Julie Adair King is a longtime Dummies author and photography instructor. She’s credited on over 40 books covering various Nikon, Canon, and Olympus cameras, as well as nine editions of Digital Photography For Dummies. When not writing, she teaches master classes in photography and photo retouching.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

How This Book Is Organized 1

Icons and Other Stuff to Note 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Part 1: Fast Track to Super Snaps 5

Chapter 1: First Steps, First Shots 7

Getting Started 8

Taking a Brief Camera Tour 14

Back-of-the-body controls 14

Topside controls 17

Front-of-the-camera features 19

Hidden connections 20

Using the Touchscreen 21

Navigating Menus 23

Saving Time with the i Menu 26

Looking at Display Options 28

Choosing which displays are active 28

Decoding photo-shooting data 30

Customizing the shooting display 33

Magnifying the display 36

Using the Touch Shutter (or Not) 37

Exploring a Few Lens Features 38

Reviewing a Few More Setup Options 42

Restoring Default Settings 45

Shooting a Photo in Auto Mode 45

Trying Self-Portrait Mode 49

Chapter 2: Choosing Basic Picture Settings 53

Picking a Shooting Mode 54

Setting the Release Mode 57

Reviewing Release modes 57

Changing the Release mode 61

Enabling Silent Photography 62

Selecting Image Size and Image Quality 64

Considering Image Size (resolution) 64

Understanding Image Quality Options 68

Adjusting the Image Size and Quality settings 73

Setting the Image Area 75

Turning On Vibration Reduction 76

Part 2: Beyond the Basics 79

Chapter 3: Taking Charge of Exposure 81

Meeting the Exposure Trio: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO 82

Aperture affects depth of field 84

Shutter speed affects motion blur 85

ISO affects image noise 87

Doing the exposure balancing act 88

Gaining Maximum Exposure Control 89

Choosing a Shutter Type 91

Taking Advantage of Exposure Guides 95

Seeing live previews in the displays 95

Reading the brightness histogram 96

Reading the exposure meter 98

Choosing a Metering Mode 101

Setting Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO 104

Adjusting aperture and shutter speed 104

Controlling ISO 110

Solving Exposure Problems 114

Applying Exposure Compensation 114

Expanding tonal range 118

Eliminating vignetting 125

Using autoexposure lock 126

Adding Flash 126

Setting the Flash mode 127

Adjusting flash strength 130

Looking at a few more flash options 131

Taking Advantage of Auto Bracketing 133

Chapter 4: Controlling Focus and Depth of Field 137

Reviewing Touchscreen Focus Options 138

Controlling the Autofocus System 139

Choosing a Focus mode 140

Picking the right AF-area mode 143

Choosing the right focus combos 149

Exploring a few other autofocus tweaks 154

Focusing Manually 157

Manipulating Depth of Field 159

Chapter 5: Mastering Color Controls 165

Understanding White Balance 165

Changing the White Balance setting 167

Fine-tuning a White Balance setting 171

Creating Custom White Balance Presets 173

Creating a preset with direct measurement 173

Creating a preset based on a photo 176

Selecting the preset you want to use 177

Editing presets 178

Choosing a Color Space 180

Taking a Quick Look at Picture Controls 181

Chapter 6: Putting It All Together 187

Recapping Basic Picture Settings 187

Shooting Still Portraits 189

Capturing Action 194

Capturing Scenic Vistas 197

Capturing Dynamic Close-Ups 200

Chapter 7: Recording Video 203

Understanding a Few Video Basics 203

Shooting a Video Using Default Settings 204

Adjusting Video Settings 207

Choosing a Video Format: MOV or MP4 209

Setting Frame Size, Rate, and Quality 210

Understanding basic video terminology 210

Changing frame size, fps, and bit rate 212

Controlling Audio 215

Setting microphone sensitivity 216

Adjusting other audio settings 217

Controlling and Monitoring Exposure 218

Looking at Other Menu Options 221

Screening Your Videos 225

Trimming Videos 228

Saving a Video Frame as a Still Image 229

Part 3: After the Shot 231

Chapter 8: Playback Mode: Viewing Your Photos 233

Picture Playback 101 233

Choosing Which Images to View 235

Adjusting Playback Timing 236

Disabling Automatic Picture Rotation 237

Shifting to Thumbnail Display 238

Displaying Photos in Calendar View 239

Magnifying Photos During Playback 241

Viewing Picture Data 243

Enabling display modes 245

File Information mode 245

Exposure Data mode 247

Highlight display mode (“blinkies” mode) 248

RGB Histogram mode 248

Shooting Data mode 250

Overview mode 251

Chapter 9: Working with Picture and Video Files 253

Rating Photos and Videos 254

Protecting Files 256

Deleting Files 257

Deleting files one at a time 258

Deleting all files in a folder 258

Deleting a batch of selected files 259

Introducing Nikon’s Free Photo Software 261

Downloading Pictures to Your Computer 264

Processing Raw (NEF) Files 267

Preparing Pictures for Online Sharing 270

Part 4: The Part of Tens 275

Chapter 10: Ten More Customization Settings 277

Swapping Out Items on the i Menu 277

Creating Your Own Menu 278

Editing Filenames 279

Creating New Storage Folders 280

Controlling File Numbering 281

Assigning New Tasks to Buttons 282

Customizing the Command Dials 283

Modifying the Shutter Button’s Role 285

Adjusting Auto Shutdown Timing 285

Setting HDMI Output Options 286

Chapter 11: Ten Retouch Menu Tricks 287

Accessing Retouching Tools 288

Applying the Tools 290

Comparing Original and Edited Versions 290

Removing Red-Eye 291

Leveling Horizon Lines 292

Eliminating Lens Distortion 293

Correcting Converging Lines 294

Adjusting Exposure with D-Lighting 295

Creating a Monochrome Version 295

Cropping Your Photo 295

Chapter 12: Ten Features to Try on a Slow Day 297

Storing Settings on a Memory Card 298

Using Exposure Delay Mode 298

Interval Timer Shooting 298

Creating a Time-Lapse Video 299

Adding Copyright Notices and Comments 300

Creating a Digital Slide Show 301

Two Roads to a Multi-Image Exposure 301

Shooting Photos for Focus Stacking 303

Creating a Dust Reference File 303

Trying Pixel Mapping for Sensor Repair 304

Appendix: Intro to Nikon Snapbridge 305

Glossary of Digital Photography Terms 321

Index 329

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