Nikon D5200 Digital Field Guide

by J. Dennis Thomas

Overview

Everything you need to know in order to take amazing photos with your Nikon D5200

As one of Nikon's most advanced cameras offered in the entry-level line of dSLRs, the Nikon D5200 boasts a smarter system for focusing and tracking moving subjects as well as a sharper sensor for capturing finely detailed images. This handy, portable field guide is filled with everything you want and need to know in order to take memorable photos with your Nikon D5200. Packed with full-color photos, this resource walks you through the camera's controls, features, and functions using step-by-step instructions along with color images of each menu screen.

• Details how to use the features, functions, and menu system of the Nikon D5200
• Teaches you how, when, and why you should adjust white balance, autofocus, exposure, lenses
• Goes beyond camera settings to offer you a refresher guide to the principles of digital photography by covering the essentials of lighting, composition, and exposure
• Features helpful examples along with a variety of tips and tricks to capturing portraits, candids, sports, travel, macro photography, and more
• Includes a grey and color checker card to help you capture perfect color in any setting

With so much helpful advice for getting the most out of your Nikon D5200, you'll be referencing this guide again and again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781118534366
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	04/15/2013
Series:	Digital Field Guide Series , #267
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

J. Dennis Thomas is a freelance photographer and author with more than 25 years of experience behind Nikon cameras. He has written 20 Nikon Digital Field Guides as well as numerous articles for Digital Photo magazine, and maintains a blog for Nikon users at http://nikondfg.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction xxi

Quick Tour 1

Getting Started 2

Mounting the Lens 2

Setting the Shooting Mode 3

Focusing 4

Viewing Your Images 4

CHAPTER 1

Exploring the Nikon D5200 7

Key Components of the D5200 8

The top of the camera 8

The back of the camera 11

The front of the camera 14

The left side of the camera 15

The right side of the camera 18

The Viewfi nder Display 18

The Information Display 22

CHAPTER 2

Nikon D5200 Essentials 29

Exposure Modes 30

Automatic modes 30

Programmed auto mode 31

Aperture-priority auto mode 32

Shutter-priority auto mode 33

Manual mode 35

Scene Modes 36

Special Effects modes 42

Night Vision mode 43

Color Sketch mode 43

Miniature Effect mode 44

Selective Color mode 45

Silhouette mode 46

High Key 46

Low Key 46

Metering Modes 47

Matrix metering mode 47

Center-weighted metering mode 49

Spot metering mode 49

Autofocus 50

Phase detection 50

Contrast detection 51

Focus Modes 51

Auto Servo AF mode 52

Continuous Servo AF mode 52

Single Servo AF mode 52

Manual focus mode 53

Autofocus Area Modes 53

Auto area AF mode 54

Single-point AF mode 54

Dynamic-area AF mode 54

Release Modes 56

ISO Sensitivity 57

Auto ISO 58

Noise reduction 59

Long exposure Noise Reduction 59

High ISO Noise Reduction 60

White Balance 61

The Kelvin scale 61

White balance settings 61

Picture Controls 63

File Formats, Size, and Compression 71

NEF (RAW) 71

JPEG 72

Image size 73

Image quality 74

CHAPTER 3

Setting up the Nikon D5200 77

The Playback Menu 78

Delete  78

Playback folder 79

Playback display options 79

Image review 80

Rotate tall 81

Slide show 81

DPOF print order 82

The Shooting Menu 83

Reset shooting menu 83

Storage folder 83

Image quality 84

Image size 85

White balance 85

Using white balance settings 86

Preset manual white balance 87

Set Picture Control 88

Manage Picture Control 88

Auto distortion control 90

Color space 90

Active D-Lighting 91

High Dynamic Range 91

Long Exposure NR 92

High ISO NR 92

ISO sensitivity settings 93

Release mode 93

Multiple exposure 93

Interval timer shooting 94

Movie settings 95

The Custom Setting Menu 96

Reset custom settings 96

Custom Setting menu a: Autofocus 96

Custom Setting menu b: Exposure 98

Custom Setting menu c: Timers/AE lock 98

Custom Setting menu d: Shooting/display 99

Custom Setting menu e: Bracketing/flash 100

Custom Setting menu f: Controls 101

f1: Assign Fn button 101

f2: Assign AE-L/AF-L button 102

f3: Reverse dial rotation 102

f4: Slot empty release lock 103

f5: Reverse indicators 103

The Setup Menu 103

Format memory card 103

Monitor brightness 104

Info display format 104

Auto info display 105

Clean image sensor 105

Lock mirror up for cleaning 106

Image Dust Off ref photo 107

Video mode 107

HDMI 107

Flicker reduction 108

Time zone and date 108

Language 109

Image comment 109

Auto image rotation 109

Accessory terminal 109

Eye-Fi upload 110

Wireless mobile adapter 110

Firmware version 110

The Retouch Menu 110

D-Lighting 112

Red-eye correction 112

Trim 113

Monochrome 113

Filter effects 114

Color balance 115

Image overlay 116

NEF (RAW) processing 117

Resize 118

Quick retouch 118

Straighten 119

Distortion control 119

Fisheye 119

Color outline 119

Color sketch 119

Perspective control 120

Miniature effect 120

Selective color 120

Edit movie 121

My Menu 121

CHAPTER 4

Selecting and Using Lenses with the Nikon D5200 125

Deciphering Nikon Lens Codes 126

Lens Compatibility 127

The DX Crop Factor 128

Third-party Lenses 131

Types of Lenses 133

Wide-angle lenses 133

Standard zoom lenses 138

Telephoto lenses 140

Close-up/Macro lenses 142

Fisheye lenses 144

Lens Accessories 145

Teleconverters 146

Extension tubes 147

Close-up fi lters 148

Ultraviolet fi lters 148

Neutral density filters 149

CHAPTER 5

Controlling Exposure 151

Defi ning Exposure 152

ISO 153

Shutter speed 154

Fast shutter speeds 155

Slow shutter speeds 156

Aperture or f-stop 157

Fine-Tuning Your Exposure 160

Exposure compensation 161

Using histograms 161

CHAPTER 6

Working with Light 167

Lighting Essentials 168

The quality of light 168

Soft lighting 168

Hard lighting 169

Lighting direction 170

Frontlighting 171

Sidelighting 171

Backlighting 172

Natural Light 173

Continuous Light 175

The D5200 Built-in Flash 176

Built-in fl ash exposure modes 177

i-TTL and i-TTL BL 177

Manual 177

Flash sync modes 178

Sync speed 179

Front-curtain sync 179

Slow sync 181

Red-Eye Reduction 181

Rear-curtain sync 181

Flash Compensation 182

Creative Lighting System Basics 183

Light Modifiers  184

CHAPTER 7

Working with the Live View and Video Modes 187

Live View Mode 188

Focus modes 189

Single Servo AF 189

Full-time Servo AF 190

AF-area modes 190

Using Live View mode 192

Shooting and Editing Video 196

Frame size and frame rate 199

In-camera video editing 201

CHAPTER 8

Real-world Applications 203

Abstract Photography 204

Equipment 204

Technique 205

Action and Sports Photography 206

Equipment 208

Technique 208

Concert Photography 210

Equipment 212

Technique 212

Macro Photography 215

Equipment 216

Technique 218

Nature and Landscape Photography 219

Equipment 220

Technique 221

Night and Low-light Photography 223

Equipment 224

Technique 227

Portrait Photography 229

Equipment 230

Technique 231

Still-life, Product, and Food Photography 234

Equipment 235

Technique 236

CHAPTER 9

Viewing, Downloading, Managing, and Editing Images 241

Viewing Your Images 242

Downloading Your Images 244

File Management and Workflow 245

Folder structure 246

Editing 246

Filenames and metadata 247

Tonal Adjustments and Color Corrections 248

APPENDIX A

General Composition Tips 253

Keep It Simple 253

The Rule of Thirds 254

Leading Lines and S-Curves 255

The Odd Rule 255

Helpful Hints 256

APPENDIX B

Accessories 259

Speedlights 259

The GP-1 GPS Unit 261

The ME-1 Stereo Microphone 262

Wireless Accessories 262

The WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter 263

The ML-L3 Wireless Remote Control 263

The WR-T10 Wireless Remote Controller/Transmitter 264

APPENDIX C

How to Use the Gray Card and Color Checker 265

The Gray Card 265

The Color Checker 266

Glossary 267

Index 277