Mastering the Nikon D600

569 Pages·2013·37.787 MB·English

by  Darrell Young

Mastering the Nikon D600
Darrell Young (Digital Darrell) is an information technology engineer by trade.
He’s been an avid photographer since 1968 when his mother gave him a Brownie
Hawkeye camera.
Darrell has used Nikon cameras and Nikkor lenses since 1980. He has an in-
curable case of Nikon Acquisition Syndrome (NAS) and delights in working with
Nikon’s newest digital cameras.
Living near Great Smoky Mountains National Park has given him a real con-
cern for the natural environment and a deep interest in nature photography.
He loves to write, as you can see in the Resources area of the Nikonians Online
community (www.Nikonians.org). He joined the community in the year 2000,
and his literary contributions led to his invitation to become a Founding Member
of the Nikonians Writers Guild.
Mastering the Nikon D600
Darrell Young
Darrell Young (aka Digital Darrell)
Editor: Jocelyn Howell
Copyeditor: Jeanne Hansen
Layout: Petra Strauch
Cover Design: Helmut Kraus, www.exclam.de
Printer: Friesens Corporation
Printed in Canada
ISBN 978-1-937538-19-4
1st Edition 2013
© 2013 Darrell Young
Rocky Nook, Inc.
802 E. Cota Street, 3rd Floor
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
www.rockynook.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Young, Darrell, 1958-
 Mastering the Nikon D600 / by Darrell Young. -- 1st edition.
      pages cm
 ISBN 978-1-937538-19-4 (softcover : alk. paper)
1.  Nikon digital cameras. 2.  Single-lens reflex cameras. 3.  Photography--Digital techniques.  I.
Title.
 TR263.N5Y683 2013
 771.3'2--dc23
                                                           2013002606
Distributed by O‘Reilly Media
1005 Gravenstein Highway North
Sebastopol, CA 95472
All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced
or utilized in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any in-
formation storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher.
Many of the designations in this book used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their prod-
ucts are claimed as trademarks of their respective companies. Where those designations appear in
this book, and Rocky Nook was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed
in caps or initial caps. All product names and services identified throughout this book are used in
editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of
the trademark. They are not intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.
Adobe Photoshop™ and Adobe Lightroom™ are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. in
the United States and other countries.
While reasonable care has been exercised in the preparation of this book, the publisher and
author(s) assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use
of the information contained herein or from the use of the discs or programs that may accom-
pany it.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
This book is dedicated to:
My wife of many years, Brenda; the love of my life and best friend…
My children, Autumn, David, Emily, Hannah, and Ethan,
five priceless gifts …
My mother and father, Barbara and Vaughn, who brought me into this world and
guided my early life, teaching me sound principles to live by …
My Nikonians editor, Tom Boné,
without whose assistance I could not possibly write books …
My friends J. Ramon Palacios and Bo Stahlbrandt, who make it possible to belong to
Nikonians.org, the world’s best Nikon Users’ Community …
The wonderful staff of Rocky Nook, including
Gerhard Rossbach, Joan Dixon, Jocelyn Howell, and Matthias Rossmanith ...
My copy editor, Jeanne Hansen (www.h ansenedits.com), whose eye for detail and
knowledge of the English language made this book much nicer for its readers …
And, finally, to Nikon, who makes the world’s best cameras and lenses.
Special Thanks to:
Brad Berger of www.Berger-Bros.com (800-542-8811) for helping me obtain a Nikon D600
early in its production cycle so that I could write this book. I personally buy from and rec-
ommend Berger-Bros.com for Nikon cameras, lenses, and accessories. They offer old-time
service and classes for your photographic educational needs too!
Steve Wise of www.atomos.com (503-388-3236) for allowing me to use a powerful
Atomos Ninja-2 external HDMI video recorder. The revolutionary Ninja-2 is the go-to
“Smart Production Weapon” for Nikon HD-SLR camera owners who want to record the
highest quality, uncompressed video their camera can output.
Michael Tapes of mtapesdesign.com (321-752-9700) for providing samples of their excel-
lent products: WhiBal for white balance ambient light (PRE) readings and accurate white
balance control, and LensAlign and FocusTune for calibrating and fine-tuning autofocus in
Nikon DSLRs.
Table of Contents
1
xiv Foreword 2 Basic Camera Setup
xvi Camera Body Reference 4 Learning about the Nikon
532 Credits D600
534 Index 6 First Use of the Camera
7 First-Time HD-SLR Users
7 Five Steps for First-Time
Camera Configuration
11 Accessing the Camera Menus
12 Camera Functions for Initial
Configuration
14 Personal Camera Settings
Recommendations
14 Things to Know When Reading
This Book
15 Downloadable Resources
Website
Table of Contents vii
2 3
16 Playback Menu 54 Shooting Menu
18 Delete 57 User Settings U1 and U2
25 Playback Folder 58 Configuring the Shooting
27 Hide Image Menu
30 Playback Display Options 59 Reset Shooting Menu
36 Copy Image(s) 60 Storage Folder
43 Image Review 63 File Naming
44 After Delete 65 Role Played by Card in Slot 2
45 Rotate Tall 67 Image Quality
47 Slide Show 75 Image Size
50 DPOF Print Order 77 Image Area
53 Author’s Conclusions 81 JPEG Compression
83 NEF (RAW) Recording
87 White Balance
90 Set Picture Control
100 Manage Picture Control
108 Auto Distortion Control
109 Color Space
112 Active D-Lighting
115 HDR (High Dynamic Range)
119 Vignette Control
121 Long Exposure NR
124 High ISO NR
126 ISO Sensitivity Settings
136 Remote Control Mode
138 Multiple Exposure
141 Interval Timer Shooting
144 Time-Lapse Photography
146 Movie Settings
150 Author’s Conclusions
viii Table of Contents
4 5
152 Custom Setting Menu 250 Setup Menu
153 Using the Camera’s Help 253 Format Memory Card
System 255 Save User Settings
154 The User Settings and the 257 Reset User Settings
Custom Setting Menu 258 Monitor Brightness
155 Using the Custom Setting 259 Clean Image Sensor
Menu 261 Lock Mirror Up for Cleaning
157 a Autofocus 263 Image Dust Off Ref Photo
168 b Metering/Exposure 266 HDMI
176 c Timers/AE Lock 267 Flicker Reduction
185 d Shooting/Display 268 Time Zone and Date
204 e Bracketing/Flash 272 Language
225 f Controls 273 Image Comment
243 g Movie 275 Auto Image Rotation
248 Modified Custom Setting 276 Battery Info
Notice 277 Copyright Information
248 Author’s Conclusions 279 Save/Load Settings
282 GPS
287 Virtual Horizon
288 Non-CPU Lens Data
292 AF Fine-Tune
295 Eye-Fi Upload
297 Firmware Version
298 Author’s Conclusions
Table of Contents ix
6 7
300 Retouch Menu 356 My Menu and Recent
303 Retouched File Numbering Settings
303 Accessing the Retouch 358 My Menu
Functions – Two Methods 363 Recent Settings
304 Playback Retouching 364 Author’s Conclusions
305 Using Retouch Menu Items
Directly
305 D-Lighting
306 Red-Eye Correction
307 Trim
308 Monochrome
310 Filter Effects
319 Color Balance
321 Image Overlay
324 NEF (RAW) Processing
332 Resize
334 Quick Retouch
335 Straighten
337 Distortion Control
339 Fisheye
341 Color Outline
342 Color Sketch
343 Perspective Control
345 Miniature Effect
347 Selective Color
349 Edit Movie
352 Side-by-Side Comparison
353 Author’s Conclusions