Nikon D300S User manual

DIGITAL CAMERA

User's Manual

Where to Find It

Find what you’re looking for from:

Help

Use the camera’s on-board help feature for help on menu items and other

topics. See page 21 for details.

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 Table of Contents ➜0x–xvii

Find items by function or menu name.

iThe Q&A Index ➜0iv–ix

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

Find

it from the “question and answer” index.

iThe Index ➜0398–403

Search by key word.

iError Messages ➜0378–384

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

solution here.

iTroubleshooting ➜0373–377

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” (0xviii–xx).

Package Contents

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

Memory cards are sold separately.

•Warranty

•User’s Manual (this guide)

•QuickGuide

• Software Installation Guide

• Software Suite CD-ROM

• Registration card

(U. S. A. only)

• D300S digital camera

(03)

• BF-1A body

cap

(026, 355)

•BM-8monitor

cover (016)

•

BS-1

accessory

shoe cover

(0347)

•EN-EL3e

rechargeable Li-ion

battery with terminal

cover (022, 24)

• MH-18a quick

charger with power

cable (022)

• DK-5 eyepiece cap

(091, 191)

•

DK-23 rubber eyecup

(091, 191)

• EG-D2 audio/video

cable (0239)

• UC-E4 USB cable

(0224, 229)

•AN-DC4strap

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

bold

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. The SD logo is a trademark of the SD Card Association.

PictBridge and the SDHC logo are trademarks.

HDMI, the HDMI logo

and High-Definition Multimedia Interface are trademarks or registered

trademarks of HDMI Licensing LLC.

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.

0This icon marks references to other pages in this manual.

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

Table of Contents

0iv

017

067

073

085

095

0101

0133

0153

0169

0181

0203

0223

0243

0339

Framing Pictures in the Monitor (Live View)

Recording and Viewing Movies

047

057

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

index.

❚❚ New Features

❚❚ Camera Setup

Q&A Index

Question Key phrase 0

How do I take high-quality NEF (RAW)

photos? 14-bit NEF (RAW) 70

Can I use the monitor as a viewfinder? Live view 47

How do I shoot movies? Movies 57

How do I record photographs using two

memory cards?

Primary slot,

secondary slot 72

Can I control how photos are processed? Picture Controls 154

How do I preserve details in shadows

and highlights? Active D-Lighting 164

How do I focus on erratically moving

subjects? 3D-tracking 265

How do I tell if the camera is level? Virtual horizon 311

Can I adjust focus separately for

different lenses? AF fine tune 312

How do I remove dust from the low-pass

filter protecting the image sensor?

Cleaning the low-pass

filter 358

Question Key phrase 0

How do I focus the viewfinder? Viewfinder focus 36

How do I keep the monitor from turning

off? Monitor off delay 274

How do I keep the shutter speed and

aperture displays from turning off? Auto meter off 39,

273

Can I display a framing grid in the

viewfinder? Viewfinder grid display 275

❚❚ Menus and Displays

How do I set the clock?

Time zone and date 29,

302

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 301

How do I change the self-timer delay? Self-timer 273

How do I turn the speaker off? Beep 275

Can I reverse the exposure indicator? Reverse indicators 299

Can I display the menus in a different

language? Language 28,

303

Can I save menu settings for use on a

different D300S camera? Save/load settings 310

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

How do I restore shooting menu

defaults? Reset shooting menu 256

How do I restore Custom Setting

defaults? Reset custom settings 262

Question Key phrase 0

How do I get more information on a

menu? Help 21

How do I use the menus? Using the menus 18

Can I get quick access to frequently-used

settings? My Menu 333

Can I get quick access to recently-used

settings? Recent settings 337

What do these indicators mean? Viewfinder, control

panel, information

display

8, 10,

What information is in the information

display?

What does this warning mean? Error messages and

displays 378

How much charge does the battery have

left? Battery level 37

Question Key phrase 0

❚❚ Taking Photographs

How do I get more information about

the battery? Battery info 307

How do I keep the file number from

being reset when I insert a new memory

card? File number sequence 277

How do I reset file numbering to 1?

How do I clean the camera or lens? Cleaning the camera 357

Question Key phrase 0

How many more shots can I take with

this card?

Number of exposures

remaining 38

How do I take bigger photographs?

Image quality and size 68, 71

How can I get more photos on the

memory card?

How do I make an NEF (RAW) copy of the

next photo? +NEF (RAW) 294

Can I control how the camera focuses? Autofocus 74

Can I choose the focus point? Focus point 78

How do I take a lot of photographs

quickly? Release mode 86

Can I change the frame advance rate? Shooting speed 89,

276

How do I take pictures with the self-

timer? Self-timer mode 91

Can I take pictures under low light

without the flash? ISO sensitivity 96

Can the ISO sensitivity I choose be

adjusted to ensure optimal exposure?

ISO sensitivity auto

control 98

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

(shutter-priority auto) 108

How do I blur background details or

keep both foreground and background

in focus?

Exposure mode g

(aperture-priority auto) 109

Question Key phrase 0

vii

❚❚ Viewing Photographs

Can I set both shutter speed and

aperture manually?

Exposure mode h

(manual) 111

Can I make photos brighter or darker? Exposure compensation 118

How do I make a time exposure? Long time-exposures 114

Can I vary exposure or flash level

automatically over a series of photos?

Exposure and flash

bracketing

120,

289

Can I create multiple copies of a photo

using different white balance settings?

White balance

bracketing

125,

289

Can I vary Active D-Lighting

automatically over a series of photos? ADL bracketing 129,

289

How do I adjust white balance? White balance 133

Can I take pictures with a flash? Flash photography, flash

mode, red-eye

reduction

171

How can I reduce “red-eye”? 175

How can I record multiple shots as a

single photograph? Multiple exposure 184

Can I pick the standard exposure level? Fine tune optimal

exposure 272

How can I reduce blur? Exposure delay mode 278

Can the flash be used at shutter speeds

faster than 1/250 s? Flash sync speed 281

Question Key phrase 0

Can I view my photographs on the

camera? Camera playback 204

Can I view more information about

photos? Photo info 207

Why do parts of my photos blink? Photo info, highlights 209,

247

Question Key phrase 0

viii

❚❚ Retouching Photographs

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

photos 220

Can I delete several photos at once? Delete 221

Can I zoom in on pictures? Playback zoom 218

Can I protect photos from accidental

deletion? Protect 219

Can I hide selected photos? Hide image 245

How do I tell if parts of my photos may

be overexposed?

Display mode:

highlights

209,

247

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

point

208,

247

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 0

How do I bring out details in shadows? D-Lighting 319

Can I get rid of red eye? Red-eye correction 320

Can I crop photographs on the camera? Trim 321

Can I create a monochrome copy of a

photograph? Monochrome 322

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

Color balance

322,

323

Can I use the camera to create JPEG

copies of NEF (RAW) photographs? NEF (RAW) Processing 327

Can I overlay two NEF (RAW) photos to

make a single image? Image overlay 324

Question Key phrase 0

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