Nikon D500 Settings Manual
  1. Manuals
  2. Brands
  3. Nikon Manuals
  4. Digital Camera
  5. D500
  6. Settings manual

Nikon D500 Settings Manual

Sports af edition
Hide thumbs Also See for D500:
Table of Contents

Advertisement

Quick Links

See also: User Manual
Professional
Setting Guide
— Sports AF Edition —
Revision 1.0
En

Advertisement

Table of Contents
loading

Related Manuals for Nikon D500

Summary of Contents for Nikon D500

  • Page 1 Professional Setting Guide — Sports AF Edition — Revision 1.0...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Sports AF: Autofocus Basics ..... 3 • AF Mode: AF‑C ..................3 • AF‑Area Mode: 25‑Point Dynamic‑Area AF .......3 • Focus Tracking with Lock‑On ............4 • The Standby Timer................5 AF-Area Mode ..............6 • Custom Settings ..........8 Focus Points ................. 9 • Cross Sensors ..................10 • Teleconverters and Available Focus Points ......11 Sports AF: Custom Settings..........15 •...

  • Page 3: Sports Af: Autofocus Basics

    Sports AF: Autofocus Basics The following settings are suitable for most sports: • Autofocus mode: AF-C • AF-area mode: 25-point dynamic-area AF • Custom Settings ‣ ‣ a1 AF-C priority selection: Release ‣ ‣ a3 Focus tracking with lock-on > Blocked shot AF response: 2 Subject motion: Normal ‣...

  • Page 4: Focus Tracking With Lock-On

    Focus Tracking with Lock‑On Custom Setting a3 (Focus tracking with lock-on) controls how autofo- cus responds to changes in the dis- tance to the subject. Blocked Shot AF Response: 2 Increasing the speed with which the autofocus system re- acts to blocked shots ensures that focus responds quickly to frequent subject changes.

  • Page 5: The Standby Timer

    The Standby Timer Choose long standby times to keep the timer active and avoid the delay that occurs when it is reactivated (note that this increases the drain on the battery). If you’re at a soccer match and the default six-second timer expires while you’re waiting for a player to line up a corner kick, the delay may make you miss the golden mo- ment following the kick.

  • Page 6: Af-Area Mode

    AF-Area Mode Choose an AF-area mode according to your subject. Focus-point display AF-area mode Control panel Viewfinder Selection Shooting Single-point 25-point dynamic-area 72-point dynamic-area 153-point dynamic-area 3D-tracking Group-area Auto-area AF...
  • Page 7 Description The focus point is selected manually. The camera focuses on the sub- ject in the selected focus point only. Choose for subjects you can keep framed in the selected focus point. The focus point is selected manually. The camera focuses on the subject in the selected focus point when autofocus is initiated, but if the subject later leaves the selected point for brief periods, the camera will focus based on information from surrounding points (the edges of the area surrounding...

  • Page 8: Custom Settings

    AF-Area Mode Custom Settings For faster AF-area mode selection, you can: • Assign specific AF-area modes to buttons using Custom Setting f1 (Custom control assignment, page 24): If you assign 72-point dynamic-area AF to the Pv button and group-area AF to the lens focus function buttons, for example, and then select 25-point dynamic-area AF with the AF-mode button and sub-command dial, you...

  • Page 9: Focus Points

    Focus Points The camera focuses using 153 focus points, of which the 55 shown in red at right can be selected by the user. The available cross sensors and fo- cus points vary with the lens or tele- converter used (pages 10–14).

  • Page 10: Cross Sensors

    Cross Sensors The focus points with cross sensors are highlighted in green. All other focus points use line sensors. Lens Cross sensors AF-S lenses other than those listed below with maximum apertures of f/4 or faster  * 99 cross sensors •...

  • Page 11: Teleconverters And Available Focus Points

    Focus Points Teleconverters and Available Focus Points The focus points shown below are available for autofocus and electronic rangefinding when a teleconverter is used. Cross-sensor focus points are highlighted in green. Max. lens Teleconverter aperture Focus points • TC-14E/TC-14E II/TC-14E III • TC-17E II •...
  • Page 12 The focus points available for autofocus and electronic rangefinding when teleconverters are used in combina- tion with different lenses are shown below (data are cur- rent as of April 2016). AF-S NIKKOR 400 mm f/2.8E FL ED VR and 70–200 mm f/2.8G ED VR II •...
  • Page 13 Focus Points AF-S NIKKOR 600 mm f/4E FL ED VR • Alone: 153 (55 selectable); 63 cross sensors • With TC-14E/TC-14E II/TC-14E III: 153 (55 selectable); 45 cross sensors • With TC-17E II: 37 (17 selectable); 25 cross sensors • With TC-20E/TC-20E II/TC-20E III: 15 (9 selectable); 5 cross sensors with sup- port for a combined aperture of f/8 AF-S NIKKOR 200–400 mm f/4G ED VR II •...
  • Page 14 Focus Points AF-S NIKKOR 80–400 mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR and 200–500 mm f/5.6E ED VR • Alone: 153 (55 selectable); 45 cross sensors • With TC-14E/TC-14E II/TC-14E III: 15 (9 selectable); 5 cross sensors with sup- port for a combined aperture of f/8...

  • Page 15: Sports Af: Custom Settings

    Sports AF: Custom Settings The following options are available in Custom Settings Group “a” (Autofocus). a1 AF-C priority selection a2 AF-S priority selection a3 Focus tracking with lock-on a4 3D-tracking face-detection a5 3D-tracking watch area a6 Number of focus points a7 Store by orientation a8 AF activation a9 Limit AF-area mode selection...

  • Page 16: A1: Af-C Priority Selection

    a1: AF‑C Priority Selection Custom Setting a1 (AF-C priority selection) controls wheth- er the camera gives priority to focus or shutter release. Shutter-release button pressed all the way down G Release: Pictures can be taken whether or not the camera is in focus. Frame rates do not slow during burst photography.
  • Page 17 Sports AF: Custom Settings : Subject not : Subject : Photo taken (frame number in focus in focus shown in top left corner)

  • Page 18: A3: Focus Tracking With Lock-On

    a3: Focus Tracking with Lock‑On This menu contains two options: Blocked shot AF response and Sub- ject motion. Blocked Shot AF Response In continuous-servo AF, focus tracking with lock-on pre- vents the camera refocusing when your subject is briefly obscured by another object, ensuring that it will continue to track the main subject once the obstacle has moved away.
  • Page 19 Sports AF: Custom Settings Subject Motion Choose how the camera tracks subjects in motion. Choose Steady for subjects approaching the camera at a steady pace, like speed skaters or race cars on a track, Erratic for hockey players and other subjects prone to sudden stops and starts.

  • Page 20: A6: Number Of Focus Points

    a6: Number of Focus Points Choose the focus points available for user selection. • 1 55 points: Choose from the 55 points shown at right. Use for precise framing. • 2 15 points: Choose from the 15 points shown at right. Use for quick focus-point selection. a7: Store by Orientation This option lets you concentrate on shooting without hav- ing to worry about focus-point selection.
  • Page 21 Sports AF: Custom Settings Camera rotated 90° counterclockwise Landscape (wide) orientation Camera rotated 90° clockwise • Off: The same focus point and AF-area mode will be used regardless of camera orientation. Camera rotated 90° counterclockwise Landscape (wide) orientation Camera rotated 90°...

  • Page 22: A8: Af Activation

    a8: AF Activation Choose AF-ON only to split the functions of the AF-ON and shutter- release buttons so that the former is used for focus while the latter is used only to release the shutter. Lift your thumb from the AF-ON button AF-ON button to lock focus and take more shots at the current focus distance or prevent the camera refocus-...

  • Page 23: A9: Limit Af-Area Mode Selection

    Sports AF: Custom Settings a9: Limit AF‑Area Mode Selection Prevent the selection of unwanted AF-area modes. For example, you can select Dynamic-area AF (25 points) and Group-area AF to switch quickly back and forth be- tween these two modes. a10: Autofocus Mode Restrictions Prevent the selection of unwanted autofocus modes.

  • Page 24: Sports Af: Custom Control Assignments

    Setting f10 (Assign MB-D17 buttons) to choose the roles played by the buttons on the battery pack. Focus‑Related Control Assignments The following focus-related functions can be assigned to camera and battery-pack controls: D500 MB-D17 Fn AF-ON 0 v x V 8 S A Preset focus point 4 4 —...
  • Page 25 • K AF-area mode: Highlight this option and press 2 to se- lect an AF-area mode (3D-tracking excluded). The se- lected mode will take effect while the control is pressed; releasing the control restores the original AF-area mode. • q AF-area mode + AF-ON: As for AF-area mode, above, ex- cept that pressing the control also initiates autofocus.

  • Page 26: Lens Focus Function Buttons

    Sports AF: Custom Control Assignments Lens Focus Function Buttons You can use S Lens focus function buttons to choose the role played by the focus function buttons when the focus function selector on the lens is set to AF-L. For fast-moving sports, choose AF-area mode to en- Focus able rapid AF-area mode selection.

  • Page 27: Auto Af Fine-Tuning

    Auto AF Fine-Tuning The D500 can fine-tune autofocus automatically. The re- sults can be used with all lenses of the same type. Use only as required. AF fine-tuning should be performed at the focus distance at which the lens is normally used; fine- tuning performed at short focus distances may be less effec- tive with distant subjects and vice versa.
  • Page 28   2  Start live view. Rotate the live view selector to C and press the a button.   3  Adjust focus settings. Rotate the focus-mode selec- tor to AF and use the AF-mode button and command dials to select the following: •...
  • Page 29 Auto AF Fine-Tuning   6  Perform auto AF fine-tuning. Press the AF-mode and movie- record buttons simultaneously and keep them pressed until the dialog shown in Step 7 is displayed (this should take slightly over two seconds). AF-mode button Movie-record button  ...

  • Page 30: Recommended Af Settings By Event

    Recommended AF Settings by Event This section offers some advice on adjusting autofocus- related settings for different sporting events. Overview: Settings by Event The settings for different events are summarized in the table below. Event mode AF-area mode Soccer (page 34) Hockey (page 35) Ski jumping (from the side, page 36) 25-point dynamic-area AF...
  • Page 31 Custom Settings a3: Focus tracking with lock-on a1: AF-C priority a7: Store by selection Blocked shot AF response Subject motion orientation Normal Focus point 1 (Quick) or 2 Erratic Normal — Normal or erratic Release Normal Steady Focus point Normal...
  • Page 32 Event mode AF-area mode 25- or 72-point dynamic- Balance beam (page 50) or 3D-tracking or auto-area AF Vault (page 51) 25- or 72-point dynamic- or auto-area AF Rings and horizontal bar (page 51) 25-point dynamic- or Sprints (page 52) group-area AF Single- or 25-point Hurdles (page 54) dynamic-area AF...
  • Page 33 Recommended AF Settings by Event Custom Settings a3: Focus tracking with lock-on a1: AF-C priority a7: Store by selection Blocked shot AF response Subject motion orientation Normal — Normal or erratic Focus point Normal Release Erratic — Normal...

  • Page 34: Soccer

    Soccer Photographing soccer matches in- volves quick changes of focus and subjects that may be briefly ob- scured by foreground objects. The following autofocus settings are rec- ommended: • Autofocus mode: AF-C • AF-area mode: 25-point dynamic-area AF • Custom Settings ‣...

  • Page 35: Winter Sports

    Recommended AF Settings by Event Winter Sports Here are some suggested settings for photographers at the rink or on the slopes. Hockey If you find yourself continually switching subjects as the puck passes from one player to another, select low values for Custom Setting a3 (Focus tracking with lock-on) ...
  • Page 36 Ski Jumping Choose settings according to whether you are at the side of the hill with jumpers crossing your field of view or at the bottom with jumpers coming toward you. From the Side The following settings are recom- mended for shots taken from the side of the hill.
  • Page 37 Recommended AF Settings by Event From the Front When the subject is at the edge of the frame, the number of focus points available for dynamic-area AF drops; for coverage similar to 25-point AF, choose 72-point AF. • Autofocus mode: AF-C •...
  • Page 38 Alpine Skiing Choose settings according to whether the skier is near the gate or taking air over a jump. Near Gates With a slow blocked-shot response of 5 (Delayed) or 4, the camera may be slow to switch back to the skier after focusing on a gate (the effect varies with the distance between the gate and the skier).
  • Page 39 Recommended AF Settings by Event Jumps If you anticipate that the subject will come into view suddenly and will not overlap a gate, choose group-ar- ea AF. Group-area AF uses a selected group of 5 or more focus points, let- ting you track your subject in a wide area and ensuring that even small, fast-moving, and hard-to-frame subjects can reliably be captured in sharp focus.
  • Page 40 Singles Figure Skating Auto-area AF is recommended if composi- tion is a priority. To automatically switch focus points and AF-area modes as you go from “tall” (portrait) to “wide” (landscape) orientation and back again (page 41), select Focus point and AF-area mode for Custom Setting a7 (Store by orientation).
  • Page 41 Recommended AF Settings by Event Instant AF-Area Mode Selection For flexible AF-area mode selection when photographing figure skating, select 25- or 72-point dynamic- or auto-area AF with the camera and as- sign group-area AF to the focus func- tion buttons using Custom Setting f1 (Custom control assignment) ...
  • Page 42 Pairs Figure Skating/Ice Dance For events in which skaters fre- quently cross in front of one anoth- er, a slow blocked-shot response is recommended to improve tracking and prevent the focus point falling between the skaters. • Autofocus mode: AF-C •...
  • Page 43 Recommended AF Settings by Event Speed Skating For more precise focus, use 25-point dynamic-area AF for wide-orienta- tion upper-body shots and shots taken head-on. Switch to 72 points for tall-orientation shots with the skater near the edge of the frame. •...
  • Page 44 Short-Track Speed Skating The following settings are recom- mended: • Autofocus mode: AF-C • AF-area mode: 25-point dynamic- or group-area AF • Custom Settings ‣ ‣ a1 AF-C priority selection: Release ‣ ‣ a3 Focus tracking with lock-on > Blocked shot AF response: 3 Subject motion: Normal ‣...
  • Page 45 Recommended AF Settings by Event Instant AF-Area Mode Selection Group-area AF is a good choice when your subject is in the lead, but it may continue to focus on the leader even when your subject is back in the pack. For rapid AF-area mode selection when skaters switch positions, as- sign AF-area mode to the lens focus function buttons using...

  • Page 46: Gymnastics

    Gymnastics Try these settings for gymnastics events. Floor Exercises Auto-area AF is recommended if composi- tion is a priority, but dynamic-area AF may be preferred if the background contains objects with regular, detailed patterns, as otherwise photos may not be in focus even if the in-focus indicator (l) is lit.
  • Page 47 Recommended AF Settings by Event Select Focus point and AF-area mode for Custom Set- ting a7 (Store by orientation) to automatically switch fo- cus points and AF-area modes as you rotate the camera (page 20). If you find yourself frequently changing focus points, choose 15 points for Custom Setting a6 (Number of focus points) to reduce the number of focus points for quicker selection...
  • Page 48 Rhythmic Gymnastics For events with apparatuses, choose 3D- tracking, position the focus area over your subject (for best results, choose the uni- form or another area of the subject that is a different color from the background), and press and hold the AF-ON button or keep the shutter-release button pressed halfway.
  • Page 49 Recommended AF Settings by Event Select Focus point and AF-area mode for Custom Set- ting a7 (Store by orientation) to automatically switch fo- cus points and AF-area modes as you rotate the camera (page 20). If you find yourself frequently changing focus points when using dynamic-area AF, choose 15 points for Custom Setting a6 (Number of focus points) to reduce the number of focus points for quicker selection...
  • Page 50 Balance Beam Auto-area AF is recommended if composi- tion is a priority, while 25-point dynamic- area AF is suggested for close-ups. When photographing events with frequent jumps or changes of direction, choose 3D- tracking, position the focus area over your subject (for best results, choose the uniform or another area of the subject that is a different color from the background), and press and hold the AF-ON button or keep the shutter-release button...
  • Page 51 Recommended AF Settings by Event Vault If you find the subject hard to frame, choose a dynamic-area AF mode with more focus points (r) or select auto-area AF. Auto- area AF in particular lets you concentrate on composition while leaving the camera in charge of choosing the focus point.

  • Page 52: Athletics

    Athletics You may find these settings useful when photographing road running or track and field events. Sprints Choose 25-point dynamic-area AF when photographing approaching runners to help prevent the cam- era focusing on their hands, group- area AF for more reliable focus when photographing runners on the start line and in other shots taken at long range.
  • Page 53 Recommended AF Settings by Event Instant AF-Area Mode Selection For flexible AF-area mode selection when photographing approaching runners, select 25-point dynamic-area AF with the camera and assign group- area AF to the focus function buttons using Custom Setting f1 (Custom control assignment) ...
  • Page 54 Hurdles Choosing an AF-area mode with comparatively few focus points (sin- gle-point or 25-point dynamic-area AF) helps prevent the camera focus- ing on the hurdles or the hurdler’s legs. You can refocus as needed if the camera focuses on the hurdles in the foreground. •...
  • Page 55 Recommended AF Settings by Event Marathons (from a Vehicle) Choosing 25-point dynamic-area AF or single-point AF makes it easy to keep subjects in focus as they change position in the pack, but you could instead choose auto-area AF if you find it hard to keep your subject in the focus point when shooting from a moving vehicle.
  • Page 56 Long Jump and Triple Jump Choosing a dynamic-area AF mode with comparatively few focus points (r) when photographing long and triple jumps from the front helps prevent the camera focusing on the sand while still letting you capture subject motion. •...

  • Page 57: Aquatics

    Recommended AF Settings by Event Aquatics Synchronized swimming • Autofocus mode: AF-C • AF-area mode: 25-point dynamic-area AF • Custom Settings ‣ ‣ a1 AF-C priority selection: Release ‣ ‣ a3 Focus tracking with lock-on Blocked shot AF response: 3 >...
  • Page 58 Swimming Choosing single-point AF helps pre- vent the camera focusing on splash- es (you can refocus as needed if the camera fails to focus on the main subject). • Autofocus mode: AF-C • AF-area mode: Single-point AF • Custom Settings ‣...
  • Page 59 Recommended AF Settings by Event Instant AF-Area Mode Selection For flexible AF-area mode selection when photographing the start of a race, select single-point AF with the camera and assign group-area AF to the focus function buttons using Custom Setting f1 (Custom control assignment) >...
  • Page 60 Diving When photographing divers against low-contrast, undifferentiated back- grounds, choose 3D-tracking, posi- tion the focus area over your subject (for best results, choose the uniform or another area of the subject that is a different color from the background), and press and hold the AF-ON but- ton or keep the shutter-release button pressed halfway.
  • Page 61 Recommended AF Settings by Event • Autofocus mode: AF-C • AF-area mode: 3D-tracking or auto-area or 72-point dynam- ic-area AF • Custom Settings ‣ ‣ a1 AF-C priority selection: Release ‣ ‣ a3 Focus tracking with lock-on > Blocked shot AF response: 3 Subject motion: Normal ‣...
  • Page 62 © 2016 Nikon Corporation...

Table of Contents