Table of Contents
Introduction 1
A Quick Look at What's Ahead 1
Icons and Other Stuff to Note 3
Beyond the Book 4
Practice, Be Patient, and Have Fun! 4
Part I Fast Track to Super Snaps 5
Chapter 1 First Steps, First Shots 7
Preparing the Camera 7
Navigating Menus 15
Decoding the Displays 19
Exploring More External Controls 23
Back-of-the-body controls 23
Topside controls 27
Left-front features 29
Front-right controls 30
Hidden connections 31
Familiarizing Yourself with the Lens 32
Working with Memory Cards 36
Taking advantage of the two-card system 36
Buying and maintaining memory cards 38
Taking a Few Final Setup Steps 39
Cruising the Setup menu 40
Exploring Custom Setting menu options 42
Restoring default settings 43
Shooting in Auto and Auto Flash Off Modes 44
Viewfinder photography in the Auto modes 44
Live View photography in Auto mode 47
Chapter 2 Reviewing Five Essential Picture-Taking Options 51
Choosing an Exposure Mode 52
Fully automatic exposure modes 52
Semi-automatic modes (P, S, and A) 55
Manual exposure mode(M) 56
U1 and U2 56
Setting the Shutter-Release Mode 56
Single Frame and Quiet modes 58
Continuous (burst mode) shooting 58
Self-timer shooting 60
Mirror lockup (MUP) 61
Off-the-dial shutter release features 62
Selecting Image Size and Image Quality 66
Considering Image Size (resolution) 66
Understanding Image Quality options (JPEG or Raw/NEF) 70
Adjusting the Image Size and Image Quality settings 75
Reducing the Image Area (DX versus 1.3x Crop) 78
Chapter 3 Adding Flash 81
Understanding Flash Limitations 82
Turning the Built-In Flash On and Off 83
Choosing a Flash Mode 84
Investigating Flash modes 84
Changing the Flash mode 88
Adjusting Flash Strength 91
Applying Flash Compensation 91
Switching to manual flash-power control 93
Enabling High-Speed Flash (Auto FP) 94
Using Flash Value Lock (FV Lock) 96
Exploring Additional Flash Options 97
Part II Beyond the Basics 99
Chapter 4 Taking Charge of Exposure 101
Meeting the Exposure Trio: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO 102
Aperture affects depth of field 104
Shutter speed affects motion blur 105
ISO affects image noise 106
Doing the exposure balancing act 108
Stepping Up to Advanced Exposure Modes (P, S, A, and M) 109
Reading the Exposure Meter 111
Choosing an Exposure Metering Mode 115
Setting Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO 118
Adjusting aperture and shutter speed 118
Controlling ISO 121
Solving Exposure Problems 125
Applying Exposure Compensation 126
Expanding tonal range 129
Eliminating vignetting 137
Using autoexposure lock 139
Taking Advantage of Automatic Bracketing 140
Chapter 5 Controlling Focus and Depth of Field 145
Setting the Basic Focusing Method (Auto or Manual) 145
Exploring Standard Focusing Options (Viewfinder Photography) 147
Setting the Focus mode (AF lock or continuous AF) 147
Choosing an AF-area mode: One focus point or many? 149
Autofocusing for still subjects: AF-S + Single Point 153
Focusing on moving subjects: AF-C + Dynamic Area 155
Focusing manually 157
Mastering Live View Focusing 159
Choosing a Live View Focus mode 161
Selecting the AF-area mode 161
Stepping through the Live View autofocusing process 164
Manual focusing during Live View and movie shooting 166
Manipulating Depth of Field 166
Chapter 6 Mastering Color Controls 171
Understanding White Balance 171
Changing the White Balance setting 173
Fine-tuning white balance 177
Creating Custom White Balance Presets 180
Setting white balance with direct measurement 180
Matching white balance to an existing photo 182
Selecting the preset you want to use 183
Editing presets 183
Bracketing White Balance 185
Taking a Quick Look at Picture Controls 188
Chapter 7 Putting It All Together 193
Recapping Basic Picture Settings 193
Shooting Still Portraits 194
Capturing Action 200
Capturing Scenic Vistas 203
Capturing Dynamic Close-Ups 206
Chapter 8 Shooting, Viewing, and Trimming Movies 209
Shooting Movies Using Default Settings 210
Adjusting Basic Video Settings 215
Controlling Audio 218
Manipulating Movie Exposure 222
Exploring Other Recording Options 225
Screening Your Movies 227
Trimming Movies 229
Saving a Movie Frame As a Still Image 231
Part III After the Shot 233
Chapter 9 Playback Mode: Viewing Your Photos 235
Picture Playback 101 235
Choosing Which Images to View 237
Adjusting Playback Timing 239
Enabling Automatic Picture Rotation 240
Shifting from Single-Image to Thumbnails Display 241
Displaying Photos in Calendar View 242
Magnifying Photos During Playback 244
Viewing Picture Data 245
Enabling and changing playback display modes 246
File Information mode 248
Highlights display mode 250
RGB Histogram mode 252
Shooting Data display mode 254
Overview Data mode 255
Chapter 10 Working with Camera Files 257
Protecting Photos 258
Hiding Photos During Palyback 259
Deleting Files 261
Deleting files one at a time 261
Deleting all files 261
Deleting a batch of selected files 262
Taking a Look a Nikon's Free Photo Software 263
Downloading Pictures to Your Computer 265
Processing Raw (NEF) Files 269
Processing Raw images in the camera 270
Processing Raw files in Capture NX-D 273
Making Copies for Online Sharing 275
Copying Files from One Card to Another 278
Taking Advantage of Wi-Fi Transfer 280
Connecting the camera to your device 281
Connecting via NFC (Android Only) 284
Viewing photos on the smart device 284
Selecting photos for transfer 284
Part IV The Part of Tens 287
Chapter 11 Ten More Ways to Customize Your Camera 289
Creating Custom Exposure Modes 289
Creating Your Own Menu 291
Adding Hidden Comments and Copyright Notices 293
Customizing Filenames 294
Customizing Folder Names 295
Changing the Purpose of the OK Button 297
Customizing the Command Dials 298
Assigning New Tasks to a Few Buttons 300
Customizing buttons for still photography 300
Customizing buttons for movie recording 303
Modifying the Role of the Shutter Button 303
Adjusting Automatic Shutdown Timing 304
Chapter 12 Ten Features to Explore on a Rainy Day 305
Investigating the Retouch Menu 305
Straightening Crooked and Distorted Photos 308
Manipulating Exposure and Color 310
Cropping Your Photo 312
Three Ways to Play with Special Effects 314
Applying special effects via the Retouch menu 314
Shooting in Effects mode 317
Two roads to a multi-image exposure 321
Using a Smart Device as a Wireless Shutter Release 322
Connecting Your Camera to an HDTV 324
Creating a Digital Slide Show 325
Index 327