Nikon D90 - Digital Camera SLR User manual

Nikon
DIGITAL CAMERA
Userls Manual

Where to Find It
Find what you're looking for from:
a'The Table of Contents
Find items by function or menu name.
pp. viii-xiii
pp.27p-278
c ,~:
,,~
aThe QBrA Index pp. iv-vt~
Know what you want to do but don't knowthe function name? Find it from the
"question and answer" index.
aThe Index
Search by key word.
a Error Messages pp. 255-257
If awarning is displayed in the control panel, viewfinder, or monitor, find the solution
here.
Troubleshooting
.~
Camera behaving unexpectedly? Find the solution here.
&For Your Safet
pp. 250-25:4-
Before using the camera for the first time, read the safety instructions in "For Your Safety"
(pg. xiv).
Help
Use the camera's on-board help feature for help on menu items and other topics. See page 21
for details.
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 aresold
separately.
o 090 digital camera 0Body cap
(pg.
3) (pp. 3, 240) oBM-l0
LCD monitor 0 DK-5 eyepiece cap
cover (pg.
17) (pg. 17)
o EN-EL3e
rechargeable
Li-ion
battery with
terminal cover
(pp.
22, 23)
oMH-18a quick
charger with power
cable (pg. 22)
oAN-DCl strap
(pg.
17)
o B5-1 accessoryshoe
cover (pg. 233)
o EG-D2 audio/video 0 UC-E4 USB cable
cable (pg. 146) (pp. 149, 151)
(~
oWarranty
o User's Manual (this guide)
oQuickGuide (a guide for first-time users describing the basic steps involved in such tasks
taking pictures, copying pictures
to acomputer, and printing pictures)
oSoftware Installation Guide
oSoftware Suite CD-ROM
oRegistration card (U. S. A. only)

II
Symbolsand 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.
This icon marks notes; information
that should be read before using the
Bcamera.
BTrademark Information
Macintosh, Mac as, and QuickTime are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Microsoft,
Windows and Windows Vista are either registered trademarks, or trademarks
of Microsoft
Corporation in
the United States and/or other countries. The SD logo is atrademark of the SD
Card Association. PictBridge and the SDHC logo are trademarks. HDMI, the HDMI logo and
High-Definition Multimedia Interface are trademarks or registered trademarks
of HDMI
Licensing
LLC. All other trade names mentioned in this manual or the other documentation
provided
with your Nikon productare trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
holders.

m Introduction
=-- Basic Photography and Playback
L!j More on Photography (All Modes)
r.3 P, S, A, and M Modes
g More on Playback
a Connections
~ The Playback Menu
~ The Shooting Menu
~ Custom Settings
~ The Setup Menu
~ The Retouch Menu
~ Recent Settings I ~ My Menu
(?j Technical Notes
lID9()
III

iv
Q&A Index
Find what you're looking for using this "question and answer" index.
New Features
Question Key phrase
Seepag~'
Can I use the monitor as aviewfinder? Live view 43
How do Ishoot movies? Recording movies 50
Can Icontrol how photos are processed? Picture Controls 108
How do Ipreserve details in shadows and Active D-Lighting 119
highlights?
How do Ikeep the subject in focus when changing 3D-tracking 173
the composition?
How do Iremove dust from the low-pass filter
--
Clean Image Sensor 203
protecting
the image sensor?
Frequently-Asked Questions
.....
Question Key phrase
Seepage
How do I use the menus? Using
the menus 18
How do I get more information on amenu? Help 21
Can I get quick access to frequently-used settings? My Menu 225
Can I get quick access to recently-used settings? Recent settings 224
What
do these indicators mean? Control panel, viewfinder 7,9
What does this warning mean? Error messages and displays 255
How many more shots can Itake with this card?
Number of exposures
35
remaining
How much charge does the battery have left? Battery level 34
What does "exposure" mean and
how does it work? Exposure 79
What do I do with the viewfinder eyepiece cap? Selftimer, remote control
66,68
What optional flash units (Speedlights) can I use? Optional flash units 233
What lenses can I
use?
Lenses 228
What accessories are available
for my camera? Accessories 239
What
memory cards can I use?
Approved memory cards 242
What software
is available for my camera?
.. -
Accessories 240
Who can I
ask to repair or inspect my camera? Servicing the camera 247
How do Iclean the camera or lens?
Cleaning the camera 243

Camera Setup
Question
Key phrase Seepage
How do Istop parts of my photos from blinking? Photo info, highlights 131,
163
How do Ifocus the viewfinder? Viewfinder focus
32
How do Ikeep the monitor from turning off?
Monitor off 180
How do Iset the clock?
How do Iset the clock for daylight saving time? World
time 204
How do Ichange time zones when Itravel?
How do Iadjust monitor brightness? LCD brightness 202
How do Irestore default settings? Two-button reset 75
How do I turn off the light on the front of the
AF-assist illuminator 174
camera?
Can Idisplay aframing grid in the viewfinder? Grid display
181
How do Iview the control panel in the dark?
LCD illuminator
8,196
How do Ikeep the shutter speed and aperture Auto meter
off
35,179
displays from
turning off?
How do Ichange the self timer delay? Self
timer
66,179
How do Ichange the remote delay? Remote control 68,180
How do Ikeep the camera from beeping? Beep 180
Can Idisplay the menus in adifferent language? Language 204
How do Ikeep the file number from being reset
~
when Iinsert a new memory card? File
number sequence
How do Ireset file numbering to 1?
v

vi
Taking Photographs
Question
Key phrase
Seepage
Is there an easy way to take snapshots? Auto
mode
34
Is there an easy way to take more creative shots? Scene modes
41
®mode 34
Can Itake pictures without the flash? Flash mode
71
ISO sensitivity 74
How do Ibring out a portrait subject? Portrait mode
41
How can I get good landscape shots? Landscape
mode 41
How do Itake close ups of small objects? Close-up mode
--
42
How do I"freeze" a moving subject?
--
-----
Sports mode
42
Can Iinclude night backgrounds in my portraits?
Night portrait mode 42
How do Itake a lot of photographs quickly? Release mode 64
Can Ishoot aself-portrait? Self
timer
66
Is there aremote control for this camera? Remote control 68
How do Iadjust exposure? P, 5, A, and Mmodes 78
How do Ifreeze or blur moving objects? Mode 5(shutter-priority auto)
8'--
How do I blur background details?
Mode A(aperture-priority
82
auto)
Can Imake photos brighter or darker? Exposure compensation 90
How do Imake a time exposure? Long time-exposures 85
How do Iuse the flash? Flash photography 70
Can the flash fire automatically when needed?
Flash mode 70
--
How do Ikeep the flash from firing?
How
do Iprevent red eye?
Red-eye reduction 71
Can Icontrol how the camera focuses? Autofocus 54
How do Ifocus on amoving subject? Autofocus
mode 54
How do Ichoose where the camera focuses? Focus
point 57
Can Ichange the composition after focusing? Focus lock
57
Can Icreate a multiple exposure?
Multiple exposure 121
How do Iimprove image quality?
How do Itake bigger photographs? Image quality and
size
62,63
How can I get more photos on the memory card?
Can Itake photos at areduced size for e-mail?

Viewing and Retouching Photographs
Question
Key phrase
Se~page
Can Iview my photographs on the camera? Camera playback 48,128
Can Iview more information about photos? Photo info 129
How do I get rid of an unwanted photo? Deleting individual photos 49,140,
162
Can Idelete several photos at once? Delete
162
Can Izoom in on pictures to make sure they're in Playback zoom
138
focus?
Can Iprotect photos from accidental deletion? Protect 139
Is there an automatic playback ("slide show") Pictmotion 141,
option? Slide show
143
Can Iview my photos on TV?
Television playback 146
Can I view my photos in High Definition? HDMI 147
How do Icopy photos to my computer? Connecting
to a computer
148
How do I print photographs? Printing photographs 150
Can I print photos without acomputer? Printing via USB 151
Can I print the date on my photographs? Time stamp,
DPOF
152,
155
How do Iorder professional prints? Print set
(DPOF)
157
How do Ibring out details in shadows? D-Lighting 212
Can I get rid of red eye?
Red-eye correction 212
Can Icrop photographs on the camera? Trim 213
Can Icreate a monochrome copy of aphotograph? Monochrome 214
Can Icreate acopy with different colors? Filter effects 215
How do Iadjust existing colors? Color balance 216
Can Imake asmall copy of aphotograph? Small picture 216
Can Ioverlay two photos to make asingle image? Image overlay 218
Can Iuse the camera to create JPEG copies of NEF NEF
(RAW) processing 220
(RAW) photographs?
Is there aquickway to retouch photographs? Quick retouch 221
Can Istraighten photographs? Straighten
221
How do Ireduce distortion? Distortion control 222
Can Icreate the effect of afisheye lens? Fisheye 222
Can Icompare retouched copies with the originals? Side-by-side comparison
223
vii

Table of Contents
Q&A Index iv
For YourSafety xiv
N. .
otlces XVI
Introduction 1
Overview 2
Getting
to Know the Camera 3
The Camera Body 3
The Mode Dial 6
The Control Panel 7
The Viewfinder 9
The Shooting
Information Display 10
The Command Dials 13
Attaching the AN-DCl Camera Strap 17
The BM-l0 Monitor Cover 17
The DK-21 Viewfinder Eyepiece Cup 17
Camera Menus 18
Using Camera Menus 19
Help 21
First Steps 22
Charge the Battery 22
Insert the Battery 23
Attach aLens 25
Basic Setup 27
Inserting Memory Cards 29
Adjust Viewfinder Focus
32
Basic Photography and Playback
33
viii
"Point-and-Shoot" Photography (A~ and \l) Modes) 34
Step 1: Turn the Camera On 34
Step 2: Choose Shooting and Focus Modes 36
Step 3: Check Camera Settings 36
Step 4: Frame the Photograph 37
Step 5: Focus 38
Step 6: Shoot 39
Creative Photography (Scene Modes) .41
-7 Portrait 41
IiiiiI Landscape 41
~ Close Up 42