Nikon D7200 For Dummies
Overview
Your plain-English, full-color guide to the Nikon D7200
Your Nikon D7200 comes packed with enough power to satisfy even seasoned photographers. Unfortunately, it doesn't come with an easy guide on how to adjust the camera's settings to get the photos you want. That's where Nikon D7200 For Dummies comes in! Brimming with the tips, tricks, and friendly instruction you'd gain in a basic photography course, it shows you how to get the very most out of your new Nikon D7200—without losing your cool.
Written by an experienced photographer and photography teacher, this fun, no-nonsense guide quickly gets you up and running on taking your first photos in automatic mode, then moves on to help you grasp
more advanced features, like controlling exposure, adjusting color and focus for better results, using scene modes and priority modes, shooting portraits, action shots, outdoor shots, and night images—and so much more.
- Navigate your camera's buttons, dials, and settings
- Apply pro tricks to get better color, focus, and sharpness from your images
- Control exposure settings and jump from auto mode to manual
- Make sense of tricky material through full-color explanations of core photography concepts
If you're the proud new owner of a Nikon D7200, but don't have a ton—or any—experience with cameras, this hands-on guide will have you taking photos like a pro in no time!
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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. She also teaches workshops at various locations including the Palm Beach Photographic Centre.
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nikon d7200 for dummies
CHEAT SHEET
With the D7200 digital 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 D7200 addition to the Nikon family of dSLRs doesn't skimp on power or performance, offering a great set of features to take your photography to the next level.
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Photography
As the medium that stores your picture files, the memory card is a critical component of your Nikon D7200 camera. Follow these tips for buying and maintaining cards:
Buying SD cards: You can use regular SD cards, which offer less than 4GB of storage space; SDHC cards (4GB–32GB); and SDXC cards (more than 32GB).
Photography
Your Nikon D7200 camera offers point-and-shoot simplicity through its Auto exposure mode. Just for good measure, you also get Auto Flash Off mode, which works just like Auto mode but disables flash — a great option for shooting locations that don't permit flash.
When you use the viewfinder to compose photos, follow these steps to take a picture:Set the Mode dial to Auto or Auto Flash Off.
Photography
Setting the Release mode dial on your Nikon D7200 to Continuous Low or Continuous High enables burst mode shooting. That is, the camera records a continuous burst of images for as long as you hold down the shutter button, making it easier to capture fast-paced action.
Here's how the two modes differ:
Continuous Low: In this mode, you can tell the camera to capture from 1 to 6 frames per second (fps).
If you're not familiar with the Nikon D7200, here's a quick guide to its buttons, dials, and other external controls. Note that some buttons serve multiple functions depending on whether you're choosing options from menus, selecting shooting settings, or reviewing photos in playback mode. Also, functions marked with an asterisk don't work in Live View mode.
To crop a photo means to trim away some of its perimeter. The Trim tool on your Nikon D7200 enables you to crop right in the camera. Cropping can often improve an image, as illustrated by the following figure.
Cropping creates a better composition and eliminates background clutter.
When shooting this scene, the photographer couldn't get close enough to fill the frame with the ducks, as shown on the left.
Photography
When you capture a photo using the JPEG Image Quality Setting, the Nikon D7200 applies different color, sharpness, and contrast adjustments depending on the Picture Control setting. If none of the prefab Picture Controls suits your needs, you can modify them by following these steps:
Set the Mode dial to P, S, A, or M.
Photography
To properly expose flash pictures, the Nikon D7200 camera has to synchronize the timing of the flash output with the opening and closing of the shutter. On the D7200, this synchronization normally dictates a maximum shutter speed of 1/250 second when you use the built-in flash.
But by enabling Auto FP flash, you can bump the maximum sync speed up to 1/320 second for the built-in flash.
Photography
A smorgasbord of buttons and dials is found on the back of the Nikon D7200 camera, shown in the following figure. Three buttons on the left side of the monitor bear multiple labels to indicate that they play different roles depending on whether the camera is in shooting or playback mode.
Here's a look at the backside controls.
Photography
Your Nikon D7200 has quite a few controls on the front of the camera. Explore the two images here that show the features available on the left-front and right-front of the camera.
Left-front features
The front-left side of the camera sports these features:
Press the Flash button to use the built-in flash in P, S, A, or M mode.
Photography
The top of your Nikon D7200 offers a number of features of note. Take a tour by checking out the labelled dials, buttons, and displays in the following figure.
Press and hold the Mode dial unlock button before rotating the dial.
On/Off switch and shutter button: You probably have already figured out this combo button.
Thanks to the built-in flash on your Nikon D7200, you're never without at least a little light. You also have the option to attach a larger, more powerful external flash when scenes call for more light than the built-in flash can produce. Here are a few limitations of the built-in flash:
The maximum flash range is about 28 feet.
Photography
The fully automatic exposure, point-and-shoot modes of your Nikon D7200 are designed to make picture-taking simple. They prevent you from accessing many of the camera's features. You can't use the White Balance control, for example, to tweak picture colors. Options that are off-limits appear dimmed in the camera menus.
Under the doors on the left side of the Nikon D7200 camera, you find the following connections for various cables and accessories, labeled in the figure:
Connection ports for various cables and accessories are found under the covers on the left side of the camera.
Microphone jack: If you're not happy with the quality provided by the internal microphone, you can plug in an external microphone here.
Photography
In addition to practical photo-correction tools, the Nikon D7200's Retouch menu offers some special-effects tools. To create after-the-shot effects, try the following Retouch menu options:
Cross Screen: This tool adds a starburst effect to the brightest part of the image.
To get to this tool, choose Retouch > Filter Effects > Cross Screen.
Photography
Your Nikon D7200 is equipped with a feature that enables you to connect it to an HDMI television or monitor so that when you set the camera to playback mode, you can view your pictures on a large screen.
Some photographers also use the HDMI connection during shooting; this enables clients and subjects to review each shot on the TV instead of gathering around the camera monitor.
Photography
The Slide Show feature on your Nikon D7200, found on the Playback menu, sets the camera to automatically display photos and movies one by one. You can view the show on the camera monitor or, by connecting your camera to a TV as just outlined, enjoy it on an HDTV screen.
Which files are included in the show depend on the setting of the Playback Folder option on the Playback menu.
In addition to menus, your Nikon D7200 offers several displays to help you keep track of the most critical picture and camera settings. The following provides some details about using and customizing the displays. Note that the data that appears in each display depends on certain camera settings, including your exposure mode.
Photography
It's best to nail down picture-taking settings that affect exposure and color when you shoot images on your Nikon D7200, but if things go awry, you can make minor modifications through these Retouch tools:
D-Lighting: Active D-Lighting is an exposure setting which brightens too-dark shadows in a way that leaves highlight details intact.
The Nikon D7200 has several menus from which you can access various settings. Here's what you need to know to navigate the menu system on your new Nikon D7200:
Display the main menus: Press the Menu button, labeled here.
Press the Multi Selector left to activate the menu-icon strip; press right to activate the menu itself.
Before you can use your D7200, you need to install the battery, attach a lens, and insert at least one memory card. (Your camera can use two cards at a time, but you only need one to begin taking pictures or recording movies.) A few preliminary notes:
Battery: Use only the MH-25 charger that came with your camera to charge the battery.
Photography
One of your Nikon D7200 camera's most important tools, the exposure meter tells you whether the camera thinks your picture will be properly exposed at your chosen f-stop, shutter speed, and ISO settings. The following figures show you where to find the meter in the Information display, Control panel, viewfinder, and Live View display.
Photography
By using the Release mode setting on your Nikon D7200, you tell the camera whether to capture a single image each time you press the shutter button, record a burst of photos as long as you hold down the shutter button, or use Self-Timer mode, which delays the image capture until a few seconds after you press the shutter button.
Photography
When you set the Mode dial on your Nikon D7200 to Effects, as shown in the following figure, you can apply special effects on the fly — that is, the effect is added as the camera writes the picture to the memory card.
Effects mode applies special effects to movies and photos as you record them.
Using Effects mode involves a special setup routine.
Photography
Your Nikon D7200 offers you multiple ways to straighten crooked or distorted images. Try the following Retouch menu tools to level a tilting horizon line, eliminate lens distortion, and correct perspective:
Leveling the horizon: Use the Straighten tool to rotate the picture to level, as in the image in this figure.
Photography
In certain exposure modes, the built-in flash on your Nikon D7200 is set by default to fire automatically if the camera thinks that the ambient light is insufficient. In other modes, you have to manually enable flash. Here's the breakdown:
Autoexposure mode, all Scene modes that permit flash except Food mode, and Color Sketch Effect mode: After you press the shutter button, the camera automatically pops up the built-in flash if it finds the ambient light insufficient.
Photography
FV Lock (Flash Value Lock) enables you to lock flash power at any time before you fully depress the shutter button. By default, the Nikon D7200 camera measures the light throughout the entire frame to calculate exposure and flash settings when you press the shutter button halfway.
But it adjusts those settings up to the time you press the shutter button fully to record the image, ensuring that exposure remains correct even if the light changes between your initial shutter button press and the image capture.
Photography
Live View on your Nikon D7200 can be helpful for shooting still-life photos. Being able to see the scene on the monitor saves you from having to repeatedly check the viewfinder while you're arranging objects in the scene. (You can always use Live View while composing your shot and then exit Live View to actually take the picture, which is my normal course of action.
With the D7200 digital 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 D7200 addition to the Nikon family of dSLRs doesn't skimp on power or performance, offering a great set of features to take your photography to the next level.
Photography
In addition to some initial setup steps, such as installing the battery and memory card(s), you should perform the following two preflight checks on your Nikon D7200 before each shoot:
Check the amount of free space on your memory card(s). Where you find this information varies depending on whether you're using the viewfinder, shooting stills in Live View mode, or recording movies, as follows:
Viewfinder photography: A number indicating how many photos will fit in the available memory-card space appears in the Control panel on top of the camera, as well as in the Information display and viewfinder.
You're no doubt familiar with Self-Timer mode, which delays the shutter release for a few seconds after you press the shutter button, giving you time to dash into the picture. Here's how it works on the Nikon D7200: After you press the shutter button, the AF-assist illuminator on the front of the camera starts to blink.
Photography
To take more creative control but still get some exposure assistance from the Nikon D7200 camera, choose one of these semi-automatic exposure modes (P, S, or A):
P (programmed autoexposure): The camera selects the aperture and shutter speed necessary to ensure a good exposure. But you can choose from different combinations of the two to vary the creative results.
For more creative control, use A exposure mode on your Nikon D7200 to photograph still subjects and S mode to capture moving subjects. The following recipes show you how.
Recipe for shooting still subjects
Set the Mode dial to A (aperture-priority autoexposure).
In this mode, you control f-stop, which affects depth of field, enabling you to blur the background in portraits or snap a landscape photo that's sharply focused throughout the whole scene.
Photography
Single Frame mode on the Nikon D7200 produces one picture each time you press the shutter button. In other words, this is normal-photography mode. Quiet Shutter Release mode works just like Single Frame mode but makes less noise as it goes about its business.
Designed for situations when you want the camera to be as silent as possible, this mode disables the beep that the autofocus system may sound when it achieves focus.
Photography
To enable you to shoot oodles of pictures without having to swap out memory cards, the Nikon D7200 has two card slots. Open the cover on the right side of the camera to reveal them. The top slot is Slot 1; the bottom slot is Slot 2. Several options are available to you when you install two cards.
Here's what you need to know to make best use of the dual-card system:
Specifying how cards are used: For still photography, you can specify how you want the camera to use the card in Slot 2.
One of the first skills you need to learn to take full advantage of your Nikon D7200 is how to select options from camera menus. Following is a brief description of what controls live on the various menus.
Playback menu
Open this menu to access the functions for viewing, deleting, and protecting pictures.
Photo Shooting menu
Open this menu to access basic photography settings.
Through the Retouch menu on your Nikon D7200, you can do simple photo editing in the camera. It's a no-risk proposition: The camera doesn't alter your original file; it makes a copy and applies changes to the copy only. Here are the basics you need to get started:
Access retouching tools: You can take two routes:
Retouch menu: Display the Retouch menu, shown on the left in this figure.
Photography
A few options on the Custom Setting menu of your Nikon D7200 warrant a quick look-see. In the following list, the first part of the option name points you to the submenu where you find the setting.
Shooting/display > Beep: Through this option, shown in the figure, you can tell the camera to emit a beep to indicate that focus is achieved when you use certain autofocus settings.
Photography
You can achieve multi-image exposures on your Nikon D7200 through the Photo Shooting menu or Retouch menu. Two camera features combine multiple photographs into one:
Multiple Exposure (Photo Shooting menu): With this option, you can combine your next two to three shots. After you enable the option and take your shots, the camera merges them into one file.
Photography
You can use the Nikon Wireless Mobile Utility (WMU) app to connect your camera wirelessly to an Android or iOS smart device. You can then use the device to view your photos and transfer low-resolution versions of your favorites so that you can share them online, using your device's Internet connection.
You can also use the app to trigger the camera's shutter release wirelessly.
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