Histograms - Nikon D5100 Experience Manual

Nikon D5100 Experience
• Set your camera on Center-Weighted Metering, Single-Servo AF (AF-S) and Single-
Point AF using the i Button and Information Display screen.
• Set your camera on Aperture-Priority Auto mode (A) on the Mode Dial and set the ISO
according to your lighting (using the I Button and Information Display Screen). Set the
aperture to a wide-open setting such as f/4 by turning the Command Dial.
• Tap the Shutter-Release Button with a half-press to wake up the camera and start the
metering.
• Frame your image in your viewfinder as you desire your final image to look.
• Use the Multi-Selector to choose an AF point closest to your subject or subject's face or
eyes.
• Reframe and place the subject or face in the center of the frame then press and hold the
AE-L/AF-L Button to lock the exposure. Verify that exposure is locked by seeing AE-L
in the viewfinder, on the left side of the Information Display.
• Reframe to return again to your final intended image in the viewfinder as you want it,
placing your selected AF point over the subject, while still holding the AE-L/AF-L
Button.
• Press the Shutter-Release Button halfway to focus and then fully to take the photo
• Note that this all must occur within a certain time frame or the exposure lock is canceled.
You will know this happens if the lit-up info in your viewfinder turns off.
Note that you can change the order of this process and lock the exposure first and then deal with
the AF point and the focusing, or you can incorporate Focus Lock into the process either before
or after locking exposure. Determine which order works best for you or for the situation. The
order may differ based on if you are taking a series of photos and/ or if the subject is moving.
For example, if you subject is moving around in a scene that contains a lot of variation of bright
light and dark shadows, you would lock in the desired exposure for the scene or subject first, and
then deal with focusing using the most appropriate Autofocus Mode and Autofocus Area Mode
for the situation. Also, if the lighting of the scene or the exposure settings you desire are going
to remain constant, you can instead first determine your desired exposure settings through
metering, then change to Manual Exposure Mode (M) and dial in those settings and then not
worry about the exposure settings.

Histograms

While you can typically rely on the advanced exposure metering system of the D5100 to create
the proper exposure for your images, you need to verify that it has. You can do this by looking
at the image on the rear LCD Monitor, but this is a tiny version of your image, and as with
verifying focus, what looks good on a tiny 3" screen may not look good on the actual full-size
image. So how do you verify that you have captured the proper exposure? With the histogram.
To view the histogram of an image: when you are reviewing your images on the rear LCD
Monitor after pressing the Playback Button, press the down direction on the Multi Selector
repeatedly until you see either the Overview view or the RGB Histogram view. Remember we
chose which playback views would be displayed in the Playback Display Options item of the
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