Nikon D5100 Experience Manual page 6

Nikon D5100 Experience
that I believe are the most practical, useful, and effective. The settings and techniques I discuss
apply to general photography, which includes most travel photography. I will point out other
options for users who might wish to work differently and I encourage you to experiment and find
the techniques that work best and are most comfortable or intuitive for you. If you typically
shoot very specifically, say macro photography or studio photography with complex lighting,
some of what I discuss may not apply. But if you are that specialized, I'm sure you are skilled
enough to know when and how to adapt what I say!
Since this guide is intended to help you get the most out of your D5100, I will not necessarily
discuss or go into detail about many of the automatic features or Auto and Scene Modes. The
D5100 is a sophisticated tool that deserves to be used to its full potential, and that means taking
control of the camera and its functions. And since this guide is about image creation – the
capturing of a photograph – it will not discuss features that deal with image processing, such as
the Retouch Menu. And finally, while it will discuss basic video settings and options to get you
started, the guide will focus on still photography and image creation. However there is a great
deal to be learned about everything else including the autofocus system, the elements of
exposure, exposure metering, white balance, and even basic composition.
As you have probably discovered by now, the camera's User's Manual is brief and basic. There
is a more detailed Reference Manual on the Reference CD included with your camera. This
ebook guide will expand on the manuals and explain not only the features, controls, and menus
of the D5100, but more importantly when and why you might want to use them in your
photography. However, this guide is not intended to completely replace the manuals, but to be
used in conjunction with them, so every bit of information in those manuals will not be repeated
here. For example, I may explain the use of Single-servo AF (AF-S auto-focus mode), but not
always explain how to change to this setting on your camera. If you don't know how to change
it please read the User's Manual where it will tell you to press the i Button twice, highlight the
focus-mode options, press OK, and then choose the AF-S focus mode.
As you can see, there is a lot to make sense of regarding terminology and controls, so I
recommend that you familiarize yourself with the controls and displays of the camera body, as
shown on pages 2-7 of the D5100 User's Manual and pages 1-10 of the D5100 Reference
Manual (see Figure 2), as well as read through the manuals and attempt to understand as much
as possible. Yes, much of it may be complicated and confusing at first, but this ebook guide will
explain the uses of the numerous buttons, controls, menus, and settings and concentrate on the
essential ones to get you started taking great images.
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