Nikon Coolpix 950 User manual

Nikon
DIGITAL CAMERA
COOLPIX 950
Reference Manual
Contents
Overview
First Steps
Putting Batteries in Your
Camera
lnserting and Removing Memory Cards
Choosing a
Language for the Menus
Setting
the lime and Date
laking Your Fi rst Photograph
Using the But
to ns (A-REC, M-REC)
Flash Settings
FocusSettings
Us ing the Self-limer
Ima
ge Quality and Size
Sensitivity
Exposure
Mode
Using the Buttons (PLAY)

- 2 -
The Camera Menus
The A-REC Menu
Using Folders (A-REC, M-REC)
LCD Brightness
Sound Settings
Auto Off
Formatting Memory Cards
The M-REC Menu
Digital Zoom (DIGITAL TELE)
Black-and-White Photography
Lens Converter Settings (LENS)
Making a Panorama—Tips (AE-LOCK)
User Settings
Restoring Default Settings
LCD On/Off
The Controls Menu (M-REC)
SEQ.XFER
The Playback Menu
Deleting Multiple Photographs
Using Folders (Playback)
Slideshow
Protecting Photographs from Deletion
Hiding Photographs During Playback
Preparing Photographs for Printing
The Controls Menu (PLAY)
Connections
Connecting to a Television or VCR
Viewing Photos on a Computer
Caring for Your Camera
Cleaning
Storage
Accessories
What’s in the Box
Optional Accessories
Troubleshooting
General Problems
Error Messages
Specifications
Contents
app-phot-col.com

Overview
Th ank you for buy in g a COOL PIX 950. This Reference Manual
exp iains how to useand care foryo ur COO LPI X950. ltis int ended
as a supp l ement to the Fast T rack Guide and Pocket Guide ,to w hi ch
you
ca n referfor gu id ance on topics not covere d he re. This manual
is co
mp osed of the follow in g chapters:
First Steps
li sts the steps in vo lved in setting up your ca me ra and taking
photographs
Using the Buttons (A-REC, M-REC)
covers the sett in gs th at ca n be changed using the ca mera 's
co ntr ol buttons and dial s: fl ash, sens iti vi ty , f oc us , exposure
co mpen sa tion, exposure mode , and im age qua li ty and s iz e
Using the Buttons (PLA Y)
outlines basic playback func ti ons: vi ew in g photographs and
de l et in g s in gle im ages
The Camera Menus
describes ca mera se tti ng sth at ca n be accessedfrom th e A-REC,
M-RE C, and PLAY menus
Connections
describes ho w to u se the ca mera with a compute r or tele vision
Caring for Y our Camera
exp la in s the pr oced uresforclea ni ng and stor in gyo ur COO LPI X
950
Accessories
id ent ifi es it ems provi ded with the ca mera and ava il able sepa -
rately
T roubleshooting
out lin es steps to take when things go wro ng
Ple ase read a li in struct ions care full y to get the m ost from yo ur
ca me ra.
Notes on illustrations
~-------------------------------------------------
The illustrations in this manual are composites. Photographstakenwith the
COOLPIX 950 may differ from those shown here.
The illustrations in this manual show the LCD monitor used in the NTSC-
compatible model
of the COOLPIX 950. Owing to differences in video
standards,
the PAL-compatible model will display items in positionsslightly
different from
those shown here.

First Steps
This cha pter gu id es you thr o ugh the steps you w ill take after
remov in g the ca mera from the box ,from in se rting the batteriesto
making yourfirst photographs and play
in g them back. Bef ore you
w
ill be ab le to u se your ca me ra, you w ill need to co mplete the
follow in g steps:
• a
tta ch the ca mera strap (see For Your Sa(ety )
• in sert batteries or co nnect the AC adapter (sold separatel y;
f or inf ormat ion on using the AC a dapter , see the d oc umen-
tat i on provi ded with the adapter)
•
in sert the co mp act fla sh memory card
• ch
oose the language to be used in the sett in g and playback
menus
•
set the ca me ra's clock- ca l endarto the c urrent date and ti me
Hav in g completed the se steps, you w ill be ready to take photo -
graphs as
descr i bed at the end of this ch ap ter.
Jt. Important! Before inserting batteries or handling
~ memory cards, be sure to read the warnings and
cautions in For Your Sa(ety.
Putting Batteries inYour Camera
1 Turn the camera off
T um the mode dial to OF F( if the ca me ra
is on a trip
od, deta ch the tripod before
in se rting batteries).
2 Open the battery cover
T um the ca mera upside d ow n and open
the batterycham ber bys li di ng the latchto
the open position, s li pp in g the cover out
from
the ca mera , and then open in g the
lid .
3 lnsert batteries
ln sert the batteries with the po s iti ve (+)
and negative (-) pol es a li gned as s ho wn in
the diagram at the entrance to the battery
chamber.
4 Close the battery cover
Close the cover and s lid e it back into
p
os iti on , then si id e the latch button back
to latch
the cove r.
Thecamera'sclock-calendar is powered byaseparaterechargable battery.
When you put batteries in your camera for the first time or after a long
period
of storage,waitafew hoursforthe dock batteryto rechargebefore
removing
the main batteries. The dock battery will remain charged for
sorne time after
the main batteries have been removed.
Photographs
stored on the flash memory card are not affected when the
batteries
are removed. Ali manual-mode settings, with the exceptions of
the date and language, will however be reset.

lnserting and Removing Memory Cards
1 Turn the camera off
T um th e mode dial to O FF .
2 Open the card slot
T um th e camera upsi de d ow n ( if th e
ca m era is on a trip od , de tach it from th e
tri
pod fi rst) , th en ope n th e cardslot cover.
3 lnsert the memory card, or ...
ln se rt th e cardas sh ow n at ri ght, s lidin g it
in until it is firml y in pl ace at th e back of th e
slot and
th e car d- re l ease b utt on po ps u p.
N ext , fold th e car d- re l ease b utt on ove r.
... remove the memory card
Flip th e card -r el ease b utt on up and push
it
dow n until th e car d ca n be rem oved by
han
d.
4 Close the card slot cover
-
M .. œJ
@Aoc@
Memo ry cards c an be removed from thecamera without loss of datawhen
the camerais off.
Once removed fr om the camera, cards can be read by
a computer equipped with a CompactFiash card reader and photographs
printed
on suitably-equipped printers. Cards c an also be inserted in a PC
card adapter (sold separately) to be read by any c omputer with a Type Il
PC- card slot.
Wh ile your camera co rnes with an eight-megabytecard,additional cards of
up to sixty-fo ur megabytes c an be purc hased separately.
Choosing a Language for the Menus
The ca meras menus and messages ca n be di s pl ayed in En g li sh,
Ge rman, F re nch, or Japanese. To se l ec t a langu age f or th e di sp lay,
fo
ll ow th ese steps:
1 T um th e m ode di al to PLA Y.
2 Press th e MENU b utt on to di s pl ay th e
pl ayback menu.
3 Us in g th e z oom bu tto ns, hi g hli g ht th e l ast
item (S ET UP ) in th e menu and press th e
s
hutt er - re le as e butt on ( th e exact a pp ear -
an
ce of the menu w ill depend on th e
language currently
se l ecte d; th e illu stra-
ti
on s at ri g ht sh ows th e En g li sh menus).
4 Use th e z oo m butt onsto hig hl ig ht th e l ast
item in th e S ET UP menu, th en pr ess th e
s
hutt e r-r el ease butt o nt o di s pl ay th e LAN-
GU
AG E menu.
5 Se l ect th e d es i red se tting from th e LAN-
GU
AG E menu.
Using the menus
PLAY BACK
DELETE
SLIDESHOW
PROTE CT
HIDE IMAGE
PRINT SET
AUTO OFF
CARDFORMAT
DATE
l ANGUAGE
<) BK LANGUAGE
D DEUTSCH
E ENGLISH
F FRANÇA I S
J B:$11!
SET-+ S HU T T ER~
If the menu do es not appear when you press the MENU butten, press the
MONITOR butt en until the LCD mo nitor co rnes on. Items c an be
highlighted
using the zoom butt o ns and selected using the shutter-release
butten.
To clear a menu from the screen, highlight BK and press the
shutter-release butten, or press the
MENU butt en until the menu disap-
pears.

Setting the Ti me and Date
When you tum on yo ur ca me ra for the fi rstti me , you wi Il need to
set the time and date as follows:
1T um the mode di al to PLA Y.
2 Press the MENU button to di sp lay the
playback menu .
3 Usi ng the z oo m buttons, highlightS ET UP
and press the shutter - re l ease button.
4 ln the S ET UP menu , use the z oo m
buttons to highlight DATE and press the
shutter-rele ase buttonto displ ay the DA TE
menu.
Using the menus
PLAY BACK
DELETE
FOLDERS
SLIDESHOW
PROTE CT
HIDE IMAGE
SET U P
LCD BRIGHT
SOUND
lfthe menu does not appear when you press the MENU button, press the
MONITOR button until the LCD monitor comes on. Items can be
highlighted
using thezoom buttons and selected using the shutter-release
button.
To clear a menu from the screen, highlight BK and press the
shutter-release button,
or press the MENU button until the menu disap-
5 Rotate the co mmand dial to se l ect the
it em you w ish to change, then ed it the
it em us in g the zoom-in button (T/ • ) to
in c re ase it sva lue orthe z oo m-o ut button
(:NIT ) to decrease i ts va lu e. After ed it-
in g, rotate the co mmand dial to m ove to
the next it em or press the shutter -r el ease
button. Highlight Y M D and u se the
z oo m buttons to change the order in
w hi ch the year , month, an d d ay are dis-
played.
Pr ess ing the s hutter-relea se but -
to n w
he n th is it em is highlighted sets the
time and da te to the spec ifi ed va lues.
If th e date has not be en set, a fl as hing clock
i
co n w ill appear at upper right in the LCD
mon it orwhen the m ode di alis se t to A-REC
or M-REC. Pho tog rap hs taken w hen this
i
co n appears w ill ha ve a ti me sta mp of "99/
0 1 /0 1 00:00"; set the ti me and date as
de scribed above before shooting.
1 999 . 03 . 20
\1
2 3 : 0 5
AD J. +Z OOM SW
SET + SHU T TER ~
The clock-calendar is powered bya separate, rechargeable battery, which
is charged as necessarywhen themain batteries are installed. lfthe camera
has been stored with the main batteries removed fora long period of time,
the
dock may need to be reset. Once the main batteries have been
reinserted, the clock batterywill recharge
in several hours, during which
time the batteries should be left
in the camera.

TakingY our First Photograph
Thi ssection o utli ne sthe basicsteps in volved in tak in ga photograph
in A-REC mode.
Ste p 1-Remove the lens cap
Remove the lens cap as shown below.
Sleepmode
The LCD monitor turns offautomatically if no operations are performed
for a certain period
oftime (the length oftime before the camera enters
sleep mode can be
set using the AUTO OFF item in the setup menu; see
" The Camera Menus: The A-REC Menu," below). To turn the monitoron
again, half-press
the shutter-re le ase butten.
Ste p 2- Turn the mode dial to A-REC
To enterautomaticrecordi ng mode,tumthe
sel
ector dialto A-R E C. After a short pause
wh
il e thecamera initi a li zes,a beepw ill sound
a
nd current sett in gs w ill be displayed in the
LCD monit
or and the control panel.
:.~ ·
....
; !'~ ~~ ;;
-
AUTO~
16)
: · : · P ~ 1 N 2 S .t F 4o'"" • ~ - [ 18
-
PlAY • e EiJ
1!9Œe0
The MONITORbutten controls the LCD monitor. Press the MONITOR
butten
once to hi de settings, a second ti me to tum the monitoroff, and a
third
ti me to turn the monitor on with settings showing.

Ste p 3-Ch ec k the number of exposures remaining
Th e con trol pane l and L CD mon it or s ho w the number of expo -
sures
rema ining at the c urrent im age qua li ty sett in g.
-
AUTO ~
16)
When th is number reaches zero , you w ill need to in se rt a ne w
memory card or de l ete it ems already in memory before you w ill
be able to take more photographs. lt may be possible to record
more photographs at a d if ferent im age qua li ty sett in g.
Ste p 4-Adjust camera settings
ln automatic m ode, the user ca n adju st fl ash, focu s, exposure
compe nsation, and im age qua li ty and size. Th e default sett in gs ,
w
hi ch produce the best resul ts in m ost circumstances, are a ut o-
matie
fl as h,autofocus, no exposure compen sat i on ,an im age qua lit y
of "normal," and an im age s iz e of " full " (1,600 x 1, 200 pi xe ls).
- AUTO~ r Flash (a ut o)
P '!. l 161
Th ese set tings a ll ow the ca mera to set fo cus automat i ca ll y at any
di
stance grea ter th an 30cm (one foot ). Th e ca mera me asures the
ava il ab le li ght and ad justs shutter speed and ape rture accord in gly,
firing
the fl ash to provi de add iti ona l li ght as nece ssary.
Ste p 5-Com p ose a p hotogra ph
In formati on on com pos ing photographs may be found on pages 2-
4
of the Pock et Guide.

Ste p 6-Half- p ress the shutter-release button
When the shutter -rel ease button is pressed half way , the camera
w ill automat i ca ll y adjust focus accord in g to the distance to the
subject. If the focus operat i on is successful, the green autofocus
lamp
next to the viewfi nderwi Il glow. Th e focus sett in gwi Il re main
unchanged as long as
the shutter button is half-pressed (see the
sect i on "Focus Lock" in the Fast Track Guide ). Th e zoom ratio
cannot be changed wh il e focus l ock is in effect.
If the camera is unable to determ in e the distance to the subject, the
autofocus l amp w ill b lin k rap idl y. ln this case you canuse fo cus l ock
to focus on another ob j ect at the same distance, th en re co mpose
your photograph (see the Pocket Guide ,page 4, for more in forma-
ti
on on autofocus).
Note
When using the viewfinder at ranges of less than 90cm (one 1
yard), frame your photographs using the smaller of the two
frames in the viewfinder display (thearea shaded in purple in the
1
illustration on the right).
When li ght in g is poor , the flash l amp next to the viewfinderw ill
gl ow red. If the flash is off , set the flash to "Auto" for a photo in
wh ich ob jectsw ithi n the range of the flash are full y exposed. If the
red fl ash l amp blinks, the flash is charg in g,andyou w ill need to take
your finger off the shutter - re l ease button and wa it a few seconds
before tak in g a photograph.
Ste p 7-T ake a p hotogra ph
To takea photograph , press the shutter - re l ease button al i the way
down.
Note
lfthe LCD monitor is off, you will n ot be able to take photographs when
the autofocus lamp is flashing. When the monitor is on, however,
photographs can be taken even
if the camera is not properly focused.
Check focus
in the LCD monitor before pressing the shutter-release
butten
ali the way down.

Ste p 8-Check the results
After a photograph has been taken, the
autofocus l amp w ill b lin k and an hourglass
icon (i)w
ill be di sp layed in the L CD monitor
wh il e the photograph is recorded. Before
the photograph istransferred to the memory
card, it w ill be displayed briefly in the L CD
monitor.
If the photo was taken at an im age-s iz e sett in g of " fu ll ," you can
press
the 833 button to pause the display forten seconds; shooting
can
be resumedbypressing the button aga in . If you are not pleased
with
the photograph, you can delete it before it is transferred to
memory by pressing the iiii1 button. The
dialog
at right w ill be displayed; using the
zoom buttons, se l ect YES and press the
shutter -r el ease button to erase the photo-
graph. To cont inue shooting w ith out de l et -
DEL ETE
1 IMAGE
Y ES
in g the photograph, se l ect NO and press the SET-+SH uTT E R ~
shutter -r el ease button. The photo w ill then
be saved to the memory card and the camera
w ill retum to shoot in g mode.
Notes
Do not remove the batteries while photos are being recorded to, or
deleted from, memory.
The pause and delete functions described above
are only available when
photos
are taken at an image size of ''full" (1,600 x 1,200 pixels).
The delete dialog disappears
if no action is taken for ten seconds. ln this
case
the image will be saved and the camera will return to shootingmode.
First Steps: Taking Y our First Photograph
Ste p 9-Turn the camera off
When you have finished using the camera , be sure to tum the
mode dial to OF F.
To avo
id wast in g batter ies, check that the camera is off before
putting it away.
Ste p 1 O-R ep lace the lens cap
Replace the lens cap as shown be low.
Note
The camera may become warm during use, but this does not indicate a
malfunction.