Nikon D5100 For Dummies E-Book

Julie Adair King

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Seitenzahl: 514

Beschreibung

A picture-perfect beginner guide to the new Nikon D5100 Eager to take a shot at using the exciting new Nikon D5100? Then this is the introductory book for you! Aimed at first-time DSLR shooters who need a friendly guide on how to use their camera, this straightforward book is packed with full-color images that help demonstrate how to use features of the Nikon D5100. Coverage explores the on-board effects, low-light settings, and automatic HDR shooting. Clear explanations detail the ways in which you can use the new features of the Nikon D5100 to add unique shots to your portfolio while an explanation of photography terms gets you confident and savvy with this fun DSLR camera. * Covers basic camera controls and functions, shooting in auto mode, setting photo quality, and navigating menus and the view screen * Introduces the basics of photography, including the settings that control lighting, exposure, focus, and color * Addresses the new low-light and HDR settings * Encourages you to use the new onboard effects features and shares tips for improving images with editing software Get a grasp on the fun Nikon D5100 with this fun and friendly guide!

Leseprobe

Nikon® D5100™ For Dummies®

Table of Contents

Introduction

A Quick Look at What’s Ahead

Icons and Other Stuff to Note

eCheat Sheet

Practice, Be Patient, and Have Fun!

Part I: Fast Track to Super Snaps

Chapter 1: Getting the Lay of the Land

Using the Articulating Monitor

Adjusting the Viewfinder to Your Eyesight

Looking at Lenses

Attaching and removing lenses

Choosing a focusing method (auto or manual)

Zooming in and out

Using a VR (Vibration Reduction) lens

Working with Memory Cards

Exploring External Camera Controls

Topside controls

Back-of-the-body controls

Front-left buttons

Hidden connections

Ordering from Camera Menus

Monitoring Shooting Settings

Using the Quick Settings Screen

Taking a Few Critical Setup Steps

Setup menu options

Custom Setting options

Restoring Default Settings

Chapter 2: Choosing Basic Picture Settings

Choosing an Exposure Mode

Choosing the Release Mode

Single Frame and Quiet Shutter Release modes

Continuous (burst mode) shooting

Self-timer shooting

Wireless remote-control modes

Investigating other shutter-release options

Choosing the Right Quality Settings

Diagnosing quality problems

Considering image size: How many pixels are enough?

Understanding Image Quality options (JPEG or Raw)

My take: Choose JPEG Fine or Raw (NEF)

Setting Image Size and Quality

Chapter 3: Taking Great Pictures, Automatically

Setting Up for Automatic Success

As Easy As It Gets: Auto and Auto Flash Off

Taking Advantage of Scene Modes

Choosing a Scene mode

Checking out the Scene modes

Chapter 4: Exploring Live View Photography and Movie Making

Using Your Monitor as a Viewfinder

Live View safety tips

Customizing the Live View display

Focusing in Live View Mode

Choosing the right focusing pairs

Autofocusing in Live View and Movie mode

Manual focusing for Live View and movie photography

Shooting Still Pictures in Live View Mode

Shooting Digital Movies

Choosing the video type and quality

Reviewing other movie settings

Starting and stopping recording

Screening Your Movies

Trimming movies

Saving a movie frame as a still image

Part II: Working with Picture Files

Chapter 5: Playback Mode: Viewing, Erasing, and Protecting Photos

Customizing Basic Playback Options

Adjusting playback timing

Adjusting and disabling instant image review

Enabling automatic picture rotation

Viewing Images in Playback Mode

Viewing multiple images at a time (thumbnails view)

Displaying photos in Calendar view

Choosing which images to view

Zooming in for a closer view

Viewing Picture Data

File Information mode

Highlights display mode

RGB Histogram mode

Shooting Data display mode

GPS Data mode

Overview Data mode

Deleting Photos

Deleting images one at a time

Deleting all photos

Deleting a batch of selected photos

Protecting Photos

Creating a Digital Slide Show

Viewing Your Photos on a Television

Chapter 6: Downloading, Printing, and Sharing Your Photos

Choosing the Right Photo Software

Three free photo programs

Advanced photo programs

Sending Pictures to the Computer

Connecting the camera and computer for picture download

Starting the transfer process

Downloading photos with Nikon ViewNX 2

Processing Raw (NEF) Files

Processing Raw images in the camera

Processing Raw files in ViewNX 2

Planning for Perfect Prints

Check the pixel count before you print

Allow for different print proportions

Get print and monitor colors in sync

Preparing Pictures for E-Mail and Online Sharing

Resizing photos in ViewNX 2

Resizing pictures from the Retouch menu

Part III: Taking Creative Control

Chapter 7: Getting Creative with Exposure and Lighting

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

Understanding exposure-setting side effects

Doing the exposure balancing act

Exploring the Advanced Exposure Modes

Reading (And Adjusting) the Meter

Setting Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO

Adjusting aperture and shutter speed

Controlling ISO

Choosing an Exposure Metering Mode

Sorting Through Your Camera’s Exposure-Correction Tools

Applying Exposure Compensation

Using autoexposure lock

Expanding tonal range

Investigating Advanced Flash Options

Choosing the right Flash mode

Adjusting flash output

Controlling flash output manually

Bracketing Exposures

Chapter 8: Manipulating Focus and Color

Mastering the Autofocus System

Reviewing autofocus basics

Understanding the AF-Area mode setting

Changing the Focus mode setting

Choosing the right autofocus combo

Using autofocus lock

Focusing Manually

Manipulating Depth of Field

Controlling Color

Correcting colors with white balance

Changing the White Balance setting

Fine-tuning White Balance settings

Creating white balance presets

Bracketing white balance

Choosing a Color Space: sRGB versus Adobe RGB

Taking a Quick Look at Picture Controls

Chapter 9: Putting It All Together

Recapping Basic Picture Settings

Shooting Still Portraits

Capturing action

Capturing scenic vistas

Capturing dynamic close-ups

Part IV: The Part of Tens

Chapter 10: Ten Fun (And Practical) Ways to Manipulate Your Photos

Applying the Retouch Menu Filters

Removing Red-Eye

Straightening Tilting Horizon Lines

Removing (Or Creating) Lens Distortion

Correcting Perspective

Cropping (Trimming) Your Photo

Manipulating Exposure and Color

Creating Monochrome Images

Playing with Special Effects

Retouch menu special-effects filters

Shooting in Effects mode

Two Roads to a Multi-Image Exposure

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

Changing the Look of the Shooting Information Display

Keeping the Shooting Information Display Hidden

Cleaning the Image Sensor

Annotate Your Images

Creating Your Own Menu

Creating Custom Image Folders

Assigning a Duty to the Function Button

Changing the Function of the AE-L/AF-L Button

Using the Shutter Button to Lock Exposure and Focus

Reversing the Command Dial Orientation

Nikon® D5100™ For Dummies®

by Julie Adair King

Nikon® D5100™ For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2011 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2011932272

ISBN 978-1-118-11819-1 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-16003-9 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-16004-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-16005-3 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Author

Julie Adair King is the author of many books about digital photography and imaging, including the best-selling Digital Photography For Dummies. Her most recent titles include a series of For Dummies guides to popular Nikon, Canon, and Olympus cameras. Other works include Digital Photography Before & After Makeovers, Digital Photo Projects For Dummies, Julie King’s Everyday Photoshop For Photographers, Julie King’s Everyday Photoshop Elements, and Shoot Like a Pro!: Digital Photography Techniques. When not writing, King teaches digital photography at such locations as the Palm Beach Photographic Centre.

An Ohio native and graduate of Purdue University, she now resides in West Palm Beach, Florida, and does not miss Midwestern winters even a little bit (although she very much misses friends who have not yet made the journey south).

Author’s Acknowledgments

I am deeply grateful for the chance to work once again with the wonderful publishing team at John Wiley and Sons. Kim Darosett, Jennifer Webb, Steve Hayes, Jen Riggs, and Katie Crocker are just some of the talented editors and designers who helped make this book possible. And finally, I am also indebted to technical editor Dave Hall, without whose insights and expertise this book would not have been the same.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

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Cover Photo: © iStockphoto.com / Rosemarie Gearhart

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Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Introduction

Nikon. The name has been associated with top-flight photography equipment for generations. And the introduction of the D5100 has only enriched Nikon’s well-deserved reputation, offering all the control a die-hard photography enthusiast could want while at the same time providing easy-to-use, point-and-shoot features for the beginner.

In fact, the D5100 offers so many features that sorting them all out can be more than a little confusing, especially if you’re new to digital photography, SLR photography, or both. For starters, you may not even be sure what SLRmeans or how it affects your picture taking, let alone have a clue as to all the other techie terms you encounter in your camera manual — resolution, aperture, white balance, and so on. And if you’re like many people, you may be so overwhelmed by all the controls on your camera that you haven’t yet ventured beyond fully automatic picture-taking mode. Which is a shame because it’s sort of like buying a Porsche and never actually taking it on the road.

Therein lies the point of Nikon D5100 For Dummies. Through this book, you can discover not just what each bell and whistle on your camera does, but also when, where, why, and how to put it to best use. Unlike many photography books, this one doesn’t require any previous knowledge of photography or digital imaging to make sense of things, either. In classic For Dummies style, everything is explained in easy-to-understand language, with lots of illustrations to help clear up any confusion.

In short, what you have in your hands is the paperback version of an in-depth photography workshop tailored specifically to your Nikon picture-taking powerhouse.

A Quick Look at What’s Ahead

This book is organized into four parts, each devoted to a different aspect of using your camera. Although chapters flow in a sequence that’s designed to take you from absolute beginner to experienced user, I’ve also tried to make each chapter as self-standing as possible so that you can explore the topics that interest you in any order you please.

Here’s a brief preview of what you can find in each part of the book:

Part I: Fast Track to Super Snaps: Part I contains four chapters to help you get up and running. Chapter 1 offers a tour of the external controls on your camera, shows you how to navigate camera menus to access internal options, and walks you through initial camera setup. Chapter 2 explains basic picture-taking options, such as shutter-release mode and Image Quality settings, and Chapter 3 shows you how to use the camera’s fully automatic exposure modes. Chapter 4 explains the ins and outs of using Live View, the feature that lets you compose pictures on the monitor, and also covers movie recording.

Part II: Working with Picture Files: This part offers two chapters, both dedicated to after-the-shot topics. Chapter 5 explains how to review your pictures on the camera monitor, delete unwanted images, and protect your favorites from accidental erasure. Chapter 6 offers a look at some photo software options — including Nikon ViewNX 2, which ships free with your camera — and then guides you through the process of downloading pictures to your computer and preparing them for printing and online sharing.

Part III: Taking Creative Control: Chapters in this part help you unleash the full creative power of your camera by moving into the advanced shooting modes (P, S, A, and M). Chapter 7 covers the critical topic of exposure, and Chapter 8 explains how to manipulate focus and color. Chapter 9summarizes all the techniques explained in earlier chapters, providing a quick-reference guide to the camera settings and shooting strategies that produce the best results for portraits, action shots, landscape scenes, and close-ups.

Part IV: The Part of Tens: In famous For Dummies tradition, the book concludes with two “top ten” lists containing additional bits of information and advice. Chapter 10 covers the photo-editing and effects tools found on the camera’s Retouch menu and also shows you how to use the Effects exposure mode to add special effects to movies and photos as you record them. Chapter 11 wraps up the book by detailing some camera features that, although not found on most “Top Ten Reasons I Bought My Nikon D5100” lists, are nonetheless interesting, useful on occasion, or a bit of both.

Icons and Other Stuff to Note

If this isn’t your first For Dummies book, you may be familiar with the large, round icons that decorate its margins. If not, here’s your very own icon-decoder ring:

A Tip icon flags information that will save you time, effort, money, or some other valuable resource, including your sanity. Tips also point out techniques that help you get the best results from specific camera features.

When you see this icon, look alive. It indicates a potential danger zone that can result in much wailing and teeth-gnashing if ignored. In other words, this is stuff that you really don’t want to learn the hard way.

Lots of information in this book is of a technical nature — digital photography is a technical animal, after all. But if I present a detail that is useful mainly for impressing your technology-geek friends, I mark it with this icon.

I apply this icon either to introduce information that is especially worth storing in your brain’s long-term memory or to remind you of a fact that may have been displaced from that memory by some other pressing fact.

Additionally, I need to point out three additional details that will help you use this book:

Other margin art: Replicas of some of your camera’s buttons and onscreen symbols also appear in the margins of some paragraphs. I include these to provide a quick reminder of the appearance of the button or feature being discussed.

Software menu commands: In sections that cover software, a series of words connected by an arrow indicates commands that you choose from the program menus. For example, if a step tells you to “choose File⇒Convert Files,” click the File menu to unfurl it and then click the Convert Files command on the menu.

Camera firmware: Firmware is the internal software that controls many of your camera’s operations. The D5100 firmware consists of three parts, called A and B and L. At the time this book was written, both A and B were version 1.00, and L was version 1.003.

Occasionally, Nikon releases firmware updates, and it’s a good idea to check out the Nikon website (www.nikon.com) periodically to find out whether any updates are available. (Chapter 1 tells you how to determine which firmware version your camera is running.) Firmware updates typically don’t carry major feature changes — they’re mostly used to solve technical glitches in existing features — but if you do download an update, be sure to read the accompanying description of what it accomplishes so that you can adapt my instructions as necessary.

eCheat Sheet

As a little added bonus, you can find an electronic version of the famous For Dummies Cheat Sheet at www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/nikond5100. The Cheat Sheet contains a quick-reference guide to all the buttons, dials, switches, and exposure modes on your D5100. Log on, print it out, and tuck it in your camera bag for times when you don’t want to carry this book with you.

Practice, Be Patient, and Have Fun!

To wrap up this preamble, I want to stress that if you initially think that digital photography is too confusing or too technical for you, you’re in very good company. Everyone finds this stuff a little mind-boggling at first. So take it slowly, experimenting with just one or two new camera settings or techniques at first. Then, each time you go on a photo outing, make it a point to add one or two more shooting skills to your repertoire.

I know that it’s hard to believe when you’re just starting out, but it really won’t be long before everything starts to come together. With some time, patience, and practice, you’ll soon wield your camera like a pro, dialing in the necessary settings to capture your creative vision almost instinctively.

So without further ado, I invite you to grab your camera, a cup of whatever it is you prefer to sip while you read, and start exploring the rest of this book. Your D5100 is the perfect partner for your photographic journey, and I thank you for allowing me, through this book, to serve as your tour guide.

Please note that some special symbols used in this eBook may not display properly on all eReader devices. If you have trouble determining any symbol, please call Wiley Product Technical Support at 800-762-2974. Outside of the United States, please call 317-572-3993. You can also contact Wiley Product Technical Support at www.wiley.com/techsupport.

Part I

Fast Track to Super Snaps

In this part . . .

Making sense of all the controls on your D5100 isn’t something you can do in an afternoon — heck, in a week, or maybe even a month. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t take great pictures today. By using your camera’s point-and-shoot automatic modes, you can capture terrific images with very little effort. All you do is compose the scene, and the camera takes care of almost everything else.

This part shows you how to take best advantage of your camera’s automatic features and also addresses some basic setup steps, such as adjusting the viewfinder to your eyesight and getting familiar with the camera menus, buttons, and other controls. In addition, chapters in this part explain how to obtain the very best picture quality, whether you shoot in an automatic or manual mode, and how to use your camera’s Live View and movie-making features.

Chapter 1

Getting the Lay of the Land

In This Chapter

Familiarizing yourself with the monitor, viewfinder, and lens

Working with a memory card

Exploring external controls and menus

Using the Shooting Information, Quick Settings, and help screens

Customizing basic operations

Restoring the camera’s default settings

I still remember the day that I bought my first single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. I was excited to finally move up from my one-button point-and-shoot camera, but I was a little anxious, too. My new pride and joy sported several unfamiliar buttons and dials, and the explanations in the camera manual clearly were written for someone with an engineering degree.

You may be feeling similarly insecure if your Nikon D5100 is your first SLR, and doubly so if it’s both your first SLR and first digital camera. So to help you get a little more comfortable, this chapter introduces you to each external camera control, explains how to navigate menus, and covers a few other important basics, such as how to work with lenses, memory cards, and the D5100’s cool articulating monitor.

Using the Articulating Monitor

When you first take the camera out of its box, the monitor is positioned with the screen facing inward, protecting it from scratches and smudges, as shown on the left in Figure 1-1. It’s a good idea to place the monitor in this position when you’re not using the camera. When you’re ready to start shooting or reviewing your photos, you can lock the monitor in the traditional position on the camera back, as shown on the right in Figure 1-1. Or for more flexibility, you can swing the monitor out and away from the camera body and then rotate it to find the best viewing angle, as shown in Figure 1-2.

Figure 1-1: Here you see just two of the possible monitor positions.

Figure 1-2: You can angle the monitor to get the best view of things.

Because playing with the monitor is no doubt one of the first things you did after unpacking your new camera, I won’t waste space walking you through the process of adjusting the screen. (If you need help, the camera manual shows you what to do.) But I do want to offer a few monitor-related tips: