Nikon 25420 manual

Nikon D40 User's Guide © 2007 KenRockwell.com Nikon D40 with new 18-55mm l ens. Original files at http://www .kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40/users-guide/index.htm January 2007 Converted to PDF by Sándor Nagy nasa@delfin.unideb.hu © 2007 KenRockwell.com 1 converted by Sándor Na gy[...]

Ken Rockwell Post Office Box 8778 La Jolla, California 92038-8778 United States of America http://www .kenrockwell.com/ © 2007 Ken Rockwell All rights reserved. Permission is granted to m ake one print for yourself. All other use s are absolutely forbidden, especially emailing this to others, making multiple copies, posting or mirroring, or handin[...]

CONTENTS page INTRODUCTION 6 BASICS 6 CAMERA SETTINGS 6 RESET 7 Quality 7 Exposure Compensation 7 Shutter Advance Mode 7 ISO 7 WHITE BALANCE 8 OPTIMIZE IMAGE 8 FOCUS (AF) Mode 9 METERING 9 LENS SETTINGS 9 EXPLICIT DET AILS 1 1 CONTROLS 1 1 T OP P ANEL CONTROLS 1 1 Exposure Mode Selector Kno b 1 1 OFF , ON and Shutter Release Button 13 +/- and Diaph[...]

Image Sharpening 22 T one Compensation (Contrast) 22 Color Mode 23 Saturation 23 Hue Adjustment 2 3 Image Quality 23 Image Size 24 White Balance 24 ISO Sensitivity 25 Noise Reduction 26 CUSTOM SETTING MENU (Pencil icon) 26 [R] Reset 27 01 Beep 27 02 Focus Mode 27 03 AF-Area Mode 28 04 Shooting Mode 28 05 Metering 29 06 No Memory Card? 30 07 Image R[...]

Monochrome 42 Filter Effects 42 Small Picture 43 Image Overlay 43 APPENDIX 43 A1 How to Set White Bala nce 44 A1/2 White Balance Examp les 50 A2 All About Exposure 55 A2/2 Correct Digital Ex posure and Do Nikons Underexpose? 57 A2/3 The Nikon Matr ix Meter 60 A2/4 How to Use the Nikon Spot Meter 68 A2/5 The Zone Syste m 69 A2/6 What are L V and EV [...]

INTRODUCTION W ant free live phone support? In the USA, call (800) NIKO N-UX, 24 hours a day , 365 days a year . Looking for a specific control? Use my Search p age. Be sure to mention the D40 in your search. This lengthy article will teach you to be an expert on the Ni kon D4 0 's controls and menus. It also includes a lot of tips, tricks, an[...]

Nikon has an ea sy reset feature. I u se it every time! My standard operating sett ing is only a few clicks different from the defaults. RESET Unlike my ot her Nikons, I don't use the gree n reset feature. I find it ea sier to press the I b utton and run down the items on the left and bottom of the screen. Quality I use Large, JPG, BASIC I&apo[...]

maximum of 1,600 (o r any ISO you ch oose) as it gets d arker . Only if it gets still darker w ill it let the shutter speed go below 1/15 at ISO 1,6 00, exactly as I'd do manually . I explain how to set Auto ISO and sel ect the shutter speed at which the ISO starts to increase and the maximum ISO to which it will i ncrease in the Custom Settin[...]

Read more at Shooting Menu (page 21). FOCUS (AF) Mode I use the default of AF-A. This mode automatically selects be tween the t wo older modes, AF-C and AF-S. These are explained under Focus Modes (page 27). METERING I use Matrix, the default. Y ou set metering in Custom Setting 05 (page 29) or with the <i> Button (page 15). Seeing h ow poor [...]

focus with the included lens, move it to " M." If the switch says "M/A - M " then use M/A. These lenses ma y be focused manually a t any time in either position. As soon as you t ap the shutter button in M/A you return to autofocus. More a dvanced lenses, like the 18-200mm , 70-300mm VR and 18-135mm , and any lens with an M/A po[...]

EXPLICIT DET AILS These were the basics. Keep reading for expl icit details. CONTROLS T OP P ANEL CONTROLS Nikon D40 T op Panel Controls. Exposure Mode Selector Knob (shown above.) Spin it to select amo ng P , S, A and M exposure modes. I ignore t he gre en AUT O (as shown above) and the other convenience modes (f lower , lady in hat, etc.). Many o[...]

Three easy ways to return to the stan dard program combination are to: 1.) flip to a different mode and back to P , or 2.) turn the D40 off and back on, or 3.) spin the rear dial back to its origin al position. The *P symbol goes away when you've returned to the standard combinations. The standard combinations are f/4 at 1/60, f/5.6 @ 1/125, f[...]

Firmware Defect: When turned ON, Auto ISO (page 30) remains active in Manual mo de. I always turn off AU T O ISO when I enter Manual Mode, otherwise Auto ISO ch anges the ISO and rui ns whatever you were hoping to accomplish with manual exposure mode. OFF , ON and Shutter Re lease Button Leave it ON unless you're putting it away . It d raws no[...]

Info and Green Dot button T ap this to wake up the D40 and show you what's going on with your settings on the LCD. T ap it again to turn off the LCD. T o change th e settings, tap the other < i > and Green Dot button (page 15)on the rearof the D40. Hold both G reen Dot buttons at the same time for a few seconds to reset most of the tacti[...]

I thank my lucky stars with my Nikon, because on my idiotic C anon 5D I have to wait and press the Pl ay button just to zoom in on a shot I just made! No need for this with N ikon, so long as yo u have Image Review (page 30) set to ON. The only reason you may want Imag e Review OFF (its defau lt) is i f you pre fer to make many immediate changes to[...]

defaults. I don't use this reset o ften, si nce I set enough things away from defaults. I would use it if I loaned my D40 to a friend and had it re turned later . AE-L AF-L / Key Button (T op Right Center) This can lock the focus and/or exposure or turn on the autofocus. Y ou set what it locks in Custom Setting 12 (page 32). I set mine to lock[...]

T rash Can Button This is the D40's flush lever . Press it while a photo is displayed to erase t hat photo . Y ou'll get an "are you sure?" screen, and press it again to dump that shot. Meatheads l ike me g et used to double pressing i t every time out of habit, which mea ns I accidentally erase some shots. Serves me right. It d[...]

From the top down: +/- Lighting Bolt (Flash) Button 1.) Press once to pop up the built-in f lash. 2.) Hold it and the +/- (*) diaphragm bu tton (page 1 3) at t he same time and spin the rear dial to alter the brightness of the f lash. 0.0 is n ormal and I le ave it there almost all the time. Only in rare instances do I ever need to adju st i t towa[...]

mode. Th e background exposes correctly , people may be blurred, and a burst of flash freezes them along with the blurry ghost images. Normal an d SLOW do the same thing in S and M exposure modes (page 1 1 ), si nce you or t he camera may select a ny shutter sp eed i n t hese mo des regardl ess of flash sync. I usually prefer to choose an exact slo[...]

What it Does It sets a few playback options. What I Change I leave it alone. Delete This is helpful if you want to delete all images while saving those you locked with the Key / AE-L AF-L button (page 16). I don't use this. I do all my ed iting a nd selection in my computer and I do my in-camera deletions one-by-one with the trash can key . Pl[...]

This menu really should be called the Fi lm menu and shown with an icon of a roll of film. More camera settings, like autofocus, flash and ti mers, are set in the Custo m Settings Men u (page 26), shown by a pencil. This is Nikon's mistake; don't penalize yo urself if t he menu names and icons make little sense at face value. How to Get T[...]

BW Black-and-White Y ou might think I would use Vivid or More Vivid, e xcept tha t they crank up some of th e contrast and sharpness settings and leave them there. I want vivid colors, but leave the contrast and sharpness on Auto. This way as subjects get contrastier I don't have to stop and turn the co ntrast back down. In VI* you can easily [...]

use it you have to buy Nikon Capture an d create a curve. Y ou then use N ikon capture to load it into the D40. Once you've done tha t you select it here. If you haven't loaded your own custom curve and select this you get the de fault Normal curve. Custom curves are way be yond anything with which I want to bother . The curve s in the ca[...]

I usually use BASIC JPG and sometime s NORMAL JPG . BASIC JPG looks almost the same as NORMAL, unless you're making six foot wide prints. It also makes a f ile hal f the size of Normal, which speeds up everything and saves sp ace on my hard drives and backup CDs. I never use FINE; i t looks t he same as NORMAL and wastes space. Feel free to us[...]

reason to use this is if you use a different trim value for your strobes than you do f or sunlight. Cloudy (cloud): W armer (more orange) than the sunlig ht position. I use this in shade, too. Shade (house casting a shadow): very warm (orange). Use this for sunse t shots and deep shade. Preset (PRE) : Y ou use this setting with a white or gray card[...]

Higher ISOs can give sharpe r images in dimmer light b ecause they let t he D40 shoot at faster shutter speeds or smaller apertures, but they al so can add more grain (noise) to your photos. ISO 200 gives the cleanest images, but the most potential for blur in dim light. ISO 400 and ISO 800 are perfect for outdoor sports. ISO 1,600 gives the noisie[...]

that Nikon used the Camera icon for the shooting menu (page20), which really should be cal led the F ilm menu. Camera settings, like f ocus, fla sh and timers, are set here in the Cu stom Settings Menu, shown by a pencil. This is Nikon's mistake; don't penalize yourself if it makes little sense. How to Get Here Press MEN U, go to the left[...]

03 AF-Area Mode This selects how the D40 uses its three AF sensors. Y ou'll want t o change this for action, still subjects or han ding your camera to a non-photographer . I wish my D40 h ad a dedicated switch as my D200 does. On the D40 w e need to go into this menu every time our subject matter changes. [xxx] Closest Subject selects the clos[...]

T rick Self Portrait. My ML -L3 is in my other hand out of the picture. Hint: Be su re to sel ect a long eno ugh Remote ON T ime time in Custom Function 17 (page 34). The D40 ignores the remote after th e length of time set in Custom Function 17 (page 34). 05 Metering This selects Matrix, Center-Weighted or Spot. I always use Matrix, shown by an ic[...]

Closest Subject AF (page 28), it reads from the center one. I never use this. 06 No Memory Card? I leave mine at LOCK. If I have n o memory card it won't let me take pictures. Don't set it to OK. I f you d o, yo u could have no memory card and be shooting a ll da y , thinking you're ma king pictures when you really aren't. Sho o[...]

component of Modern Exposure T echnique . T oday I adjust the Auto I SO's minimum shutter speed a s I change lenses and conditions. I no longer adjust ISO directly , as w e did in the old days before 2004. This is a time-saving step towards the future, just as program exp osure was a step ahead of aperture priority in the 1970s. Y ou can choos[...]

ISO : Press and h old the Fn button (page 19) whi le turning the rear dial, slowly . Y o u'll cycle through all the I SO Settings. (page 25) . An added nicety lacking on more expensive Nikons is that you have full ability to go to and from I SO 3,200 (HI 1) witho ut needing to turn off Auto I SO (page 30). WB : I use this option, since I chang[...]

TTL (default) lets the flash work normally and give great exposures all by itself. M (manual) lets you force t he flash to one brightness value. It a djusts in full stops from full power down to seven stops below , show n as 1/128 power . I use ma nual if I'm using the bu ilt-in flash to trigger my st udio strobes or if I'm trying to set [...]

For those of you counting Custom Settings as if more were better , please note that the D40 intelligently has t his one Custom Setting controlling what takes two custom settings in the D80 ( Custom Setting 27 and Custom Sett ing 28 ), a nd adds a third setting, Image Review T ime-Out, not availa ble in the D80 at any price. HA! (The D80 always has [...]

CSM/Setup Menu This al lows me to set what I need once, like languages, and then t urn off those items in the menus. It's wonderful to be able to clarify the menus down only to what I use daily . If I ever want to reset an ything o bscure, like reset the menus to Korean when I loan my D40 to a pal, I simply choose FULL menus again. The choices[...]

Here are how these look. They each show the same things and have the same functions. Classic : I use this option because it makes everything the biggest and easiest to see. The menus in Classic mode are as they are in my ot her Nikons: white on dark blue. Graphic : This is t he default. Most things are smaller to make room for the goofy moving pict[...]

W allpaper : This is the cutest, although I don't use it. It's like Graphic above, with smaller numbers, and sets everything on top of a photo of your choice, presuming you've sh ot the photo on your D40. I selected a photo of my mother-in-law , and it remai ns in the D40 regardless of formatting or removing memory cards. A more prac[...]

Firmware Defect: Y o u set the time under the DA TE option. LCD Brightness This changes th e midtones on the LCD. It changes b acklight intensity only by 10%. It is mostly a gamma (midtone contrast) control. For the adjustment to take effect you must remember to hit OK after making a sel ection. I leave mine at 0. Unlike my C anon DSLRs, My D40&apo[...]

checkmark shows. Now go to and select DONE. If you forget t o check Att ach it won't attach, and if you forget to hit DONE it will also forget everything you just did. Sorry , I don't write the firmware. It's great having everything you shoot have your contact info embedded. It also allows you to prove ownership in a thi rd-world cou[...]

Set it to ON , which should be the default but isn't. Mirror Lock-up Mirror Lock-up isn't. It's not a l ock up for telephoto lenses on tripods. This settin g is used to lock up the mi rror to clean the CCD . I never use this, since I find it e asier to set the camera to Bu lb and hold open the shutter . I'd never stick a nything[...]

RET OUCH MENU ( brush icon) How to Get Here Select the Retou ch Menu by p ressing MENU , moving to the le ft and then up o r down to select t he brush icon at the bottom. Y ou'll then see RETOUCH MENU on the top of the color LCD. T rick: Press the OK but ton when an image is displayed to get to most of the retouch men u. What it Sets This lets[...]

Red-Eye Correction This creates new versi ons o f images attemp ting to rectify flash-induced red eyes. This filter is sneaky enough to know if you used flash or no t to make the image, an d won't let you use this filter if you didn't use flash. I've never had a proble m with red-eye with my D 40, so all the better . When I was able [...]

- magenta slides the red and blue equally left or right. The green stays put. Small Picture This creates a much smaller version of a n image. Y ou've got your choice of 64 0x480, 320x240 and 160x120 pixels. Image Overlay This is silly . It creates a new image by adding two others together in the z-axis (intensity). It only works with raw origi[...]

A1 How to Set White Balan ce Auto White B alance. Photo ma de indoors whil e cloudy outside. W ay too blue and ugly! 99% of people make this shot and never think anything more about it. Cloudy White Balance. Wow ! Warm, go lden, and j ust like it's supposed to look. I did this on my Canon SD700 point-and-shoot. Every digital camera over $50 an[...]

5D ($3,300) and 16-35mm L ($1,700) and got the same resul ts. Y ou need to ad just the White Balance at times wi th every camera. I've also found point-and-shoots to be better than the more expensive DSLRs at auto white balance! Also see: Explicit Examples (page 50) How to Change the White Balance of an Existing Image The Expodisc INTRODUCTION[...]

comparison and candle light looks al most red. Likewise, blue sky without the sun is very blue although when you're in the shade everything looks OK to you and I. If you make a photo in the shade the picture comes out way too blu e or cool looking. This is because di ff erent kinds of light have different amounts of red, green and blue. Incand[...]

APPLICA TION Basics Dif ferent settings cha nge the amount of orange or blue color cast, usually to compensate for any cast in the lighting. If you have n o blue or orange cast you get neutral whites, which is wh at you usually get if you use the settings suggested by the instruction book. The Fluorescent settings take out the green from Fluorescen[...]

backlight, ag ain since the subject is lit mo re by the blue sky instead of the direct sunlight. TIP : Some cameras skip this critical setting. If so, manually set the CUSTOM preset while in shade (also called one -push, Manual and white card and other t hings depending on manufacturer) and use this setting in place of the missing sh ade setting. T[...]

Fine T uning (+3 t o -3): Color i s critical. The basic sett ings above get you close, but probably not exactly what you want. These fine adjustments allow you to ge t the e xact amount of coolness or warmth. + is cooler and - is warmer . Nikons allow you to adjust this and remembers your preference for every setting w hile the Canons often skip th[...]

kinds of lights and even gel set windows to make outdoors match tungsten. (The funny pa rt is H ollywood is st ill base d on gelling everything to tungsten, since that's the film we shoot, but almost no lighting is tungsten anymore.) The best place t o buy gel filters, which are just colored sheets of plastic, is your local theatrical stage an[...]

Here Auto WB does a perfect job, as do es the Direct Sunlight setting. We expect this. Y ou can use the ot her settings for a cool blue or deep orange effect, or to trim blue an d amber any way you prefer . Shade (a white car in an open g arage) © 2007 KenRockwell.com 51 converted by Sándor Na gy[...]

Auto again does a great job, otherwise this would t urn out too blue. This is from a D200 , which does much better than my D70 and other cameras at compensating correctly for shade. Most other cameras leave this too blue. No problem, on other cameras set Shade manually . T ungsten (conventional light bulbs in my refrigerator) © 2007 KenRockwell.co[...]

This looks a little w arm in AUT O. The tungsten setting looks b etter . The 2,500 K setting i s also good, if not a little too blue. Most Auto WB settings b alance corre ctly for tungsten if you h ave a bright tungsten light source in the image, or a lot o f illumination. With less illumina tion most Auto WBs don't compensate completely and s[...]

Home lighting, especially lower wat tage bulbs, are much warmer looking tha n 3,200 K studio lights. These 40W bulbs look right at about 2,500 K! Auto WB never ca n balance this low - it stays orange. Of course the orange effect may be desired. If so, use it. SUMMAR Y That's it. I have no idea why people make this so complicated. Just use what[...]

A2 All Abou t Exposure See also Digital Exposure (page 57), The Nikon Matri x Meter (pa ge 60) and Perfect Exposure with Large Format Cameras . INTRODUCTION Exposure is the easiest thing to master , ye t causes the most confusion. Exposure is simple. Just add or subtract until it looks rig ht. Y ou n eed to experime nt to know how much to add or su[...]

With experience you'll re cognize the few kinds of scenes which re quire compensation and you'll b e smart enough to adjust the compensation before making the first shot. Thankfully many cameras today , especially the matrix meters on Nikons, are usually correct more and more of ten. Th at's a reason I love my Nikons; they a re very [...]

used. See my page on how to use a digital came ra as a light meter (page 87). T oday I only use my handheld meters for their ca lculator dials to convert t he readings from the digital camera's ISO to the reading I nee d for my film's ISO. I use the hand-held meters reading only as a sanity check. See also my page on light meters (page 77[...]

making exposure. Latitude is broad if your subject has little contrast an d if you will edit the image before use. Latitude is the a mount by which y our camera's dynamic r ange exceeds the range of the subject, if and only if you have the opportunity to edit the i mage before final use. There is very little latitude if you're using a d i[...]

End Use If yo u're usi ng a digita l file for direct printing or a transparency for projection or this is easy . Just make it look right. If the subject contrast was too great there is no correct exposure. Y ou could lose your highlights and your shadows at t he same time! At best you might retain e ither o ne, but the photo is still awful. Op[...]

out of the mud in Photoshop. If you're shooting i n crappy li ght and in tend to p rint directly f rom the files with out editing, use the e xposure compensation control to dial in as many stops as needed. I've h ad to use several stops of + (lighten) compensation in these instan ces. Another source o f confusion is the incorrect use of t[...]

knows how to make white snow or sand look white, instead of a co nventional light me ter's making everything look medium 18% gray . It applies the zone system automatically to attempt to render a correct exposure und er difficult and contrasty situati ons. When shooting in a hurry under rapidly changing con ditions, w hich is the whole point o[...]

The color Matrix me ter of the F5 ought to be extraordinary . This is why Canon contract photographer Arthur Mo rris has said that the world's best ca mera is the Nikon F5. I ha ve not t ried it, because if I did I'm sure I wind up having to haul a n F5 all o ver the p lace. I'm being obstinate b y not trying the F5, you don't h[...]

T o guess yo ur subject type and determine what really is white i n sunlig ht the Matrix needs to know the absolute level of light outside the camera. Remember that the light inside the camera will di f fer from the light level outside the camera dependin g on the speed (f/stop) of your lens. Therefor the Matrix needs t o read the true f/stop of th[...]

T o get Matrix with the manual focus lenses on an F A or F4 you need a TC that has ye t another feeler added to it to cou ple th e absolute a perture informati on mech anically . The TC-201 has this coupling. The TC-200 does not. T he manual focus TCs do not give either autofocus or Matrix metering when used on AF cameras. Oddly this means that to [...]

TIPS When to use Matrix The easiest thing to do is to trust the Matrix meter for everything; it will be co rrect more often than most people's ability to override a conventi onal meter . T o understand how ma trix meterin g works requ ires a knowledge o f the zone system ( See books in reference section ) as well as the EV and L V (page 75) sy[...]

What about using AE lock in Matrix? It works just fine. I do it, although rarely . The Matrix me ter works by first guessing what you are photographing (the hard part) and then setting the exposure accordingly (the easy part). If you lock it to something else then it is mu ch less likely that the mete r can guess correctly what yo ur real subj ect [...]

Y ou may want to make a manual Matrix readin g without the filter , AE lock that reading and then add that f ilter factor as a compensation val ue after adding the filter . Actually , if you are going to go to this much troubl e you may as well just use a Pentax spot meter and a view camera, but this does illustrate potential problems. This is anot[...]

200 f/2.8 lens no t only works flawlessly on the F A camera, it also has the lug to put t he F A into the high-speed program mode for telephoto lenses. Next Page> Look here for more info on night exposures See factory matrix documentation here A2/4 How to Use the Nikon Spot Meter see also The Zone System ( page 69 ) and Metering (page 77). CA VE[...]

The best way t o learn the zone system is to read this Ansel Adams book. That's how I learned. Before going any further you need to know the zone system. Go lear n it either by Ansel's book or my page here , then we'll get to the nex t section. Presuming you know the Zone System: HOW- TO Put the cam era on Manual exposure and p oint [...]

System was still relevant in that then-modern world. He replied "If you don't use the Zone System, then what system will you use to know what you've got as you photograph?" There are many w ays to evaluate what yo u'll get in your f inal pri nt or di splay as you photograph. The Zone System is one way t o get a handle on ev[...]

The Zone System is very important to understand, especially for color slides. T oday the Zone System is t he careful and anal ytical sett ing of exposure. Almost no one does special development for each negative an y more. I learned it all from Ansel Adams' book "The Negat ive." He covers the Zone System for use with color film and p[...]

end. The analog model is more precise and e asier to read and interpret, however it is bi gger and more delicate. The Pe ntax meters are superior to t he complex, confusing and more expensive Gossen and Sekonic mode ls. COLOR NEGA TIVES For the color negatives shot by most amateurs just set t he camera on automatic and GO! The films today have so m[...]

middle t one, which is why spot meters usually cannot be used without kno wing the zone system. Sometimes green grass falls here. +1 Stop (Zone VI): Medium light parts of a n image. Skin and granite rocks g o here. For most landscape photos yo u'll se t your light rocks here, and the shadows at -2 stops. Bright yellow is set at +2/3 stops. +2 [...]

This is where many amateu rs get l ost: exposure cannot correct for b ad light. OK, nothing can fix bad light. Y o u have to wait for it. Photography takes patience. Y ou can try a graduated Neutral D ensity filter which often helps bring down an overly bright sky or too dark foreground. H ere's an example of one. Some people try to tweak deve[...]

A2/6 What are L V and EV Introduction LV, Light Value and EV, Exposure Value, are term s used to allow easy dis cussion of exposure and light without the confusion of t he many equivalent combinations shutter speeds and apertures. LV refers to how bright the subject is. EV is the exposure settin g on the camera. You may have seen them if you l ike [...]

needing the m eter after a while. This is because the same num ber pops up for each subject each time. LVs eliminate the confus ing issues o f film speeds and f/stops t hat hide these simple truths when using SLRs or other light meters : LV18 and above: Bright reflection off a sunl it object, including reflections off the sea LV17 White object in f[...]

If you shoot sl ower film you of course have to use more exposure (EV) for the same Light Value (LV), and vice-versa. The EV is easy to calculate even if you fo rgot your meter, since each unit is one stop different than the next. For instance, with film a stop slower than ISO/ASA 100 (l ike 50 speed Velvia) you just subtract one from the LV to get[...]

A2/7 Exposure Meters see also The Zone System (page 69) Using the Nikon Spot Meter (page 68) EV & L V (page 74) INTRODUCTION AND BUIL T -IN METERS How to use a digital camera as an excellent lig ht meter (page 87) HINT : As of 2006 t he best meter for any film camera is a calibrated digital ca mera. Y ou can use a DSLR's L CD to preview th[...]

the larger , h eavier , more d elicate, more precise and less exp ensive Pentax Spotmeter V which u ses an analog needle o n a scale. They have the sa me accuracy , which is pretty much pe rfect. I have two analog and one digita l spot meter and they all agree with each other . That's ve ry unusual. Most meters never agree with each other . Th[...]

Histograms are a way to measure exposure more objectively for those who can't see very well. Histograms don't replace your eyes and experience. Hi stograms are helpful in sunlight where it's hard to see an LCD, or in the shop if setting something exactly . Y our eyes are always the final judge. A histogram is just a guide. Worry abou[...]

misleading. I use a single histogram as a simplified e xample. DO N'T use a histogram to set exposure unless you have a color (RGB) histogram! SETTING EXPOSURE W arning: I show a single histogram to simplify . DON'T use a single histog ram to set exposure! Y ou need a color histogram, otherwise yo u may o verexpose colored areas and not k[...]

© 2007 KenRockwell.com 82 converted by Sándor Na gy[...]

Reduce e xposure if you se e clippin g. Try to get the histogram as close to the right side as possible without touching it. If your scene looks too dark when you do this there is no corre ct exposure: the scene's dynamic range (l ighting ratio) is too g reat. In these cases professi onals will co rrect the lighting by adding fill light to the[...]

covers the specifics of color histograms. Color histograms are three separate hi stograms, one each for the R, G and B channels. They help determine correct exposure in an instant. Single histograms, popular in many ca meras, are misleading and worse than useless for color photography . T his is b ecause single histograms can indicate correct expos[...]

Histograms in the le ft column: Ni kons' single histogram o nly looks at the green channel. The green chan nel looks fine he re. (Actually I need a better example because the green channel is a tiny bit overexposed as well.) The red channel, ignored by earlier Nikons and other digital cameras, is completely obliterated with ove rexposure. © 2[...]

Histograms in the right column: I n this example all colors, especially red , are correctly exposed. This wood isn't that red. This problem is worse with more satura ted colors. Nikons have had a dirty little secret for years. Al l the earlier digital SLR s, which means the D1X, D 50, D100, D70s, etc., only read a histogram for the green chann[...]

A2/10 H ow to Use a Digital Camera as an External Light Meter see also Light Meters (page 77) The Zone System (page 69) Using the Nikon Spot Meter (page 68) EV & L V (page 75) Why buy a separate meter when you can buy a complet e camera w ith a built i n meter for less tha n a separate professional meter? Y es, for the same price or less as a p[...]

4a.) Se t the digicam's effective ISO on t he Pentax meter . Y ou figured out the effective ISO from tests in 1.) above, which may or may not be t he ISO indicated on the digicam. 4b.) Set the i ndicated exposure from the di gicam on the Pent ax scale. Don't move t he ISO setting. 4c.) Reset the ISO on the Pentax meter to your film's[...]

through the 1980s and have called it ISO since then. Use the lowest ISO that gives you the a pertures and sh utter spe eds yo u need. Pump up the ISO up to get sma ller apertures and faster shutter speeds. Un like film, digital interchangeable-lens SLRs usually look great even at ISO 1,600. Don't be bashful: crank it up and it will look great.[...]