Nikon D600 Digital Field Guide
Nikon D600 Digital Field Guide J. Dennis Thomas
Nikon D600 Digital Field Guide Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 10475 Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46256 www.wiley.com Copyright 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: 978-1-118-50930-2 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEB SITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEB SITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEB SITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (877) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-ondemand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Control Number: 2012955842 Trademarks: Wiley and the Wiley logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates. Nikon and D600 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nikon, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
About the Author J. Dennis Thomas is a freelance photographer and author based out of Austin, Texas. He has nearly 25 years of experience behind the lenses of Nikon cameras. His work has been published in many regional and national publications, including Rolling Stone, SPIN, Elle, EBONY, W, Country Weekly, Us Weekly, and Thrasher. He has written more than a dozen highly successful Nikon Digital Field Guides, a comprehensive book about concert and live music photography, and a book about urban and rural decay photography. Thomas also writes articles about photography for Digital Photo magazine and www.masteringphoto.com, and maintains a blog called The Nikon Digital Field Guide Companion (www.deadsailorproductions.blogspot.com).
Credits Acquisitions Editor Carol Kessel Project Editor Kristin Vorce Technical Editor George Maginnis Copy Editor Marylouise Wiack Editorial Director Robyn Siesky Project Coordinator Sheree Montgomery Graphics and Production Specialists Andrea Hornberger Quality Control Technician Jessica Kramer Proofreading and Indexing Joni Heredia Ty Koontz Business Manager Amy Knies Senior Marketing Manager Sandy Smith Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Richard Swadley Vice President and Executive Publisher Barry Pruett
As always, to my girls Henrietta and Maddie.
Acknowledgments I d like to thank everyone at Wiley who works so hard to get these books out, especially my favorite woman at Wiley, Courtney Allen, for always lending an ear and an objective opinion, and generally being an all-around great gal. I d also like to thank Kristin Vorce and Carol Kessel for all the hard work that they do behind the scenes, Kathleen Jeffers for getting out all the paperwork, Robyn Siesky for crackin the whip on the production team, and Barry Pruett for giving the go-ahead and signing the checks! I d also like to thank the folks at Precision Camera and Video in Austin, Texas, Jack and Monica Puryear at Puryear Photography, Cricket Krengel, and everyone else who lent a helping hand along the way.
Contents at a Glance Introduction.................................................. xxv CHAPTER 1 Exploring the Nikon D600.......................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 Nikon D600 Essentials........................................... 31 CHAPTER 3 Setting up the Nikon D600........................................ 75 CHAPTER 4 Selecting and Using Lenses with the Nikon D600...................... 147 CHAPTER 5 Controlling Exposure........................................... 173 CHAPTER 6 Working with Light............................................. 193 CHAPTER 7 Working with Live View and Video................................. 213 CHAPTER 8 Advanced Topics.............................................. 233 APPENDIX A General Composition Tips........................................ 256 APPENDIX B Accessories.................................................. 260 APPENDIX C How to Use the Gray Card and Color Checker......................... 266 Glossary.................................................... 268 Index....................................................... 275
Contents Introduction xxv CHAPTER 1 Exploring the Nikon D600 1 Key Components of the D600.... 2 Top of the camera.... 2 Back of the camera.... 5 Front of the camera... 10 Right side of the camera.... 12 Left side of the camera.... 14 Viewfinder Display.... 15 Control Panel.... 18 Information Display.... 23 CHAPTER 2 Nikon D600 Essentials 31 Exposure Modes.... 32 Programmed auto.... 32 Aperture-priority auto.... 33 Shutter-priority auto.... 35 Manual.... 36 U1/U2.... 37 Scene modes.... 37 Portrait.... 38 Landscape.... 38 Child.... 39 Sports.... 39 Close Up... 39 Night Portrait.... 39 Night Landscape... 40 Party/Indoor.... 40 Beach/Snow.... 40 Sunset.... 40 Dusk/Dawn... 40 Pet Portrait.... 40 Candlelight.... 41 Blossom.... 41 Autumn Colors.... 41 Food.... 41
Silhouette.... 41 High Key.... 41 Low Key.... 41 Auto modes... 42 Auto.... 42 Auto (flash off).... 42 Metering Modes.... 42 Matrix.... 43 Center-weighted.... 44 Spot... 45 Autofocus... 46 Phase detection.... 46 Contrast detection... 47 Focus Modes.... 47 Continuous-servo AF (AF-C).... 47 Single-servo AF (AF-S)... 48 Auto-servo (AF-A).... 48 Manual (MF).... 48 Autofocus Area Modes.... 49 Single-point AF.... 49 Dynamic-area AF.... 50 9 points... 50 21 points... 50 39 points... 51 3D-tracking.... 51 Auto-area AF.... 51 Release Modes.... 52 Single frame.... 52 Continuous low speed.... 52 Continuous high speed.... 52 Quiet shutter-release.... 53 Self-timer... 53 Remote control.... 53 Mirror lockup.... 54 ISO Sensitivity.... 54 Auto ISO.... 55 Noise reduction.... 56 Long exposure NR.... 56 High ISO NR.... 57 White Balance.... 58 What is Kelvin?.... 58 White balance settings.... 58 Picture Controls.... 61
D600 File Formats, Size, and Compression... 68 NEF (RAW).... 69 Type.... 70 Bit depth... 70 JPEG.... 71 Image size.... 72 Image quality.... 73 CHAPTER 3 Setting up the Nikon D600 75 The Playback Menu.... 76 Delete.... 76 Playback folder.... 77 Hide image.... 78 Playback display options.... 78 Copy image(s).... 79 Image review.... 81 After delete.... 81 Rotate tall.... 82 Slide show... 82 DPOF print order.... 83 The Shooting Menu.... 84 Reset shooting menu.... 84 Storage folder.... 84 File naming.... 85 Role played by card in Slot 2.... 86 Image quality... 87 Image size.... 87 Image area.... 88 JPEG compression.... 89 NEF (RAW) recording.... 89 White balance.... 90 Using White Balance settings.... 90 Choosing a color temperature.... 92 Preset manual white balance.... 92 Copy white balance from an existing photograph.... 93 Set Picture Control.... 94 Manage Picture Control.... 95 Auto distortion control... 96 Color space.... 96 Active D-Lighting... 97 High Dynamic Range (HDR).... 98 Vignette control... 99
Long exposure NR.... 99 High ISO NR.... 100 ISO sensitivity settings.... 100 Remote control mode.... 101 Multiple exposure.... 101 Interval timer shooting.... 102 Time-lapse photography.... 103 Movie settings.... 103 The Custom Settings Menu... 104 Reset custom settings.... 105 Custom Settings menu a: Autofocus.... 105 a1: AF-C priority selection.... 105 a2: AF-S priority selection... 106 a3: Focus tracking with lock-on.... 106 a4: AF point illumination.... 106 a5: Focus point wrap-around.... 106 a6: Number of focus points.... 107 a7: Built-in AF-assist illuminator.... 107 Custom Settings menu b: Metering/exposure.... 107 b1: ISO sensitivity step value.... 107 b2: EV steps for exposure cntrl.... 107 b3: Easy exposure compensation.... 108 b4: Center-weighted area... 108 b5: Fine-tune optimal exposure.... 109 Custom Settings menu c: Timers/AE lock.... 109 c1: Shutter-release button AE-L.... 109 c2: Standby timer.... 109 c3: Self-timer.... 109 c4: Monitor off delay.... 110 c5: Remote on duration.... 110 Custom Settings menu d: Shooting/display.... 110 d1: Beep.... 111 d2: Viewfinder grid display.... 111 d3: ISO display and adjustment.... 111 d4: Screen tips.... 111 d5: CL mode shooting speed.... 112 d6: Max. continuous release.... 112 d7: File number sequence.... 112 d8: Information display.... 112 d9: LCD illumination.... 113 d10: Exposure delay mode... 113 d11: Flash warning.... 113
d12: MB-D14 battery type.... 113 d13: Battery order.... 114 Custom Settings menu e: Bracketing/flash.... 114 e1: Flash sync speed.... 114 e2: Flash shutter speed.... 114 e3: Flash cntrl for built-in flash.... 114 e4: Exposure comp. for flash.... 115 e5: Modeling flash.... 115 e6: Auto bracketing set.... 116 e7: Bracketing order.... 116 Custom Settings menu f: Controls.... 116 f1: OK button (shooting mode)... 116 f2: Assign Fn button.... 116 f3: Assign preview button.... 119 f4: Assign AE-L/AF-L button.... 119 f5: Customize command dials.... 119 f6: Release button to use dial... 120 f7: Slot empty release lock... 120 f8: Reverse indicators... 120 f13: Assign MB-D14 AE-L/AF-L button.... 121 Custom Settings menu g: Movie.... 121 g1: Assign Fn button.... 121 g2: Assign preview button.... 122 g3: Assign AE-L/AF-L button.... 122 g4: Assign shutter button... 122 The Setup Menu.... 122 Format memory card... 123 Save user settings... 123 Reset user settings.... 123 Monitor brightness.... 123 Clean image sensor... 124 Lock mirror up for cleaning.... 124 Image Dust Off ref photo.... 125 HDMI... 125 Flicker reduction.... 126 Time zone and date... 126 Language... 126 Image comment.... 126 Auto image rotation... 127 Battery info.... 127 Copyright information.... 127 Save/load settings.... 128
GPS.... 128 Virtual horizon.... 128 Non-CPU lens data.... 129 AF fine-tune... 129 Eye-Fi upload... 131 Firmware version.... 132 The Retouch Menu.... 132 D-Lighting.... 133 Red-eye correction.... 134 Trim.... 134 Monochrome... 135 Filter effects.... 135 Color balance... 136 Image overlay.... 136 NEF (RAW) processing.... 137 Resize.... 138 Quick retouch.... 139 Straighten.... 139 Distortion control... 139 Fisheye.... 140 Color outline.... 140 Color sketch.... 140 Perspective control.... 140 Miniature effect... 140 Selective color... 141 Edit movie.... 142 Side-by-side comparison.... 142 My Menu.... 143 The Information Display Settings... 144 CHAPTER 4 Selecting and Using Lenses with the Nikon D600 147 Lens Compatibility.... 148 Deciphering Nikon Lens Codes.... 148 Third-Party Lenses.... 150 Wide-Angle Lenses.... 152 Standard or Midrange Zoom Lenses.... 158 Telephoto Lenses.... 159 Special-Purpose Lenses... 162 Micro-NIKKOR lenses.... 162 Defocus Control lenses... 164 Fisheye lenses.... 165 Perspective Control lenses.... 167
Lens Accessories... 168 Teleconverters.... 168 Extension tubes.... 169 Close-up filters.... 170 UV filters.... 170 Neutral density (ND) filters.... 171 CHAPTER 5 Controlling Exposure 173 Defining Exposure.... 174 ISO.... 175 Shutter speed.... 176 Fast shutter speeds.... 178 Slow shutter speeds.... 179 Aperture.... 182 Fine-Tuning Your Exposure.... 185 Exposure compensation.... 186 Using histograms.... 186 CHAPTER 6 Working with Light 193 Lighting Essentials.... 194 Quality of light.... 194 Soft light.... 194 Hard light.... 195 Lighting direction... 196 Frontlight.... 196 Sidelight.... 197 Backlight... 198 Natural Light... 200 Continuous Light.... 201 D600 Built-in Flash.... 203 Built-in Flash Exposure Modes.... 204 i-ttl and i-ttl BL.... 204 Manual.... 204 Repeating Flash... 205 Commander.... 205 Flash Sync Modes.... 206 Sync speed.... 206 Front-curtain sync.... 207 Slow sync.... 208 Red-Eye Reduction.... 209 Rear-curtain sync... 209 Flash Compensation.... 210
Creative Lighting System Basics.... 210 Light Modifiers... 211 CHAPTER 7 Working with Live View and Video 213 Live View Overview.... 214 Focus modes... 214 Single-servo AF.... 214 Full-time-servo AF.... 215 AF-area modes.... 215 Live View Still Photography.... 217 Movie Live View.... 220 Frame Size and Frame Rate... 223 Video Setup.... 224 Video Playback.... 227 In-Camera Editing... 227 Viewing and Shooting Using the HD Output... 229 Viewing images on the camera... 229 Viewing images on an HDTV... 230 Shooting video using an external HD device... 231 CHAPTER 8 Advanced Topics 233 U1/U2 User Settings.... 234 Working with Off-camera Flashes.... 240 Gear... 240 Speedlights or flashes.... 241 Light stands and brackets.... 243 Umbrellas.... 244 Manual flash exposures.... 244 Guide Number.... 245 Distance.... 245 Aperture.... 246 GN / D = A.... 246 Technique.... 246 Portraits.... 247 Small product and still-life.... 249 HDR and Tone Mapping... 251 Bracketing.... 252 In-camera HDR.... 253 Tone mapping.... 254
APPENDIX A General Composition Tips 256 Keep It Simple.... 256 Rule of Thirds... 257 Leading Lines and S-Curves... 258 Helpful Hints.... 259 APPENDIX B Accessories 260 Nikon MB-D14 Battery Grip.... 260 Speedlights.... 262 Nikon GP-1 GPS Unit.... 263 Nikon ME-1 Stereo Microphone.... 263 WU-1b Wireless Mobile Adapter.... 264 ML-L3 Wireless Remote Control.... 265 APPENDIX C How to Use the Gray Card and Color Checker 266 The Gray Card.... 266 The Color Checker.... 267 Glossary 268 Index 275
Introduction There had been rumors circulating for quite a while that Nikon was planning to release an affordable full-frame camera, so when the D600 was announced, it wasn t a complete surprise. The world was expecting a full-frame sensor in a D7000 and that s what they got. What was surprising, however, was that the D600 wasn t just a full-frame D7000; it inherited quite a bit of technology from its bigger brother, the D800. While the D800 turned the world of digital photography on its head, the D600 arrived a little later and set the world on fire. With a 24MP sensor (which puts it on par with one of Nikon s flagship cameras, the D3X), the brand-new EXPEED 3 image processor, the updated Multi-CAM 4800FX 39-point autofocusing system, and the 2016-pixel Color Matrix Metering II metering system, the D600 borders on being a professional camera. Although the D600 isn t necessarily a professional-grade camera, it does have a lot of professional features, including a magnesium alloy top and bottom for durability, weather sealing for protection against the elements, and easily accessible buttons to make quick changes during shooting. The D600 has everything an advanced photographer needs, but Nikon also hasn t forgotten about newer photographers. The D600 offers a plethora of scene modes to allow you to open up your creativity and capture great images in any shooting situation, no matter how much photography experience you have. The D600 also allows in-camera editing so you don t necessarily need to be computer savvy to add great effects to your images. It even allows you to edit RAW files. The D600 will appeal to videographers as well. It matches the D800 in almost every way in terms of video capabilities, including the ability to record uncompressed video through the HDMI port. Other features that will appeal to videographers in addition to the lower price point include the stereo microphone input, the stereo headphone
Nikon D600 Digital Field Guide output, the ability to control ISO, shutter speed, and aperture, and the number of fast lenses Nikon offers to achieve the shallow depth of field that is the hallmark of highquality video production. To sum it all up, Nikon has created an amazing, full-featured, full-frame camera that isn t out of reach of regular folks. About the Digital Field Guide The Digital Field Guide book series is intended to act as an adjunct to the manual that comes with your camera. While the manual gives you a great overview of the camera, a photographer didn t write it. The Nikon D600 Digital Field Guide gives you all of the information you need about the camera from a working photographer s perspective. The goal of this guide is to help photographers from novices to advanced amateurs grasp all of the features of their new camera. It includes tips learned from working with the camera in the field, as well as some basic information to help new photographers quickly get up to speed. This guide walks you through setting up your camera and offers insight into which settings to use, as well as why each setting is useful in a particular situation. It includes full-color images that demonstrate different photography concepts and show you some of the things that the D600 is able to accomplish under different circumstances. The Nikon D600 Digital Field Guide will help you quickly become familiar with your camera so that you can navigate and handle it better, and more easily reach your photographic goals and visions. xxvi
CHAPTER 1 Exploring the Nikon D600 This chapter covers the key components of the D600, including the buttons, switches, dials, and knobs. These are the features you most need to master because you will use them all the time as you modify settings to adapt to changing shooting conditions. The D600 is very similar to its DX sibling the D7000 and, indeed, was designed with this camera in mind. If you re upgrading to FX from the D7000, you will feel instantly at home. If you re stepping up from a D5100 or a D3200, the number of controls may surprise you. If you are accustomed to using one of Nikon s compact pro bodies such as the D300s, D700, or D800, you will definitely notice the difference in the control layout. Getting to know all your camera s menus, buttons, and dials allows you to capture your images just as you envision them.
Nikon D600 Digital Field Guide Key Components of the D600 The exterior controls of the D600 are used to access features that are most commonly changed. The D600 is a more advanced model than the D3200 and D5100 series, so it has a lot more buttons and dials to allow you to change your settings more quickly, which is a good thing. On the other hand, the D600 has much fewer buttons than the higher-end cameras, so a lot of the buttons perform double or even triple duty, depending on what mode the camera is in. The good news is that a number of buttons can be customized so that you can control the settings that you need to access the most. Top of the camera Most of the important buttons are on the top of the D600. This makes it easier to find them, especially when you have your eye to the viewfinder. This is where you find the dials to change the shooting modes as well as the all-important shutter-release button and the relatively new Movie record button. Shutter-release button. In my opinion, this is the most important button on the camera. Pressing this button halfway activates the camera s autofocus and light meter. Fully depressing this button releases the shutter and takes a photograph. When the camera has been idle, and has gone to sleep, lightly pressing the shutter-release button wakes it up. When the image review is on, lightly pressing the shutter-release button turns off the LCD and prepares the camera for another shot. On/off switch. This switch, located concentric to the shutter-release button, is used to turn the camera on and off. Push the switch all the way to the left to turn the camera off; pull the switch to the right to turn the camera on. The on/off switch also has a spring-loaded momentary switch, which, when pulled to the far right, turns on the control panel backlight. Movie record button. When the camera is in Live View movie mode ( ), pressing this button (which has a simple red dot on it) causes the camera to start recording video. Pressing it a second time stops the video recording. In Live View still photography mode ( ) and standard shooting mode or scene modes, this button has no function at all. Metering mode button ( ). Pressing this button and rotating the Main Command dial allows you to change the metering mode among Matrix ( ), Center-weighted ( ), and Spot metering ( ). This is also one of the buttons 2