I am guessing that at this very moment your are reading this article, you have already taken your camera out of the box and played around with it a bit. I mean, who can resist that delicious smell of new electronics and the thrill of playing with a new toy? Well usually it is easier to sit down and read the manual after having taken the camera for at least one spin around the proverbial block. Of course, it is totally fine if you are reading this article before you’ve got the camera in hand, and I applaud your chasteness.So, even if your camera is (slightly) out of the box, I’ve put together some tips to help you get the most out of your D5100 experience. It’s never too late to start over and take it from the top. As I mentioned in the Introduction, the intention of this book is to extend the usefulness of your camera manual by expanding on subjects not covered in depth, or by calling your attention to certain aspects that deserve closer inspection, all the while taking you to places in your photographic education that are far beyond the boundaries of the manual. I want you to know not only how to use your camera, but how to use it while improving your ability to take the photos you want to take. To that end, there are some practical matters that should help you build the right foundation.
I. Charge your battery
When you first open your camera and slide the battery into the battery slot, you
will be pleased to find that there is probably juice in the battery and you can start
shooting right away. What you should really be doing is getting out the battery
charger and giving that power cell a full charge. Not only will this give you more time
to shoot, it will start the battery off on the right foot. No matter what claims the
manufacturers make about battery life and charging memory, I always get better life
and performance when I charge my batteries fully and then use them right down to
the point where they have nothing left to give. To check your battery level, insert the
battery into the camera, turn on the camera, and look for the battery indicator in the
upper-right section of the information screen. (Figure 1.1)
As best practice, charge your battery if, and only if, it is totally drained. The Nikon D5100 locks your shutter if your on the 10% of your battery life. The shutter wont fire no matter how hard you press the shutter release button. But do not charge your battery yet, use the live view for a couple of minutes to totally drain your battery.
Tips from the PRO's:
"keeping a backup battery
If PRO's were to suggest just one accessory that you should buy for your camera, it would be a second battery. Nothing is worse than being out in the field and having your camera die.
Keeping a fully charged battery in your bag will give you the confidence that you can keep
on shooting without fail. Not only is this a great strategy to extend your shooting time, it
also helps to lengthen the life of your batteries by alternating between them. No matter what the manufacturers say, batteries do have a life and using them half as much will only lengthen their usefulness. Trust the PRO's, thanks to the increased quality of the LCD display on the D5100 you will spend a lot of time gazing at your images (and eating up battery charge) ."
2. Adjust your auto off timer setting
One of the things that really bugged me when I first began shooting with the D5100
was the short duration that the playback and menu screens stayed on while I was
working with the camera. This can be very frustrating when you are trying to learn
about the camera and its features and you have to keep pressing the Menu or Info
button to bring the screen back to life. This is also the case when reviewing images
on the screen after taking a picture. The answer to this problem is to increase the
timer setting to a longer duration. The Nikon D5100 has four different settings for the
auto-off function: Short, Normal, Long, and Custom. To make things easy, I set
my camera to the Long setting when first learning how it works, which gives one
minute for playback/menus, 20 seconds for image review, ten minutes for live view,
and one minute for auto-meter off. Once I’ve grown comfortable with the controls,
I change the setting to Short to increase battery life. If you so choose, you can use
the Custom setting to individually adjust each of these options.
How to set the auto off timers.
1. Press the Menu button and navigate to
the Custom Menu tab.
2. Select item c: Timers/AE lock and press
the OK button (A).
3. Select item c2: Auto Off Timers and
press OK again (B).
4. Highlight your choice of timer settings
and press OK a final time to lock in
your change (C).
3. Set your jpeg image quality
Your new D5100 has a number of image-quality settings to choose from, and you
can adjust them according to your needs. Most people shoot with the JPEG option
because it allows them to capture a large number of photos on their memory cards.
The problem is that unless you understand what JPEG is, you might be degrading the
quality of your images without realizing it. The JPEG format has been around since about 1994. JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, and the format was developed by this group as a method of shrinking digital images down to a smaller size for the purpose of reducing large file sizes while retaining the original image information. (Technically, JPEG isn’t even a file format—it’s a mathematical equation for reducing image file sizes—but to keep things simple,
we’ll just refer to it as a file format.) The problem with JPEG is that, in order to reduce
file size, it has to throw away some of the information. This is referred to as “lossy
compression.” This is important to understand because, while you can fit more images
on your memory card by choosing a lower-quality JPEG setting, you will also be reducing
the quality of your image. This effect becomes more apparent as you enlarge
your pictures.
The JPEG file format also has one other characteristic: to apply the compression to
the image before final storage on your memory card, the camera has to apply all of
the image processing first. Image processing involves such factors as sharpening, color
adjustment, contrast adjustment, noise reduction, and so on. Many photographers
now prefer to use the RAW file format to get greater control over the image processing.
We will take a closer look at this in Chapter 2, but for now let’s just make sure
that we are using the best-quality JPEG possible.
The D5100 has nine different settings for the JPEG format. There are three settings
each for the Large, Medium, and Small image size settings. The three settings (Basic,
Normal, and Fine) represent more or less image compression, based on your choice.
The Large, Medium, and Small settings determine the actual physical size of your
image in pixels. Let’s work with the highest-quality setting possible. After all, our
goal is to make big, beautiful photographs, so why start the process with a lowerquality
image?
Setting the image quality
1. Press the i button on the back of the camera to activate the cursor in the
information screen.
2. Use the Multi-selector to select the image-quality setting, then press the OK
button (A).
3. When the option screen appears, use the Multi-selector to choose the Fine
setting, and press the OK button (B).
4. Now move the cursor down one step to choose the image size and press OK to
get to the options (C).
5. Select the L option to use the largest image size available and press OK once
more (D).
6. Press the i button again to return to shooting mode.
As you will see when scrolling through the
quality settings, the higher the quality, the
fewer pictures you will be able to fit on your
card. If you have an 8 GB memory card, the
quality setting we have selected will allow you
to shoot about 844 photographs before you
fill up your card. Always try to choose quality
over quantity. Your pictures will be the better
for it.
Manual Callout
For a complete chart that shows
the image-quality settings with the
number of possible shots for each
setting, turn to page 218 in the
Reference Manual on the companion
CD that comes with the camera.
4. Turn off the auto iso setting
The ISO setting on your camera allows you to choose the level of sensitivity of the
camera sensor to light. The ability to change this sensitivity is one of the biggest
advantages to using a digital camera. In the days of film cameras, you had to choose
the ISO by film type. This meant that if you wanted to shoot in lower light, you had
to replace the film in the camera with one that had a higher ISO. So not only did you
have to carry different types of film, but you also had to remove one roll from the
camera to replace it with another, even if you hadn’t used up the current roll. Now all
you have to do is go to your information screen and select the appropriate ISO.
Having this flexibility is a powerful option, but just as with the Quality setting, the ISO
setting has a direct bearing on the quality of the final image. The higher the ISO, the
more digital noise the image will contain. Since our goal is to produce high-quality
photographs, it is important that we get control over all of the camera controls and
bend them to our will. When you turn your camera on for the first time, the ISO will
be set to Auto. This means that the camera is determining how much light is available
and will choose what it believes is the correct ISO setting. Since you want to use the
lowest ISO possible, you will need to turn this setting off and manually select the
appropriate ISO.
Which ISO you choose depends on your level of available or ambient light. For sunny
days or very bright scenes, use a low ISO such as 100. As the level of light is reduced,
raise the ISO level. Cloudy days or indoor scenes might require you to use ISO 400.
Low-light scenes, such as when you are shooting at night, will mean you need to
bump up that ISO to 1600. The thing to remember is to shoot with the lowest setting
possible for maximum quality.
setting the iso
1. Press the i button on the back of the
camera to activate the cursor in the
information screen.
2. Use the Multi-selector to highlight the
ISO Sensitivity option and press the OK
button (A).
3. In the option screen, select the
appropriate ISO for the level of light
you are shooting in, and press the OK
button to lock in the change (B).
You should know that the Auto ISO option
is only enabled as a default when using
one of the automatic scene/effects modes.
When using one of the professional
modes (M, A, S, and P; we’ll discuss these
in Chapter 4), the Auto ISO feature will
be automatically turned off. If you wish to use
Auto ISO in one of these modes, you
must activate it and set the auto parameters in
the shooting menu. If you plan on
shooting with the Auto mode, you cannot turn
off the Auto ISO option at all.
noise
Noise is the enemy of digital photography, but it has nothing to do with the loudness of
your camera operation. It refers to the electronic artifacts that appear as speckles in your
image. They generally appear in darker shadow areas and are a result of the camera trying
to amplify the signal to produce visible information. The more the image needs to be
amplified—raising the sensitivity through higher ISOs—the greater the amount of noise
there will be.
set your iso on the fly
You can also change the ISO without taking your eye from the viewfinder. Although there
is no dedicated ISO button on the D5100, you can still change this setting on the fly by
setting the Function button to handle ISO sensitivity. Simply use Custom Setting Menu F
to change the assignment of the Function button. Then, while you are looking through the
viewfinder, just press and hold the Function button while turning the Command dial. You
will see the ISO value change in your viewfinder display.
5. Set your focus point and mode
The Nikon focusing system is well known for its speed and accuracy. The automatic
focus modes will give you a ton of flexibility in your shooting. There is, however, one
small problem that is inherent with any focusing system. No matter how intelligent
it is, the camera is looking at all of the subjects in the scene and determining which
is closest to the camera. It then uses this information to determine where the proper
focus point should be. It has no way of knowing what your main emphasis is, so it
is using a “best guess” system. To eliminate this factor, you should set the camera
to single-point focusing so that you can ensure that you are focusing on the most
important feature in the scene.
The camera has 11 separate focus points to choose from. They are arranged in a
diamond pattern with ten points around the outside of the diamond and one in the
center. To start things off, you should select the focus point in the middle. Once you
have become more familiar with the focus system, you can experiment with the
other points, as well as the automatic point selection.
When possible, you should also change the focus mode to AF-S so that you can focus
on your subject and then recompose your shot while holding that point of focus.
Your camera has two different “zones” of shooting modes to choose from. These are
located on the Mode dial, which is separated into automatic scene/effects modes and
what might be referred to as the professional modes. The automatic modes, which
are identifiable by small icons, do not allow for much, if any, customization, which
includes focus mode. The professional modes, defined by the letter symbols M, A, S,
and P, allow for much more control by the photographer (Figure 1.2).
If the Mode dial is set to any of the automatic scene/effects modes, then it is best to
leave the focus mode set to AF-A, which means the camera will automatically select
either single-servo autofocus or continuous-servo autofocus, based on whether the
subject is stationary or moving. If the Mode dial is set to one of the professional
modes, then you will have the option to set the focus mode to AF-S (single-servo
mode) if your subject is stationary.
setting the focus point and
focus mode
1. To choose a single point of focus, wake
the camera (if necessary) by lightly
pressing the shutter release button.
2. Press the i button on the back of the
camera to activate the cursor in the
information screen.
3. Use the Multi-selector to highlight the
AF-area Mode option and press OK (A).
4. Select the top option, Single Point, and
press OK (B).
5. With the cursor still active, move up
one item to the Focus Mode option
and press OK.
6. Select AF-A or AF-S, depending on the
Mode dial setting, to configure the
focus mode. Press the OK button to
lock in your change (C).
7. Press the i button to return to the
regular information screen.
The camera is now ready for single focusing.
You will hear a chirp when the camera
has locked in and focused on the subject.
To focus on your subject and then recompose
your shot, just place the focus point
in the viewfinder on your subject, depress the
shutter release button halfway until
the camera chirps, and without letting up on the
shutter button, recompose yourshot and then press
the shutter button all the way down to make your exposure.
6. set the correct white balance
Color balance correction is the process of rendering accurate colors in your final
image. Most people don’t even notice that light has different color characteristics
because the human eye automatically adjusts to different color temperatures, so
quickly, in fact, that everything looks correct in a matter of milliseconds.
When color film ruled the world, photographers would select which film to use
according to what their light source was going to be. The most common film was balanced
for daylight, but you could also buy film that was color balanced for tungsten
light sources. Most other lighting situations had to be handled by using color filters
over the lens. This process was necessary for the photographer’s final image to show
the correct color balance of a scene.
Your camera has the ability to perform this same process automatically, but you can
also choose to override it and set it manually. Guess which method we are going to
use? You are catching on fast! Once again, your photography should be all about
maintaining control over everything that influences your final image.
Luckily, you don’t need to have a deep understanding of color temperatures to control
your camera’s white balance. The choices are given to you in terms that are easy
to relate to and that will make things pretty simple. Your white balance choices are:
• Auto: The default setting for your camera. It is also the setting used by all of the
automatic scene/effects modes (see Chapter 3).
• Incandescent: Used for any occasion where you are using regular household-type
bulbs for your light source. Incandescent (also called tungsten) is a very warm light
source and will result in a yellow/orange cast if you don’t correct for it.
• Fluorescent: Used to get rid of the green-blue cast that can result from using
regular fluorescent lights as your dominant light source. Some fluorescent lights
are actually balanced for daylight, which would allow you to use the Direct
Sunlight white balance setting.
• Direct Sunlight: Most often used for general daylight/sunlit shooting.
• Flash: Used whenever you’re using the built-in flash or a flash on the hot shoe.
You should select this white balance to adjust for the slightly cooler light that
comes from using a flash. (The hot shoe is the small bracket located on the top
of your camera, which rests just above the eyepiece. This bracket is used for
attaching a more powerful flash to the camera [see Chapter 8 and Chapter 11,
which is one of the bonus chapters].)
• Cloudy: The choice for overcast or very cloudy days. This and the Shade setting
will eliminate the blue color cast from your images.
• Shade: Used when working in shaded areas that are still using sunlight as the
dominant light source.
• Pre: Indicates that you are using a customized white balance that is adjusted for
a particular light source. This option can be adjusted using an existing photo you
have taken or by taking a picture of something white or gray in the scene.
Setting the white balance
1. After turning on or waking the camera,
select one of the professional shooting
modes, such as P (you can’t select the
white balance when using any of the
automatic modes).
2. Press the i button on the back of the
camera to activate the cursor in the
information screen.
3. Use the Multi-selector to highlight the
White Balance mode and press the OK
button (A).
4. Using the Multi-selector, select the
appropriate white balance and then
press the OK button (B).
5. Press the i button to return to the
regular information screen.
whiTe baLance and The TemperaTure of coLor
When you select different white balances in your camera, you will notice that underneath
several of the choices is a number, e.g., 5200K, 7000K, or 3200K. These numbers refer
to the Kelvin temperature of the colors in the visible spectrum. The visible spectrum is
the range of light that the human eye can see (think of a rainbow or the color bands
that come out of a spectrum). The visible spectrum of light has been placed into a scale
called the Kelvin temperature scale, which identifies the thermodynamic temperature of
a given color of light. Put simply, reds and yellows are “warm” and greens and blues are
“cool.” Even more confusing can be the actual temperature ratings. Warm temperatures are
typically lower on the Kelvin scale, ranging from 3000 degrees to 5000 degrees, while cool
temperatures run from 5500 degrees to around 10,000 degrees. Take a look at this list for
an example of Kelvin temperature properties.
The most important thing to remember here is how the color temperature of light will
affect the look of your images. If something is “warm,” it will look reddish-yellow, and if
something is “cool,” it will have a bluish cast.
7. Set your color space
The color space deals with how your images will ultimately be used. It is basically a
set of instructions that tells your camera how to define the colors in your image and
then output them to the device of your choice, be it your monitor or a printer. Your
camera has a choice of two color spaces: sRGB and Adobe RGB.
The first choice, sRGB, was developed by Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft as a way
of defining colors for the Internet. This space was created to deal with the way that
computer monitors actually display images using red, green, and blue (RGB) colors.
Because there are no black pixels in your monitor, the color space uses a combination
of these three colors to display all of the colors in your image.
In 1998, Adobe Systems developed a new color space, Adobe RGB, which was
intended to encompass a wider range of colors than was obtainable using traditional
cyan, magenta, yellow, and black colors (called CMYK) but doing so using the primary
red, green, and blue colors. It uses a more widely defined palette of colors (or gamut)
than the sRGB space and, therefore, can contain some colors farther toward the more
saturated end of the spectrum than sRGB.
a LiTTLe coLor Theory
The visible spectrum of light is based on a principle called additive color and is based on
three primary colors: red, green, and blue. When you add these colors together in equal
parts, you get white light. By combining different amounts of them, you can achieve all
the different colors of the visible spectrum. This is a completely different process than
printing, where cyan, magenta, and yellow colors are combined to create various colors.
This method is called subtractive color and has to do with the reflective properties of
pigments or inks as they are combined.
The color space choice is applied only to the JPEG images produced by the camera.
When shooting RAW, the color space is determined later when you are using software
to process the photos. I typically use the Adobe RGB space when shooting JPEG
because it has a wider gamut than sRGB, and it is always better to go from a wider
color space to a narrower one when editing. That said, if you are shooting JPEG and
sending photos straight to a printer or posting online without much (or any) editing,
then sRGB is a good choice.
seTTing The coLor space
1. With the camera turned on, press the Menu button.
2. Using the Multi-selector, select the shooting menu and then highlight the Color
Space option and press the OK button (A).
3. Highlight your desired color space and press the OK button once again (B).
4. Press the i button to return to the regular information screen.
Note that if you choose Adobe RGB, the camera-generated file names will start with
an underscore.
8. know how To override auTofocus
As good as the Nikon autofocus system is, there may be times when it just isn’t doing
the job for you. Many times this has to do with how you would like to compose a
scene and where the actual point of focus should be. This can be especially true when
you are using the camera on a tripod, where you can’t prefocus and then recompose
before shooting (as discussed earlier). To take care of this problem, you will need
to manually focus the lens. I am only going to cover the kit lens that came with my
D5100 (the 18–55mm VR), so if you have purchased a different lens be sure to check
the accompanying instruction manual for the lens.
On the 18–55mm kit lens, you simply need to slide the switch at the base of the lens
(located on the lens barrel near the body of the camera) from the A setting to the
M setting (Figure 1.3). You can now turn the focus ring at the end of the lens to set
your focus. Now that you’re in manual focus mode, the camera will not give you an
audible chirp when you have correctly focused.
We’ll cover more manual focus situations in greater detail in future chapters.
9. Review your shots
One of the greatest features of a digital camera is its ability to give us instant feedback.
By reviewing your images on the camera’s LCD screen, you can instantly tell if
you got your shot. This visual feedback allows you to make adjustments on the fly
and make certain that all of your adjustments are correct before moving on.
When you first press the shutter release button, your camera quickly processes your
shot and then displays the image on the LCD display. In addition, you can press the
Playback button at any time to review your shots on the card. The default playback
view displays your image along with the folder name, image file name, frame
number/total number of images on the card, date, time, image size, and image
quality setting.
There are other display options available that must be turned on using the camera
menu. These options can be found in the Playback menu under the Playback display
options (A). With this menu option you can add display modes (B) such as None
(image only), Highlights (C), RGB histogram (D), Shooting data (E), and Overview (F).
Once enabled, press the Playback button to display the default view and then press
the Multi-selector up (or down) to cycle through each view. There is now a wealth of
information—from shutter speed to the histogram (see the sidebar “The value of the
histogram”)—at your fingertips.
In fact, it may actually be information overload. I find the Highlights display (sometimes
referred to as the “blinkies”) to be very helpful for quickly finding out if I have
blown out the highlights in a photo, and I turn to the Overview display for everything
else I need to know about a capture. I turn off all the other options to make
it faster to cycle through the options I do use. There’s more on the Highlight display
view and how to use it to improve your image quality in the “How I Shoot” section in
Chapter 4. For now, I suggest enabling all display options to get a feel for what each
one offers. Then you can circle back and keep only the ones you find helpful.
The main goal is to ensure that you aren’t clipping any “important” visual information, and
that is achieved by keeping an eye on your histogram. Take a look at Figure 1.5. The histogram
displayed on the image shows a heavy skew toward the left with almost no part of the
mountain touching the right side. This is a good example of what an underexposed image
histogram looks like. Now look at Figure 1.6 and compare the histogram for the image that
was correctly exposed. Notice that even though there is a distinct peak on the graph, there is
a distribution of tones across the entire histogram.
Deleting images
Deleting or erasing images is a fairly simple process that is covered on page 27 of the printed
user manual. To quickly get you on your way, simply press the Playback button and use
the Multi-selector to find the picture that you want to delete. Then press the Delete button
(it has a trash can icon on it) located on the back of the camera to the left of the eyepiece.
When you see the confirmation screen, simply press the Delete button once again to
complete the process.
Caution: Once you have deleted an image, it is gone for good. Make sure you don’t want it
before you drop it in the trash.
10. hold your camera for proper shooting
You might think that this is really dumb, but I hope that you take a few seconds to
read this over and make sure that you are giving yourself the best chance for great
images. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I see photographers holding their
cameras in a fashion that is either unstable or just plain uncomfortable-looking.
Much of this probably comes from holding point-and-shoot cameras. There is a huge
difference between point-and-shoots and dSLR cameras, and learning the correct
way to hold one now will result in great images later. The purpose of practicing correct
shooting form is to provide the most stable platform possible for your camera
(besides using a tripod, of course).
dSLR cameras are made to favor the right-handed and right-eyed individual. The
basics of properly holding the camera begin with grasping the camera body with
the right hand. You will quickly find that most of the important camera controls are
within easy reach of your thumb and forefinger. The next step is to create a stable
base for your camera to rest on. This is accomplished by placing the camera body
on the up-facing palm of your left hand (Figure 1.7). Now you can curl your fingers
around the lens barrel to quickly zoom or manually focus the lens.
When it comes to rotating the camera vertically to portrait orientation, most photographers
favor rotating counter-clockwise (Figure 1.8) because it keeps all the controls
easily accessible to the right hand, allows visibility in the left eye, and keeps your
nose off the LCD screen. That said, it can fling your right elbow into the crowd, and
the pressure of your right arm can create a tendency to rotate the camera too far.
Some people find it more comfortable to rotate the camera clockwise, which pulls
your right hand under the camera and your right elbow tight against your chest. It
decreases visibility in your left eye and makes the controls a little more awkward to
reach, but it can be more stable in a tight situation.
Now that you know where to put your hands, let’s talk about what to do with the
rest of your body parts. By using the underhand grip, your elbows will be drawn
closer to your body. You should concentrate on pulling them in close to your body
to stabilize your shooting position. You should also try to maintain proper upright
posture. Leaning forward at the waist will begin to fatigue your back, neck, and
arms. You can really ruin a day of shooting with a sore back, so make sure you stand
erect with your elbows in. Finally, place your left foot in front of your right foot,
and face your subject in a slightly wide stance. By combining all of these aspects into
your photography, you will give yourself the best chance of eliminating self-imposed
camera shake in your images, resulting in much sharper photographs.
Chapter 1 Assignments
Let’s begin our shooting assignments by setting up and using all of the elements of the Top
Ten list. Even though I have yet to cover the professional shooting modes, you should set your
camera to the P (Program) mode. This will allow you to interact with the various settings and
menus that have been covered thus far.
Basic camera setup
Charge your battery to 100% to get it started on a life of dependable service. Next, using your
newfound knowledge, set up your camera to address the following: Image Quality, Auto ISO,
and Color Space.
Selecting the proper white balance
Take your camera outside into a daylight environment and then photograph the same scene
using different white balance settings. Pay close attention to how each setting affects the overall
color cast of your images. Next, move indoors and repeat the exercise while shooting in a
tungsten lighting environment. Finally, find a fluorescent light source and repeat one more time.
Focusing with single point and AF-S
Change your camera setting so that you are focusing using the single-point focus mode.
Try using all of the different focus points to see how they work in focusing your scene.
Then set your focus mode to AF-S and practice focusing on a subject and then recomposing
before actually taking the picture. Try doing this with subjects at varying distances.
Evaluating your pictures with the LCD display
Set up your image display properties and then review some of your previous assignment
images using the different display modes. Review your shooting information for each image
and take a look at the histograms to see how the content of your photo affects the shape of
the histograms.
Discovering the manual focus mode
Change your focus mode from autofocus to manual focus and practice a little manual
focus photography. Get familiar with where the focus ring is and how to use it to achieve
sharp images.
Get a grip: proper camera holding
This final assignment is something that you should practice every time you shoot: proper
grip and stance for shooting with your camera. Use the described technique and then shoot
a series of images. Try comparing it with improper techniques to compare the stability of
the grip and stance.
