Nikon DSLR: The Ultimate Photographer's Guide (Digital Workflow)

176 Pages·2009·17.38 MB·English

by  Jim White

Digital Photography Workflow
Nikon DSLR
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Digital Photography Workflow
Nikon DSLR

The Ultimate Photographer’s Guide
Jim White and Tony Sweet

AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD
PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO
Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier
Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier
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First edition 2010
Copyright © 2010, Jim White & Tony Sweet. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
The right of Jim White & Tony Sweet to be identifi ed as the author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
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This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher
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Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this fi eld are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our
understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using
any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein.
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including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability
for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or
from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
White , Jim.
Nikon DSLR : the ultimate photographer’s guide. -- (Digital
workfl ow)
1 . Nikon digital cameras. 2. Single-lens refl ex cameras.
3 . Photography--Digital techniques--Amateurs’ manuals.
I . Title II. Series III. Sweet, Tony, 1949-
771 .3’3-dc22
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009930340
ISBN : 978-0-240-52122-0
For information on all Focal Press publications
visit our website at focalpress.com
Printed and bound in Canada
09 10 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 The Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Exposure Triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Aperture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Shutter Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Aperture and Depth of Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
ISO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7
Resolution and Sensor Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
C hapter 2 Setting Up Your Workfl ow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
A Successful Workfl ow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Color Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
JPEG or RAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Transferring Images to Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Color Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
C orey Hiltz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 7
C hapter 3 Common Features of Nikon Digital SLR
Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Thoughtful Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
N ancy Rotenberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Chapter 4 The Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Which Nikon Camera? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
The Nikon D40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
The Nikon D80 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
The Nikon D300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
The Nikon D3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
v
CONTENTS
Chapter 5 Shooting Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Which Shooting Mode Do I Choose? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Full Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
C reative Photography: Digital Vari-Program
Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Advanced Shooting Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Sue Milestone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
Chapter 6 Getting Good Color and a Good
Exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Color Temperature and White Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Focusing and Exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Jack Kennealy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Chapter 7 Nikon Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
The Nikon Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Lens Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Nikon Lens Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Some Nikkor Lenses to Consider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
What Lenses Do I Buy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Chapter 8 Flash Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Why Shoot With a Flash? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Keeping It Natural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Nikon ’ s Creative Lighting System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Using the Built-in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
N ikon Speedlites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 40
Flash Photography With a Speedlite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
G eorge Schoeber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 44
Chapter 9 Getting Your Best Shot from the Digital
Negative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 51
O verview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 51
N ikon Capture NX 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 51
vi
CONTENTS
Other Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
A perture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 60
I n Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 60
P eter B. Kaplan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 61
I ndex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 67

vii

CHAPTER 1
T he Basics
T he Exposure Triangle
T he very fact that you have purchased this book means you plan to take your photography beyond
the casual point and shoot stage. Although this book isn’t designed to be an introductory course in
photography, it is necessary to understand some important basic concepts to fully take advantage of your
Nikon Digital SLR camera. To fully understand and utilize the creative power of these incredible cameras,
you need to understand the relationship of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, or what we will call the
‘ exposure triangle. ’ The basic rule to remember is that all three factors control your exposure: change any
one variable and one or both of the other two must be changed as well. Understanding this relationship
will allow you to move beyond making technically correct photographs to capturing really great images.
Aperture
The aperture is an adjustable opening in the lens of a camera. Somewhat like the pupil of our eye, the
aperture adjusts to allow more or less light to enter the lens and reach the sensor. The size of the aperture
is controlled via an adjustable diaphragm that opens or closes to allow more or less light to enter. On a
standard camera lens, we measure in units called ‘ stops. ’ Each f/stop represents either double or half the
3