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Published:
May 4, 2015

Nikon D5500 For Dummies

Overview

Jump into photography and the Nikon D5500 with this easy-to-read guide.

Armed with the new Nikon D5500 digital camera, but don't know where to start? No problem! Nikon D5500 For Dummies is the definitive guide to helping newbies and aspiring photographers get up and running with this great DSLR camera. You'll dive right in to using your camera in automatic mode, then build on this basic knowledge by learning about manual settings, exposure, and more advanced techniques that will have you taking great photographs in a flash. This easy-to-use guide combines the tips and tricks of a basic photography course with camera-specific guidance that will help you with the Nikon D5500's basic settings, manual mode, WiFi connectivity, touchscreen interface, and so much more!

The Nikon D5500 is the perfect camera for a connected generation — it offers the

features of a DSLR with the connectivity of a smart phone and, but its high-quality photos go well beyond what you can snap from your phone. With this fun guide, you'll take your photography to the next level!

  • Get started with a roadmap of the Nikon D5500 controls and options for taking photos in automatic mode, with preset shooting modes, or in manual mode.
  • Take a crash course on exposure and how to control it, along with lens and flash options of your camera
  • Find out how to adjust color and focus, use manual settings, and take photos in scene mode and priority mode
  • Pull all your newfound photography chops together to take better portraits, action shots, night photos, and outdoor shots

Nikon D5500 For Dummies is the guide you need to get up and running quickly and easily with your great new DSLR camera.

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About The Author

Julie Adair King's history as a digital photography author dates back to 1997 with the publication of the first edition of Digital Photography For Dummies. Since then she has authored over 50 books on digital photography, cameras, and photo editing and design software.

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nikon d5500 for dummies

CHEAT SHEET

With the D5500 camera, Nikon proves once again that you don't have to give an arm and a leg — or strain your back and neck — to enjoy dSLR photography.The D5500 addition to the Nikon family of dSLRs doesn't skimp on power or performance, offering a great set of features to help you take your photography to the next level.

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To really take creative control over your Nikon D5500, step up to one of these exposure modes, which enable you to adjust aperture (f-stop) to manipulate depth of field (the zone of sharp focus) and to adjust shutter speed to determine whether moving objects appear sharply focused or blurry. You also gain access to some features not available in the fully automatic modes, such as the option to adjust flash power and tweak colors.
For photography novices, the Nikon D5500 offers automatic settings that enable point-and-shoot simplicity. In addition to Auto and Auto Flash Off, you can choose from more than a dozen Scene modes, which automatically select the best settings for different types of photos, such as portraits, landscapes, sports, and so on.
The Nikon D5500 is a great camera for all your photography needs. If you're not familiar with the Nikon D5500, here's a quick guide to its buttons, dials, and other external controls. Next, take a look at the controls that you will find on the back of your Nikon. It’s a good idea to locate the flash and function buttons, as you will probably use these frequently.
Your Nikon D5500 offers a choice of seven Picture Control settings, each of which applies different color, sharpness, and contrast. If you can't find a Picture Control that suits your needs, you can create a custom Picture Control. Follow these steps: Set the Mode dial to P, S, A, or M. These are the only exposure modes that enable you to select or modify a Picture Control setting.
Depending on what type of shot you’re taking, your camera offers you different Flash modes. Your Nikon D5500 offers the following Flash modes, represented in the Information and Live View display. Auto: The camera decides whether the flash fires. This mode isn’t available in the P, S, A, M modes or the Food Scene mode.
You can view the current aperture (f‐stop) and shutter speed in the Information display and Live View display on your Nikon D5500, as well as in the viewfinder. It’s important to know the current settings before you make any changes. You can view the current f‐stop and shutter speed on the Information display and Live View screen.
The Information display on your Nikon D5500 provides a control strip that gives you quick access to some of the most critical of those settings. Here’s how it works for viewfinder photography (that is, when you’re not shooting in Live View mode): Display the Information screen by pressing the Info button or pressing the shutter button halfway and releasing it.
When you’re ready to take more control over your movies, start by exploring the video settings. Your Nikon D5500 lets you adjust these settings to capture video without needing to switch out cameras. Choosing the video mode (NTSC or PAL) The first option to consider is Video Mode, found on the Setup men. This setting determines whether movies adhere to the NTSC or PAL video standard.
In the P, S, A, or M exposure modes on your Nikon D5500, as well as in certain other modes that permit flash, you have some control over flash power, even if you stick with the default, TTL (through the lens) automatic flash metering. If you want a little more or less flash light than the camera thinks is appropriate, you can adjust the flash output by using Flash Compensation.
In the P, S, and A exposure modes on your Nikon D5500, you have some input over exposure: In P mode, you can rotate the Command dial to choose from different combinations of aperture and shutter speed; in S mode, you can dial in the shutter speed; and in A mode, you can select the aperture setting. But because these are semiautomatic modes, the camera controls the final exposure.
Many photographers use exposure bracketing on the Nikon D5500 to ensure that at least one shot of a subject is properly exposed. Bracketing simply means to shoot the same subject multiple times, slightly varying the exposure settings for each image. In the P, S, A, and M exposure modes, your camera offers automatic bracketing.
Automatic exposure bracketing on your Nikon D5500 records the same image at different exposure settings or Active D‐Lighting settings. You also can bracket white balance, creating a series of three images recorded at different white‐balance settings. Note the following details about this feature: Bracketing is available only in the P, S, A, and M exposure modes You must set the Image Quality option to one of the JPEG options (Fine, Normal, or Basic).
Here’s an introduction to your camera’s most important exposure guide: the exposure meter. The meter on your Nikon D5500 tells you whether the camera thinks your picture will be properly exposed at your chosen exposure settings. However, if and when the meter appears depends on whether you shoot in the M, P, S, or A exposure mode: M mode: The meter is always present in the Information and Live View displays and also appears in the viewfinder data display.
To interpret what the exposure meter tells you, you need to be aware of the current Metering mode on your Nikon D5500, which determines which part of the frame the camera analyzes to calculate exposure. The Metering mode affects the meter reading in M mode as well as the exposure settings that the camera chooses in the fully automatic shooting modes as well as in the P, S, and A modes.
You can record sound using the built‐in microphone on the Nikon D5500, or attach an external microphone such as the Nikon ME‐1 to the jack labeled on the right. During on‐camera playback, sound comes from the speaker, labeled on the left. You can record audio with the internal microphone (left) or plug in an external microphone (right).
The ISO setting adjusts the sensitivity to light on your Nikon D5500. A higher ISO enables you to use a faster shutter speed or a smaller aperture (higher f‐stop number) because less light is needed to expose the image. But a higher ISO also increases the possibility of noise. You can’t adjust ISO in Auto and Auto Flash Off exposure modes; the camera sets the ISO automatically.
If none of the standard White Balance settings on your Nikon D5500does the trick and you don’t want to fool with fine‐tuning them, take advantage of the PRE (Preset Manual) feature. This option enables you to do two things: Base white balance on a direct measurement of the actual lighting conditions. Match white balance to an existing photo.
You can fine‐tune any White Balance setting on your Nikon D5500 except a custom preset that you create by using the PRE option. Make the adjustment as spelled out in these steps: Display the Shooting menu and select the White Balance option. The menu of available settings appears. Highlight the White Balance setting you want to adjust.
Your Nikon D5500 allows you to manipulate depth of field. Getting familiar with the concept of depth of field is one of the biggest steps you can take to becoming a better photographer. Here’s are some things to remember about depth of field: Depth of field refers to the distance over which objects in a photograph appear acceptably sharp.
Normally, the Nikon D5500 automatically adjusts exposure during movie recording. Exposure is calculated using Matrix (whole frame) metering, regardless of which Metering mode setting is selected. But in a few exposure modes, you can adjust exposure by changing the following settings: Shutter speed and ISO: Both options are set by the camera by default.
You can protect picture and movie files from accidental erasure by giving them protected status on your Nikon D5500. After you take this step, the camera doesn’t allow you to delete the file from your memory card, whether you press the Delete button or use the Delete option on the Playback menu. You can also use the Protect feature when you want to keep a handful of pictures on the card but delete the rest.
Ever notice that you captured an awesome moment for a photo, but it’s in your movie? Not to worry: You’re Nikon D5500 lets you save a movie frame as a still image. Here’s how: Begin playing your movie. When you reach the frame you want to capture, pause playback. You can tap the screen or press the Multi Selector down to pause the movie.
Depending on what your photos will be used for, you may need to adjust the Image Size and Image Quality on your Nikon D5500.Here’s a few tips for Image Size and Image Quality on your camera: Both options affect picture quality and file size. Choose a high Image Quality setting — Raw (NEF) or JPEG Fine — and the maximum Image Size setting (Large) for top‐quality pictures and large file sizes.
You can view the current Flash mode in the Information and Live View displays on your Nikon D5500. (In Live View mode, press the Info button to cycle through the various data‐display modes.) The lightning bolt represents the Fill flash (normal flash) mode. An icon representing the Flash mode appears in the displays.
By using the Release mode setting, you tell your Nikon D5500 whether to capture a single image each time you press the shutter button; to record a burst of photos as long as you hold down the shutter button; or to use Self‐Timer mode, which delays the image capture until a few seconds after you press the shutter button.
You can do some limited movie editing in camera on the Nikon D5500. Limited editing is emphasized here. You can trim frames from the start of a movie and clip off frames from the end, and that’s it. To eliminate frames from the start of a movie, take these steps:Display your movie in single-image view. Tap the playback icon.
The Wi‐Fi on your Nikon D5500 feature enables you to connect your camera wirelessly to certain “smart” devices to transfer photos: specifically, Android and Apple iOS‐based phones, tablets, and media players. Connecting the camera to your device To connect your camera to your smart device, take these steps: Open the camera’s Setup menu and select Wi-Fi.
As you take pictures on your Nikon D5500, you want to make sure that you have the proper settings for your pictures. Your D5500 gives you the following ways to monitor important picture‐taking settings: Information display: The left screen gives you a look at this display, which appears when you first turn on the camera and then disappears after a few seconds.
With the D5500 camera, Nikon proves once again that you don't have to give an arm and a leg — or strain your back and neck — to enjoy dSLR photography.The D5500 addition to the Nikon family of dSLRs doesn't skimp on power or performance, offering a great set of features to help you take your photography to the next level.
Your camera’s Wi‐Fi feature enables you to connect your Nikon D5500 wirelessly to certain “smart” devices: specifically, Android and Apple iOS‐based phones, tablets, and media players (such as Apple’s iPod touch). Before you can enjoy this function, you must install the Nikon Mobile Wireless Utility app on your device.
As the medium that stores your picture files, the memory card is a critical component of your Nikon D5500. Here are some tips for buying and maintaining your memory cards: Buying SD cards: Again, you can use regular SD cards, which offer less than 4GB of storage space; SDHC cards (4GB–32GB); and SDXC cards (more than 32GB).
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