Introduction 1
About This Book 1
How This Book Is Organized 2
Icons and Other Stuff to Note 3
Where to Go from Here 3
Part 1: Fast Track to Super Snaps 5
Chapter 1: First Steps, First Shots 7
Preparing the Camera for Initial Use 7
Checking Out External Controls 11
Topside controls 11
Back-of-the-body controls 13
Front-left features 16
Hidden connections 17
Enabling and Using the Touchscreen 18
Navigating Menus 21
Viewing Critical Picture Settings 24
Adjusting Settings via the Control Strip 27
Familiarizing Yourself with the Lens 28
Working with Memory Cards 32
Taking a Few Final Setup Steps 34
Cruising the Setup menu 34
Custom Setting options 36
Restoring default settings 37
Shooting Pictures in Auto Mode 38
Viewfinder photography in Auto mode 38
Live View photography in Auto mode 40
Chapter 2: Reviewing Five Essential Picture-Taking Options 45
Choosing an Exposure Mode 46
Beginner exposure modes 46
Advanced exposure modes: P, S, A, and M 49
Setting the Release Mode 49
Single Frame and Quiet Shutter modes 51
Continuous (burst mode) shooting 52
Self-timer shooting 54
Investigating other shutter-release options 55
Checking Image Size and Image Quality 61
Considering the Image Size setting (resolution) 61
Understanding Image Quality options (JPEG or Raw) 65
Setting Image Size and Image Quality 69
Adding Flash 72
Enabling and disabling flash 72
Choosing a Flash mode 73
Adjusting flash output 79
Controlling flash output manually 82
Part 2: Taking Creative Control 85
Chapter 3: Taking Charge of Exposure 87
Introducing the Exposure Trio: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO 88
Aperture affects depth of field 90
Shutter speed affects motion blur 91
ISO affects image noise 93
Doing the exposure balancing act 94
Stepping Up to Advanced Exposure Modes (P, S, A, and M) 96
Checking the Exposure Meter 98
Choosing an Exposure Metering Mode 101
Setting Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO 103
Adjusting aperture and shutter speed 103
Controlling ISO 107
Solving Exposure Problems 110
Applying Exposure Compensation 111
Expanding tonal range 115
Eliminating vignetting 121
Using autoexposure lock 123
Bracketing Exposures 124
Chapter 4: Controlling Focus and Depth of Field 129
Choosing Automatic or Manual Focusing 130
Exploring Standard Focusing Options (Viewfinder Photography) 131
Mastering the D5600 focus system 132
Focusing manually 143
Focusing in Live View Mode 145
Using Live View autofocus 146
Manual focusing in Live View mode 151
Zooming in to check focus 152
Manipulating Depth of Field 152
Chapter 5: Mastering Color Controls 157
Adjusting the White Balance Setting 157
Changing the White Balance setting 159
Fine-tuning White Balance settings 162
Creating white balance presets 163
Bracketing white balance 166
Taking a Quick Look at Picture Controls 170
Chapter 6: Putting It All Together 177
Recapping Basic Picture Settings 178
Shooting Still Portraits 179
Capturing Action 185
Capturing Scenic Vistas 188
Capturing Dynamic Close-Ups 191
Coping with Special Situations 193
Chapter 7: Shooting, Viewing, and Trimming Movies 197
Shooting Movies Using Default Settings 198
Adjusting Video Settings 202
Controlling Audio 206
Setting microphone sensitivity 207
Reducing wind noise 209
Exploring Other Recording Options 210
Manipulating Movie Exposure 212
Screening Your Movies 214
Trimming Movies 216
Saving a Movie Frame As a Still Image 218
Part 3: After the Shot 221
Chapter 8: Playback Mode: Viewing Your Photos 223
Picture Playback 101 224
Choosing Which Images to View 225
Adjusting Playback Timing 226
Enabling Automatic Picture Rotation 227
Shifting to Thumbnails Display 229
Displaying Photos in Calendar View 230
Zooming in for a closer view 232
Viewing Picture Data 234
File Information mode 235
Highlights (blinkies) mode 237
RGB Histogram mode 238
Shooting Data display mode 241
Overview mode 242
Viewing Your Photos on a Television 244
Chapter 9: Working with Picture and Movie Files 247
Rating Photos and Movies 248
Protecting Files 251
Deleting Files 252
Deleting files one at a time 252
Deleting all files 253
Deleting a batch of selected files 253
Taking a Look at Nikon's Photo Software 255
Downloading Pictures to the Computer 258
Connecting via USB 260
Starting the file-transfer process 260
Downloading using Nikon ViewNX-i 261
Processing Raw (NEF) Files 265
Processing Raw images in the camera 266
Processing Raw files in Capture NX-D 268
Preparing Pictures for Online Sharing 271
Prepping online photos using ViewNX-i 271
Resizing pictures in the camera 273
Part 4: The Part of Tens 275
Chapter 10: Ten More Ways to Customize Your Camera 277
Adding Comments and Copyright Notices 277
Adding an image comment 278
Adding a copyright notice 279
Creating a Custom Storage Folder 280
Customizing Filenames 281
Changing the Information Display Style 282
Keeping the Information Display Hidden 283
Creating Your Own Menu 284
Adjusting Automatic Shutdown Timing 286
Customizing a Few Buttons 287
Assigning a Touch Function Role 289
Reversing the Command Dial Orientation 290
Chapter 11: Ten Fun (And Practical) Features to Explore on a Rainy Day 291
Applying the Retouch Menu Filters 292
Removing Red-Eye 295
Fixing Tilting and Distorted Images 295
Manipulating Exposure and Color 297
Cropping Your Photo 298
Adding Special Effects to Existing Photos 300
Shooting in Effects Mode 302
Creating a Dust Reference File 306
Printing Directly from the Camera 307
Presenting a Slide Show 307
Appendix: Intro to Nikon SnapBridge 309
What Can I Do with SnapBridge? 310
Setting Up the Camera for SnapBridge 311
Connecting to Your Smart Device 312
Taking a Look at SnapBridge Functions 314
Connect tab 315
Gallery tab 315
Camera tab 315
Other tab 317
Index 319