Nikon D90 - Digital Camera SLR User manual

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CHAPTER
Exploring the
Nikon D90
This chapter covers the key components of the Nikon
D90. These are the features that are most readily acces-
sible because they’re situated on the outside of the camera:
the buttons, knobs, switches, and dials.
If you’re upgrading from another Nikon dSLR, some of this
may seem like review, but there are some new features that
you may or may not be aware of, so a quick read-through is a
good idea even if you’re an experienced Nikon dSLR user.
For those of you who are new to the world of dSLRs, this chap-
ter is a great way to become acquainted with some of the terms
that are used in conjunction with your new camera.
So, let’s explore the D90!
Key Components of the D90
If you’ve read the Quick Tour, you should be pretty familiar
with the buttons and switches that you need for basic set-
tings. In this section, you look at the camera from all sides and
break down the layout so that you know what everything on
the camera’s surface does.
This section doesn’t cover the menus (see Chapter 3), only
the exterior controls. Although there are many features you
can access with just the push of a button, you can usually
change the same setting inside of a menu option. While the
D90 doesn’t have the same amount of buttons as some of its
bigger siblings in the Nikon line, it does have quite a few of
them. Knowing exactly what these buttons do can save you a
lot of time and help you to not miss out on getting a shot.
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
In This Chapter
Key components of
the D90
The D90 DX CMOS
sensor
Viewfinder display
Control panel
Shooting Info Display
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
COPYRIGHTEDMATERIAL

12 Part I ✦Using the Nikon D90
pressing this button activates the
camera’s autofocusing and light
meter. When you fully depress this
button, the shutter is released and
a photograph is taken. When the
camera has been idle and has gone
to sleep, lightly pressing the Shutter
Release button wakes up the cam-
era. When the image review is on,
lightly pressing the Shutter Release
button turns off the LCD and pre-
pares the camera for another shot.
✦ On/Off switch/LCD illuminator.
This switch, which surrounds the
Shutter Release button, is used to
turn the camera on and off. Push
the switch all the way to the left to
turn off the camera. Pull the switch
to the right to turn your camera on.
This button also has a spring-
loaded switch that, when pulled all
the way to the right, lights up the
LCD control panel on the top of the
camera for viewing in dim light.
You can also set this momentary
switch to light up the LCD control
panel and show the Shooting Info
Display on the rear LCD in the
Custom Setting menu (CSM f1).
✦ Metering mode button. This but-
ton is used to choose the Metering
mode. Press this button and then
rotate the Main Command dial
until the desired mode appears on
the LCD control panel. You can
choose Matrix, Center-weighted, or
Spot metering. This button also
doubles as one of the two-button
format buttons.
Top of the camera
The top of the D90 is where you find some
of the most important buttons and dials.
This is where you can change the Shooting
mode and press the Shutter Release to take
your photo. Also included in this section is a
brief description of some of the things you
find on the top of the lens.
Although your lens may vary, most
of the features are quite similar
from lens to lens.
✦ Mode dial. This is an important dial.
Rotating this dial allows you to
quickly change your Shooting mode.
You can choose one of the Scene
modes or one of the semiautomatic
modes or you can choose to manu-
ally set the exposure.
For more on the Exposure modes,
see Chapter 2.
✦ Focal plane mark. The focal plane
mark shows you where the plane
of the image sensor is inside the
camera. The sensor isn’t exactly
where the mark is; the sensor is
directly behind the lens opening.
When doing certain types of pho-
tography, particularly macro pho-
tography by using a bellows lens,
you need to measure the length of
the bellows from the front element
of the lens to the focal plane. This
is where the focal plane mark
comes in handy.
✦ Shutter Release button. In my
opinion, this is the most important
button on the camera. Halfway

Chapter 1 ✦Exploring the Nikon D90 13
Command dial to the right
decreases the exposure, while turn-
ing the dial to the left increases the
exposure.
You can reset the camera to its
default settings by pressing the
Exposure Compensation button
and the AF mode button at the
same time and holding them down
for about 2 seconds.
For more on Metering modes, see
Chapter 2.
✦ Exposure Compensation button.
Pressing this button in conjunction
with rotating the Main Command
dial allows you to modify the expo-
sure that’s set by the D90’s light
meter or the exposure you set in
Manual mode. Turning the Main
Focal length indicators
Mode dial
Focal plane mark
Hot shoe
LCD control panel
Autofocus (AF) mode button
Release mode button
Exposure Compensation
button
Zoom ring Focus ring
Metering mode button On/Off switch/LCD illuminator
Shutter Release button
Image courtesy of Nikon
1.1 Top-of-the-camera controls

14 Part I ✦Using the Nikon D90
the high-end Nikkor AF-S lenses
that have M/A–A switches, you can
manually adjust the focus at any
time. On other lenses — typically
older, low-end AF-S lenses that
have an A-M switch, such as the
Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 and
non-Nikon lenses — you must
switch the lens to Manual mode or
disable the focusing mechanism by
using the AF/M switch on the cam-
era body. With the kit lens, you
must switch to Manual mode.
Rotating the focus ring while the
lens is set to Autofocus can dam-
age your lens and/or camera.
✦ Zoom ring. Rotating the zoom ring
allows you to change the focal
length of the lens. Prime lenses
don’t have a zoom ring.
✦ Focal length indicators. These
numbers indicate to which focal
length in millimeters your lens is
zoomed.
For more on lenses, see Chapter 4.
Back of the camera
The back of the camera is where you find
the buttons that mainly control playback
and menu options, although there are a few
buttons that control some of the shooting
functions.
Most of the buttons have more than one
function — a lot of them are used in con-
junction with the Main Command dial or
✦ Release mode button. Pressing
this button and then rotating the
Main Command dial changes the
Release mode of the camera. You
can choose from Single Frame,
Continuous Low Speed,
Continuous High Speed, Self-timer,
Delayed Remote, and Quick
Remote. In order to use the remote
function, you must purchase an
ML-L3 wireless infrared remote.
✦ AF (Autofocus) mode button.
Pressing this button and then rotat-
ing the Main Command dial allows
you to choose the AF mode. Your
choices are AF-A, AF-S, or AF-C.
For more on the ML-L3 wireless
infrared remote, see Appendix A. For
more on AF modes, see Chapter 2.
✦ LCD control panel. This mono-
chrome LCD panel displays camera
settings. This feature is covered
later in this chapter.
✦ Hot shoe. This is where an acces-
sory flash is attached to the camera
body. The hot shoe has an elec-
tronic contact that tells the flash to
fire when the shutter is released.
There are also a number of other
electronic contacts that allow the
camera to communicate with the
flash to enable the automated fea-
tures of a dedicated flash unit, such
as Nikon’s brand-new SB-900
Speedlight.
✦ Focus ring. Rotating the focus ring
enables you to manually focus the
camera. With some lenses, such as

Chapter 1 ✦Exploring the Nikon D90 15
✦ Viewfinder. This is what you look
through to compose your photo-
graphs. Light coming through the
lens is reflected through a pen-
taprism, which enables you to see
exactly what you’re shooting (as
opposed to a rangefinder camera,
which gives you an approximate
view). Around the viewfinder is a
rubber eyepiece that serves to give
you a softer place to rest your eye
and to block any extra light from
entering the viewfinder as you
compose and shoot your images.
the Multi-selector. You also find several key
features on the back of the camera, includ-
ing the all-important viewfinder and LCD:
✦ LCD. This is the most obvious fea-
ture on the back of the camera.
This 3-inch, 920,000-dot liquid
crystal display (LCD) screen is a
very bright, high-resolution screen
that’s the same as the higher-end
D3, D700, and D300 Nikon cam-
eras. The LCD is where you review
your images after shooting. The
Shooting Info Display also appears
here, and this is where you view all
the menus.
Delete button
Memory card access lamp
Main Command
dial
Viewfinder
Diopter adjustment control
AE-L/AF-L
Live View button
Multi-selector
OK button
Focus selector lock
Information button
LCD
Quality/Zoom In button
ISO/Thumbnail/
Zoom Out button
White Balance/
Help/Protect
Menu button
Playback button
Image courtesy of Nikon
1.2 Back-of-the-camera controls

16 Part I ✦Using the Nikon D90
Setting the AE-L/AF-L button to AE
Lock (hold) when shooting video
allows you to lock the exposure so
that the video doesn’t fluctuate
between light and dark when film-
ing in a setting with areas that have
high contrast between the highlights
and shadows, such as with spot-
lights at a performance or under
dappled sunlight.
✦ Live View (Lv) button. Pressing
this button activates the Live View
function. Pressing the button a sec-
ond time disables Live View and
returns the camera to the standard
Shooting mode.
✦ Multi-selector. The Multi-selector
also serves a few different pur-
poses. In Playback mode, the Multi-
selector is used to scroll through
the photographs you’ve taken, and
it can also be used to view image
information, such as histograms
and shooting settings. When in cer-
tain Shooting modes, the Multi-
selector can be used to change the
active focus point when in Single
Point or Dynamic Area AF mode.
You also use the Multi-selector to
navigate the camera’s menus.
✦ OK button. When in Menu mode,
press this button to select the
menu item that’s highlighted. When
Live View is activated, pressing this
button starts recording video by
using D-Movie mode.
For more on D-Movie mode, see
Chapter 7.
✦ Focus selector lock. This switch
allows you to lock the selected
focus area so that it can’t be acci-
dentally changed.
✦ Diopter adjustment control. Just
to the right of the viewfinder is the
diopter adjustment control. Use
this control to adjust the viewfinder
lens to suit your individual vision
differences (not everyone’s eyesight
is the same). To adjust this, look
through the viewfinder and then
rotate the diopter control until the
viewfinder information is sharp.
You can also press the Shutter
Release button halfway to focus on
something. If what you see in the
viewfinder isn’t quite sharp, rotate
the diopter control up or down
until everything appears in focus.
✦ AE-L/AF-L. The Autoexposure/
Autofocus Lock button is used to
lock the Autoexposure (AE) and
Autofocus (AF). You can also cus-
tomize the button to lock only the
AE or only the AF. It can also be set
to lock the exposure with a single
press and reset with a second press
(AE Lock (hold)). You can set the
button to initiate AF (AF-On) and to
lock the flash exposure value (FV
Lock). This can be set using CSM f4.
For more on customizing the AE-L/
AF-L button, see Chapter 3.
✦ Main Command dial. This dial is
used to change a variety of settings
depending on which button you
press in conjunction with it. By
default, it’s used to change the
shutter speed when in Shutter
Priority and Manual modes. It’s also
used to adjust exposure compensa-
tion as well as change the Release,
AF, and Flash modes.

Chapter 1 ✦Exploring the Nikon D90 17
✦ Playback button. Pressing this but-
ton displays the most recently
taken photograph. You can also
view other pictures by pressing the
Multi-selector left or right.
✦ Menu button. Press this button to
access the D90 menu options.
There are a number of different
menus, including Playback,
Shooting, Custom Setting, Setup,
Retouch, and Recent Settings/My
Menu. Use the Multi-selector to
choose the menu you want to
view.
✦ White Balance/Help/Protect. This
button has the icon of a key and
question mark on it. Above it is WB.
This button actually has a few differ-
ent uses. When in Shooting mode,
press this button and then rotate
the Main Command dial to change
the white balance (WB) setting.
Rotating the Sub-command dial
allows you to fine-tune the current
WB setting, making it warmer or
cooler. The WB setting can only be
changed when using the M, A, S,
and P settings. When in Playback
mode, this button is used to lock an
image to prevent it from accidentally
being erased. When viewing the
image you want to protect, simply
press this button. A small key icon is
displayed in the upper right-hand
corner of images that are protected.
When viewing the menu options or
when the camera is set to a Scene
mode, pressing this button displays
a help screen that explains the func-
tions of that particular menu option
or Scene mode.
✦ Information (info) button.
Pressing this button causes the
Shooting Info Display to appear.
This shows some camera settings,
such as aperture, shutter speed,
and others. Pressing the Shutter
Release button lightly returns you
to the default Shooting mode.
Press this button again while view-
ing the Shooting Info Display to
enter the Quick Settings Display,
which allows you to quickly access
some commonly used features. The
Shooting Info Display and Quick
Settings Display are discussed later
in this chapter.
✦ Memory card access lamp. When
this light is blinking, the camera is
transferring data to the memory
card. Under no circumstances
should the memory card be
removed when this is lit. This can
damage your camera or the card
and will almost certainly result in a
loss of images.
✦ Delete button. When reviewing
your pictures, if you find some that
you don’t want to keep, you can
delete them by pressing the button
marked with a trash can icon. To
prevent accidental deletion of
images, the camera displays a dia-
log box asking you to confirm that
you want to erase the picture. Press
the Delete button a second time to
permanently erase the image.
You can format the SD card by
pressing the Metering mode button
and the Delete button at the same
time and holding them down for
about 2 seconds then release the
buttons and press them again.

18 Part I ✦Using the Nikon D90
Depending on how much you’ve
zoomed in, you may have to press
the Zoom Out button multiple
times.
Front of the camera
The front of the D90 (lens facing you) is
where you find the buttons to quickly adjust
the flash settings, bracketing, and some
focusing options, and with certain lenses,
you find some buttons that control focusing
and Vibration Reduction (VR).
Right front
✦ Flash pop-up button/Flash mode
button/Flash Exposure
Compensation button. Press this
button to open and activate the
built-in Speedlight when in M, A, S,
or P mode. Rotate the Main
Command dial to change the Flash
mode, and rotate the Sub-
command dial to adjust the Flash
Exposure Compensation (FEC) but-
ton. When using Scene modes, this
button functions differently for dif-
ferent modes.
For more on Scene modes, see
Chapter 2.
✦ Bracketing (BKT) button. This but-
ton allows you to activate exposure
bracketing. Pressing this button and
then rotating the Main Command
dial, you can set the number of
bracketed exposures. You can
bracket up to three frames. The
choices are 3 frames (metered,
over, under), –2 (metered, under),
and +2 (metered, over). Pressing
this button and then rotating the
Sub-command dial allows you to
✦ ISO/Thumbnail/Zoom Out button.
When the camera is in Shooting
mode, pressing this button allows
you to manually adjust the ISO sen-
sitivity. When using a Scene mode
in which the Auto ISO function is
set, using this option allows you to
override the Auto ISO setting. In
Playback mode, pressing this but-
ton allows you to go from full-
frame playback (or viewing the
whole image) to viewing thumb-
nails. You can view either four,
nine, or 72 thumbnails on a page.
Pressing this button a fourth time
shows a calendar view that displays
images taken on a specific day.
When you’re zoomed into an image
during playback or Live View, this
button allows you to zoom out.
✦ Quality (QUAL)/Zoom In button.
When in Shooting mode, press this
button and then rotate the Main
Command dial to change the
image quality and JPEG compres-
sion. You can choose from RAW,
fine, normal, or basic JPEG or RAW
+ fine, normal, or basic JPEG.
Rotating the Sub-command dial
allows you to choose the size of
your JPEG files: Large, Medium, or
Small. When reviewing your
images, you can press the Zoom In
button to get a closer look at the
details of your image. This is a
handy feature for checking the
sharpness and focus of your shot.
When zoomed in, use the Multi-
selector to navigate around within
the image. To view your other
images at the same zoom ratio, you
can rotate the Main Command dial.
To return to full-frame playback,
press the Zoom Out button.

Chapter 1 ✦Exploring the Nikon D90 19
✦ Lens Release button. This button
disengages the locking mechanism
of the lens, allowing you to rotate
and remove the lens from the lens
mount.
✦ Lens Focus mode selector. This
switch is used to quickly choose
between using the lens in Auto or
Manual mode. Not all lenses are
equipped with these switches.
choose the exposure value increment
(EV). These are adjusted in 1/3-stop
increments from 0.3 EV to 2.0 EV.
For more information on bracketing,
see Chapter 5.
✦ Microphone. This built-in con-
denser microphone allows you to
record sound when shooting video.
✦ Infrared receiver. This allows you
to wirelessly control the Shutter
Release by using the optional
ML-L3 wireless infrared remote.
Focus mode selector
Lens Release
button
Flash pop-up button/Flash mode button/
Flash Exposure Compensation button
Bracketing
button
Vibration Reduction switch
Lens Focus mode selector
Microphone
Infrared receiver
Image courtesy of Nikon
1.3 Front-right camera controls

20 Part I ✦Using the Nikon D90
pictures in low-light situations.
Although not as versatile as one of
the external Nikon Speedlights,
such as the SB-900, SB-800, or
SB-600, the built-in flash can be
used very effectively and is great for
snapshots. You can also use the
built-in flash as the commander for
wireless remote flash.
For more on using flash, see
Chapter 6.
✦ AF-assist illuminator. This is an
LED (light-emitting diode) that
shines on the subject to help the
camera focus when the lighting is
✦ VR switch. This allows you to turn
the Vibration Reduction (VR) on or
off (if your lens is VR-equipped).
When shooting in bright light with
fast shutter speeds or using a tripod,
it’s best to turn the VR off to reduce
battery consumption.
✦ Focus mode selector. This switch
is used to choose between using
the lens in Auto or Manual mode.
You also use this switch if a lens
doesn’t have its own switch, such
as a non-AF-S lens.
Left front
✦ Built-in flash. This is a handy fea-
ture that allows you to take sharp
Depth of Field Preview button
Function button
Sub-command dial
AF-assist illuminator Built-in flash
Image courtesy of Nikon
1.4 Left-front camera controls

Chapter 1 ✦Exploring the Nikon D90 21
Sides and bottom
of camera
The sides and bottom of the camera have
places for connecting and inserting things,
such as cables, batteries, and memory cards.
Right side
On the camera’s right side (lens facing you)
are the D90’s output terminals. These are
used to connect your camera to a computer
or to an external source for viewing your
images directly from the camera.
These terminals are hidden under a plastic
cover that helps keep out dust and moisture:
✦ DC in. This AC adapter input con-
nection allows you to plug the D90
into a standard electrical outlet by
using the Nikon EH-5 or EH-5a
AC-to-DC adapter. This allows you
to operate the camera without
draining your batteries. The AC
adapter is available separately from
Nikon.
✦ USB port. This is where the USB
cable plugs in to attach the camera
to your computer to transfer or
print images straight from the cam-
era. The USB cable is also used to
connect the camera to the com-
puter when using Nikon’s optional
Camera Control Pro 2 software.
✦ HDMI out. The high-definition
video output terminal is used to
connect the camera to a high-
definition TV (HDTV). The camera is
connected with an optional Type C
mini-pin HDMI cable that can be
purchased at an electronics store.
dim. The AF-assist illuminator only
lights when in Single Focus mode
(AF-S) or Autofocus mode (AF-A)
when using the center AF point.
When using M, A, S, or P, the
AF-assist illuminator can be
switched on or off in CSM a3.
When using a Scene mode, this
is set automatically.
✦ Function (Fn) button. This button
can be assigned to provide differ-
ent functions. You can set the but-
ton to display a framing grid in the
viewfinder, change the AF Area
mode, move the focus point to the
center, lock the flash exposure
value (FV Lock), switch the flash
off, change Metering modes, access
the top My Menu item, or shoot a
RAW file in conjunction with the
current JPEG setting. The Function
(Fn) button can be assigned to a
specific function in CSM f3.
✦ Depth of Field Preview button.
Also known simply as the Preview
button, pressing this button stops
down the aperture of the lens so
you can preview how much of the
subject is in focus. The image in the
viewfinder gets darker as the aper-
ture decreases.
✦ Sub-command dial. By default, this
dial is used to change the aperture
setting. Pressing the WB button and
then rotating this dial fine-tunes the
current WB setting. When set to PRE
WB, rotating this dial allows you to
select from one of the five available
custom presets that you can save.

22 Part I ✦Using the Nikon D90
Memory card slot cover
Built-in speaker
Image courtesy of Nikon
1.6 Memory card slot cover and speaker
DC in
USB port
HDMI out
Video-out port
Accessory terminal
Image courtesy of Nikon
1.5 The D90’s output terminals

Chapter 1 ✦Exploring the Nikon D90 23
opens it so you can insert or remove your
memory card. Also located here is the
speaker that’s used when playing back
D-Movie videos.
Bottom
The bottom of the camera has a couple of
features that are quite important:
✦ Battery chamber cover. This
covers the chamber that holds the
EN-EL3e battery that’s supplied
with your D90.
✦ Tripod socket. This is where you
attach a tripod or monopod to help
steady your camera.
✦ Video out. This connection, officially
called standard video output, is used
to connect the camera to a standard
TV or VCR for viewing your images
on-screen. The D90 is connected
with the EG-D100 video cable that’s
supplied with the camera.
✦ Accessory terminal. This port is
used to connect the optional Nikon
GP-1 GPS unit or the remote
MC-DC2 cord.
For more on optional accessories,
see Appendix A.
Left side
On the left side of the camera (lens facing
you) is the memory card slot cover. Sliding
this door toward the back of the camera
Battery chamber cover
Tripod socket
Image courtesy of Nikon
1.7 The bottom of the D90

24 Part I ✦Using the Nikon D90
For more on DX sensor and crop
factor, see Chapter 4.
From analog to digital
Believe it or not, digital image sensors are
actually analog devices that capture light just
like emulsion on a piece of film. When the
shutter opens, light from the scene that you’re
photographing, whether sunlight or flash, trav-
els through the lens and projects (hopefully in
focus) onto the sensor. Each sensor has mil-
lions of pixels, which act as a receptacle that
collects individual photons of light. A photon is
a quantum particle of light, which is a form of
electromagnetic radiation. The more photons
the pixel collects, the brighter the area is; con-
versely, if the pixel doesn’t collect a lot of pho-
tons, the area is dark.
Each pixel has a photodiode that converts
these photons into minute electrical charges
that the Analog/Digital (A/D) converter
reads. The A/D converter renders this ana-
log data into digital data that can be utilized
by Nikon’s EXPEED imaging processor.
Image courtesy of Nikon
1.8 The D90 12.3-MGP DX-format CMOS
sensor
The D90 CMOS
Sensor
The imaging sensor is one of the most impor-
tant parts of the camera and unfortunately
also one of the most misunderstood. Not
many people understand how these sensors
work and what the differences are between
the two most common types of sensors —
CMOS and CCD — so this section sheds some
light (no pun intended) on exactly what’s
going on when the sensor is exposed.
The Nikon D90 has a 12.3-megapixel CMOS
sensor with an integrated dust reduction
system. The D90 sensor is an APS-C-sized
sensor. APS (Advanced Photo System) is a
film format that was designed by Kodak to
make photography easier for amateurs by
allowing the photographer to control the
image aspect ratio in the camera. The nega-
tives were smaller than standard 35mm
negatives. There were three image sizes that
you could choose from: APS-H (30.2mm ×
16.7mm) 16:9; APS-C (25.1mm ×16.7mm)
3:2; and APS-P (30.2mm ×9.5mm) 3:1. The
D90 sensor is actually a bit smaller than the
standard APS-C film, being 23.6mm ×
15.8mm, but still has the 3:2 aspect ratio.
Nikon refers to this sensor size in its propri-
etary term of DX, so from here on out, I refer
to the sensor size as DX.
The reason for these smaller DX sensors is
that manufacturing these sensors made from
silicon was (and still is to an extent) very
expensive, and reducing the size of the for-
mat from 36mm ×24mm (35mm film size)
to APS-C allowed camera manufacturers to
produce dSLRs at more affordable prices.

Chapter 1 ✦Exploring the Nikon D90 25
power than CCD sensors. Multiple channels
of sensor data can also be sent out at the
same time, so the CMOS sensor can send the
data to the A/D converter much faster. CMOS
chips are also cheaper to manufacture than
CCD chips.
Pixels
The more pixels the sensor has, the higher
the resolution of the sensor. However, pack-
ing more pixels onto a sensor means that
although the resolution is higher, each pixel
becomes less effective at gathering light
because it’s much smaller. A larger pixel is
more effective at gathering photons; there-
fore, you get a wider dynamic range and a
better signal-to-noise ratio, which means
less inherent noise and the ability to achieve
a higher ISO sensitivity.
Micro-lenses
In addition to having larger pixels to gather
more light, camera manufacturers place
micro-lenses over the pixels. These micro-
lenses collect the light and focus them onto
the photodiode much the same way the
camera lens focuses the image onto the
sensor. By making the micro-lenses larger,
Nikon has decreased the gaps between the
pixels, which increases the effective light
gathering ability of each one, allowing the
camera to produce less noise in the image.
Interpreting color
The light-sensitive pixels on the sensor only
measure the brightness in relation to how
many photons it has gathered, so the basic
image captured is, in effect, black and white.
To determine color information, the pixels
are covered with red-, green-, or blue-colored
filters. These filters are arranged in a Bayer
CMOS versus CCD
About half of Nikon’s dSLRs use Charge
Coupled Device (CCD) sensors, although
Nikon appears to be moving away from this
technology by putting a CMOS sensor in the
D90. Although CMOS and CCD sensors do
the same job, they do it differently, and each
type of sensor has its own strengths and
weaknesses.
CCD
The name Charge Coupled Device refers to
how the sensor moves the electrical charges
created by the photons that the pixels have
collected. The CCD sensor moves these
electrical charges from the first row of pixels
to a shift register (a digital circuit that allows
the charges to be shifted down the line).
From there, the signal is amplified so the
A/D converter can read it. The sensor then
repeats the processes with each row of pix-
els until every row of pixels on the sensor
has been processed. This is a pretty precise
method of transfer, but in digital terms, it’s
quite slow. It requires a large amount of
power, relatively speaking, so it uses more
of the camera’s battery, which equals fewer
shots per charge. CCD sensors have a higher
signal-to-noise ratio, which makes them less
prone to high ISO noise than CMOS sensors
and enables them to provide a higher image
quality.
CMOS
Just like a CCD sensor, a CMOS (Comple-
mentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) sensor
has millions of pixels and photodiodes. With
the CMOS sensor, each pixel has its own
amplifier, and each pixel converts the charge
to voltage on the spot. It’s much more effi-
cient to transfer voltage than it is to transfer a
charge; therefore, CMOS sensors use less

26 Part I ✦Using the Nikon D90
that the focus point is only shown
full-time when in the Single or
Dynamic AF setting. When the cam-
era is set to Auto Area AF, the focus
point isn’t shown until the Shutter
Release button is half-pressed and
focus is achieved.
✦ Framing grid. When this option is
turned on in the Custom Setting
menu (CSM d2), you see a grid dis-
played in the viewing area. This is
to help with composition. Use the
grid to help line up elements of
your composition to ensure that
things are straight (or not).
✦ 8mm [center-weighted] reference
circle. These curves located at the
top and bottom of the AF Area
brackets give you an idea of how
much of an area of the frame is
used for Center-weighted metering.
The curves show you an area of
8mm, which is the default circle
size for Center-weighted metering.
Note that although you can change
the size of the area for Center-
weighted metering (CSM b3), this
display doesn’t change.
✦ Black and White indicator. This
icon appears when the Picture
Control is set to monochrome (MC).
For more on Picture Controls, see
Chapter 2.
✦ Battery indicator. This icon
appears when the battery charge is
getting low. When this icon is blink-
ing, the battery has been depleted
and you can’t take any more pic-
tures until the battery has been
charged and replaced or a charged
backup battery is installed.
pattern. (Dr. Bryce Bayer was a scientist at
Kodak who developed this pattern.) The
Bayer pattern lays the filters out in an array
that consists of 50% green, 25% blue, and
25% red. The green filters are luminance-
sensitive (brightness) elements, and the red
and blue filters are chrominance-sensitive
(color) elements. Twice as many green filters
are used to simulate human eyesight, given
that our eyes are more sensitive to green
than to red or blue.
The camera determines the colors in the
image by a process called demosaicing. In
demosaicing, the camera interpolates the
red, green, and blue data for each pixel by
using information from adjacent pixels.
Interpolation is a mathematical process in
which sets of known data are used to deter-
mine new data points. (I like to call it an
educated guess.)
When shooting NEF files, the RAW
converter handles the demosaicing.
Viewfinder Display
When looking through the viewfinder, you
see a lot of useful information about the
photo you’re composing. Most of the infor-
mation is also displayed in the LCD screen
on the top of the camera, but it’s less handy
on top when you’re composing a shot.
Here’s a complete list of all the information
you get from the viewfinder display:
✦ Focus points. The first thing you’re
likely to notice when looking
through the viewfinder is a small
bracket near the center of the frame.
This is your active focus point. Note

Chapter 1 ✦Exploring the Nikon D90 27
Below the actual image portion of the view-
finder display is a black bar with LCD readouts
on it. Not only do you find your shooting infor-
mation here, but depending on your chosen
settings, other useful indicators also appear
here. From left to right, these items are:
✦ Focus indicator. This is a green dot
that lets you know if the camera
detects that the scene is in focus.
✦ No memory card warning. This
icon flashes when there’s no mem-
ory card inserted in the camera.
The Black and White indicator, low
battery indicator, and memory card
warning can be turned off by using
CSM d4.
B/W
WB-BKT
No memory card warning Focus points
8mm [center-weighted] reference circle
Framing grid
Focus indicator
FV lock
indicator
AE Lock indicator
Shutter speed display
Aperture/f-stop display
Black and
White
indicator
Light
meter
Battery
indicator
WB bracketing
indicator
Bracketing
indicator
Thousands
indicator
Flash-ready
indicator
Auto
ISO
sensitivity
indicator
FEC
indicator
Exposure
compensation
indicator
Remaining
exposures
ISO sensitivity
compensation
indicator
Battery
indicator
1.9 The viewfinder display. Note that this figure displays all possible focus points. Only the
active focus points are visible in actual shooting conditions.

28 Part I ✦Using the Nikon D90
✦ FEC indicator. When this is dis-
played, your Flash Exposure
Compensation is on.
✦ WB bracketing indicator. This icon
is shown when your auto-bracketing
is set to white balance and bracket-
ing is turned on. You can change
the bracketing set in CSM e4.
✦ Bracketing indicator. This icon
appears when auto-bracketing is
turned on.
✦ Exposure compensation indica-
tor. When this appears in the view-
finder, your camera has exposure
compensation activated and you
may not get a correct exposure.
✦ Auto ISO indicator. This is dis-
played when the Automatic ISO
setting is activated to let you know
that the camera is controlling the
ISO settings.
✦ ISO sensitivity indicator. This tells
you what the ISO sensitivity is cur-
rently set to.
✦ Remaining exposures. By default,
this set of numbers lets you know
how many more exposures can fit
on the SD card. The actual number
of exposures may vary according to
file information and compression.
When the Shutter Release button is
half-pressed, the display changes to
show how many exposures can fit
in the camera’s buffer before the
buffer is full and the frame rate
slows down. The buffer is in-camera
RAM that stores your image data
while the data is being written to
the memory card. When recording
a WB preset, this flashes PRE. When
setting Flash Exposure
When focus is achieved, the green
dot lights up; if the camera isn’t in
focus, no dot is displayed. When
the camera attempts to find focus,
this indicator blinks.
✦ AE Lock indicator. When this is lit,
you know that the Autoexposure
Lock button has been pressed.
✦ FV Lock indicator. When the FV
Lock indicator is on, it means you
have locked in the flash exposure
value. The flash value can only be
locked when the Function (Fn) but-
ton has been set to do this.
✦ Shutter speed display. This shows
how long your shutter is set to stay
open.
✦ Aperture/f-stop display. This
shows what your current lens
opening setting is.
✦ Electronic analog exposure dis-
play. Although Nikon gives this fea-
ture a long and confusing name, in
simpler terms, this is your light
meter. When the bars are in the
center, you’re at the proper settings
for good exposure; when the bars
are to the left, you’re underex-
posed; and when the bars are to
the right, you’re overexposing your
image. This feature is especially
handy in getting the proper expo-
sure when using Manual mode.
When in P, S, and A mode, this
meter shows you the exposure
level when exposure compensation
is being applied.
✦ Battery indicator. This icon dis-
plays how much of a charge
remains in the battery.

Chapter 1 ✦Exploring the Nikon D90 29
• Exposure compensation
value. Pressing the Exposure
Compensation button and then
rotating the Sub-command dial
displays the EV compensation
number.
• Flash Exposure Compensation
value. Pressing the Flash mode
button and then rotating the Sub-
command dial displays the Flash
Exposure Compensation value.
• WB fine-tuning. Pressing the
WB button and then rotating
the Sub-command dial fine-
tunes the white balance setting.
A is warmer, and B is cooler.
• Color temperature. When the
WB is set to K, the panel dis-
plays the color temperature in
the Kelvin scale when you press
the WB button.
For more on white balance and
Kelvin, see Chapter 2.
• WB preset number. When the
WB is set to one of the preset
numbers, pressing the WB but-
ton displays the preset number
that’s currently being used.
✦ Battery indicator. This display
shows the charge remaining on the
active battery.
✦ Flash mode. These icons denote
which Flash mode you’re using.
The Flash modes include Red-Eye
Reduction, Red-Eye with Slow Sync,
Slow Sync, Slow/Rear Sync, and
Rear-Curtain Sync.
✦ Image size. When shooting JPEG or
RAW + JPEG files, this tells you
whether you’re recording Large,
Medium, or Small files. This display is
turned off when shooting RAW files.
Compensation or exposure com-
pensation, the EV number is dis-
played here. When the camera is
connected to a computer running
Camera Control Pro 2, this displays
PC. This can also be set in CSM d3
to default to show the ISO setting.
✦ K. This lets you know that there are
more than 1000 exposures remain-
ing on your memory card.
✦ Flash-ready indicator. When this is
displayed, the flash, whether it’s
the built-in flash or an external
Speedlight attached to the hot
shoe, is fully charged and ready to
fire at full power.
Control Panel
The monochrome control panel on top of
the camera displays some of the same
shooting information that appears in the
viewfinder, but there are also some settings
that are only displayed here.
This LCD allows you to view and change
the settings without looking through the
viewfinder.
Because there is so much information con-
tained in the LCD display, it is broken up
over two figures. In figure 1.10, you can see
these settings:
✦ Shutter speed. By default, this set
of numbers shows you the shutter
speed setting. This set of numbers
also shows myriad other settings
depending on which buttons are
being pressed:

30 Part I ✦Using the Nikon D90
✦ Image quality. This displays the
type of file format you’re recording.
You can shoot RAW or JPEG. When
shooting JPEG or RAW + JPEG, it
displays the compression quality:
FINE, NORM, or BASIC.
✦ WB fine-tuning indicator. When the
white balance fine-tuning feature is
activated, these two arrows are dis-
played to inform you that the WB is
altered from the default setting.
✦ WB indicator. This shows you
which white balance setting is cur-
rently selected.
✦ ISO sensitivity compensation
indicator. Although Nikon gives
this a lengthy and confusing name,
this is basically the last zero in the
ISO sensitivity number.
✦ K. This appears when the number
of remaining exposures exceeds
1000. This isn’t to be confused with
the K that may appear in the WB
area, which is used to denote the
Kelvin temperature.
✦ Beep indicator. This icon, which
looks like a musical note, informs
you that the camera beeps when
the self-timer is activated or when
the camera achieves focus when in
Single Focus mode. When the
musical note appears inside a circle
with a slash, the beep function is
turned off. This can be done in
CSM d1. Turning the beep off is
usually the first thing I do when I
configure a new camera.
✦ GPS connection indicator. This icon
appears in the LCD control panel
when a GPS system is connected to
the D90’s accessory terminal.
+
+
+
+ + + +
++
+
+
Image
size
Image quality
WB fine-tuning
indicator
Beep
indicator
WB indicator
ISO sensitivity compensation indicator
Thousands indicator
Shutter speed
Release mode
GPS connection
indicator
F-stop/
Aperture
number
Color
temperature
Battery indicator
Flash mode
1.10 Settings on the D90’s LCD