achieved focus. That’s because it takes so long to get them into focus that one feels relief when it finally happens and welcomes the beep. No so with a DSLR! The autofocus system on your D is an advanced one, found on professional-level Nikons only a couple of years ago. It is fast! I don’t like the beep because it merely draws attention to me taking a picture. How can I be sneaky and get that shot of Cousin Billy sneaking another meatball if my camera beeps when I autofocus. You may like it because it offers a level of assurance that autofocus was successful. However, once you’ve seen how quick and accurate the AF system is on the D, I think you’ll tire of the beep. There are several things that will make your D beep: t
Successful autofocus t
The self-timer and delayed remote in action t
The Quick-response mode taking a picture t
Throwing it at a grizzly bear to distract him while you run for your life (not really, I made that up).

3



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

FIG  – Beep, beep, BEEP, etc.

Other than the with self-timer, maybe, I can’t see a good reason to leave Beep on, especially when I am trying to photograph things like noise-sensitive wildlife and meatball-sneaking cousins. Do you get the feeling that I don’t like beeping cameras? If you love to hear the beep, don’t let me influence you. The D is ready to serve your and my personalities without complaint. Here are the steps to enable or disable the beep (see FIG ): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select Beep from the Set up menu, and press the OK button (see FIG , image ). . Now you’ll see the Beep screen offering you two choices, On or Off. Select your choice from the menu and then press the OK button. Guess which one I’d choose!

Date Imprint

We all remember how we could set our film cameras to imprint a little red date in the lower-right corner of our prints. Well, the D does that in a big way. Not only can you put a date visibly on your images, you can imprint date and time, or the number of days between the date the image was taken and another chosen date. Here are the four menu choices and three formats you can imprint on your images—permanently—and in bright red: Date Imprint Format Chart: t
Off – Nothing is imprinted on the image. t
Date – looks like ... t
Date and time – Looks like .. :. t
Date counter – Has several formats: – Number of days: /.. – Years and days: ./.. – Years, months, and days: ../..

Guide Menu’s Set up Selections



3

FIG A - Date imprint

At first, I understood the date/time well enough but had trouble understanding why there’s a date counter. Finally, I started to see a reason for recording the number of years, months, and days between the date an image was taken and another chosen date. An example might be a graduation party. Let’s say my daughter graduated high school on May , , and I took a picture of her with some friends. Several years later, on July , , I take a reunion picture of her and the same friends. Of course, they all want to see how much they’ve changed since the first picture  years and  days earlier, so I put the two images side-by-side. Since they are young and haven’t changed much, the newest image needs a date counter. Here are the formats the counter will imprint on the second picture for the this scenario: May ,  to July ,  t
Number of days: /.. (days/date) t
Years and days: ./.. (years.days/date) t
Years, months, and days: ../.. (years. months.days/date)

Now, I must admit, this is truly an unusual functionality to me, and I’ve been taking pictures since I was a kid back in the late sixties. However, some segment of society must need this exact functionality, and now has it. Maybe police forensic departments or private detectives really need this capability, since the formats recorded are permanently added to the image. The selected date for comparison to the shooting date can be a past or future date. The date format I presented earlier is based on the American MM/DD/YYYY. However, the camera allows you to adjust the date readout to your favorite format under the Set up menu’s Time Zone and Date function. Whatever format you choose under the Setup menu will be shown in the date section of the Date imprint screen. FIGs A through C show the menu screens to set up the Date imprint system. Let’s look at the steps to set up the entire function: . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button.



3

Guide Menu – Advanced Use

. Select Date imprint from the menu, and then scroll to the right (see FIG A, image ). . Choose one of the four choices (Off, Date, Date and time, or Date counter). The first three are simple (see FIG A, image ). If you choose Off, Date, or Date and time, just press the OK button and

FIG B - Choosing the comparison date

FIG C - Choosing a display option (format)

skip the rest of these steps. However, if you choose Date counter, you’ll have to choose a comparison date and a final display format. The next step starts that process. . You’ve chosen Date counter, so scroll to the right to set the date and format (see FIG B, image ).

Guide Menu’s Set up Selections

. On the Date counter screen you’ll need to choose the comparison date first. Scroll down to Choose date, and then scroll to the right (see FIG B, image ). . You’ll find a list that contains either a previously entered date or just a line of dashes (see FIG B, image ). Choose one of the date positions and scroll to the right to change or set the date. (If an acceptable date is already there from doing this previously, just choose it and press the OK button). . You’ll now see the Set date screen for the date position you chose on the previous screen (–). Modify this date so that it matches the date you want to compare with your shooting date (see FIG B, image ). It can be a past or future date. Set the date and then press the OK button, and the camera will return to the Choose date screen. .Press the OK button on the date you just modified, and the camera will return to the Date counter screen. You need to select a Display option, next. .Scroll down to the Display options line and then scroll to the right (see FIG C, image ). .You’ll now see the Display options screen. Choose one of the three formats (see FIG C, second image). Your choices are Number of days, Years and days, and Years, months, and days. Choose one and then press the OK button.



.At the bottom of the Date counter screen, you’ll see the chosen comparison date and below that the format that will be written on the image (see FIG C, image , bottom half of screen). The format shows after the  icon and the small white triangle and looks like one of the formats in the date imprint format chart listed previously. .Take your picture. I realize that this is a somewhat complex-looking function. However, if you will study how the Date counter formats work and use this function regularly, it will become easy to understand. I normally don’t use this functionality myself since I don’t want bright-red characters written permanently on my images. The EXIF data inside the digital image contains dates and times in case I need to know that information. However, you may love having a date imprinted on your images—a lot of people do. Or, you might have a scientific, forensic, or surveillance purpose for some of these functions. They work easily and well. Nikon gives us a lot of choices with this little camera.

3



Guide Menu – Advanced Use

No Memory Card?

3

This setting defaults to locking the shutter when you try to take an image without a memory card inserted in the camera. By enabling it, you can take pictures without a memory card, but you can’t save them anywhere unless you’re using Nikon Camera Control Pro  software to send pictures directly to your computer. The software is not included with the D. FIG  shows the screens used to configure No memory card? Here are the selections in No memory card?: t
LOCK – Release locked – If you choose this default setting, your camera will refuse to release the shutter when there is no memory card present. t
OK – Enable release – Use this setting if you want to use the optional Nikon Camera Control Pro  software to send images from the camera directly to the computer.

FIG  – No memory card?

Here are the steps to configure No memory card? (see FIG ): . Set the Mode dial on top of the camera to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Select Set up from the GUIDE MENU, and then press the OK button. . Select No memory card? from the menu, and then scroll to the right (see FIG , image ). . Select Release locked or Enable release from the menu. . Press the OK button. There’s no point in setting anything but Released locked unless you are using Nikon Camera Control Pro  software to control the camera. In that case, the camera feeds pictures to your computer, not a memory card. Otherwise, with it enabled you can shoot pictures but can’t save them.

My Conclusions



My Conclusions The new Guide Mode in the Nikon D gives a new photographer a place to start in the DSLR world. The Guide menu will be useful until the photographer advances into the more detailed settings in the other two user interfaces. We’ll now move into a new chapter and our first detailed look at the older-style menus. Much of what we’ll discuss will seem familiar since they’re just a different interface into the same camera settings. I think you’ll learn to like the brevity of the older-style menus for camera configuration. Pay special attention to the settings found under the Information edit menu since it uses only two screens to set the most important camera functions. We’ll start with the Playback menu in the next chapter, and then progress through the Shooting menu, Setup menu, and Retouch menu. Lots of new stuff ahead!

3



Playback Menu

Playback Menu

4

Delete Function

The Nikon D has a sharp -inch (. cm) LCD screen with , dots of resolution. It can display images with excellent resolution and allows you to zoom in to check their clarity. Everything you need to control your camera’s image playback is concentrated in a series of menu selections. They’re found under the first menu in the camera, called the Playback menu (see FIG ). We’ll examine the eight functions of the Playback menu in the following sections.

FIG  – Playback menu main screen

Note When using these older-style menus, please make sure that the Mode dial on top of the camera is not set to GUIDE. You won’t be able to access the regular menus with the Menu button if it is.



Delete Function The Delete function allows you to selectively delete individual images from a group of images in a single folder or multiple folders on your camera’s SD memory card. It also allows you to clear all folders of images without deleting the folders. This is sort of like formatting a card but affecting only images. The Delete menu selection has a close relationship with the next selection, Playback folder. The process for deleting images is affected by how you have the Playback folder configured. In other words, be sure you understand that the D might delete more images than you expect if you have Playback folder set to All. There are three parts to the Delete menu selection: t
Selected t
Select date t
All

4



Playback Menu

Selected – FIG A shows the menu

4

screens you’ll use to control the Delete function for Selected images. Here are the steps to delete selected images: . Press the Menu button and select the Playback menu (top menu). . Select Delete from the Playback menu, and scroll to the right. . Choose Selected from the Delete screen, and scroll to the right. . Use the Thumbnail/playback zoom out button to select each image you want to delete (see Chapter , FIG B, number  for button location). A trash can icon will appear in the upper-right corner of each image marked for deletion (see FIG A, image , red arrows).

FIG A – Delete menu screens for selected images

. Press the OK button. The “Delete?” warning screen will appear (see FIG A, image ). The number of images you have selected for deletion will be listed like this: “Delete? NN images. Yes/No”. . Scroll up to Yes and press the OK button. An hourglass will appear briefly, and then “Done” will flash on the monitor. Then the camera returns to the main screen of the Playback menu. Notice in image  of FIG A that there is a display of tiny images with numbers in their lower-right corners. These numbers run in a sequence from  to however many images you have in your current image folder, or the entire

Delete Function

memory card. The number of images shown will vary according to how you have the Playback folder settings configured. (See the next section of this chapter.) If you have the Playback folder set to Current (factory default), the camera will show you only the images found in your current playback folder. If you have the Playback folder set to All instead, it will display all the images it can find in all the folders on your camera’s SD memory card. I leave mine set to All. The camera will delete only images that you’ve selected; they will be marked with the trash can icon (see FIG A, image , red arrows).

FIG B – Delete menu screens for selected dates



Selected date – You can also delete

images by choosing a date or dates. All images taken within your chosen dates will be deleted. (Be careful!) FIG B shows the menu screens used to delete all images under various dates. Using the Select date method is simple. When you preview your images for deletion, you won’t be shown a list of all the images as you would for the Selected option. Instead, on the Select date screen (see FIG B, image ), you’ll see a list of dates with a single representative image following each date. Notice how there’s a check box to the left of each date (see FIG B, image , red arrow)? You’ll check this check box by scrolling up or down to the date of your choice with the Multi Selector,

4



4

Playback Menu

and then scrolling to the right, where you see a tiny black arrow and the word Set. This “sets” the check box to give the camera permission to delete all images it finds with the date(s) you’ve checked. If the single tiny representative image next to the date is insufficient to help you remember which images are under that date, you can confirm the images you want to delete by viewing them. Press the Thumbnail/playback zoom out button and the camera will show you the images under that date. If you want to examine an image more closely than what the list shows, you can use the Playback zoom in button to temporarily zoom in on individual images (see Chapter , FIG B, numbers  and  for location of these two buttons). Here are the steps to delete all images under a single date or multiple dates (see FIG B): . Press the Menu button and select the Playback menu (top menu). . Select Delete from the Playback menu, and scroll to the right. . Choose Selected date from the Delete screen, and scroll to the right. . Scroll right with the Multi Selector on each date you want to delete. A check mark will appear in the box next to each date you select. Remember that

FIG C – Delete menu screens for deleting all images

all images under the dates you select will be deleted permanently! . Press the OK button. The Delete all images taken on selected date? warning screen will appear (see FIG B, image ). . Scroll up to Yes and press the OK button. An hourglass will appear briefly, and then the word Done will flash on the monitor. Then the camera returns to the main screen of the Playback menu. Next, we’ll look at how to delete all images, either images in the current folder or every image on the memory card. Read this carefully because you might otherwise delete more images than you intend. All – FIG C shows the Playback menu screens used to delete all images. This selection works like a card format, except that it will not delete folders— only images. Here are the steps to delete all images. Did I mention that you must be very careful with this function? Please understand that this deletion function works differently according to how you have the Playback folder set. Please read the next section in this chapter before using this function! . Press the Menu button and select the Playback menu (top menu).

Delete Function

. Select Delete from the Playback menu, and scroll to the right. . Choose All from the Delete screen, and scroll to the right. . If you have the Playback folder set to Current, the camera will delete only images in the current folder, and the a warning screen will ask, All images will be deleted. OK? (see FIG C, image ). However, if you have the Playback folder set to All, the warning will ask, All images in all folders will be deleted. OK? (See next section for information on the Playback folder selection.) . Scroll up to Yes and press the OK button. An hourglass will appear briefly, and then the word Done will flash on the monitor. Then the camera returns to the main screen of the Playback menu. Quick Image Deletion: You can also delete a single image by displaying it on the monitor with the Playback button and then pressing the Delete button (trash can icon) below the Multi Selector. A red exclamation point with the question Delete? will pop up over the image. Press the Delete button again to delete the image. A fast way to do this is to simply display the image and press the Delete button twice quickly. Protecting an Image from Deletion: This is a very easy process and will prevent an important image from being accidentally deleted—except by formatting the memory card. Here’s how to prevent an image from being deleted: . Display the image in the normal way, by pressing the Playback button. . Press the AE-L/AF-L (protect) button, and the image will be marked for



protection. The AE-L/AF-L button to the right of the viewfinder eyepiece doubles as an image protect button, as signified by a small key symbol to the left of the button. You’ll see a small key symbol surrounded by a rectangle appear on the top left of the protected image on the LCD screen. Now, this image cannot be deleted by normal camera functions. It will be deleted if you format the memory card. Recovering Deleted Images: If you accidentally delete an image or a group of images—or even format the entire memory card and then realize with great pain that you didn’t really mean to—all is not lost. Simply remove the memory card from your camera immediately and do not use it again until you can run image recovery software on it. Deleting or formatting doesn’t permanently remove the images from the card. It merely marks them as deleted and removes the references to them in the memory card’s File Allocation Table (FAT). The images are still there and can usually be recovered as long as you don’t write any new data to the card before trying to recover them. As a digital photographer, you’ll need to have a good image recovery program on your computer at all times. Sooner or later you’ll make a mistake or have problems with a card and will need to recover images. Many of the better brands of memory cards include recovery software either on the card itself or on a separate CD that comes with the card. Make sure you install the software on your computer before formatting the brand-new memory card!

4



Playback Menu

Playback Folder

4

The Playback folder setting is used to allow your camera to display images for you during preview and slide shows. You can have the D show you images only in the Current image folder (usually D) or in All the folders on the memory card. If you regularly use your memory card in multiple cameras as I do and sometimes forget to transfer images, adjusting the Playback folder setting is a good idea. I use a Ds, D, and D on a fairly regular basis. Often, I’ll grab an -gigabyte card out of one of the cameras and stick it in another for a few shots. If I’m not careful, later I’ll transfer the images from one camera and forget that I have more folders on the SD memory card created by the other camera. It’s usually only after I have formatted the card that I remember the other folders and images on my D’s memory card. The D comes to my rescue with its Playback folder > All function. Let’s look at how the Playback folder function works by first looking at the menu screens in FIG .

FIG  – Playback folder menu screens

Here are the two selections you can choose from: t
Current (default) t
All Current – This is the most limited play-

back mode available. Whatever Playback folder your camera is using currently will be displayed during playback. No other images or folders will be displayed. All – By selecting All, your camera will obligingly show you every image it can find in all the folders on the memory card. This maximum flexibility setting has saved me several times when I thought to check my camera for images before I formatted the card and found that I had other images on the card besides D images. During playback, or before deletion, the D will display images from other Nikons you’ve used with the current memory card. Each camera usually creates its own unique folders, and the other folders do not report that they are there except by showing a reduced image capacity. When you select All, the D intelligently displays its own images and any other Nikon images on the card.

Display Mode

Here are the steps used to select Current or All (see FIG ): . Press the Menu button and select the Playback menu (top menu). . Select Playback folder from the Playback menu, and scroll to the right. . Choose Current or All from the Playback folder screen. . Press the OK button. The camera will switch back to the main Playback menu screen with the current folder name displayed after Playback folder if Current is selected or ALL displayed if All is selected (see FIG , image ). Recommendation: I leave my D set to the Playback folder > All setting because I want to be sure I can see every image on the memory card. This helps me to avoid being worried about losing images as a result of my own mistakes. One day it may get to the point that memory cards are big enough to leave months of picture taking in various folders as another form of image backup. I’d like to be able to see all those images without switching folders.

Display Mode This selection allows you to customize how the D displays all the histogram and Data screens for each image. If you

FIG A – Display mode menu screens



want to see a lot of information on each image, you can select it here. Or, if you would rather take a minimalist approach to image information, turn off some of the screens. If you turn off certain screens, the camera still records the information for each image, such as lens used, shutter speed, and aperture. However, with no Data screens selected, you’ll see only two screens. One is the main image view, and the other is a summary screen with a luminance histogram and basic shooting information. I haven’t found a way to turn this summary screen off. You get to the screens by scrolling with the Multi Selector in the opposite direction from viewing images. I can scroll through my images by pressing left or right on the Multi Selector. Then I can move through the Data screens by scrolling up or down with the Multi Selector. Here are the steps to select the Detailed photo info screens (see FIG A): . Press the Menu button and select the Playback menu (top menu). . Select Display mode from the Playback menu, and scroll to the right. . Select your combination of screens from the list on the Detailed photo info screen. You’ll highlight a line such as RGB histogram and place a check mark in

4



Playback Menu

the little box by scrolling right toward the black arrow tip. Check as many as you’d like (see FIG A, image ). . Scroll back up to Done at the top of the list (see FIG A, image ). . Press the OK button to make the selected photo info screens active.

4

Here are the selections found in Display mode > Detailed photo information and a description of what each does: t
Highlights t
RGB histogram t
Data When you make changes to these selections, make sure you scroll up to the word Done and press the OK button to save your setting. I keep forgetting to do this when I make changes (see FIG A, image ). Highlights – If you put a check mark next to the Highlights selection, as shown in FIG B, you’ll turn on what I call the “blinky” mode of the camera. The D uses the Highlights screen to view the image with special emphasis on any areas that might be overexposed. It looks very similar to the normal viewing screen except that there is only information

FIG B – Highlights – Display mode menu screens

about Highlights on the new screen. You’ll see the word Highlights in the lower-left portion of the camera monitor, just above the words “NIKON D” (see FIG B, image , red arrow). You can leave this screen selected as your normal viewing screen if you want. If you turn the camera off and back on when this screen is selected, it will remember and return to this screen instead of the regular image viewing screen. You can get to the normal viewing screen, or the image summary screen, by scrolling up or down with the Multi Selector. What does the Highlights screen do? When Highlights is enabled and any part of the image is overexposed, the overexposed part will blink an alternating white and black, indicating that it has lost detail. You will need to use exposure compensation or manually control the camera to contain the exposure within the dynamic range of the camera’s sensor. FIG C shows how an image looks when an area has been overexposed. It shows one image on both sides of the “blink” from white to black to white: The image on the left is showing the white blink, and the one on the right is

Display Mode



FIG C - Highlights “blinky” mode in action

4

FIG D – RGB histogram - Display mode menu screens

showing the black blink. “Blinky” mode! The image in this figure is a picture of a bright window blind in a darkened room. See how the overexposed area turns black as the blink happens (see the red arrow). The blinking white to black to white indicates that the black blink section of the image has lost all detail, or has “blown out”. If you examine the histogram for the image, you’ll see that it’s cut off, or “clipped”, on the right side. Current software cannot usually recover any image detail from the blown-out sections. The exposure has exceeded the range of the sensor and the image has become completely overexposed in the black blink

area. All previous detail in the image has gone to pure white. (See Histogram information in the chapter titled Exposure Metering System, Exposure Modes, and Histogram.) Highlights mode is a nice way to allow your camera to warn you when you have surpassed what its sensor can capture and you’re losing image data. RGB histogram – I like this feature! It allows me to view, not just a basic luminance histogram, which is a combination of all three color channels, but all three color histograms and a luminance histogram in one screen (see FIG D).



4

Playback Menu

Each color channel, red, green, and blue (or RGB), is displayed with its own small histogram. This is quite useful because it is possible to overexpose, or “blow out”, only one color channel, as happens most often with the red channel in my case. You can view the luminance histogram on top in white and the three RGB color histograms below it (see FIG D, image , right side). When you examine the RGB Histogram screen, you’ll see that each of the RGB color channel histograms is different. Red will look different from blue, for instance. The luminance histogram on top always seems to resemble the

FIG E – Data – Display mode menu screens

green channel histogram very closely. It makes me wonder if the white luminance histogram is basically just a copy of the green channel histogram with a bit of minor influence from the other two channels. The luminance and green histograms are not absolutely identical, but they are very close, so it appears that green colors influence the luminance histogram more than the other two (red and blue). Data – Checking this setting will give you three additional image data screens to scroll though. The data found on these screens is quite detailed and includes the following information (see FIG E, red numbers identify the screens):

Display Mode

t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t


t
t
t


t


Image Data Screen  Light meter in use (Matrix, Spot, or Center-weighted) Shutter speed and aperture (e.g., /, F) Exposure mode (P,S,A,M) and ISO (i.e.,  or Lo ) Exposure compensation (+/- EV) Lens focal length (e.g., mm) Lens overview (e.g., -mm f/. – .) AF/VR (i.e., AF / VR-On) Flash Mode and compensation (e.g., Built-in, TTL, +.) Image Data Screen  White balance (Auto, , ) Color space (sRGB, AdobeRGB) Picture control detail (Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, Landscape) Picture control fine-tuning (Quick adjust, Sharpening, Contrast, Brightness, Saturation, Hue)

FIG F – Two playback information display screens

t
t
t


t




Image Data Screen  Noise reduction (e.g., Long exp., High ISO, Norm) Active D-Lighting (Auto Extra high, High, Normal, Low, Off ) Retouching (D-Lighting, Red-eye correction, Trim, Monochrome, Filter effects, Color balance, Small picture) Comment (Up to  characters attached to each image)

That’s a lot of screens to scroll through, but they provide a great deal of information on the image. Look how far we’ve come from the old film days of writing some date information on the lower-right of the image, permanently marking it, or between the frames on the pro-level cameras. In fact, there are seven screens just brimming with data, if you enable all the Display modes. Or, you can get by with the main image display and one summary display, with a single luminance histogram (see FIG F). Complex control at your fingertips!

4



4

Playback Menu

Recommendation: I always leave the Highlights and RGB histogram settings turned on. I want to be sure I’m not accidentally “blowing out” important sections of my image. The Highlights “blinky mode” always warns me when my images have overexposed sections, thereby allowing me to adjust my exposure quickly. The RGB histogram setting is also very important to me. It allows me to see all the color channels, just in case one of them is being clipped off on the light or dark side. It also allows me to see how well I am keeping my exposure balanced for light and dark. Remember to see the detailed Histogram information in the chapter titled Exposure Metering System, Exposure Modes, and Histogram. The three Data screens are not terribly important to me since the D has the summary screen shown in FIG F, image , with the most important exposure information displayed. Also, by having the Data screens enabled, I have to scroll through three more screens to get to my RGB histogram screen. So, my recommendation is to enable only the Highlights and RGB histogram screens. If you really feel the need to examine a large amount of extra image data, then enable the Data screens too.

FIG  – Image review menu screens

Image Review The factory default for the D is to display the just-taken image on the monitor for several seconds. You can adjust this value from  seconds to  minutes using the Setup menu or Guide menu and enabling Auto off timers > Custom > Image review. FIG  shows how to turn Image review on or off. There are two Image review settings: t
On – Shows a picture on the monitor after each shutter release (default). t
Off – Monitor stays off when you take pictures. Here are the steps to select whether Image review is on or off: . Press the Menu button and select the Playback menu (top menu). . Select Image review from the Playback menu, and scroll to the right. . Select On or Off from the list. . Press the OK button. Most of us will leave this function set to On, otherwise the only way to view an image after taking it is to press the Playback button. The battery life will be affected if you review images constantly and for longer periods of time than the default

Rotate Tall

 seconds. However, with the low power consumption of the camera overall, you’ll find that your battery lasts long enough for a full day of shooting in most instances. I carry one extra battery, just in case, because I am a world-class image chimper. Recommendation: I don’t want to waste hard drive space by storing lots of almost good images, so I delete many images right after I take them. I have to review them to know whether I want to keep them or not! So, I leave the Image review selection set to On. In fact, I set the Image review time to  minute in the Setup menu’s Auto off timers selection. That way I can look at my images for extended periods of time, and maybe show them to others too. The battery lasts a long time on the D, and I carry a spare, so I am ready to “chimp” with the best of them.

Chimping Defined “Chimping” means reviewing images on the monitor after each shot. The word is derived from the words “check image preview”, which then was shortened to “chimping”. I guess people think you look like a monkey if you review each image while voicing your “ooohs” and “aaahs”. Well, I do it anyway!

FIG  – Rotate tall menu screens



Rotate Tall When you shoot an image as a vertical (or portrait image) by turning your camera sideways, the image is recorded to the card as a horizontal image lying on its side. If you chimp the image—view it immediately after taking it—Nikon assumes that you’ll still be holding the camera in the rotated position, so the image is left lying on its side in portrait mode. Later, when you’re reviewing the images as a group and are using the D’s Playback functionality, the image will be displayed as an upright vertical image that is quite a bit smaller in size so that it will fit on the horizontal monitor. If you would rather that the camera leave the image in a horizontal view, forcing you to turn the camera sideways to view it normally, you’ll need to turn Rotate tall to Off. The default is On. Here are the two available settings (see FIG ): t
On (default) – When you take a vertical image, the D will rotate it so that you don’t have to turn your camera to view it naturally in later playback. This sizes the image so that it fits in the normal horizontal frame of the monitor. The image will be a bit smaller than

4



Playback Menu

normal to view. When you first view (chimp) the image after taking it, the camera does not rotate it because it assumes you are still holding the camera in a vertical orientation. t
Off – Vertical images are left in a horizontal direction, so you’ll need to turn the camera to view it as it was taken. This provides a slightly larger view of the image.

4

Here are the steps to select whether Rotate tall is on or off (see FIG ): . Press the Menu button and select the Playback menu (top menu). . Select Rotate tall from the Playback menu, and scroll to the right. . Select On or Off from the list. . Press the OK button. Recommendation: I leave Rotate tall set to On since I can zoom in if I want more detail. This allows me to view a vertical image in its natural vertical orientation without rotating my camera during playback. Some would prefer not to display the vertical image in a horizontal direction because it gets so much smaller. You’ll need to turn this on and off to see which you prefer.

FIG  – Slide show menu screens

Slide Show I used to do slide shows back in the old film days. I’d set up my screen, warm up my projector, load my slides, and watch everyone fall asleep by the hundredth slide. For that reason, I hadn’t been using the slide show functionality of my camera. However, all that has changed recently. Now, instead of hauling out a slide projector and a box of slides, you can just plug your D into the closest television. The camera has a cool A/V port (V-OUT) on the left side under a plastic flap that will plug into a TV’s RCA jacks if you buy a cable for it. If you prefer, you can just set your camera up on a table and have a few friends gather around for a slide show. It’s very fast and simple to start one. As shown in FIG , it’s easy to simply select the Slide show setting from the Playback menu, scroll right, and select Start. The slide show will commence immediately and have a default display time of  seconds per image. Here are the steps to set up a slide show: . Press the Menu button and select the Playback menu (top menu).

Slide Show

. Select Slide show from the Playback menu, and scroll to the right. . Select Start or Frame interval from the list. If you select Frame interval, you’ll have additional choices as shown in FIG A. . Press the OK button. The following two settings are available under Slide show: t
Start - This starts the slide show. t
Frame interval - This setting controls the amount of time in seconds each image displays. You’ll need to change the display time to a value from  to  seconds. The default value is s, or  seconds. FIG A shows the menu screens to make the change. As shown in FIG A, you can select from the following settings: t
s –  seconds (default) t
s –  seconds t
s –  seconds t
s –  seconds To start the slide show, select the frame interval as shown in FIG , and this time, the show will run at your new chosen speed.

FIG A – Slide show frame interval menu screens



Recommendation: I usually set my slide show Frame interval (display time) to three seconds. If the images are especially beautiful, I might set it to five seconds. I’ve found that two seconds are not quite enough and five or ten seconds may be too long. I wish we had a four second setting, but three seems to work well, most of the time. There are several keys that will affect how the images display during the slide show: t
Skip back/skip ahead – During the slide show you can go back to the previous image for another -second viewing by simply pressing left on the Multi Selector. You can also see the next image with no delay by pressing right on the Multi Selector. This is just a quick way to skip images or review previous images without stopping the slide show. t
View additional photo info – While the slide show is running, you can press up or down on the Multi Selector to view the additional Data screens. This is dependent on how you have your D’s Display mode setting configured (see the previous section) for Highlights, RGB histogram, and Data. If

4



Playback Menu

any of these screens are available, they can be used during the slide show. t
Pause slide show – During the slide show you may need to pause, change the image display time, or even exit. By pressing the OK button, you can pause the slide show. You are then presented with the menu shown in FIG B.

4

Using this menu screen, you can select from the following three settings: t
Restart – Pressing the OK button or scrolling to the right on the Multi Selector continues the slide show from the image following the one last viewed. t
Frame interval – Scrolling to the right with the Multi Selector takes you to the screen that allows you to change the display time to one of four values. You can choose , , , or  seconds. After choosing a new Frame interval setting, you’ll have to select Restart to continue where you left off in the slide show (see FIG B, image ). t
Exit – This does what it says—exits the slide show.

FIG B – Slide show Pause menu screens

Exit to playback menu – If you want to quickly exit the slide show, simply press the Menu button and you’ll jump directly back to the Playback menu with no items selected. Exit to playback mode – By pressing the Playback button (the right-arrow key, with a rectangle around it, on the top rear left of the D), you’ll stop the slide show and change to normal full-frame or thumbnail image view of the last image seen in the show. This exits the show on the last image viewed. Exit to shooting mode – Pressing the Shutter release button halfway down stops the slide show. The camera is now in “shooting mode”, meaning that it is ready to take some pictures. Using any of the buttons mentioned in the preceding list affects the slide show in the ways listed. Learn to use this function well and you’ll find yourself displaying slide shows frequently.

Printing Pictures without a Computer

Printing Pictures without a Computer PictBridge and Print Set (DPOF) Printing The Nikon D camera has the ability to print pictures directly to a PictBridge-compatible printer using a USB cable. It can also create “print sets” that can be written to a memory card, which is then inserted into a Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) compatible printer for direct memory card printing. Here these two methods are briefly described: PictBridge – PictBridge allows you to connect your camera directly to a compatible printer and print any or all the images on the card without having to involve a computer in any way. Your D comes with a special USB cable that has a very small end that fits the D—see FIG —and a normal big USB end that plugs into the compatible printer’s PictBridge port. This is the same cable that you use to transfer images from the camera to a computer. To make things more confusing, PictBridge has a menu item called Print (DPOF), which works a lot like Print

FIG  – USB port on D and included cable



set (DPOF) but with fewer features. Just

remember, Print (DPOF) and Print set (DPOF) are not one and the same. Print set (DPOF) – Another way you can print images that involves the D and a compatible printer is to use Digital Print Order Format (DPOF). You can print to any device that supports DPOF. You’ll create a print order, right on the D, that saves out to the memory card using the Print set (DPOF) menu. This print order allows a DPOF-compatible printer or service to print the images directly from your memory card. All you have to do is insert the memory card, select Print from the printer, and wait for your pictures to print. This is not a difficult process and is quite fun and satisfying. In researching printers that will support all the Nikon D’s features, like borders, cropping, multiple prints, and DPOF compatibility, I spent considerable time reading about printers on the Internet. Some mentioned being PictBridge compatible. Some mentioned DPOF and others didn’t. Few manufacturers had real information on their websites to let me know how many features they support in my camera.

4



4

Playback Menu

After a couple of hours of frustration, I decided to call some printer manufacturers and simply ask them some questions. Since I’ve been using an Epson R for several years and always loved its output, I decided to call Epson first. I didn’t have to call anyone else! I got a technical person who had real knowledge of cameras and printers. He was kind enough to talk with me about the different features in the camera and which Epson printer I could buy to use all of them. I wanted a portable x inch (x cm) printer that supported my camera. He suggested the Epson PictureMate Dash Personal Photo Lab. I had already read about this printer in several ratings and reviews, and it had one of the highest print quality ratings out there. I spent about  minutes on the phone with Epson’s tech and ordered the printer immediately. In FIG A is a picture of my D plugged into this tiny little x inch printer (on the left). The little thing looks like a lunch box (on the right) when closed and opens up into a printer that indeed gives

FIG A – Epson PictureMate Dash and my D

A Note for RAW Shooters If you are a RAW shooter, the PictBridge process won’t benefit you. Not all printers can handle printing from RAW files, so Nikon chose to limit PictBridge and DPOF printing to JPEG files in the D. Also, you won’t be able to use the PictBridge screens unless your D is plugged into a compatible PictBridge printer.

me images that look just like the ones I’ve been getting from local labs. With this printer I don’t even need a computer to print as often as I’d like. I can even get a battery for the printer if I want to go out on safari and print on the spot. Epson makes another version of this printer called the Epson PictureMate Zoom that includes a CD-ROM burner. With that printer you wouldn’t even need a computer to print x prints and back up your images to CD. Now, let’s look in detail at how I used the PictBridge option and my Epson PictureMate Dash to print without a computer.

Section  – PictBridge Printing

Section 1 – PictBridge Printing The PictBridge printing system has its own set of menus, which are not generally available from anywhere in the camera. The only way you can get to the PictBridge playback menu is to plug the camera into a PictBridge-compatible printer. Only then will the menus for printing be available by pressing the OK button or the Menu button. At first I thought it odd that Nikon chose to put image printing functions in the Playback menu. Then I thought about it and realized that printing is a permanent form of image playback. You play (print) the images to your printer and then “chimp” (view) them without battery power! Basic Single-Image PictBridge Printing

Let’s just jump right in to printing pictures directly from your camera to a compatible

FIG B – Initial D PictBridge screens

FIG C – Press OK to enter Setup



PictBridge printer. All you have to do is go out and shoot some images and then come in and plug your camera into the printer. Make sure the printer is turned on! Nikon says to turn the D off before you plug the transfer cable into the camera. When you first turn the camera on you’ll see a series of screens like those shown in FIG B. As shown in FIG B, image , the first screen you’ll see contains the PictBridge logo, which looks like a couple of stretched water droplets. Next you’ll be presented with the PictBridge playback screen and a JPEG image found on your memory card. You’ll notice in FIG B, image , how the PictBridge playback screen has the droplet logo in the upperleft corner, letting you know that the screen is not a normal Playback screen. Next I’ll explain how to get a picture or pictures printed once you’ve gotten to this point. In FIG C you’ll find a series of

4



Playback Menu

screens used to select pictures and send them to the printer for printing. Here are the steps you’ll use to print your pictures: . Turn your camera off. . Connect the USB transfer cable to the already turned on PictBridge printer and then to the camera. . Turn the camera on.

4

FIG D – Select a page size for the print

FIG E – Select the number of copies to print

FIG F – Select border or borderless for the print

. You’ll be presented with the PictBridge logo screen and then the first image in the PictBridge playback menu (see FIG C). Scroll through your pictures with the Multi Selector until you find an image you’d like to print. . Press the OK button (see the red arrow in FIG C, image ) and you’ll move to the printing Setup screen (see FIG C, image ).

Section  – PictBridge Printing

. Continuing with the screen seen in FIG C, image , select Page size from the list (see FIG D, image ) and match it to the paper size in your printer (image ). Mine is only a x printer; yours may have other sizes available. . Now, select the number of copies (No. of copies) you’d like to have of this print (see FIG E). You can select from  to  prints. . If you’d like your print with or without a border, make a choice between Print with border and No border (see FIG F). Of course, if your printer does not support printing with borders, this option

FIG G – Select time stamp for the print

FIG H – Select cropping for the print



will be grayed out. You can also select Printer default if you want to leave it up to the printer to decide. . Next, select whether you want a time stamp in the lower-right corner of the picture. Select Print time stamp or No time stamp (see FIG G). .Finally, you must choose whether you want to crop the print or not: – Crop: If you select Crop, you’ll use the Thumbnail/playback zoom out button to select the area of the crop (see Chapter , FIG B, numbers  and  for button locations). You can move the yellow crop frame around

4



4

Playback Menu

with the Multi Selector. If you need to zoom back out, you’ll use the Playback zoom in button (see FIG H, image ). Press the OK button to select the crop. – No Crop: If you don’t want to crop, just select No cropping, and press the OK button. .Once you’ve made all your selections, scroll back up to the Start printing line and press the OK button (see FIG H, image ). Your printer will now print your picture. FIG H, image , shows the D screen you’ll see while the print is flowing to the printer. Immediately thereafter the printing starts. Multiple-Print PictBridge Printing

The basic single-print method is for when you want to select a single image and print one or more copies of it. The following alternate PictBridge methods are also available: . Print select . Select date . Print (DPOF) . Index print

FIG  – Print select printing screens

Let’s discuss each of them in detail. Note: You won’t be able to see these screens unless your camera is plugged into a PictBridge printer. Print select

This method is for when you want to print more than one image at a time. You can choose from many images, set the number of prints for each, and then set borders and time stamp information. Here are the steps to configure Print select: . Turn your camera off. . Connect the USB transfer cable to the already turned on PictBridge printer and then to the camera. . Turn to the camera on. . As shown in FIG , you’ll see a JPEG image after the PictBridge logo finishes displaying. Since we’re interested in printing more than one picture, you’ll not press the OK button for the Setup option at this time as the PictBridge playback screen suggests—notice the big red X I added to the screen?

Section  – PictBridge Printing

Instead, press the Menu button. That will display the PictBridge menu with Print select as the top choice. Choose Print select and scroll to the right (see FIG A). . The Print select screen will appear (see FIG A, image ). It contains the JPEG files available on your camera’s memory card. Scroll around with the Multi Selector. To select images for printing, follow these steps: a) Highlight an image. b) Hold down the Thumbnail/playback zoom out button and scroll up with the Multi Selector to increase the number of prints for this image, up

FIG A – Print select screens

FIG B – Printing setup screen – Select page size



to  prints per picture. Notice in FIG A, image , how a couple of the images have  or  and a small printer symbol (see the red arrow)? The numbers mean that the camera will print that quantity of pictures for each marked image. c) Repeat steps a and b for each additional image you want to print. d) Press the OK button when all images are prepared. . The camera will now switch to the printing Setup screen. You’ll need to choose a page size that fits your desired image (see FIG B). Mine is x in. Yours may have more choices.

4



Playback Menu

. Do you want a border on this image? If so, scroll down and select Border and then scroll to the right (see FIG C). Select Print with border or No border. Press the OK button to select and return to the setup screen. . Now, choose Time stamp. This will add the date to the printed picture in the lower-right corner. Select from Print

4

FIG C – Choosing the border style

FIG D – Choosing whether to add a time stamp

time stamp or No time stamp (see FIG

D). Press the OK button to return to the print Setup screen. . To print the pictures, scroll up to Start printing, and press the OK button (see FIG B, image ). Your images will now print, with a variable number of copies of each picture per your selections.

Section  – PictBridge Printing

Select date

You can select a date or multiple dates and print all images within those dates. FIG  shows the opening screens for printing by date. Here are the steps to print all images by date(s): . Turn your camera off. . Connect the USB transfer cable to the already turned on PictBridge printer and then to the camera. . Turn the camera on. . As shown in FIG , you’ll see a JPEG image after the PictBridge logo finishes displaying. Since we’re interested in printing more than one picture, you won’t press the OK button for the Setup

FIG  – PictBridge print by date

FIG A – Choosing a date or dates to print



option at this time as the PictBridge playback screen suggests (I added a red X in figure  as a reminder). Instead, you’ll press the Menu button. That will display the PictBridge menu with Select date as the second choice from the top. Choose Select date and scroll to the right (see FIG A). . To choose dates, simply scroll down through the list and put a check mark next to each date with images you want to print (see FIG A, image , red arrow). You set the check mark in the little box by scrolling to the right on each line. If you want to examine a date to see what photos you took, you can use the Thumbnail/playback zoom out button

4



Playback Menu

to toggle a view of the images under a certain date. It’s a toggle, so pressing it opens and closes a detailed image display. Press the OK button when you have finished selecting the image dates. . The camera will now switch to the printing Setup screen. You’ll need to choose a page size that fits your

4

FIG B – Printing setup screen – Select page size

FIG C – Choosing a border style

desired image (see FIG B). I selected x in., but your printer may have more paper sizes. . Do you want a border on this image? If so, scroll down and select Border and then scroll to the right (see FIG C). Select Print with border or No border. Press the OK button to select and return to the setup screen.

Section  – PictBridge Printing

. Now, choose Time stamp. This will add the date to the printed picture in the lower-right corner. Select from Print time stamp or No time stamp (see FIG D). Press the OK button to select and return to the print Setup screen. . To print the pictures, scroll up to Start printing, and press the OK button. Your images will now print, with a variable



number of copies of each picture per your selections. FIG E, image , shows the D screen you’ll see while the print is flowing to the printer. Immediately thereafter the printing starts.

4

FIG D – Choosing whether to print a time stamp

FIG E – Printing the picture



Playback Menu

Print (DPOF):

4

This function is not Print set (DPOF) which is discussed in Section  below, but it’s rather similar. If you have created a print order and saved it to your camera’s memory card, this function will give you the choice of printing the existing Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) selection. I haven’t found a way to make more than one print order at a time with the D. Section , Print set (DPOF), will include full details on how to create a print order. This section just tells how to print it. If there is no print order already created, this method acts like the Print select function discussed previously. Here are

the steps to print an existing print order from your memory card: . Turn your camera off. . Connect the USB transfer cable to the already turned on PictBridge printer and then to the camera. . Turn the camera on. . As shown in FIG , you’ll see a JPEG image after the PictBridge logo finishes displaying. Since we’re interested in printing more than one picture, you’ll not press the OK button for the Setup option at this time as the PictBridge playback screen suggests (again, my big red X is a reminder). Instead, you’ll press the Menu button. That will display

FIG  – Printing the existing DPOF with PictBridge?

FIG A – Validating or changing the existing print order

Section  – PictBridge Printing

the PictBridge menu with Print (DPOF) as the third choice from the top. Choose Print (DPOF) and scroll to the right (see FIG A). . The screen will now present an existing print order from your memory card (see FIG A). If there are no existing print orders, the images will have no quantity numbers in their upper-right corners (see the red arrow in FIG A, image ) and you can proceed to add some. You can change the quantity on any image by selecting it, holding down the Thumbnail/playback zoom out button, and pressing up on the Multi Selector. This adds to the number of

FIG B – Printing setup screen

FIG C – Choosing a border style



prints for the selected image. You can reduce the amount by pressing down on the Multi Selector. Press the OK button when you have examined and modified or approved the print order. . The camera will now switch to the printing Setup screen. You’ll need to choose a page size that fits your desired image (see FIG B). I chose x in. since my printer only prints that size. Yours may display and print other sizes. . Do you want a border on this image? If so, scroll down and select Border and then scroll to the right (see FIG C). Select Print with border or No border.

4



Playback Menu

Press the OK button to select and return to the Setup screen. . Now, choose Time stamp. This will add the date to the printed picture in the lower-right corner (see FIG D). Select Print time stamp or No time stamp. Press the OK button to select and return to the print Setup screen.

4

FIG D – Choosing whether to print a time stamp

FIG E – Printing the picture

. To print the pictures, scroll up to Start printing, and press the OK button. Your images will now print, with a variable number of copies of each picture per your selections. FIG E, image , shows the D screen you’ll see while the print is flowing to the printer. Immediately thereafter the printing starts.

Section  – PictBridge Printing

Index print

When you select this type of printing, the camera will find up to the first  JPEG images on your memory card and make an index print containing thumbnails of each of them. If the paper size will not contain all the thumbnails, it will print multiple pages. This is basically the same as the old contact sheet of yesteryear. Here are the steps to create an index print for your JPEG images: . Turn your camera off. . Connect the USB transfer cable to the already turned on PictBridge printer and then to the camera. . Turn the camera on. . As shown in FIG , you’ll see a JPEG image after the PictBridge logo finishes displaying. Since we’re interested in printing an index print, you’ll not press the OK button for the Setup option at this

FIG  – Making an index print

FIG A – Printing setup screen



time as the PictBridge playback screen suggests (see the big red X). Instead, you’ll press the Menu button. That will display the PictBridge menu with Index print as the last choice on the list. Choose Index print and scroll to the right (see FIG A). . You’ll now be presented with the first  JPEG images found on your camera’s memory card (see FIG A). You can’t do anything with the images except scroll through them, nor can you select more than . Press the OK button when you are ready. . The camera will now switch to the printing Setup screen. You’ll need to choose a page size that fits your desired image (see FIG B). Since my printer only does x in., I chose that size. You may have more sizes available. . Do you want a border on this image? If so, scroll down and select Border and

4



Playback Menu

then scroll to the right (see FIG C). Select Print with border or No border. Press the OK button to select and return to the Setup screen. . Now, choose Time stamp. This will add the date to the printed picture in the lower-right corner (see FIG D). Select from Print time stamp or No time

4

FIG B – Printing Setup screen – Select page size

FIG C – Choosing a border style

FIG D – Choosing whether to print a time stamp

stamp. Press the OK button to select and

return to the print Setup screen. . To print the Index print(s), scroll up to Start printing, and press the OK button. The printer will now output one or more Index print pages containing small-sized images in a grid pattern as you would see on a contact sheet (see FIG F).

Section  – PictBridge Printing

In FIG F you can see a x Index print, as printed on my little Epson PictureMate Dash. Even a print this small can contain  thumbnail images. I took a picture of a picture to capture this Index print for the book. Oh, and try to ignore the subject matter; these are just family and friend snapshots. The D gets handed around my family quite a bit. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I took one of the images on the index print. Everyone loves to use the D—especially the kids—since they

FIG E – Printing the picture

FIG F – Sample -x--inch (-x--cm) index print



can set a Scene or Guide mode and shoot lots of images without thinking about camera settings. My -year-old son once took  images of his face. It’s a good thing the D doesn’t use film! That’s about all there is to PictBridge printing directly from camera to printer. Now let’s see how you can use the D to create a print order, store it on the camera’s memory card, and print directly from the memory card without attaching the camera or computer to the printer.

4



Playback Menu

Section 2 – Print Set (DPOF)

4

For printing with Print Set DPOF you do not have to connect the printer to anything. All you have to do is insert a memory card that contains a digital print order on it and the printer will detect the order and offer to fill it. Since my printer is an Epson PictureMate Dash, I’ll have to use its screens to do the final DPOF print. Your printer’s screens and methods may vary, but I doubt they’ll be any more difficult than the Epson’s. These steps will allow you to print your order on your DPOF-compatible printer: . Press the Menu button and select the first menu on the list, the Playback menu (see FIG ). . Scroll down and select Print set (DPOF) and then scroll to the right (see FIG ). . If you don’t have any existing print orders on the memory card, please skip this step and go directly to step . Otherwise, if you have an existing print order that you no longer want, you’ll need to choose Deselect all? from the list and then scroll to the right (see FIG A, image ). The next screen will

FIG A – Deselecting an existing print order

FIG  – Print set (DPOF)

ask you, Remove print marking from all images? And you are given a Yes or No option. Choose Yes and press the OK button. If there are previously marked images, the brief message Marking removed from all images will flash in the screen, and the screen will return to the Playback menu. Otherwise, no message will appear and it will just return to the menu. . Since you’re going to create a new print order and save it to the memory card, you’ll choose Select/set from the Print set (DPOF) screen, then scroll to the right (see FIG B, image ). . Now you’ll see the Select/set screen with all the JPEG images on your memory card (see FIG B, image ).

Section  – Print Set (DPOF)

You’ll need to choose images with the Multi Selector. Once you have an image highlighted, hold down the Thumbnail/ playback zoom out button and scroll up with the Multi Selector. This changes the number of prints ordered for that particular image (see FIG B, image , red arrow). You can select from  to  prints for each image you highlight. Each print you choose will be marked with a tiny printer icon and a number of prints value. Once you have scrolled through your images—highlighting and incrementing print amounts—just press the OK button. . This next screen allows you to add data imprints to each of the images in the

FIG B – Choosing images and print amounts



print order (see FIG B, image ). You can add data or the date: – Data imprint: This prints the shutter speed and aperture on each print in the order. – Imprint date: This causes a date to be added to each print in the order. You put check marks in the tiny boxes by highlighting the line and scrolling right on the word Set. I selected Imprint date but not Data imprint in FIG B, image . When you have completed your choices, scroll up to Done and press the OK button. . You’ll be presented with a screen telling you that the print order is complete, as you see in FIG B, image .

4



4

Playback Menu

At this point your print order has been saved to the memory card and you’ll need to go insert the card into the printer’s SD memory card slot. FIG C shows the screens I see at this point on my Epson PictureMate Dash printer. Your printer’s screens may vary. However, since your printer is PictBridge/DPOF compatible, you’ll find something very similar, especially if you choose to buy an Epson PictureMate Dash or Zoom, like mine! FIG C shows the print order fulfillment screens, in sequence. As these screens appeared, I followed the prompts and ended up with my selected four prints within a few minutes. I am not going to discuss what I did during the print confirmation process since that may vary on your printer.

FIG C – Print order fulfillment screens

I had absolutely no interest in printing directly from my camera to a PictBridge printer until I wrote this chapter and saw how fun and easy it is. Printer costs are reasonable, so you might want to pick up a PictBridge compatible one. Just look for the PictBridge logo on the printer’s packaging or body. Thank you Nikon for giving us this easy method for making nice prints!

Look for the Folder on Your Memory Card While examining my camera’s SD memory card in my computer, I noticed that after I created a print order, my D created a folder on its memory card called MISC. In the folder was a file named AUTPRINT. MRK. This is the current Print order for Print set (DPOF).

My Conclusions



FIG  – Playing stop-motion movies

Stop-Motion Movie

My Conclusions

Stop-motion movies are created under the Retouch menu but displayed under the Playback menu. We’ll consider why and how to create a Stop-motion movie in this book’s chapter titled Retouch and Recent Settings Menus. For now, let’s examine how to display a Stop-motion movie that you’ve already created. If this Playback menu item is grayed out, there are no movies on your camera’s memory card. Here are the steps to select an existing movie and play it back (see FIG ): . Press the Menu button and select the Playback menu (top menu). . Select Stop-motion movie from the Playback menu, and scroll to the right. . Choose one of the movies displayed on the screen. I have two showing in FIG , image . . Press the OK button when you have a movie selected and it will play on your LCD monitor or your TV if the camera is hooked up to it with an A/V cable.

I remember the old days when to “play back” some images, you’d have to find the old shoebox full of pictures or open an album and flip pages. Sometimes I miss photo albums. I’m going to run down to the superstore right now and buy several albums. Then I’ll use PictBridge to print some actual images to put into those albums. Have you printed any images today? In the meantime I’ll use the playback features of my D to impress my friends with my images and my really cool camera! Now, let’s move onto the next series of menu items, found in the Shooting menu.

4



Shooting and Information Edit Menus

Shooting and Information Edit Menus

5



The Shooting and Information edit menus are like fraternal twins. They have almost, but not quite, the same settings. This chapter will focus on the Shooting menu, but I’ll discuss the Information edit menu when the two share functionality. Any extra functionality in the Information edit menu will be considered at the end of this chapter. The Shooting menu has  settings, while the Information edit menu has . At the beginning of each section, I’ll mention whether the setting applies to just the Shooting menu or to both. As you use your camera, you’ll find that the Information edit menu is very convenient and easy to use, so I strongly suggest that you learn it well. Some of the shared camera settings are also found under the Guide Mode’s Set up menu, as discussed in previous chapters. Three user interfaces, same settings! Since we’ve covered the Guide menu in great detail previously, we’ll now focus only on the Shooting menu and the Information edit menu. Here are the settings you’ll learn about in this chapter. There are a total of  of them. We’ll use both interfaces to modify them, when available: The following advanced configuration settings are covered in this chapter: t
Reset shooting options t
Set Picture Control t
Image quality t
Image size t
White balance

t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t


ISO sensitivity Active D-Lighting Color space Noise reduction Release mode Focus mode AF-area mode AF-assist Metering Built-in flash Flash modes Flash compensation Exposure compensation

Now, let’s take a look at each setting, learn what it does, and see how you can use the two user interfaces to access it. To save a lot of repetition, I’m going to show how to access each of the two menus here at the beginning of the chapter. As we progress through later parts of this chapter, I’ll simply say something like, “Use the Shooting menu” or “Use the Information edit menu”. When you read references like that, simply refer to one, or both, of the next two sections to see how to access the particular user interface. Doing it this way will save a lot of needless repetition when I have to describe how to use the two menus. If you’re like me, you’ll learn to favor one over the others. Nikon makes it easy for this camera to fit varying personalities.

5



Shooting and Information Edit Menus

Using the Shooting Menu

5

Here are the steps to open and use the various settings on the Shooting menu. . Make sure the Mode dial on top of the camera is not set to GUIDE. . Press the Menu button on the left side of the camera’s back. . Using the Multi Selector, scroll down the available menus and you’ll see the Shooting menu, which is the second from the top and is represented by a small green camera icon. There are several other menus available below and above the Shooting menu. We discuss them in other chapters. . Scroll to the right with the Multi Selector and you’ll be able to access any of the  items on the Shooting menu by scrolling up or down. In my sample

FIG  - Shooting menu

shown in FIG , I have selected the Image quality setting out of the  available settings. . Once you select one of the  options, simply scroll to the right with the Multi Selector and you’ll open one or sometimes two screens with additional settings. We’ll be using all these screens as we go through this chapter. As we progress, we’ll first use the Shooting menu to talk about the settings, then the Information edit menu if it allows changing the setting too. At the end of the chapter, you’ll see a few functions only found on the Information edit menu.

Using the Information Edit Menu

Using the Information Edit Menu The Information edit menu is my favorite for setting many camera options. The purpose of this shortcut (or “Quick Settings” menu, as Nikon calls it) is to allow you to quickly change the most important settings without digging around in lots of places. The most critical camera settings are all in one place! Here are the steps to open and use the Information edit menu (see FIG ). . Press the Information edit button until you see the Information edit menu, shown in FIG , image . You may have to press it twice from many screens since a single press opens the readonly Information screen shown when you first turn the camera on. The Information edit button is on back of the camera on the bottom left. It shares its functions with the Playback zoom in button, and is context sensitive. You’ll see a tiny figure just above the button. If you’re still confused about its location, refer to chapter , FIG B, number . . Make sure that the yellow highlight rectangle is positioned on the setting

FIG  – Information edit menu



you want to adjust. In FIG , image , the Image quality setting is selected. You’ll see the name of each setting at the top left of the Information edit menu. Use the Multi Selector to scroll until you locate the setting you want to modify. . Press the OK button and you’ll be presented with the second Information edit menu. It has a list of selections for the setting you have chosen. Choose a selection by scrolling up or down with the Multi Selector and highlighting your choice (see FIG , image ). . Press the OK button to choose your selection. The camera will return to the main Information edit menu and show your choice. I use these screens to set the  available settings. These settings are the most useful and most often changed options in the camera. I think you’ll use these two screens often. Now, let’s talk about the individual settings on each menu.

5



Shooting and Information Edit Menus

Reset Shooting Options This particular setting is exclusive to the Shooting menu. It is designed to cancel out all your changes and set the camera back to factory settings for the Shooting menu only. FIG  shows the screens and settings for using this option. There are only two options in this operation: t
Yes t
No

5

These are the steps to reset the shooting options: . Use the Shooting menu (see the section under “Using the Shooting Menu” a few pages back if you’re not sure how). . Select Reset shooting options—the first selection on the menu (see FIG , image ).

FIG  - Reset shooting options

. Scroll to the right with the Multi Selector. . Choose Yes from the menu (see FIG , image ). Choosing No simply returns to the Shooting menu main screen. . Press the OK Button, and you’re done. Once you’ve selected Yes, the Shooting menu is returned to factory default settings. If you choose No, nothing happens except a return to the Shooting menu. I only use this setting when I am about to sell my camera or give it to someone since it erases all my personal setting preferences. You’ll probably use this setting only once or twice in all the time you own the camera.

Set Picture Control

Set Picture Control Picture Controls are special preset selec-

tions that affect how your image appears. This function has the same effect as using different types of film in the olden days (pre-). We’ll first look at how to use the controls, then what they accomplish. This setting is available only on the Shooting menu. It doesn’t show up on the Information edit menu. Shooting menu – FIG  shows how to access the Picture Controls from the Shooting menu. You use the three screens to select a particular Picture Control and even “fine-tune” it to your own standards. Here are the steps: . Use the Shooting menu (see the section under “Using the Shooting Menu” a few pages back if you’re not sure how). . Use the Multi Selector to scroll to Set Picture Control, and then scroll to the right. If the selection is grayed out, please set the camera’s Mode dial to P, S, A, or M. You can’t adjust picture controls when using the Scene modes on the Mode dial. . Select one of the Picture Controls from the menu. I’ve selected Vivid in FIG . If you want, you can modify the control to have different sharpening, contrast, saturation, or hue and then scroll to



the right for the fine-tuning screen (see FIG , image ). You can use the Multi Selector to move around and modify the settings. Otherwise, go directly to step . . Press the OK button to make the selected control active. The two-letter abbreviation for the control will show on the Shooting menu. (See FIG , image .) To the right of Set Picture Control you’ll see VI. What are Picture Controls used for? – Let’s examine what Picture Controls do and how we can use them with the D. This flexible image control system was designed by Nikon to allow you to customize how you create images. There are six different Picture Controls in your camera. If you used to shoot film, this is sort of like having six different film types available at all times. Here is a list of the controls: t
SD - Standard t
NL - Neutral t
VI - Vivid t
MC - Monochrome t
PT - Portrait t
LS - Landscape The Scene modes and Guide Mode both use one of these Picture Controls to give

FIG  – Accessing Picture Controls from the Shooting menu

5



5

Shooting and Information Edit Menus

your images a certain look. You can use them yourself for a similar look—while controlling other features of the camera personally. These controls all make the image look a different way, with different levels of color saturation, contrast, hue, and sharpening. The camera always has one of the controls selected. You can use the automatic functions of the camera—like the Scene and Guide modes—and it will select one for you. Or, you can use one of the P, S, A, or M settings on the Mode dial and you can select which one you want to use. We’ll discuss the more advanced exposure modes, called P, S, A, M, in this book’s chapter titled Exposure Metering System, Exposure Modes, and Histogram. Here is a list of the six Picture Controls and how they work: t
Standard – This is the most balanced picture control. It is not too colorful or too “contrasty”, but it does provide a great look. If I were to compare this control to a certain film, I would say it looks most like Fuji Provia. It has medium contrast and saturation. I wouldn’t consider this a portrait mode but would tend to use it when I wanted natural and realistic colors in nature or indoor settings. t
Neutral – This is for individuals wanting an image that will be easier to postprocess later in the computer. It has a somewhat extended dynamic range, so it can capture more shadow and highlight detail. If you used Fuji NPS in the past, you’ll notice that this has a

somewhat similar look. It can be used for portraits or nature and has lower contrast for ease of working on the image in-computer. If you are forced to shoot in extremely bright conditions with high contrast—such as on a bright sunny day—this control works well to try to tame some of that deep contrast. t
Vivid – Are you a hard-core nature shooter who loved Fuji Velvia? Do you regularly add a little saturation to your colors? Do you boost contrast to get that “snap” needed for great nature images? If so, here’s your picture control! This is an “in your face” deep-saturation, high-contrast, and make-it-green-blue-and-beautiful picture control. Are the colors extremely accurate? Well, were they accurate with Velvia slide film? No! However, if you want beautiful nature shots, this will do it. Be careful shooting Vivid on a sunny day because it tends to increase contrast to higher levels. You’ll get deep, dark blacks and very saturated greens, reds, and blues with this control. If you are shooting on a low-contrast overcast day, this mode will add contrast for you. t
Monochrome – Have you wanted to experiment with black and white pictures? This picture control makes pretty decent straight black-andwhite images, with nice blacks and clean whites. In addition, you can tone the images with different tints. The old-style Sepia (warm reddish) and Cyanotype (cool bluish) are available. Nikon also provides other tints for

Set Picture Control

your experimentation, including Red, Yellow, Green, Blue Green, Blue, Purple, and Red Purple. The normal black-andwhite mode looks like Kodak Plus-X film to me but has slightly less black. It is hard to fully imitate the effect of silver-based film with a digital sensor. However, this control gives you a good starting point for deepening the blacks and brightening the whites so that it can look the way you want it to appear. t
Portrait – Nikon says that this control is “for skin with natural texture and a rounded feel”. I’ve taken numerous images with this Portrait control and shot the same images with the Neutral control. The results are very similar. I’m sure that Nikon has included some software enhancements specifically for skin tones in this control, so I’d recommend it for shooting portraits. The results from this control look a bit like smooth Kodak Portra film to me. Photos of individuals and groups of people will benefit when you use this mode because the skin tones will be more accurate and smooth looking. t
Landscape – This control “produces vibrant landscape and cityscapes”, according to Nikon. That sounds like the Vivid control to me. I shot a series of images using both the Landscape and Vivid controls and got similar results. Compared to the Vivid control, the Landscape control seemed to have very slightly less saturation in the reds and a tiny bit more saturation in the greens while blues stayed about the same. It could be that Nikon has created the Landscape



control to be similar but not quite as drastic as the Vivid control. There was so little difference between the two that you would have to compare them sideby-side to notice. Maybe this control is meant to be a tiny bit more natural than the supersaturated Vivid control. It will certainly improve the looks of your landscape images. I’d say the look of this control is somewhere between Fuji Provia and Velvia. Great saturation and contrast with emphasis on the greens of natural settings. Each of these controls is fully configurable. You can fine-tune them and the camera will remember your changes. On image  of FIG , notice how the Vivid control has an asterisk after it. It looks like this: VI* Vivid*. I added a couple of levels of sharpening to Vivid as an experiment. It shows the asterisk to remind me that the default values of the control have been changed. Any control that you’ve fine-tuned stays the way you set it until you change it back to the normal factory settings. Once you have returned it back to the factory settings using the Quick adjust menu, the asterisk will disappear (see FIG , image ).

Which Picture Control Should I Use? Good question! It really boils down to whether you are a person who likes to shoot in RAW (.nef) mode and later postprocess the images into their final form or whether you simply enjoy taking great pictures in JPEG mode and will use them immediately.

5



5

Shooting and Information Edit Menus

Personally, I am a post-processing kind of guy. I use the Neutral control most of the time since I’m shooting in RAW mode and want to get extra dynamic range from lower contrast for later computer enhancement. I realize that by shooting in Neutral I’m not going to create images with immediate “snap” or deep color saturation. However, I’ve found that I can make superior images later in Nikon Capture NX when I use Neutral. I boost the color until it matches what I remember and raise the contrast until it is just right to my eyes. It’s extra work, of course, but deeply satisfying when I create a great-looking image. For me, digital imaging is a two-part process. First, shoot the RAW picture, and then, finish it in Capture NX. Since I’m shooting in RAW mode, it really makes no difference what Picture Control I’m using since the RAW file is completely changeable, after the fact, in my computer. I find that when I’ve shot in Neutral, Capture NX displays it as a low-contrast, lowsaturation image so that I can easily see the effects I am trying to achieve when I make modifications. If you are allergic to computers or have no interest in post-processing, then you should carefully match the Picture Control to the type of images you are shooting. If you’re shooting portraits of people, you may want to use the Neutral or Portrait controls. For scenics, landscapes, and indoor events, you might want to use Landscape, Vivid, Standard, or even Neutral if you are conservative. This is especially important if you are shooting in JPEG mode because you can only slightly

modify a JPEG later without causing problems from image recompression losses. Ask yourself, “When I shot film, what type was it?” Did you shoot Kodak Gold negative film? Then you should probably use the Standard control. Did you shoot Velvia slide film? Then go for Vivid or Landscape. Was your imaging mostly pictures of people—using negative film? In that case, Portrait or even Neutral might work best. Nikon has given us a nice series of Picture Controls as a base for creativity. Learn to use the Picture Controls and your images will look the way you want them to.

Image quality The “quality” of your image is directly related to what image format or type you use. The Nikon D has two specific image formats that can be used alone or together. They are NEF and JPEG. NEF stands for Nikon Electronic Format, while JPEG stands for “Joint Photographic Experts Group”. Both the Shooting and the Information edit menus allow you to change the Image quality setting. First, FIG A shows how you can select Image quality from the Shooting menu. Then in FIG B, you’ll see how to do this from the Information edit menu. The camera supports the following image types: t
NEF (RAW) t
JPEG fine, normal, and basic t
Combination of NEF and JPEG basic at the same time (same image stored twice, one as a NEF, the other as a JPEG basic)

Image quality



FIG A - Image quality Shooting menu screens

5 FIG B - Information edit menu – Image quality

Shooting menu: Here are the steps to

use these Shooting menu screens. . Use the Shooting menu (see the section under “Using the Shooting Menu” earlier in this chapter if you’re not sure how). . Use the Multi Selector to select Image quality, and then scroll to the right. . Select one of the quality levels from the menu. I’ve selected JPEG fine in FIG A, image . . Press the OK button to choose your favorite image quality level. We’ll discuss the image quality differences in an upcoming section. You can also Image quality from the Information edit menu (see FIG B).

Follow these steps to do the selection: . Use the Information edit menu (refer to the section under “Using the Information edit or Quick Settings Menu” earlier in this chapter if you are unsure how). . Make sure the yellow highlight rectangle is positioned in the Image quality field, as shown in FIG B (Where it says FINE in the left-hand image). . Press the OK button to move into the next screen. . You’ll be presented with the second Image quality screen. It has the list of selections mentioned previously. Select your favorite Image quality level. Note: You’ll also notice that the camera



5

Shooting and Information Edit Menus

gives you a couple of useful pieces of information. Just to the left of the list of Image quality selections, you’ll see information on the approximate image file size (MB = megabytes) and the number of images your camera’s memory card can hold for the current Image quality selection. FIG B, image  informs us that the average image size for the FINE quality is . megabytes and that the memory card will hold approximately  more images at that size. My memory card was almost full. . Once you’ve made your selection, press the OK button. The camera will return to the main Information edit menu with your choice showing in the Image quality field. For quick changes, I always use the Information edit menus. For more deliberate changes, I use the Shooting menu. I rarely use the Guide menu. You may be different. It’s cool that Nikon gives us a choice. To me, it reflects the dual nature of the D. It’s designed to work well for new or advanced DSLR users. Let’s look at each of these image quality formats and see which you might want to use regularly. Following this section is a special supplement called Image Format Pros and Cons. This special section will go beyond just how to turn the different formats on and off and explain why you might want to use a particular format over another. It will cover details you should know as a digital photographer.

NEF (RAW) Format – This Nikon proprietary format stores raw image data directly to the camera’s memory card in files and can easily be recognized because the file name ends with .nef. This is not an image format used in day-to-day graphical work (like JPEG) and the image is not yet really even a usable image. Instead, it’s a base storage format used to store images for conversion to another format like JPEG, TIFF, or EPS. Other than initial compression, it stores all available image data and can be easily manipulated later. You must use conversion software, such as the included Nikon Software Suite (on CD) with Nikon ViewNX, Nikon Capture NX, Adobe Lightroom, or Adobe Photoshop to later change your NEF format RAW file into a format like TIFF or JPEG. There are also several after-market RAW conversion applications available, such as Bibble, Capture One, and PhaseOne. Before you go out shooting in the NEF RAW format, why not install your conversion software of choice so that you’ll be able to view, adjust, and save the images to another format when you return? You may not be able to view NEF files directly on your computer unless you have RAW conversion software installed. Some operating systems provide a downloadable “patch” or “codec” that lets you at least see NEF files as small thumbnails. Do a Google search on these specific words and you’ll find Microsoft patches for NEF file viewing: “Microsoft raw thumbnail viewer download” and “NEF codec download”. You’ll be able to

Image quality

download codecs that Microsoft operating systems can use to display small NEF file thumbnails when you view a folder containing them. At the time I was writing this book, I could only find codes for -bit Windows XP and Vista. There should be one available for Microsoft Windows  by the time this book is in your hands, or maybe it will natively work with the NEF format. There are also third-party companies, such as Ardfry Imaging, LLC, that offer various - and -bit codecs for a small fee (www.ardfry.com). I bought the Ardfry version for my computer. If you’re running -bit Windows Vista or Windows , you may want to check out the Ardfry Imaging site or do a little research to see what else is currently available for viewing NEF files as thumbnails in Windows or on a Mac. The Nikon CD that’s included “in the box” contains the Nikon Software Suite for both Macintosh and Windows computers. It provides Nikon ViewNX, which can be used to examine your NEF (RAW) files in detail and convert them to other formats. It also has Nikon Transfer, a program that helps you get your images off of the camera and onto your computer. I really like Nikon Transfer since it helps me transfer pictures to my computer and leave them on my memory card too. Then if I take more pictures on the same memory card, Nikon Transfer will transfer only the new ones when I reconnect to the computer. In a sense, Nikon Transfer acts like a one-way, memorycard-to-computer synchronizer. As



memory cards get bigger and bigger, I can see a time when I’ll keep several months of images on my camera’s card and transfer the newest ones I take to the computer. I shot about  gigabytes of pictures last year. I just saw an ad for a  gigabyte memory card, so it looks like that time is drawing near. Nikon ViewNX RAW conversion software is supplied free with the D, while Nikon Capture NX requires a separate purchase. Capture NX has become my favorite conversion software packages, along with Adobe Photoshop. I use ViewNX to look at my images because it has an excellent browser-type interface and then push them to Capture NX for final post-processing. If I need to remove an ugly spot in the sky from the edge of an otherwise spotless image or a blemish from a person’s face, I’ll use Photoshop’s Clone and Healing tools. JPEG Format – As shown in FIGs A and B, the D has three JPEG modes. Each one affects the final quality of the image. Let’s look at each mode in detail: t
JPEG fine (Compression approximately :) t
JPEG normal (Compression approximately :) t
JPEG basic (Compression approximately :) Each of the JPEG modes provides a certain level of “lossy” image compression. Lossy means that JPEG throws away image data. The human eye compensates for small color changes quite well, so the

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JPEG compression algorithm works great for viewing by humans. A useful thing about JPEG is that one can vary the file size of the image (via compression) without affecting quality too badly. JPEG fine (or fine quality JPEG) uses a : compression ratio, so there is a large difference in the file size; the JPEG fine file can be as small as  percent of the original size. In this mode an image can be compressed down to as little as  or  megabytes without significant loss of image quality. If you decide to shoot in JPEG, this mode will give you the best quality JPEG your camera can produce. Where a RAW setting only allows - images on an -gigabyte memory card, the JPEG fine setting raises that to over  files. JPEG normal (or normal quality JPEG) uses an : compression ratio. This makes the D image file about . megabytes. The image quality is still very acceptable in this mode, so if you are just shooting at a party for an average x printed image size, this mode will allow you to make lots of images. An -gigabyte card will hold over , JPEG normal image files. JPEG basic (or basic quality JPEG) uses a : compression ratio, so the D’s image file size drops to about . megabytes. Remember, these are full-size files. If you are shooting for the Web or just want to document an area well, this mode has sufficient quality. My D tells me it can store a whopping + JPEG basic files on my -gigabyte SD card.

Combined NEF and JPEG shooting (two images at once) - Some shooters use a clever storage mode whereby the D takes two images at the same time. NEF (RAW) + JPEG basic is what it’s called (or RAW+B). The camera makes a RAW (NEF) file and a JPEG file each time you press the Shutter release button. My camera’s storage drops to about  images on its  GB memory card because it’s storing a NEF and a basic JPEG file at the same time for each picture taken. You can see this format’s selection at the top of the second image in both FIGs A and B. You can use the RAW file to store all the image data and later to post-process it into a masterpiece, or you can just use the JPEG file immediately and later work on the RAW file for high-quality purposes. There’s no need to go into any detail about these modes other than what we’ve already discussed. The images from the NEF (RAW) + JPEG basic mode has the same features as their individual modes. In other words, the NEF (RAW) file works in an NEF + JPEG just like an NEF (RAW) file if you were using the stand-alone NEF (RAW) mode. The JPEG in an NEF + JPEG mode works just like a stand-alone JPEG shot without a NEF (RAW) file. Now, let’s consider which of these formats might become your favorite and the benefits each might bring to your photography.

Image quality

Image Format Pros and Cons

There are many discussions in Internet camera forums on image formats and which is the best. To decide which format you may frequently use, why not examine the pros and cons of each? This special section is designed to do just that. We’ll examine the two formats available in the D: NEF (RAW), and JPEG. Nikon Electronic Format — NEF (RAW)

I am a NEF (RAW) photographer about  percent of the time. I think of a RAW file as I thought of my slides and negatives a few years ago. It’s my original image file that must be saved and protected. Here are a couple of things to consider when you’re deciding whether to use the RAW format: t
You must post-process and convert every image you shoot into a TIFF or JPEG (or other viewable format). t
There is no industry-standard RAW image format, and Nikon has the option of changing the NEF (RAW) format each time it comes out with a new camera. And it usually does! Other than those drawbacks, along with many others, I shoot NEF (RAW) for maximum image quality. It is important that you understand something very different about NEF (RAW) files. They’re not really images— yet. Basically, a RAW file is composed of black-and-white sensor data and camera setting information markers. The RAW file is saved in a form that must be converted to another image type to be used in print or on the Web.



When you take a picture in RAW, the camera records the image data from the sensor and stores markers for how the camera’s color, sharpening, contrast, saturation, and so on are set, but it does not apply the camera setting information to the image. Your computer’s post-processing software will display the image on the screen using the settings you initially set in your D. However, they are applied only in a temporary manner for your computer viewing pleasure. If you don’t like the white balance you selected at the time you took the picture, simply apply a new white balance and the image will look just as if you had used the new white balance setting when you first took the picture. If you had low sharpening set in-camera and change it to higher sharpening in-computer, the image will look just as it would have looked had you used higher in-camera sharpening when you took the image. You can change sharpening levels in the Picture Control you have selected. This is quite powerful! Virtually no camera settings are applied to a RAW file in a permanent way. That means you can change the image to completely different settings and it will be just as if you had used those settings when you first took the picture. This allows a lot of flexibility later. If you shot the image initially using the Standard Picture Control and now want to use the Vivid Picture Control, all you have to do is change the image to the Vivid Picture Control before the final conversion and it will be as if you used the Vivid Picture Control when you first took the picture. Complete flexibility!

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The Pros and Cons of NEF (RAW) Format NEF (RAW) Pros

5

t
This format allows the manipulation of image data to achieve the highest quality image available from the camera. t
All original detail stays in the image for future processing needs. t
No conversions, sharpening, sizing, or color rebalancing will be performed by the camera. Your images are untouched and pure! t
You can convert NEF (RAW) files to any of the other image formats by using your computer’s much more powerful processor instead of the camera processor. t
You have much more control over the final look of the image, since you, not the camera, are making decisions as to the final appearance of the image. t
This is -bit format for maximum image data. NEF (RAW) Cons t
Not often compatible with the publishing industry, except by conversion to another format. t
Requires post-processing by special proprietary software as provided by the camera manufacturer or third-party software programmers. t
Larger file sizes (so you must have large storage media). t
No accepted industry-standard RAW format. Each camera manufacturer has its own proprietary format. Adobe has a RAW format called DNG (Digital Negative) that might become an industry standard. We’ll see! t
Industry standard for printing is -bit files, not -bit files.

NEF (RAW) is generally used by individuals concerned with maximum image quality and who have time to convert the image in the computer after taking it with the camera. A conversion to JPEG sets image markers permanently, while a conversion to TIFF sets the markers but allows you to modify the image later. Unfortunately, TIFF images are very large in size. JPEG Format

Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) is used by individuals who want excellent image quality but have little time or interest in post-processing or converting images to another format. They want to use the image immediately when it comes out of the camera, with no major adjustments. The JPEG format applies whatever camera settings you have chosen to the image when it is taken. It comes out of the camera ready to use—as long as you have exposed it properly and have all the other settings set in the best way for the image. Since JPEG is a “lossy” format, you cannot modify and save it more than a time or two before ruining the image from compression losses. However, since there is no post-processing required later, this format allows much quicker usage of the image. A person shooting a large quantity of images, or someone who doesn’t have the time to convert RAW images, will usually use JPEG. That encompasses a lot of photographers.

Image quality

While a nature photographer might want to use RAW because they have more time for processing images and wringing the last drop of quality out of them, an event or journalist photographer may not have the time or interest in processing images, so they’ll use JPEG. Here are the pros and cons of using JPEG mode.

The Pros and Cons of JPEG Mode JPEG Pros t
Maximum number of images on camera card and later in computer hard drive storage t
Fastest writes from camera memory buffer to memory card storage t
Absolute compatibility with everything and everybody in imaging t
Uses the industry printing standard of  bits t
High-quality first use images t
No special software needed to use the image right out of the camera (no postprocessing) t
Immediate use on websites with minimal processing t
Easy transfer across Internet, and as e-mail attachments

JPEG Cons t
JPEG is a “lossy” format, which means that it permanently throws away image data from compression algorithm losses as you select higher levels of compression (fine, normal, basic). t
You cannot use JPEG to manipulate an image more than once or twice before it degrades to an unusable state. Every time you modify and resave a JPEG image, it loses more data.



Final Image Format Ramblings

Which format do I prefer? Why, RAW, of course! But, it does require a bit of a commitment to shoot in this format. The D is simply an image-capturing device, and you are the image manipulator. You decide the final format, compression ratios, sizes, color balances, picture controls, and so on. In RAW mode, you have the absolute best image your camera can produce. It is not modified by the D and is ready for your personal touch. No camera processing allowed! If you get nothing else from this chapter section, remember this... by letting your camera process the images in any way, it is modifying or throwing away image data. There is only a finite amount of data for each image that can be stored on your camera, and later on the computer. With JPEG mode, your camera is optimizing the image according to the assumptions recorded in its memory. Data is being thrown away permanently, in varying amounts. If you want to keep virtually all the image data that was recorded in the image, you must store your originals in RAW format, otherwise you’ll never again be able to access that original data to change how it looks. RAW format is the closest thing to a film negative or a transparency that your digital camera can make. That’s important if you’d like to use the image later for modification. If you’re a photographer who’s concerned with maximum quality, you should probably shoot and store your images in RAW format. Later, when you have the urge to

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make another JPEG masterpiece out of the original RAW image file, you will have all of your original data intact for the highest quality. If you’re concerned that the RAW format may change too much—over time—to be readable by future generations, then you might want to convert your images into TIFF, DNG, or JPEG files. TIFF is best if you want to modify them later. I often save a TIFF version of my best files just in case RAW changes too much in the future. I’m not overly concerned, though, since I can still open my  NEF (RAW) files from my old Nikon D in Nikon Capture NX. Why not do a little more research on this subject and decide which you like best?

FIG A – Image size selection

FIG B – Information edit menu – Image size

Image size Most people leave the image size set to Large (L) so they can use the maximum quality the camera can create. However, there may be circumstances where a smaller image is just right. We’ll talk more about this after we look into the camera’s Image size configuration. Image size is available from the Shooting and Information edit menus. There are three settings available under Image size: t
L (Large) – x – . megapixels t
M (Medium) – x – . megapixels t
S (Small) – x – . megapixels First, let’s discuss the Shooting menu method (see FIG A).

Image size

This menu selection applies only to images captured in the JPEG modes. If you are shooting with your D in NEF + JPEG mode, it applies only to the JPEG image in the pair. Here’s how to select the size of the image in the Shooting menu (see FIG A): . Use the Shooting menu (see the section under “Using the Shooting Menu” earlier in this chapter if you’re not sure how). . Choose Image size, and then scroll right. . Choose the size of the image—usually Large is best. . Press the OK button. The Image size settings are also found in the Information edit menu (see FIG B). The following steps will help you set or verify the image size using the Information edit menu: . Use the Information edit menu (refer to the section under “Using the Information edit or Quick Settings Menu” earlier in this chapter if you are unsure how). . Make sure the yellow highlight rectangle is positioned in the Image size field. . Press the OK button. . You’ll be presented with the second Image size screen, which has the list of image size selections mentioned previously. Using the Multi Selector, scroll up or down in the list and make your choice. You’ll also notice that the camera gives you a couple of useful pieces of information. To the left of the list of Image size selections, you’ll see information on the approximate image file size (MB) and the number of images your camera’s memory card can hold for the current selection, as seen in FIG B, image .



. Once you’ve made your selection, press the OK button. The camera returns to the main Information edit menu with your choice showing in the Image size field. I’ve been playing around with these settings for the fun of it. I’m certainly not interested in using my  MP camera as a . MP or a . MP camera. I suppose there may be some reasons to reduce the MP rating of the camera, but not for me. If I set the image quality to JPEG basic and image size to Small, my D will capture about , images (. k) on an -gigabyte card. The images are small, . MP in size and compressed to about . megabytes, but there are a large number of them. If I were to set off to walk completely around the earth and I had only one -gigabyte SD card to take with me, well, my D will give me nearly , images on the one card, so I could at least document my trip very well. Recommendation: If you are shooting basic images that you’ll use only in email messages or on a website, the smaller image sizes will work fine. Otherwise, leave your camera set to Large because there is little reason—for most of us— to reduce the image size and lower the resulting output quality. To make a great large print of an image requires as much size and resolution as possible. Why not experiment with these settings and see if you can tell a difference between an image used on the Web and one used in a small x print. If you have only a very smallcapacity memory card, the smaller image size may be all you need until you can get a larger card.

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White balance White balance (WB) basically let’s you bal-

5

ance your camera to the light available when you are taking pictures. Whites will then look white, and other colors will be natural looking. An entire chapter of this book has been devoted to this subject. Please read the chapter titled White Balance for detailed information on this very important process. I won’t cover much more than how to change the settings in this chapter. The Shooting and Information edit menus both allow you to adjust the White balance settings. Let’s look at how to set the white balance with the two available menus. First, refer to FIG A for the Shooting menu screens needed to set the modes. Here are the steps used to set the white balance using the Shooting menu (see FIG A): . Use the Shooting menu (see the section under “Using the Shooting Menu”

earlier in this chapter if you’re not sure how). . Choose White balance, and then scroll to the right (see FIG A, image ). . Select a White balance setting, such as Auto, from the menu (see FIG A, image ). Until you read the chapter titled White Balance, why not leave the camera configured to Auto. If you decide to change the Fluorescent settings, you’ll have to configure another set of screens: – Fluorescent WB settings: Since fluorescent light comes in various color temperatures, from sodium vapor to mercury vapor, you will see an additional screen just before the fine-tuning screen. It will appear between the second and third screens in FIG A. It’s a screen giving you seven types of fluorescent lighting to choose from. Once you’ve made a fluorescent selection, just scroll to the right and the

FIG A – White balance selection and fine-tuning screens

FIG B – Fluorescent White balance choices

White balance

fine-tuning screen will appear. If you aren’t familiar with fluorescent types, you may have to experiment a bit. I recommend just doing a PRE ambient light measurement under Fluorescent. The seven Fluorescent choices are as follows (see FIG B, image ): a) Sodium-vapor lamps b) Warm-white fl. c) White fluorescent d) Cool-white fl. e) Day white fluorescent f) Daylight fluorescent g) High temp. mercury-vapor . Normally, you won’t use the third screen (see FIG A, image ) because it is involved in fine-tuning the White balance, so that your camera will deviate from factory settings. Only use this screen after you have become proficient in using the White balance settings and fully understand what each does. . Press the OK button while in the finetuning screen. If you accidentally move the small black cursor from its position in the middle of the color box (see FIG A, image ), simply use the Multi



Selector to move it back to the middle

before pressing the OK button. If you feel like experimenting, you won’t hurt anything. You can simply move the cursor back to the center when done. You can also use the Information edit menu to set the white balance. FIG C shows the screens used to select the Auto WB setting. Use these steps to configure White balance with the Information edit menu screens: . Use the Information edit menu (refer to the section under “Using the Information edit or Quick Settings Menu” earlier in this chapter if you are unsure how). . Make sure that the yellow highlighted rectangle is positioned in the White balance (WB) field. . Press the OK button. . You’ll be presented with the second White balance screen. It has a list of WB selections. Highlight the WB setting you want to use for the current ambient light and use the Multi Selector to select it. Maybe Auto is the best choice for now?

FIG C – Information edit menu’s White balance selection

5



Shooting and Information Edit Menus

. Press the OK button to confirm your selection. The camera returns to the main Information edit menu with your choice showing after the WB setting. You can select from a total of eight white balance settings with the camera controls. I’ve given you only the basics here, so please be sure to read the chapter titled White Balance for more detailed information. These are the eight white balance modes:

White Balance Modes

5

Auto White Balance, -K Incandescent, K

Fluorescent, K

Direct Sunlight, K

Flash, K

Cloudy, K

Shade, K PRE (Preset Manual), used to measure the White balance (WB) for the actual ambient light. If no measurement is taken, the value used is whatever was last stored in the camera WB memory.

Recommendation: For general shooting, Auto is generally sufficient. However, if you want the images to match each other in color, it’s important to use a preset white balance mode like Sunlight or Flash. If you’re really critical about your images, the PRE ambient light measurement method is best. Make it one of your priorities, as a digital photographer, to learn how to use your camera’s White balance settings.

ISO sensitivity settings The ISO sensitivity setting allows you to change your camera’s base light sensitivity so that you can take pictures in low or high light levels. You can let the camera decide when to change the ISO—using Auto ISO sensitivity mode—or you can do it yourself manually. After learning how to set the ISO sensitivity settings, you’ll find a section called “When and Why Should I Use Auto ISO sensitivity?” It goes beyond just how to set Auto ISO sensitivity mode and explains the reasons you may or may not want to use it with your style of photography. An ISO number, such as , , or , represents an agreed-upon sensitivity for the image-capturing sensor. Virtually everywhere one goes in the world, all camera ISO numbers will mean the same thing. With that fact established, camera bodies and lenses can be designed to take advantage of the ISO sensitivity ranges they will have to deal with. Standards are good! In the D, the ISO numbers are sensitivity equivalents. To make it very simple, ISO “sensitivity” is the digital

ISO sensitivity settings

equivalent of film speed. As the ISO sensitivity number gets higher, the camera needs less light for each exposure. A high ISO setting allows faster shutter speeds and smaller apertures, at the expense of greater noise in the image. The camera allows access to the ISO sensitivity settings through both the Shooting and Information edit menus. We’ll examine the Information edit menu first, this time, since it is limited to just changing the basic ISO sensitivity, while the Shooting menu allows you to adjust some other functions in addition to just setting the ISO level. FIG A shows the Information edit menus to select an ISO sensitivity level. Follow these steps to make the ISO sensitivity selection from the Information edit menu: . Use the Information edit menu (refer to the section under “Using the Information edit or Quick Settings Menu” earlier in this chapter if you are unsure how). . Make sure the yellow highlight rectangle is positioned in the ISO field (see FIG A, image ). . Press the OK button.



. You’ll be presented with the second ISO sensitivity screen. It has a list of ISO sensitivity selections. Choose the ISO you want to use by highlighting it with the Multi Selector (see FIG A, image ). . Press the OK button. The camera returns to the main Information edit menu with your choice showing in the ISO field. Next, let’s look at the Shooting menu screens for setting ISO sensitivity. FIG B shows the three screens used to change the camera’s ISO. Notice in FIG B, image  that there’s a scrollable list of ISO sensitivity values— although they can’t all be seen in the figure, they range from  ISO to Hi  (~ ISO). The “normal” ISO range for the camera is  to  ISO, with a boost to  (Hi ) when needed. Here’s how to select ISO sensitivity from the list of available ISO numbers: . Use the Shooting menu (see the section under “Using the Shooting Menu” earlier in this chapter if you’re not sure how). . Choose ISO sensitivity settings, and then scroll right (see FIG B, image ).

FIG A – Information edit menu—selecting an ISO sensitivity level

5



5

Shooting and Information Edit Menus

. Choose ISO sensitivity, and then scroll right (see FIG B, image ). . Choose an ISO sensitivity number between  and Hi  (). There is also an Auto selection at the very top of the list as shown in FIG B, image . This selection is grayed out unless you are using the Auto setting (little green camera icon) or one of the Scene modes from the Mode dial on top. Auto works as the name infers and lets the camera decide which is the best ISO sensitivity in those modes only. This is not the same as the Auto ISO sensitivity setting shown in FIG C. . Press the OK button to confirm your ISO sensitivity selection. See FIG B, image , where I’ve selected  ISO. (Hi  does not show in the figure because it is the last selection and did not fit on the screen.) Scroll down one more place from what is shown in image  to get to the Hi  setting. The minimum ISO sensitivity setting for the camera is  ISO. You can adjust the camera in its  to  (Hi ) ISO range in  EV steps.

FIG B – Shooting menu screens to set ISO

Now, let’s see how to set the Auto ISO sensitivity function so that your camera can work automatically when you don’t have time to fool with changing ISO settings. We’ll talk more about how it works after we learn to set it. We are still using the Shooting menu to control the function. Recommendation: I often use  or  ISO because I appreciate the smoothness and lack of noise those settings provide. As a stock shooter, I want to avoid noise in all of my images, so I go with the lowest ISO my camera allows if the light is bright enough. ISO  is a stop faster, so it provides a little more speed for handholding the camera. My most critical work is always done on a tripod, so I don’t worry about slow shutter speeds as often as a “handholder” would. I can just detect the smallest amounts of noise showing up in images at ISO  when I underexpose by as little as / stop. You’ll have to test your images and discover your noise tolerance level. I am an anti-noise fanatic. You may not be.

ISO sensitivity settings

ISO Sensitivity Auto Control

You may have noticed in FIG C, image  that there is another setting available— Auto ISO sensitivity—which defaults to off. This setting is used to allow the camera to control the ISO sensitivity according to the light levels sensed by the camera meter. FIG C shows the Shooting menu screens used to enable Auto ISO sensitivity. To enable Auto ISO sensitivity, do the following: . Use the Shooting menu (see the section under “Using the Shooting Menu” earlier in this chapter if you’re not sure how). . Choose ISO sensitivity settings, and then scroll to the right (see FIG C, image ). . Choose Auto ISO sensitivity, and then scroll to the right (see FIG C, image ). . Select On (see FIG C, image ). . Press the OK button.

Once you’ve turned Auto ISO sensitivity on, you should set two values, according to how you shoot: t
Max. sensitivity t
Min. shutter spd. Maximum sensitivity (Max. sensitivity)– This setting is a safeguard for your image quality because it allows you to control how high the ISO will go when you shoot. If you would prefer that Auto ISO sensitivity not exceed a certain ISO number, simply select a Max. sensitivity value from the list shown in FIG D, image . To select the maximum ISO sensitivity that your camera can use while in Auto ISO sensitivity, simply follow these steps: . Use the Shooting menu (see the section under “Using the Shooting Menu” earlier in this chapter if you’re not sure how).

FIG C – Shooting menu screens to set Auto ISO sensitivity

FIG D – Auto ISO maximum sensitivity settings



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Shooting and Information Edit Menus

. Choose ISO sensitivity settings, and then scroll to the right (see FIG D, image ). . Choose Max. sensitivity, and then scroll right (see FIG D, image ). . Select the maximum ISO sensitivity that you want the camera to use. I often use ISO  (see FIG D, image ). . Press the OK button.

5

You’ll note that there are only five available settings: t
 t
 t
 t
 t
Hi  Whichever one of these settings you choose will be the maximum ISO the camera will use to get a good exposure when the light drops. To protect the image from excessive noise, it won’t exceed this ISO level. Once again, you’ll have to determine your personal noiselevel tolerance to select one of these settings. The higher the ISO sensitivity, the higher the potential noise level.

ISO Settings and Noise In testing the Nikon D for noise, I find that it makes entirely usable images, with relatively low noise, all the way up to ISO . However, being noise sensitive, I do not often set Auto ISO sensitivity higher than ISO . I will leave it set to ISO  most of the time for best image quality. If you are an event shooter who must get the image no matter what, then open the ISO maximum up to its highest levels. The camera will use them only when it can’t get the shot otherwise.

Minimum shutter speed (Min. shutter spd) – Since shutter speed controls how sharp an image can be, due to camera shake and subject movement, you’ll need some control over the minimum shutter speed allowed while Auto ISO sensitivity is turned on. See FIG E for a list of shutter speeds. You can select a shutter speed from the list to set the minimum shutter speed the camera will allow when the light diminishes. In P – Programmed auto and A – Aperture priority modes on the Mode dial, the camera will not go below the Min. shutter spd setting unless the Max. sensitivity setting still won’t give you a good exposure. In other words, in P or A mode, if you get into low light and try to take pictures, the camera will try to keep the ISO sensitivity as low as possible until the shutter speed drops to your selected Min. sensitivity setting. Once it hits the selected lowest shutter speed value—like the /s shown in FIG E, image —the ISO sensitivity will begin to rise up to your selected Max. sensitivity value, like the  ISO shown in FIG E, image . If the camera still doesn’t have enough light for a good exposure, it won’t keep raising the ISO sensitivity since you’ve artificially limited it with the Max. sensitivity selection. Instead, the camera will now go below your selected Min. shutter spd by dropping below the /s shown in FIG E, image . Be careful, because if the light gets that low, your camera can go all the way down to a shutter speed of  seconds to get a good exposure. You better be on a tripod and have a static subject at shutter speeds that low. Look at the Min. shutter spd value as the lowest “safe” speed after which you’ll

ISO sensitivity settings



FIG E – Auto ISO minimum shutter speed

put your camera on a tripod. Most people can handhold a camera down to about /s if they are careful, and maybe /s if they’re extra careful and brace themselves. Below that, it’s blur city for your images. It’s even worse with lenses longer than the mm setting for your kit lens. Camera movement is greatly magnified with telephoto lenses. For fun, let’s listen to the camera talk to itself while you take pictures in low light with Auto ISO sensitivity enabled (referring to the settings in FIG E).

Nikon D Thinking “Okay, Auto ISO is on! The light is dropping and my current / shutter speed and  ISO sensitivity won’t let me make a good exposure. I’ll slow the shutter speed to the minimum of /s, as my owner specified in my Min. shutter spd setting. More pictures are incoming, and the light is still dropping! I can’t go any lower on the shutter speed for now because my owner has instructed me to keep the Min. shutter spd at /s. I’ll have to start raising the ISO sensitivity. Here come more pictures, and whew, it’s getting dark. I’ve raised the ISO sensitivity to the Max. sensitivity level of  ISO, which is as high as I am allowed to go. I have no choice now but to go below the /s Min. shutter speed my owner has specified. I hope I’m on a tripod!”

In the S – Shutter Priority or M – Manual exposure mode, you are in control of the shutter speed, so this value doesn’t apply. The available minimum shutter speeds run from  second to / second. Only part of the list shows in FIG E, image . Here are the steps: . Use the Shooting menu (see the section under “Using the Shooting Menu” earlier in this chapter if you’re not sure how). . Choose ISO sensitivity settings, and then scroll right. . Choose Min. shutter spd, and then scroll right. . Select a minimum shutter speed, keeping in mind that most people have problems handholding a camera below / second. You can choose between  second and /s. . Click the OK button. When you have enabled Auto ISO sensitivity, the Information screen will blink ISO-A next to the picture control, beep, and battery symbols—and the viewfinder will blink ISO AUTO. The blinking is a reminder to turn Auto ISO sensitivity off when not needed so that you don’t get unnecessarily noisy images.

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Shooting and Information Edit Menus

Note When you enable Auto ISO sensitivity, it might be a good idea to also enable Noise reduction. This is especially true if you leave the camera set to ISO values above . Otherwise, you may have excessive noise when the light drops. Noise reduction will be discussed later in this chapter.

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When and why should I use Auto ISO sensitivity? How much automation do you need to produce consistently excellent images? Let’s explore how and when automatic self-adjusting ISO might improve or degrade your images. What is this feature all about? When and why should you use it? Are there any compromises in image quality in this mode? Normally, you will set your camera to a particular ISO number, such as  or , and shoot your images. As the light diminishes (or in the deep shade), you might increase the ISO sensitivity to allow the handheld camera to continue making images. If you are in circumstances in which you absolutely must get the shot, Auto ISO sensitivity will work nicely. Here are a few scenarios. Scenario : Let’s say you are a photojournalist and you’re shooting flash pictures of a famous politician or celebrity as he quickly disembarks from his airplane, walks into the terminal, and departs in a

limousine. Under those circumstances, you will have little time to check your ISO settings or shutter speeds and will be shooting in widely varying light conditions. Scenario : You are a wedding photographer in a church that does not allow the use of flash. As you follow the bride from the dark inner rooms of the church out into the lobby and finally up to the altar, your light conditions will be varying constantly. You have no time to deal with the fluctuations in light by changing your ISO since things are moving too quickly. Scenario : You are at a party, and you want some pictures. You want to use flash, but the built-in pop up flash may not be powerful enough to reach across the room at low ISO settings. You really don’t want to be bothered with camera configuration at this time, but you still want some well-exposed images. Light levels will vary as you move around the room, talking, laughing, and snapping pictures. These scenarios represent excellent environments for Auto ISO sensitivity. The camera will use your normal settings, such as your normal ISO, shutter speed, and aperture until the light will not allow those settings to provide an accurate exposure. Only then will the camera raise or lower the ISO value to keep functioning within the shutter/aperture parameters you have set.

ISO sensitivity settings

Look at Auto ISO sensitivity as a failsafe for times when you must get the shot but have little time to deal with camera settings, or when you don’t want to vary the shutter/aperture settings but still want to be assured of a well-exposed image. Recommendation: Unless you are a private detective shooting handheld telephoto images from your car or a photojournalist or sports photographer who must get the shot every time regardless of maximum quality, I personally would not recommend leaving your camera set to Auto ISO sensitivity. Use it only when you really need to get the shot under any circumstances. Of course, if, due to lack of experience, you are unsure of how to use the “correct” ISO for the light level, don’t be afraid to experiment with this mode. At the very worst, all you might get are noisier-than-normal images. However, it may not be a good idea to depend on this mode over the long term because noisy images are not very desirable. On the other hand, when I go out on the Internet and read blogs, I find that some people use Auto ISO sensitivity on a daily basis. This is one of those highly personal settings. I don’t use it since I just manually turn up the ISO when the light gets low or use a powerful flash unit to light up the subject. However, I’m not a private detective.



Note: Auto ISO sensitivity is available only when you have the Mode dial set to P, S, A, or M mode. It grays out when you’re using the Scene modes because the camera then controls the ISO sensitivity. Th e Drawbacks to Auto ISO Sensitivity - Are there any drawbacks to using Auto ISO sensitivity? Maybe. It really depends on how widely varying the light conditions will be when you are shooting. Most of the time your camera will maintain normal ISO range settings in Auto ISO sensitivity mode, so your images will be their normal low-noise, sharp masterpieces. Just be aware that Auto ISO sensitivity can and will push your camera’s ISO into a range that causes noisier images when light levels drop, if you’ve set the ISO Max. sensitivity to high levels. Use it with this understanding and you’ll do fine. The default maximum Auto ISO sensitivity setting is  ISO, unless you’ve set the maximum to a lower number. Make sure you understand this or you might get some noisy images. Auto ISO sensitivity is yet another feature in our powerful Nikon cameras. Maybe not everyone needs this “fail-safe” feature, but for those who do, it must be there. I will use it myself in circumstances where getting the shot is the most important thing and where light levels may get too low for normal ISO image making. Even if you think you might only use it from time to time, do learn how to use it for those times. Experiment with Auto ISO sensitivity. It’s fun and can be useful.

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Shooting and Information Edit Menus

Active D-