Nikon D3400 For Dummies

Introduction 1 About This Book 1 How This Book Is Organized 2 Icons and Other Stuff to Note 3 Where to Go from Here 4 Part 1: Fast Track to Super Snaps 5 Chapter 1: Getting Up and Running 7 Preparing the Camera for Initial Use 7 Exploring Basic Camera Features 11 Checking out external controls 11 Ordering from camera menus 19 Switching to Live View mode 23 Viewing critical picture settings 25 Adjusting settings via the control strip 28 Displaying Help Screens 29 Familiarizing Yourself with the Lens 30 Working with Memory Cards 35 Taking a Few Final Setup Steps 37 Restoring Default Settings 40 Chapter 2: Reviewing Five Essential Picture-Taking Options 43 Choosing an Exposure Mode 44 Fully automatic exposure modes 44 Semiautomatic modes (P, S, and A) 45 Manual exposure mode (M) 46 Specialty modes (Effects and Guide modes) 46 Setting the Release Mode 47 Single Frame and Quiet Shutter Release modes 48 Continuous (burst mode) shooting 49 Self-timer shooting 50 Wireless remote control modes 51 Checking Image Size and Image Quality 52 Considering the Image Size setting (resolution) 52 Understanding Image Quality options (JPEG or Raw) 56 Setting Image Size and Image Quality 60 Adding Flash 62 Enabling and disabling flash 63 Choosing a Flash mode 64 Adjusting the flash output (P, S, A, and M modes only) 70 Chapter 3: Taking Great Pictures, Automatically 75 Shooting in Auto and Auto Flash Off Modes 75 Viewfinder photography in Auto and Auto Flash Off modes 76 Live View photography in Auto and Auto Flash off modes 79 Taking Advantage of Scene Modes 82 Portrait mode 83 Landscape mode 84 Child mode 84 Sports mode 85 Close Up mode 87 Night Portrait mode 88 Part 2: Beyond the Basics 89 Chapter 4: Taking Charge of Exposure 91 Introducing the Exposure Trio: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO 92 Aperture affects depth of field 94 Shutter speed affects motion blur 96 ISO affects image noise 96 Doing the exposure balancing act 99 Stepping Up to Advanced Exposure Modes (P, S, A, and M) 100 Checking the Exposure Meter 102 Choosing an Exposure Metering Mode 105 Setting Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO 108 Adjusting aperture and shutter speed 108 Controlling ISO 111 Solving Exposure Problems 115 Applying Exposure Compensation 115 Expanding tonal range with Active D-Lighting 119 Eliminating vignetting 122 Using autoexposure lock 124 Chapter 5: Controlling Focus and Depth of Field 125 Choosing Automatic or Manual Focusing 126 Exploring Standard Focusing Options (Viewfinder Photography) 127 Mastering the autofocusing system 128 Focusing manually 137 Focusing During Live View and Movie Shooting 140 Understanding Live View autofocusing 141 Manual focusing during Live View and movie shooting 149 Manipulating Depth of Field 149 Chapter 6: Mastering Color Controls 153 Understanding White Balance 153 Changing the White Balance setting 155 Fine-tuning White Balance settings 158 Creating white balance presets 159 Choosing a Color Space 163 Taking a Quick Look at Picture Controls 164 Chapter 7: Putting It All Together 171 Recapping Basic Picture Settings 171 Shooting Still Portraits 172 Capturing Action 178 Capturing Scenic Vistas 181 Capturing Dynamic Close-Ups 184 Chapter 8: Shooting, Viewing, and Trimming Movies 187 Shooting Movies Using Default Settings 188 Adjusting Video Settings 193 Controlling Audio 197 Choosing the Microphone setting (volume control) 197 Reducing wind noise 200 Exploring Other Recording Options 201 Manipulating Movie Exposure 203 Screening Your Movies 205 Trimming Movies 207 Saving a Movie Frame as a Still Image 210 Part 3: After the Shot 211 Chapter 9: Playback Mode: Viewing Your Photos 213 Picture Playback 101 214 Choosing Which Images to View 215 Adjusting Playback Timing 216 Enabling Automatic Picture Rotation 217 Shifting from Single-Image to Thumbnails Display 219 Displaying Photos in Calendar View 220 Magnifying Photos During Playback 221 Viewing Picture Data 223 File Information mode 224 Highlights (\"blinkies\") display mode 227 RGB Histogram mode 228 Shooting Data mode 231 Overview mode 232 Creating a Digital Slide Show 234 Viewing Your Photos on a Television 236 Chapter 10: Working with Picture and Movie Files 239 Rating Photos and Movies 240 Deleting Files 242 Deleting files one at a time 242 Deleting all files 243 Deleting a batch of selected files 243 Protecting Photos and Movies 246 Taking a Look at Nikon\'s Photo Software 247 Downloading Pictures to the Computer 250 Connecting via USB 251 Starting the file-transfer process 252 Downloading using Nikon Transfer 2 253 Processing Raw (NEF) Files 257 Processing Raw images in the camera 258 Processing Raw files in Capture NX-D 261 Preparing Pictures for Online Sharing 264 Prepping online photos using ViewNX-i 265 Resizing pictures from the Retouch menu 265 Part 4: The Part of Tens 269 Chapter 11: Ten Fun (And Practical) Ways to Manipulate Your Photos 271 Applying the Retouch Menu Filters 272 Removing Red-Eye 275 Straightening Tilting Horizon Lines 275 Removing (Or Creating) Lens Distortion 277 Correcting Perspective 278 Adjusting Exposure and Color 279 Cropping Your Photo 282 Applying Effects to Existing Photos 284 Shooting in Effects Mode 288 Combining Two Photos with Image Overlay 293 Chapter 12: Ten Special-Purpose Features to Explore on a Rainy Day 295 Adding Hidden Image Comments 295 Adding a Copyright Notice 297 Creating Custom Image Folders 298 Turning Off the AF-Assist Illuminator 300 Adjusting Automatic Shutdown Timing 300 Changing the Look of the Information Display 301 Keeping the Information Display Hidden 303 Changing the Function Button\'s Function 303 Customizing the AE-L/AF-L Button 304 Using the Shutter Button to Lock Exposure and Focus (or Not) 305 Appendix: Intro to Nikon Snapbridge 307 What Can I Do with SnapBridge? 308 Getting Familiar with the SnapBridge App 309 Understanding SnapBridge-Related Camera Options 312 Glossary of Digital Photography Terms 315 Index 323