Nikon D300 User manual

En_04

DIGITAL CAMERA

User's Manual

No reproduction in any form of this manual, in whole or in part

(except for brief quotation in critical articles or reviews), may be

made without written authorization from NIKON CORPORATION.

Printed in Europe

SB8K04(11)

6MB00211-04

Q0310_UM_En_EUR_03_Cover.fm Page 1 Wednesday, November 19, 2008 2:20 PM

Where to Find It

Find what you’re looking for from:

Digitutor

Digitutor, a series of “watch and learn” manuals in movie form, is available

from the following website:

http://www.nikondigitutor.com/index_eng.html

iThe Q&A Index ➜pp. iv–ix

Know what you want to do but don’t know the function name?

Find it

from the “question and answer” index.

iThe Table of Contents ➜pp. x–xvii

Find items by function or menu name.

iThe Quick Start Guide ➜pp. 21–22

A brief guide for those who want to get started taking pictures right away.

iThe Index ➜pp. 419–425

Search by key word.

iError Messages ➜pp. 391–398

If a warning is displayed in the viewfinder or monitor, find the solution

here.

iTroubleshooting ➜pp. 383–390

Camera behaving unexpectedly?

Find the solution here.

AFor Your Safety

Before using the camera for the first time, read the safety

instructions in “For Your Safety” (pg. xviii).

Package Contents

Be sure all items listed here were included with your camera.

Memory cards are sold separately.

•D300 digital camera (pg. 3)

•Body cap (pp. 34, 368)

•BM-8 LCD monitor cover (pg. 19)

•DK-5 eyepiece cap (pg. 20)

•EN-EL3e rechargeable Li-ion battery with terminal cover

(pp. 30, 32)

•MH-18a quick charger with power cable (pg. 30)

•UC-E4 USB cable (pp. 224, 232)

•EG-D100 video cable (pg. 242)

•AN-D300 strap (pg. 19)

•Warranty

•User’s Manual (this guide)

•Quick Guide

•Software Installation Guide

•Software Suite CD-ROM

•Registration card (U. S. A. only)

Symbols and Conventions

To make it easier to find the information you need, the following

symbols and conventions are used:

Menu items, options, and messages displayed in the camera monitor

are shown in brackets ([ ]).

ATrademark Information

Macintosh, Mac OS, and QuickTime are registered trademarks of Apple

Inc. Microsoft, Windows and Windows Vista are either registered

trademarks, or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States

and/or other countries.

CompactFlash is a trademark of SanDisk

Corporation.

Microdrive is a trademark of Hitachi Global Storage

Technologies in the United States and other countries.

HDMI, the HDMI

logo and High-Definition Multimedia Interface are trademarks or

registered trademarks of HDMI Licensing LLC.

PictBridge is a trademark.

All other trade names mentioned in this manual or the other

documentation provided with your Nikon product are trademarks or

registered trademarks of their respective holders.

DThis icon marks cautions; information that should be read before

use to prevent damage to the camera.

AThis icon marks notes; information that should be read before

using the camera.

iii

Introduction

Tutorial

Image Recording Options

Focus

Release Mode

ISO Sensitivity

Exposure

White Balance

Image Enhancement

Flash Photography

Other Shooting Options

More About Playback

Connections

Menu Guide

Technical Notes

Q&A Index

Find what you’re looking for using this “question and answer”

index.

❚❚ New Features

❚❚ Camera Setup

Question Key phrase See page

How do I take high-quality NEF (RAW)

photos? 14-bit NEF (RAW) 59

Can I use the monitor as a viewfinder? Live view 79

Can I control how photos are processed? Picture Controls 146

How do I preserve details in shadows and

highlights? Active D-Lighting 165

How do I focus on erratically moving

subjects? 3D-tracking 270

Can I adjust focus separately for different

lenses? AF fine tune 327

How do I remove dust from the low-pass

filter protecting the image sensor?

Cleaning the low-pass

filter 373

Question Key phrase See page

How do I focus the viewfinder? Viewfinder focus 43

How do I keep the monitor from turning

off? Monitor off delay 280

How do I keep the shutter speed and

aperture displays from turning off? Auto meter off 46, 279

❚❚ Menus and Displays

How do I set the clock?

World time 37, 315

How do I set the clock for daylight

savings time?

How do I change time zones when I

travel?

How do I adjust monitor brightness for

menus or playback? LCD brightness 312

How do I restore default settings? Two-button reset 182

How do I restore shooting menu

defaults? Reset shooting menu 257

How do I restore Custom Setting

defaults? Reset custom settings 266

How do I change the self-timer delay? Self-timer delay 280

How do I turn the speaker off? Beep 281

Can I reverse the electronic analog

exposure display? Reverse indicators 310

Can I display the menus in a different

language? Language 315

Can I save menu settings for use on a

different D300 camera? Save/load settings 325

Question Key phrase See page

How do I get more information on a

menu? Help 29

How do I use the menus? Using the menus 24

What do these indicators mean? Viewfinder, control

panel, shooting

information display

8, 10, 12

What information is in the shooting

information display?

What does this warning mean? Error messages and

displays 391

How much charge does the battery have

left? Battery level 44

Question Key phrase See page

❚❚ Taking Photographs

How do I get more information about the

battery? Battery info 321

How do I keep the file number from

being reset when I insert a new memory

card? File number sequence 283

How do I reset file numbering to 1?

How do I clean the camera or lens? Cleaning the camera 372

Question Key phrase See page

How many more shots can I take with this

card?

Number of exposures

remaining 45

How do I take bigger photographs?

Image quality and size 56, 60

How can I get more photos on the

memory card?

Can I control how the camera focuses? Autofocus 61

How do I take a lot of photographs

quickly? Release mode 74

Can I change the frame advance rate? Shooting speed 76, 282

Can I shoot a self-portrait? Self-timer mode 89

Can I take pictures under low light

without the flash? ISO sensitivity 94

Can the ISO sensitivity I choose be

adjusted to ensure optimal exposure?

ISO sensitivity auto

control 96

How do I freeze or blur moving objects? Exposure mode f

(shutter-priority auto) 106

How do I blur background details or keep

both foreground and background in

focus?

Exposure mode g

(aperture-priority auto) 107

Question Key phrase See page

vii

❚❚ Viewing Photographs

Can I set both shutter speed and aperture

manually?

Exposure mode h

(manual) 109

Can I make photos brighter or darker? Exposure compensation 114

How do I make a time exposure? Long time-exposures 111

Can I vary exposure or flash level

automatically over a series of photos?

Exposure and flash

bracketing 117, 297

Can I create multiple copies of a photo

using different white balance settings?

White balance

bracketing 121, 297

How do I adjust white balance? White balance 125

Can I take pictures with a flash? Flash photography,

flash mode, red-eye

reduction

171

How can I reduce “red-eye”? 174

How can I record multiple shots as a

single photograph? Multiple exposure 184

Can I pick the standard exposure level? Fine tune optimal

exposure 277

How can I reduce blur? Exposure delay mode 285

Can the flash be used at shutter speeds

faster than 1/250 s? Flash sync speed 288

Question Key phrase See page

Can I view my photographs on the

camera? Camera playback 204

Can I view more information about

photos? Photo info 206

Why do parts of my photos blink? Photo info, highlights 208, 250

Question Key phrase See page

viii

❚❚ Retouching Photographs

How do I get rid of an unwanted photo? Deleting individual

photos 222

Can I delete several photos at once? Delete 248

Can I zoom in on pictures to make sure

they’re in focus? Playback zoom 220

Can I protect photos from accidental

deletion? Protect 221

Can I hide selected photos? Hide image 249

How do I tell if parts of my photos may be

overexposed?

Display mode:

highlights 250

How do I tell where the camera focused? Display mode: focus

point 250

Can I view photos as they are taken? Image review 251

Is there an automatic playback (“slide

show”) option? Slide show 252

Question Key phrase See page

How do I bring out details in shadows? D-Lighting 334

Can I get rid of red eye? Red-eye correction 335

Can I crop photographs on the camera? Trim 336

Can I create a monochrome copy of a

photograph? Monochrome 337

Can I create a copy with different colors? Filter effects 338

Can I use the camera to create JPEG

copies of NEF (RAW) photographs? Color balance 338

Can I overlay two photos to make a single

image? Image overlay 339

Question Key phrase See page

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