Nikon D300 User manual

Nikon
DIGITAL CAMERA
Userls Manual

Where to Find It
Find what you're looking for from:
Know what you want to do but don't know the function name? Find it
from the "question and answer" index.
Find items by function or menu name.
AbriefgUide forthose
who want to get started taking pictures right away.
Search by key word.
If awarning is displayed in the viewfinder or monitor, find the solution
here.
Camera behaving unexpectedly? Find the solution here.
Digitutor
Digitutor, aseries of "watch and learn" manuals in movieform, is available
from the following website:
http://www.nikondigitutor.com/index_eng.html

Package Contents
Be sure all items listed here were included with your camera.
Memory cards aresoldseparately.
•D300 digital camera (pg. 3)
•Body cap (pp. 34, 367)
•BM-8
LCD monitor cover (pg. 19)
•
DK-S eyepiece cap (pg. 20)
•
EN-EL3e rechargeable Li-ion battery with terminal cover (pp. 30,
32)
•MH-18a
quick charger with power cable (pg. 30)
•
UC-E4 USB cable (pp. 224, 232)
•
EG-D1 00 video cable (pg. 242)
•AN-D300 strap (pg.
19)
•Warranty
• User's Manual (this guide)
•QuickGuide
•Software Installation Guide
•Software Suite CD-ROM
•Registration card
(U. S. A. only)

..
II
Symbols and Conventions
To make it easier to find the information you need, the following
symbols and conventions are used:
~ This icon marks cautions; information that should be read before
use to prevent damage to the camera.
BThis icon marks notes; information that should be read before
using the camera.
Menu items, options, and messages displayed in the camera monitor
are shown in brackets ([ J).
&Trademark Information
Macintosh, Mac as, and QuickTime are registered trademarks of Apple
Inc. Microsoft, Windows and Windows Vista are either registered
trademarks, ortrademarks
of Microsoft Corporation in the United States
and/or other countries. CompactFlash
is atrademark of SanDisk
Corporation. Microdrive
is atrademark of Hitachi Global Storage
Technologies in the United States and other countries. All othertrade
names mentioned in this manual orthe other documentation provided
with your Nikon product are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective holders.

ID):i()()
;a Introduction
•
IZI Tutorial
•
~ Image Recording Options
•
III Focus
•
II Release Mode
•
IE ISO Sensitivity
•
m Exposure
•
lEl White Balance
•
Ifi) Image Enhancement
•
o Flash Photography
•
r3 Other Shooting Options
•
iii More About Playback
•
_ Connections
•
Iii] Menu Guide
•
~ Technical Notes
•
III

Q&Alndex
Find what you're looking for using this II ques tion and answer"
index.
II New Features
371
327
270
79
148
168
Seepage
59
Key phrase
AF fine tune
3D-tracking
Active D-Lighting
14-bit
NEF (RAW)
................................................................................
Question
How do Itake high-quality NEF (RAW)
photos?
•• ._ •• _ •••• v_~ •••••• ~....... • •••••••••••• ~ ••. __ 0. , •• ._
Can I use the monitor as aviewfinder? Live view
......................................................······························c.·,·······<,··········· :
Can Icontrol how photos are prc)cesse~a7 Picture Controls
~-- .. . ', , ..
How do Ipreserve details in shadows a
highlights?
.. - .. -_ _-,_ _ .. ~ _ _ .
How do Ifocus on erratically moving
subjects?
Can Iadjust focus separately for different
lenses?
...... ~ _.; ~ .. _ ~ + .
How do Iremove dust the 1r\\A.'_n.:>cc Cleaning the low-pass
filter protecting the image sensor? filter
II Camera Setup
Question Key phrase
Seepage
How do Ifocus the v;evvfinder? Viewfinder focus 43
How
do Ikeep the monitor from turning
Monitor off delay 280
off?
How
do Ikeep the shutter speed and Auto meter
off 46,279
aperture displays from
turning off?
......_ ............................. ·_····"·v···,,,··
.
IV

Question
Key phrase
See page
How do Iset the clock?
How do Iset the clock for daylight
savings time? World
time
36,316
How do Ichange time zones when I
travel?
How do Iadjust monitor brightness for
LCD brightness 313
menus
or playback?
How do Irestore default settings?
Two-button reset
•
184
How do Irestore shooting menu Reset shooting menu •
defaults? 257
How do Irestore Custom Setting
Reset custom settings 266
defaults?
How do Ichange the self-timer delay? mer delay 280
How do I turn the speaker Beep
281
Can Ireverse the electronic analog ·
Reverse indicators
311
exposure display?
Can Idisplay the menus in a different
Language 316
language?
Can I save menu settings fo use on aSave/load settings 325
different
0300 camera?
II Menus and Displays
Question
Key phrase See page
H d It· r -~:~~
ow 0ge more IIIIUlllldllUII on aHelp
29
menu?
How do Iuse the menus? Using
th menus 24
What dthese indicators mean? Viewfinder, control
What
illlUlllldliun is in th ::ihuudng panel, shooting
8, 10, 12
information display? information display
What does this warning mean? Error messages and 388
displays
How much charge does the battery have Battery level 44
left? I
v

Battery info
Cleaning
the camera
File
number sequence
370
283
322
Question
",' ,_, ., w'_, 'w._ · .. _'., .. ,_ .. __ .. _'. " .. " ' '.'w.... ,~._ w'.·, · ··,4,., __ .' ,..
How do I get more information about
battery?
..................................." · .. •• ..· · .. c···· •w .. • _ •• , •••• , .••• , , ;........ ' .
How do Ikeep the Ie number from
being reset when Iinsert a
new memory
card? .',.., ".. "
How do Ireset file numbering to zero?
",, __ ,'" ..... _ .... __ ._.,, __ , __ •.. _ .. ,... '.",,"H' •••• _. ,,_~ .... _ .... _
How do Iclean the camera or lens?
II Taking Photographs
74
98
61
108
56,60
." .•• y .
76,282
91
96
See page
45
Shooting speed
Self-timer
mode
ISO sensitivity
:
Release mode
,remaining
llmage quality and size
How do Ifreeze or blur moving objects?
....... - - --........•................. -.- ...................•.......
Question Key phrase
How many more shots can Itake with this Number exposures
card?
How
do Itake bigger photographs?
•• " ••••••••••••••• _. ~ •••••••• '_"._._._,_.~ __ ._, __ ••• ..- ••• - ••••• " ',~~w- • __ ~· - •• ".
How can I get more photos on the
memory card?
.........................
Can Icontrol how the camera focuses? Autofocus
. . . - - .. - - .
How do Itake a lot of photographs
quickly?
.... ,._ ... _._. __ .... -N~',. Y~'WV_'
Can Ichange the frame advance rate?
Can Ishoot aself-portrait?
..... - _-- -.
Can Itake pictures under low light
without the flash?
....................................... ,.............. ", , ", , , , ..
Can the ISO sensitivity Ichoose be ISO sensitivity auto
adjusted
to ensure optimal exposure? control
•• "'~~ .••••.. ~ __ ~_. , ._.~~. __ • ·· .. n __ ~~_'~._ •• _._._ •• •• ~. , , -. ,w , ••• " _ _" _-. ~,,_ .. __ . .• __
Exposure mode 5
(shutter-priority auto)
How
do Iblur background details or keep Exposure
mode A
both foreground and background in 109
focus? (aperture-priority auto)
.... , _...... , , , , , , , ,, , , ,.
.
VI

Question
Key phrase See page
Can Iset both shutterspeed and aperture Exposure
mode 11
111
manually? (manual)
Can Imake fJhUlU::> brigh or darker?
.•........................•.....• y." ............
Exposure compensation 116
•• ~~< •• " •• ~ •••• " .... ', ••••••••••••• " •••• ~ •.••• ""---. •••.•.•• , •• ,,, •••••••
'.
,--
How do Imake a time exposure? Long time-exposures 113
Can Ivary exposure or fI, ;h level Exposure and flash 119,298
automatically over aseries of photos? bracketing
Can Icreate multiple copies of a photo
White balance 123,298
using different white balance settings? bracketing
.. , .••..... , •.•..•••..• ·······.····,,·· __ ·'v··.· .. ··············•· •••• v .. ,~ •••. ~ •• ·,.. >_· .... ·_.·._ •• ·- •• "w .. '"' .••••.••.•.•••. , ...... _ ...... , .. ~._.~.~~.~~ .•. " .............
....,...... _~._.~"'- ...... ~'.~ ., .... -, ......
_._ ... _........ '~
How do Iadjust white balance? White balance 127
:h afl
;h?
~' .. , ~,,~ .. ~_.
.... " .. ,-.-
Can Itake pictures Flash photography,flash 173
mode, red-eye
....... _--_ •.. .-' ...•...
How can Ireduce "red-eye"? 176
reduction
·····.A.· __ •
············~·_·· .. ·.··_·._v
............ '" ....... ~ ... ···,,············ __ ··_······· .. ·······~·"'_·,,···,·w··_· .. ·.......• ······················w·" " ... "....,.............
-- '"
. ....... _~--~---~~---._._.-~. ..
How can Irecord multiple shots as a
Multiple exposure 186
single photograph?
Can Ipick the standard exposure level? Fine
tune optimal
277
exposure
How can Ireduce blur? Exposure delay
mode
285
Can the flash hused at shutter speeds
Flash sync speed 288
faster than 11250 s?
.... .. d.·."_·..... -. ......
II Viewing Photographs
Question
Key phrase See page
Can I view my photographs on the
Camera playback 206
camera?
Can I view more information about
Photo info 208
photos?
Why
do parts of my photos blink? •Photo info, highlights 209,250
..
VII

252
250
251
249
250
221
220
248
See page
222
..... - .:,.., .
Slide show
Protect
.Playback zoom
Key phrase
:Deleting individual
,photos
Delete
Question
...................................... ---.--- _-.- , .. -.-_ ..
Can I view photos as they are taken?
..... __ ~ ... .. ""·v ...... "'_. __ ~ ...... ~ .. " ~ .... ,,.y, ... ._, ... _~. y--.
Is there an automatic playback ("slide
show") option?
How do Itell where the camera focused?
••••••••• , •• ~ ••••••••••• '.'''''' ·A~ .. ··.. • " , _. • •
Can Idelete several photos at once?
. ~....... . ~ .. " ~ _-._-_ ~_ ~ -.-.- .. ~ ".
Can Izoom in on pictures to make sure
they're in focus?
......... .. .. .. ".. .. .... _.- ....
Can I protect photos from accidental
deletion?
................................................... ~-.- - -.y ..
Can Ihide selected photos? Hide image
........................
How do Itell if parts of myphotos may be Display mode:
overexposed? :highlights
Display mode: focus
point
Image review
How do I get rid of an unwanted photo?
II Retouching Photographs
-----.~y~---
Question Key phrase Seepage
How do Ibring out details in shaduw:)7 D-Lighting 334
,
............................. ~ ..........".............................. ,.... ---~ ............ _- .. ... - .... _-- ........... ..................... ~ ................... ~ ...•... _....
._ .. - ..
Can I get rid of red eye? Red-eye correction 335
Can Icrop photographs on the camera? Trim ,336
.......
. ................................
Can Icreate a monochrome copy of a
Monochrome
337
photograph?
_A _~_ • ... J_____ ·_~ •• _· _______ ,_v .. ·, .... ,_,~_ ..
Filter effeLl:>
~-~--~.~~"
Can Icreate acopy with different colors? 338
.- ~.,_.,,_ ,·~··, ___ · ..... ~·""'~. ____ y·"·.....,... A· __ .y·~_r·._
Can Iuse the camera to create JPEG
Color balance 338
copies of NEF (RAW) photographs?
.................. -..........- ...........
..........................- .......... - ..........
Can Ioverlay two photos to make asingle Image overlay 339
image?
viii