Nikon D7100 User manual

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GaryHewett&DavidSmall
17January2016
NikonD‐7100
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TheNikonD‐7100isaverysophisticatedcameracapableoftakinghighqualitypicturesinawidevariety
ofsituations.Thoughthecameraappearsquitecomplicated,withjustalittletraining,youcanbetaking
greatpicturesveryshortly.
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ThisdocumentisanaidetogoalongwithhandsontrainingontheNikonD‐7100.Thisisnotmeantto
beacompleteinstructionmanual.Manualsexist
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CHECKLIST:
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1. Ensurethatthecamerabatteryisfullychargedandthatanextrabatteryisbroughtalong.
2. MakesurethattwoSDcardsareintheirslotsandthatthetopofthecamerashowsthatatleast
500picturescanbetaken.
3. Verifyphotosizeandqualitypercustomerrequest.UsuallysettoJPEGFineunlessotherwise
directed.
4. SetISOto800andWhiteBalance(WB)to“A”.
5. Makesurethatfocusissettoautounlessyouspecificallywillmanuallyfocus.
6. ImageStabilization(OS)shouldbesetto“On”.
7. Makesurethatthelensfilteriscleananddoesn’thaveanydebrisorfingerprints
8. MounttheGPSonthehotshoeandplugthecableintothelowerrightsideofthecamera.
9. TakethecameraoutsidetoverifyGPSsignal.
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BasicCameraControls
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Camerasettingscanbeviewedeitherthroughtheviewfinderbylightlypressingtheshutterbuttonorby
pressingthe“info”buttononthelowerleftofthebackofthecamera.
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Turnthecameraonbyslidingleverto“on”
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WB(WhiteBalance),QUAL(ity)andISOcanbechangedbypressingandholdingbuttonsjusttothe
lowerleftofwritingonthecamera
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“WB”etcthenusethethumb(back)wheeltochangevaluesandtheforefinger(front)wheelto
changeoverallsetting.WB=leaveon“A”forAuto–usethumbwheeltochange.Forefingerwheel
changescustomsettingsandshouldbeon“0”
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QUAL=“L”&“FINE”–unlesssomethingelseisspecificallyrequested.
 Thethumbwheelchanges“Fine”,“Norm”&“Basic”
 Theforefingerwheelchanges“L”,“M”&“S”
 ThesmallestpossibleimagesizeiswiththeSize=“S”andJPEG=“Basic”~1.2Mb
 NormalpicturesizewithSize=“L”andJPEG=“Fine”~5.5Mb
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ISO=Shouldbesetat800formostuses.Thethumbwheelchangesvalues,andtheforefingerwheel
changesbetween“ISO”and“ISO‐AUTO”.Leaveon“ISO”formostuses,whichlockstheISOto800.

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TopviewofLCDwhile“WB”ispressed.
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LensSwitches:
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LensLock–needstobeoff(slideistowardfrontoflenswhenoff)
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AF‐M–shouldbeonAF(auto‐focus).Focuscanbeconfirmedbythepresenceofsmall
blackrectangleinviewfinderwithshutterlightly.M(Manual)canbeusedforaerial
photography.Thefocusringcanbesettothe∞(infinity)sengwhenthe“M”modeis
usedtoensurethatobjectsmorethanabout100feetawayarealwaysinfocus.NEVER
twistthefocusringifthesettingison”AF”.AF‐Monthecamerabodyneedstomatch
thelenssetting.
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“OS”–On‐Off–shouldbe“ON”–imagestabilization
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Leavedialon“S”forsingleshotformostpurposes.“CL”and“CH”arelowandhighburstmodes
andgenerallyshouldn’tbeused.
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Thereisadioptersettingsothatthecameraviewcanbesetforindividualeyesight.Changing
thediopterDOESNOTchangeanyofthecamerapicturessettings.Ifyouusethedioptertoget
aclearviewthroughtheviewfinder,pleasedoacourtesyandresetitforthenextuser.
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Usethe“P”(Program)dialsettingwherethecameradeterminesthebestshutterspeedandF‐stop.
Othersettingssuchas“M”(manual),“A”(aperturepriority),“S”(shutterpriority)shouldonlybeusedif
oneisthoroughlyfamiliarwiththecamera.Don’tusethegreencameraiconwith“auto”overit
becauseitwilltryusingflashwhichisnotappropriateforaerialphotography.
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Topviewofcamera.Fromlefttoright;exposurecontrolknobandLCDScreenshowstypicalsettings.
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LCDPanelindicatorwhencameraisturnedon:
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 Batterycharge–makesurefullychargedbeforegoingonmission
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  Picturesize/Quality   SDCardused
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WhiteBalanceISO‐AUTO(shouldbeoff)
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RemainingPictures
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ExposuremodeShutterSpeed
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FocusmodeF‐Stop
(p75manual)
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Viewwiththe“QUAL”buttonpressedwhereimagequalitycanbeadjusted.Notethatthenumber
“697”isthenumberofremainingpicturesthatcanbefitontheSDCardsinthecameraatsettingofL
(JPEGquality)andFINE(quality)selected.
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LCDscreenshowingISOsetting–“ISO”buttononbackofcamerabeingheld)
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SideviewofcamerashowingdoorforSDCards
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DooropenandSDcardshalfwayout–makesurethattheyarefullyinsertedandstayflushwiththe
camerabody.Thetopcardiswrittentofirst.
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Thecameraholds2SDcards(16Ginthiscase).Intypicalusethetopcardrecordspicturesfirstand
whenitisfullthebottomcardisused.Alternatesettingsareavailablewherecopiesarekeptonboth
cardsorwhereonecardisusedforhighestqualitypictureandtheotherforalowerquality.These
optionsareaccessedthroughthemenu.Pressthe“menu”buttononthebackofthecamerathenselect
thecameraicon“ShootingMenu”usingthejoystick.Nextpressthejoystickrightandtoggledownto
“RoleplayedbycardinSlot2”.Togglerightandthethreeoptionswillshow.Select“overflow”formost
usesandpress“ok”incenterofjoysticktoconfirmsetting.Lightlypresstheshuttertogetoutofthe
menu.
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Thisscreenshowswhenthe“info”buttonispushed(seepage241inNikonmanual)
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A“MENU”Screen
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9
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UsingtheGPS:
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TheD‐7100kitincludestheNikonGP‐1aGPSmodulethatfitsintotheflashshoeontopofthe
camera.
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 TheGPSmustbemountedonthecamerainordertorecordlocationinformation
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1. SlidetheGPSintothehotshoeslotontheverytopofthecamera.
2. Plugthecableintothereceptacleattheverybottomleftsideofthecamera.Ensurethat
theplugisfirmlypushedin.
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3. Turnthecameraon.AredlightwillstartblinkingonthebackoftheGPSunit.OnceaGPS
signallockhasbeenachievedthelightwillturntosolidgreen(blinkinggreenmeansthatit
almosthasagoodlock).Youmayneedtotakethecameraoutsidewithaclearviewofthe
skyforabout5minutestogetagoodsignallock.
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10
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4. MakesurethatthecamerasettingsareappropriatefortheGPS.Pressthe“Menu”button
ontheupperleftofthecameraback.
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5. Usingthe“toggle”wheelhighlightthe“notepad”onthelowerleftofthescreen.
6. Highlight“GPS”inthemenuthentoggleright.Notethatboth“Standbytimer”and“Usethe
GPStosetcameraclock”areturned“ON”
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