Introduction 1

A Quick Look at What's Ahead 1

Part I: Fast Track to Super Snaps 2

Part II: Taking Creative Control 2

Part III: Working with Picture Files 3

Part IV: The Part of Tens 3

Icons and Other Stuff to Note 3

About the Software Shown in This Book 4

Practice, Be Patient, and Have Fun! 5

Part I: Fast Track to Super Snaps 7

Chapter 1: Getting the Lay of the Land 9

Getting Comfortable with Your Lens 10

Attaching a lens 10

Removing a lens 12

Using a VR (vibration reduction) lens 12

Setting the focus mode (auto or manual) 13

Zooming in and out 14

Adjusting the Viewfinder Focus 15

Working with Memory Cards 16

Exploring External Camera Controls 18

Topside controls 19

Back-of-the-body controls 20

Front-left buttons 23

Front-right controls 24

Ordering from Camera Menus 26

Monitoring Shooting Settings 28

Asking Your Camera for Help 31

Reviewing Basic Setup Options 31

Cruising the Setup menu 31

Browsing the Custom Setting menu 35

Chapter 2: Taking Great Pictures, Automatically 41

Getting Good Point-and-Shoot Results 42

Using Flash in Automatic Exposure Modes 46

Exploring Your Automatic Exposure Options 47

Auto mode 48

Digital Vari-Program modes 50

Changing the (Shutter Button) Release Mode 55

Chapter 3: Controlling Picture Quality and Size 59

Diagnosing Quality Problems 60

Considering Resolution (Image Size) 62

Pixels and print quality 63

Pixels and screen display size 64

Pixels and file size 64

Resolution recommendations 66

Understanding the Image Quality Options 68

JPEG: The imaging (and Web) standard 68

NEF (Raw): The purist's choice 71

My take: Choose JPEG Fine or NEF (Raw) 75

Setting Image Size and Quality 75

Chapter 4: Monitor Matters: Picture Playback and Live View Shooting 79

Enabling Automatic Picture Rotation 80

Disabling and Adjusting Instant Review 81

Viewing Images in Playback Mode 82

Viewing multiple images at a time 84

Displaying photos in Calendar view 86

Zooming in for a closer view 87

Viewing Picture Data 89

File Information mode 90

RGB Histogram mode 92

Highlight display mode 94

Shooting Data display mode 95

GPS Data mode 97

Overview Data mode 97

Hiding Photos during Playback 99

Deleting Photos 101

Deleting images one at a time 101

Deleting all photos 102

Deleting a batch of selected photos 102

Protecting Photos 104

Exploring Live View Shooting 105

Taking pictures in Live View mode 107

Recording movies 110

Customizing the Live View display 113

Part II: Taking Creative Control 115

Chapter 5: Getting Creative with Exposure and Lighting 117

Introducing the Exposure Trio: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO 118

Understanding exposure-setting side effects 120

Doing the exposure balancing act 124

Exploring the Advanced Exposure Modes 126

Reading the Meter 127

Setting ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed 129

Adjusting aperture and shutter speed 129

Controlling ISO 130

Choosing an Exposure Metering Mode 134

Applying Exposure Compensation 138

Using Autoexposure Lock 141

Expanding Tonal Range with Active D-Lighting 143

Using Flash in P, S, A, and M modes 145

Setting the flash mode 146

Adjusting flash output 151

Locking flash exposure on your subject 154

Exploring a few additional flash options 155

Using an external flash head 156

Bracketing Exposures 158

Chapter 6: Manipulating Focus and Color 163

Reviewing Focus Basics 164

Adjusting Autofocus Performance 166

Understanding the AF-area mode setting 166

Changing the Autofocus mode setting 171

Choosing the right autofocus combo 172

Using autofocus lock 173

Autofocusing in Live View mode 173

Manipulating Depth of Field 176

Controlling Color 183

Correcting colors with white balance 183

Changing the white balance setting 185

Fine-tuning white balance settings 188

Creating white balance presets 190

Bracketing white balance 196

Choosing a Color Space: sRGB vs Adobe RGB 198

Taking a Quick Look at Picture Controls 200

Chapter 7: Putting It All Together 205

Recapping Basic Picture Settings 206

Setting Up for Specific Scenes 206

Shooting still portraits 206

Capturing action 211

Capturing scenic vistas 214

Capturing dynamic close-ups 217

Coping with Special Situations 219

Part III: Working with Picture Files 223

Chapter 8: Downloading, Organizing, and Archiving Your Picture Files 225

Sending Pictures to the Computer 226

Connecting the camera and computer 227

Starting the transfer process 228

Downloading and Organizing Photos with the Nikon Software 231

Downloading with Nikon Transfer 231

Browsing images in Nikon ViewNX 235

Viewing picture metadata 238

Organizing pictures 240

Processing Raw (NEF) Files 242

Processing Raw images in the camera 244

Processing Raw files in ViewNX 247

Chapter 9: Printing and Sharing Your Pictures 251

Printing Possibilities: Retail or Do-It-Yourself? 252

Preventing Potential Printing Problems 253

Match resolution to print size 253

Allow for different print proportions 256

Get print and monitor colors in synch 258

Preparing Pictures for E-Mail 260

Creating small copies using the camera 262

Downsizing images in Nikon ViewNX 265

Creating a Digital Slide Show 267

Setting up a simple slide show 268

Creating Pictmotion slide shows 269

Viewing Your Photos on a Television 271

Part IV: The Part of Tens 273

Chapter 10: Ten (Or So) Fun and Practical Retouch Menu Features 275

Applying the Retouch Menu Filters 276

Removing Red-Eye 278

Straightening Tilting Horizon Lines 279

Shadow Recovery with D-Lighting 281

Boosting Shadows, Contrast, and Saturation Together 282

Two Ways to Tweak Color 284

Applying digital lens filters 284

Manipulating color balance 285

Creating Monochrome Photos 287

Removing (or Creating) Lens Distortion 289

Adding a Starburst Effect 291

Cropping Your Photo 293

Chapter 11: Ten Special-Purpose Features to Explore on a Rainy Day 297

Annotate Your Images 297

Creating Your Own Menu 300

Creating Custom Image Folders 302

Customizing External Controls 305

Adjusting the On/Off switch 305

Changing the function of the OK button 305

Assigning a duty to the Function button 306

Changing the function of the AE-L/AF-L button 307

Customizing the command dials 309

Two Roads to a Multi-Image Exposure 310

Index 313