Nikon D3200 For Dummies

Introduction 1 A Quick Look at What’s Ahead 1 Part I: Fast Track to Super Snaps 1 Part II: Working with Picture Files 2 Part III: Taking Creative Control 2 Part IV: The Part of Tens 2 Icons and Other Stuff to Note 2 eCheat Sheet 3 Practice, Be Patient, and Have Fun! 4 Part I: Fast Track to Super Snaps 5 Chapter 1: Getting the Lay of the Land 7 Getting Comfortable with Your Lens 8 Attaching a lens 8 Removing a lens 10 Setting the focus mode (auto or manual) 10 Zooming in and out 12 Using a VR (Vibration Reduction) lens 12 Adjusting the Viewfinder Focus 13 Working with Memory Cards 15 Exploring External Camera Controls 18 Topside controls 18 Back-of-the-body controls 20 Front-left buttons 23 Front-right features 24 Hidden connections 24 Ordering from Camera Menus 25 Using the guided menus 26 Ordering off the main menus 31 Monitoring Shooting Settings 33 Changing Settings Using the Information Display 35 Displaying Help Screens 36 Customizing Your Camera: Setup Menu Options 37 Restoring Default Settings 44 Chapter 2: Choosing Basic Picture Settings 47 Choosing an Exposure Mode 48 Choosing the Release Mode 50 Single Frame and Quiet Shutter Release modes 52 Continuous (burst mode) shooting 52 Self-timer shooting 54 Wireless remote-control modes 55 Adding Flash 56 Enabling flash 57 Setting the Flash mode 58 Choosing the Right Quality Settings 61 Diagnosing quality problems 62 Considering image size: How many pixels are enough? 63 Understanding Image Quality options (JPEG or Raw) 67 My take: Choose JPEG Fine or Raw (NEF) 72 Setting Image Size and Quality 73 Chapter 3: Taking Great Pictures, Automatically 77 Setting Up for Automatic Success 78 As Easy As It Gets: Auto and Auto Flash Off 82 Taking Advantage of Scene Modes 86 Getting More Creative with Guide Mode 90 Chapter 4: Exploring Live View Photography and Movie Making 97 Using Your Monitor as a Viewfinder 98 Live View safety tips 99 Customizing the Live View display 103 Focusing in Live View Mode 105 Choosing the right focusing pairs 110 Autofocusing in Live View and Movie mode 111 Manual focusing for Live View and movie photography 113 Shooting Still Pictures in Live View Mode 114 Shooting Digital Movies 116 Choosing the video mode (NTSC or PAL) 116 Setting video quality (frame size, frame rate, and bit rate) 117 Controlling audio 120 Manipulating movie exposure 123 Reviewing a few final recording options 124 Recording a movie 125 Screening Your Movies 127 Trimming Movies 129 Saving a Movie Frame as a Still Image 132 Part II: Working with Picture Files 135 Chapter 5: Playback Mode: Viewing, Erasing, and Protecting Photos 137 Customizing Basic Playback Options 138 Adjusting playback timing 138 Adjusting and disabling instant image review 139 Enabling automatic picture rotation 139 Viewing Images in Playback Mode 141 Viewing multiple images at a time (thumbnails view) 143 Displaying photos in Calendar view 144 Choosing which images to view 146 Zooming in for a closer view 146 Viewing Picture Data 148 File Information mode 150 Highlights display mode 152 RGB Histogram mode 153 Shooting Data display mode 156 GPS Data mode 157 Overview Data mode 157 Deleting Photos and Movies 159 Deleting fi les one at a time 159 Deleting all photos and movies 160 Deleting a batch of selected files 161 Protecting Photos and Movies 163 Creating a Digital Slide Show 164 Viewing Your Photos and Movies on a Television 168 Chapter 6: Downloading, Printing, and Sharing Your Photos 171 Choosing the Right Photo Software 171 Three free photo programs 172 Advanced photo programs 174 Sending Pictures to the Computer 176 Connecting the camera and computer for picture download 177 Starting the transfer process 178 Downloading using ViewNX 2 180 Processing Raw (NEF) Files 187 Processing Raw images in the camera 187 Processing Raw fi les in ViewNX 2 191 Planning for Perfect Prints 195 Check the pixel count before you print 195 Allow for different print proportions 197 Get print and monitor colors in sync 200 Preparing Pictures for E-Mail and Online Sharing 203 Prepping online photos using ViewNX 2 205 Resizing pictures from the Playback menu 206 Part III: Taking Creative Control 211 Chapter 7: Getting Creative with Exposure 213 Introducing the Exposure Trio: Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO 214 Understanding exposure-setting side effects 216 Doing the exposure balancing act 221 Exploring the Advanced Exposure Modes 222 Reading the Meter 224 Setting Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO 227 Adjusting aperture and shutter speed 227 Controlling ISO 230 Choosing an Exposure Metering Mode 233 Sorting Through Your Camera’s Exposure-Correction Tools 236 Applying Exposure Compensation 236 Using autoexposure lock 240 Expanding tonal range with Active D-Lighting 241 Investigating Advanced Flash Options 244 Choosing the right Flash mode 247 Adjusting flash output 253 Controlling flash output manually 256 Chapter 8: Manipulating Focus and Color 259 Mastering the Autofocus System 260 Reviewing autofocus basics 260 Understanding the AF-Area mode setting 262 Changing the Focus mode setting 267 Choosing the right autofocus combo 269 Using autofocus lock 269 Focusing Manually 270 Manipulating Depth of Field 274 Controlling Color 281 Correcting colors with white balance 281 Changing the White Balance setting 283 Fine-tuning White Balance settings 286 Creating white balance presets 287 Choosing a Color Space: sRGB versus Adobe RGB 291 Taking a Quick Look at Picture Controls 292 Chapter 9: Putting it All Together 299 Recapping Basic Picture Settings 299 Shooting Still Portraits 301 Capturing action 307 Capturing scenic vistas 310 Capturing dynamic close-ups 313 Part IV: The Part of Tens 317 Chapter 10: Ten Fun and Practical Retouch Menu Features 319 Applying the Retouch Menu Filters 320 Removing Red-Eye 322 Straightening Tilting Horizon Lines 324 Removing (Or Creating) Lens Distortion 326 Correcting Perspective 328 Cropping (Trimming) Your Photo 329 Shadow Recovery with D-Lighting 331 Boosting Shadows, Contrast, and Saturation Together 333 Two Ways to Make Subtle Color Adjustments 334 Applying digital lens filters 335 Manipulating color balance 337 Creating Monochrome Photos 338 Chapter 11: Ten Special-Purpose Features to Explore on a Rainy Day 341 Annotate Your Images 341 Creating Custom Image Folders 343 Changing the Function Button’s Function 346 Customizing the AE-L/AF-L Button 347 Using the Shutter Button to Lock Exposure and Focus 348 Adding a Starburst Effect 349 Creating Color Effects 351 Creating a color outline 352 Producing a color sketch 353 Playing with the Selective Color Filter 354 Softening Focus for a Dreamy Effect 356 Creating a Miniature Effect 358 Combining Two Photos with Image Overlay 360 Index 365