Nikon D3S Quick start guide

Professional

Technical Guide

Table of Contents

Using the Menus........................................................... 1

Autofocus

Focusing with Autofocus ............................................. 4

Behind the Goal ..........................................................7

Tracking erratically moving subjects that are frequently

obscured by other objects

Pitcher or Runner? ......................................................8

Switching instantly between subjects at diﬀerent dis-

tances from the camera

The Inside Track...........................................................9

Tracking subjects that are obscured by objects passing

in front of the camera

At the Finish Line ..................................................... 10

Quick shutter response

Poor Lighting or Bad Weather ...............................11

Poorly lit or low-contrast scenes

Winter Sports...............................................................12

Exposure

Auto ISO Sensitivity Control...................................... 20

A Daytime Stadium Match..................................... 21

Switching between sunlight and shade

Active D-Lighting (ADL) ............................................. 23

A Daytime Stadium Match Revisited................... 23

High-contrast lighting

Easy Exposure Compensation ................................... 25

iii

Shooting Tips

Image Area.................................................................. 27

Vignette Control......................................................... 32

Multiple Exposures .................................................... 34

Column: The DButton...........................................................36

Column: Dark Backgrounds ......................................................39

Extended Menu Banks ............................................... 40

Movie Tips

h-Mode Movies........................................................... 42

Column: Ending with a Photo................................................. 44

Changing Movie Settings ...................................... 46

Movie Stills ................................................................. 48

Playback Tips

Histograms ................................................................. 50

Photo Retouch............................................................ 51

Button Tips

The Fn Button.............................................................. 52

Quick Menu Access.................................................. 54

One-Handed Playback............................................ 55

Checking Focus........................................................... 56

Table of Contents

Using a GPS

GPS Timekeeping ....................................................... 57

Lens Options

Vibration Reduction................................................... 58

Long Lenses ................................................................ 60

Sharing Settings

Save/Load Settings .................................................... 61

Computers

Computer Capture...................................................... 62

Tech Notes

D3S Versus D3 ............................................................. 63

Using the Menus

Use the Gbutton, Jbutton, and multi selector to navi-

gate the menus.

1: Move

cursor up

2: Select

highlighted item

or display sub-

3: Move

cursor down

4: Cancel

and return to

previous menu

Center: Select

highlighted item

Gbutton

Jbutton Multi selector

1Display the menus.

Press the Gbutton to display the menus.

2Highlight the icon for the current menu.

Press 4to highlight

the icon for the cur-

rent menu.

Using the Menus

3Select a menu.

Press 1or 3to select the desired menu.

4Position the cursor in the selected menu.

Press 2to position the

cursor in the selected

menu.

5Highlight a menu item.

Press 1or 3to high-

light a menu item.

6Display options.

Press 2to display op-

tions for the highlight-

ed menu item.

Using the Menus

7Highlight an option.

Press 1or 3to high-

light an option.

8Select the highlighted item.

Press Jto select the

highlighted item (some

items can also be se-

lected by pressing 2or

the center of the multi

selector).

To exit with-

out making a selection,

press the Gbutton.

This chapter details Custom Settings that can be used to

frame moving subjects at sporting events:

a1 (AF-C priority selection)

a3 (Dynamic AF area)

a4 (Focus tracking with lock-on)

These options are best used at the following settings:

Focus mode: C(continuous-servo AF)

AF-area mode: I(dynamic-area AF)

1Select continuous-servo AF.

Rotate the focus-mode

selector to C.

The cam-

era will continually

adjust focus while the

shutter-release button

is pressed halfway.

2Select dynamic-area AF.

Rotate the AF-area

mode selector to I

(dynamic-area AF).

the subject brieﬂy

leaves the selected fo-

cus point, the camera

will focus based on information from surrounding

focus points.

•

Autofocus: Focusing with Autofocus

3Choose an option for Custom Setting a1.

Choose whether the cam-

era gives priority to focus or

to shutter response in focus

mode C.

4Choose an option for Custom Setting a3.

Choose the number of focus

points used for dynamic-

area AF.

Select 9 points or

21 points for track-and-ﬁeld

events or for subjects that

move unpredictably.

5Choose an option for Custom Setting a4.

Choose how quickly the cam-

era responds when an object

moves between the subject

and the camera.

Focus Tracking with Lock-On

By preventing the camera from refocusing when your

subject is brieﬂy obscured by another object, focus

tracking with lock-on ensures that the camera will con-

tinue to track the main subject once the obstacle has

moved away (focus mode Conly).

Choose the length

of time before the camera refocuses from 5 (Long), 4, 3

(Normal), 2, and 1 (Short).

To refocus before lock-on

ends, press the shutter-release button halfway or press

the AF-ON button again.

Camera will wait before

refocusing on objects

behind the subject

Camera will wait before

refocusing on objects in

front of the subject

Camera will track and

focus on objects the same

distance from the camera

as the subject

Autofocus

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