Nikon® D5600™ For Dummies®
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Trademarks: Wiley, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and may not be used without written permission. Nikon and D5600 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nikon Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ.
For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. For technical support, please visit https://hub.wiley.com/community/support/dummies.
Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017936223
ISBN 978-1-119-38633-9 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-38634-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-38636-0
Nikon. The name has been associated with top-flight photography equipment for generations, and the D5600 only enriches that reputation, offering terrific features for capturing both still photos and high-definition digital movies. But the fun doesn’t stop after the shoot: On top of everything else, the D5600 enables you to transfer photos wirelessly to certain smartphones and tablets so that you can instantly share images online. You can even use your smart device as a wireless remote control.
In fact, the D5600 offers so many features that sorting them all out can be more than a little confusing. And therein lies the point of Nikon D5600 For Dummies: With the help of this book, you can take full advantage of everything the camera has to offer, even if you’re brand new to photography.
Unlike many photography books, this one doesn’t require any previous knowledge of photography or digital imaging to make sense of things. In classic For Dummies style, everything is explained in easy-to-understand language, with lots of illustrations to help clear up any confusion.
However, even if you have some photography experience — or quite a bit of experience, for that matter — this book has plenty to offer. I provide detailed information about all the camera’s advanced exposure, focus, and color controls, explaining not just what each feature does but why and how to put it to best use.
In short, what you have in your hands is the paperback version of an in-depth photography workshop tailored specifically to your Nikon picture-taking powerhouse.
This book is organized into four parts, each devoted to a different aspect of using your camera. Although chapters flow in a sequence that’s designed to take you from absolute beginner to experienced user, I’ve also made each chapter as self-standing as possible so that you can explore the topics that interest you in any order you please.
Here's a brief preview of what you can find in each part of the book:
www.dummies.com and enter the name of this book in the search box. You’ll find a link to a cheat sheet, which provides a handy reference to your camera’s buttons, controls, and exposure modes.If this isn’t your first For Dummies book, you may be familiar with the large, round icons that decorate its margins. If not, here’s your very own icon-decoder ring:
The Tip icon flags information that will save you time, effort, money, or some other valuable resource, including your sanity. Tips also point out techniques that help you get the best results from specific camera features.
When you see this icon, look alive. It indicates a potential danger zone that can result in much wailing and teeth-gnashing if ignored. In other words, this is stuff that you really don’t want to learn the hard way.
Lots of information in this book is of a technical nature — digital photography is a technical animal, after all. But when I present a detail that is useful mainly for impressing your tech-geek friends, I mark it with this icon.
I apply this icon either to introduce information that is especially worth storing in your brain’s long-term memory or to remind you of a fact that may have been displaced from that memory by another pressing fact.
Additionally, replicas of some of your camera’s buttons and onscreen graphics appear in the margins and in some tables. I include these images to provide quick reminders of the appearance of the button or option being discussed.
To wrap up this preamble, I want to stress that if you initially think that digital photography is too confusing or too technical for you, you’re in very good company. Everyone finds this stuff mind-boggling at first. So take it slowly, experimenting with just one or two new camera settings or techniques at first. Then every time you go on a photo outing, make it a point to add one or two more shooting skills to your repertoire.
I know it’s hard to believe when you’re just starting out, but it really won’t be long before everything starts to come together. With some time, patience, and practice, you’ll soon wield your camera like a pro, dialing in the necessary settings to capture your creative vision almost instinctively.
So without further ado, I invite you to grab your camera, a cup of whatever it is you prefer to sip while you read, and start exploring the rest of this book. Your D5600 is the perfect partner for your photographic journey, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to act as your tour guide.
Appendix
Your D5600 enables you to connect your camera wirelessly to a smartphone or tablet. After establishing the connection, you can upload photos to the device and use the device as a wireless remote control.
To enjoy these features, you must install the Nikon SnapBridge app on your smart device. The app is free, but is available only for devices that run recent versions of the Android OS (operating system) or Apple iOS. Visit Google Play for Android apps; go the App Store for iOS apps. The current OS requirements appear on the download page for that app.
Your smart device also must offer Bluetooth low-energy (BLE), a special Bluetooth feature that minimizes the battery power required to handle wireless data transmission. (Look for Bluetooth version 4.0 or later.)
I can’t provide detailed instructions for using SnapBridge because things vary depending on your device and its operating system. In addition, when Nikon issues updates to the app — which it is likely to do as it introduces new cameras that offer SnapBridge support — some aspects of the app itself may change. As I write this, the most current versions of the SnapBridge app are 1.2.0.3001 for Android and Version 1.2.0 for iOS.
That said, this appendix provides you with some general guidance. For additional help, including video tutorials that explain various setup steps and features, point your web browser to www.snapbridge.nikon.com.
Here are just some of the functions that you can enjoy after making the wireless connection between your camera and the SnapBridge app:
Transfer photos and movies from the camera to your smart device. You can then view photos on the device or use the device’s Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connection to upload them to social media sites or share them via email. Note that you can’t upload Raw photos; the app can handle only JPEG and movie files. You can transfer full-resolution images or smaller versions that are 2MB in size (which is plenty large for online sharing). In either case, the camera sends copies of your images; your originals remain on your memory card.
Before transferring photos, check the camera’s battery level; transmission is suspended when the battery level is low.
Ship photos to Nikon Image Space. Your D5600 purchase entitles you to a free account at Nikon Image Space, an online photo storage and sharing site. After registering for an account at the site (www.nikonimagespace.com), you can use SnapBridge to upload transferred files to your Image Space gallery. You also can connect to the website via your computer and upload photos from your hard drive or other storage device.
If you use Image Space, you may want to download its standalone app, also free and available for iOS and Android devices. The app enables you to view, organize, and share your Image Space files.
Add credits and other text information to photos that you transfer to the device. You can add a copyright notice, the location and date and time, a logo, or certain bits of shooting data (shutter speed, ISO, and so on). This data is attached only to the transferred images.
You also can use options on the camera’s Setup menu to tag files with comments and copyright notices. Going that route adds the data to all new photos you shoot. See Chapter 10 to find out more.
You'll find all camera settings related to using SnapBridge on the Setup menu. I highlighted the options in Figure A-1.
FIGURE A-1: These Setup menu options provide ways to customize the camera’s interaction with your device.
Here’s what each option does:
Airplane Mode: Set this option to On to disable wireless transmission from the camera, as you might when, say, on an airplane. The feature is disabled by default.
If you use Eye-Fi memory cards, turning on Airplane mode also shuts down wireless transmission from the cards.
Send to Smart Device (Auto): Select On if you want the camera to automatically send all new photos you shoot to your smart device. Turn the feature off if you prefer to select specific pictures to send to the device.
If you choose the second option, you can tag pictures in two ways:
Open the Playback menu and choose Select to Send to Smart Device. On the next screen, choose Select Images to view photo thumbnails, as shown on the left in Figure A-2. Use the Multi Selector to move the selection box over a photo you want to transfer and then press the Zoom Out button to apply the Send to Smart Device tag, labeled in the figure. To remove the tag, press the button again. For a quick way to remove the tag from a batch of selected photos, exit the screen (tap the exit arrow in the upper-right corner of the screen) to return to the initial Select to Send to Smart Device screen. On that screen, choose Deselect All.
Alternatively, put the camera in Playback mode, display a photo you want to tag for transfer, press the i button, and choose Select to Send to Smart Device/Deselect, as shown on the right in Figure A-2. The transfer symbol appears on the photo. To remove it, repeat the process.
Either way, the next time you initiate a transfer of photos to your smart device, only selected photos are sent.
FIGURE A-2: Choose Select to Send to Smart Device from the Playback menu to tag multiple images for transfer (left); in Playback mode, press the i button and choose the same option to tag only the currently displayed photo (right).
Before you start the process of connecting your camera to your smartphone or tablet, here are some tips for making sure things go as smoothly as possible:
With those preliminaries out of the way, here are the basic steps to connect your camera to your smartphone or tablet:
Open the camera’s Setup menu and choose Connect to Smart Device.
You see a welcome screen; press OK. You then see a message explaining that if your device offers NFC wireless connection, you can just touch the device to the NFC symbol on the right side of the camera. It’s the gray N printed near the HDMI port cover. (Check the device’s instruction manual for information about enabling and using its NFC functions.)
No NFC? Press OK again to display the screen shown in Figure A-3.
Open SnapBridge on your device.
The first time you take these steps, the screen looks similar to what you see in Figures A-4 (iOS version) and A-5 (Android version). The Connect tab should be selected; if not, tap the Connect icon, labeled in both figures.
Tap the plus sign (iOS) or the exclamation point (Android), labeled in Figures A-4 and A-5.
The device searches for your camera; if it detects the camera’s signal, the camera name appears on the screen. When prompted, tap the camera name. Then give the device a few minutes to display the Select an Accessory menu. Tap the camera name when it appears. (It may take a little while for the name to appear, too.)
FIGURE A-3: When you see this screen, open the SnapBridge app on your smart device.
FIGURE A-4: On an Apple iOS device, tap the Connect icon at the bottom of the screen to access options for connecting your camera.
FIGURE A-5: Here you see the Android version of the Connect screen. The Connect icon (and other tab icons) appear at the top of the screen.
The devices should now be connected. If this is the first time you’ve connected them, the camera will present two more screens, one asking whether you want to download location data from the smart device and one asking whether you want to sync the camera clock with the one on the smart device. After you make your choices (which you can adjust later if needed), you’re returned to the initial Connect screen.
SnapBridge features are organized into four tabs, which I describe briefly in the following sections. To switch between the tabs on an iOS device, tap the icons at the bottom of the screen (Connect, Gallery, Camera, and Other). On an Android device, the icons are near the top of the screen.
In addition to using this screen to establish the connection to the camera, you can set a few important options related to image transfers. When the Auto Link option is enabled, as it is by default, choose Auto Download to access the following settings:
If auto download is enabled, the device starts transferring photos immediately, either copying all photos on your memory card or those you selected by tagging them in the camera. However, this is not your only avenue to downloading images to the device; you also can select photos to transfer via the Camera tab, explained a block or two from here.
Tap the Gallery icon to view thumbnails of images you’ve transferred to your device. You can view photos stored on your device as well as those you transferred from the camera. Use the standard tablet and smartphone picture-viewing gestures — swipe to scroll through your photos, pinch out to magnify the display, and pinch in to reduce the display size.
Through this tab, you can access two features:
Use the device as a camera remote control. This feature applies to still photography only and works via a Wi-Fi connection. Before making that connection, set the camera to P, S, A, or M exposure mode and select the picture settings you want to use. Then return to the SnapBridge screen and choose Remove Photography, as shown on the left in Figure A-6. When the app finds your camera, it prompts you to open your device’s Wi-Fi settings and select the camera as your Wi-Fi source. You need to enter the camera’s network password: NIKOND5600. (Be patient; the connection process can take a while.)
When the connection is made, you see the screen shown on the right in the figure with a live view of the scene in front of the camera lens. You also see some shooting data, such as the shutter speed and f-stop. A focus box appears on the preview; tap your subject to place the focus box over it and set focus. The focus box turns green when focus is achieved.
To take a picture, press the shutter-button icon, labeled in the figure. The picture is saved to the SnapBridge gallery. A thumbnail of the photo appears under the live preview. Tap the thumbnail to see the images at a larger size and access icons that enable you to share or delete the image.
Don’t turn the camera off or choose another tab in the SnapBridge app between shots; either action breaks the Wi-Fi link and you have to go through the connection process all over again.
Download selected pictures from the camera memory card. If you didn’t set up automatic download and you didn’t tag pictures in the camera for transfer, choose the Download Selected Pictures option (left screen in Figure A-6). You see thumbnails of your pictures. Tap Select and then tap each image or movie file you want to transfer. Next, choose the download size (either original resolution or 2MB) and then OK.
You can transfer movie files only via a Wi-Fi connection. If the camera isn’t connected to the device via Wi-Fi, movie files won’t appear in the list of files you can transfer.
FIGURE A-6: Choose Remote Photography from the Camera tab (left) to display a live preview (right). Tap the shutter button icon to take a picture.
Tap this icon, found just to the right of the camera icon on the SnapBridge home page, to display the screen shown in Figure A-7. The two most useful features you can access via this screen are the following:
FIGURE A-7: Tap the Other icon to access a variety of features, including a tutorial for using the app.
Because the Help site information is very thorough, I won’t waste any more space in this book explaining the myriad SnapBridge features. I offer just one more word of advice: In my experience, the camera-connection process isn’t always reliable, and it’s difficult to sort out where the issue lies. My best advice is to uninstall the app, reinstall it, and start fresh. If you previously connected but can’t seem to reconnect, another fix that sometimes works is to visit your device’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connection settings, locate the camera name, and then choose Forget This Device.
While you’re online, also visit www.dummies.com and enter the title of this book in the Search box. The search results should include a link to download a copy of the Cheat Sheet created for this book. The Cheat Sheet offers a guide to your camera’s external features as well as to some important picture-taking settings.
Part 1
IN THIS PART …
Familiarize yourself with the basics of using your camera, from attaching lenses to navigating menus.
Get step-by-step help with shooting your first pictures in Auto mode.
Find out how to select the exposure mode, Release mode, Image Size (resolution), and Image Quality (JPEG or Raw file type).
Discover options available for flash photography.
Chapter 1
IN THIS CHAPTER
Preparing the camera for its first outing
Getting acquainted with the touchscreen and other camera features
Viewing and adjusting camera settings
Setting a few basic preferences
Taking a picture in Auto mode
Shooting for the first time with a camera as sophisticated as the Nikon D5600 can produce a blend of excitement and anxiety. On one hand, you can't wait to start using your new equipment, but on the other, you're a little intimidated by all its buttons, dials, and menu options.
Well, fear not: This chapter provides the information you need to start getting comfortable with your D5600. The first section walks you through initial camera setup; following that, you can discover how to view and adjust picture settings and get my take on additional setup options. At the end of the chapter, I explain how to take pictures using Auto mode, which offers point-and-shoot simplicity until you're ready for more advanced options.
After unpacking your camera, you have to assemble a few parts. In addition to the camera body and the supplied battery (be sure to charge it before the first use), you need a lens and a memory card. Later sections in this chapter provide details about working with lenses and memory cards, but here's what you need to know up front:
Lens: You can mount a wide range of lenses on your D5600, but some aren’t compatible with all camera features. For example, to enjoy autofocusing, you need an AF-P or AF-S lens. (The 18–55mm lens featured in this book and sold in a kit with the D5600 body is an AF-P lens.) The camera’s instruction manual offers details about lens compatibility. (The full manual is available online at the Nikon Download Center.)
The AF in AF-S and AF-P stands for autofocus. The S in AF-S stands for a silent wave focusing motor; the P refers to an autofocusing technology known as a “stepping motor.” Both are designed to deliver faster and quieter autofocusing. How you implement autofocusing differs between the two types, however. Read more about this issue later in this chapter, in the section “Familiarizing Yourself with the Lens.”
With camera, lens, battery, and card within reach, take these steps:
Attach a lens.
First, remove the caps that cover the front of the camera and the back of the lens. Then align the mounting index (white dot) on the lens with the one on the camera body, as shown in Figure 1-1. After placing the lens on the camera mount, rotate the lens toward the shutter-button side of the camera. You should feel a solid click as the lens locks into place.
Insert a memory card.
Open the card-slot cover on the right side of the camera and orient the card as shown in Figure 1-2 (the label faces the back of the camera). Push the card gently into the slot and close the cover. The memory-card access light, labeled in the figure, illuminates briefly to let you know that the camera recognizes the card.
Rotate the monitor to the desired viewing position.
When you first take the camera out of its box, the monitor is positioned with the screen facing inward, protecting it from scratches and smudges. Gently lift the right side of the monitor up and away from the camera back. You can then rotate the monitor to move it into the traditional position on the camera back, as shown on the left in Figure 1-3, or swing the monitor out to get a different viewing angle, as shown on the right.
Set the language, time zone, and date.
When you power up the camera for the first time, you can't do anything until you take this step.
The easiest way to adjust the settings is to use the touchscreen, which is enabled by default. To select an option or display a menu of settings, just tap it on the screen, just as you do with any touchscreen device. If you see an OK symbol in the lower-right corner of the screen, tap it to finalize your selection and return to the previous screen. To exit a screen without making changes, tap the exit arrow shown in the upper-right corner of the screen.
If you prefer, you also can use the Multi Selector and OK button, labeled in Figure 1-3, to navigate menus. You can find more details about using the touchscreen and other ways to adjust settings later in this chapter.
Adjust the viewfinder to your eyesight.
This step is critical; if you don't set the viewfinder to your eyesight, subjects that appear out of focus in the viewfinder might actually be in focus, and vice versa. If you wear glasses while shooting, adjust the viewfinder with your glasses on.
You set viewfinder focus by rotating the adjustment dial labeled in Figure 1-4. After taking off the lens cap and making sure that the camera is turned on, look through the viewfinder and press the shutter button halfway. In dim lighting, the flash may pop up. Ignore it for now and concentrate on the row of data that appears at the bottom of the viewfinder screen. Rotate the dial until that data appears sharpest. The markings in the center of the viewfinder, which relate to autofocusing, also become more or less sharp. Ignore the scene you see through the lens; that won't change because you're not actually focusing the camera. When you finish, press down on the flash unit to close it if necessary.
If using a retractable lens, unlock and extend the lens.
The lens barrels of AF-P kit lenses, as well as some AF-S lenses, extend and retract. When you’re not shooting, you can retract the lens so that it takes up less space in your camera bag. But before you can take a picture or even access most camera menu items, you must unlock and extend the lens. A message appears on the monitor to remind you of this step.
To extend the lens, press the lens lock button, highlighted in Figure 1-5, while rotating the lens barrel toward the shutter-button side of the camera. To retract the lens, press the button while rotating the lens in the other direction.
FIGURE 1-1: Align the white dot on the lens with the one on the camera body.
FIGURE 1-2: Insert the memory card with the label facing the back of the camera.
FIGURE 1-3: Here are just two possible monitor positions.
FIGURE 1-4: Rotate this dial to set the viewfinder focus for your eyesight.
FIGURE 1-5: If using a retractable lens, press the lens lock button while rotating the lens barrel to extend and retract the lens.
That's all there is to it — your camera is now ready to go. From here, my recommendation is that you keep reading this chapter to familiarize yourself with the main camera features and basic operation. But if you're anxious to take a picture right away, skip to the last section of the chapter, which guides you through the basic process. Just promise that at some point, you'll read the pages in between, because they do contain important information.