Introduction
I’ve owned every Nikon digital SLR offered since the Nikon D70 (more than 16 different models in all), and none of them made the first impression that the D800 did. The first time I picked up this camera, the absolutely stunning image quality and feature set of the Nikon D800 threw me for a loop, which is why I decided to spend an extra three months developing a comprehensive guidebook for this camera, rather than rushing to be the first one on the shelves with a cursory overview of its capabilities. If you waited for this book, I guarantee it is worth the wait.
David Busch’s Nikon D800/D800E Guide to Digital SLR Photography deals with one of the best cameras Nikon has ever offered for such a low price. Although there have been some controversies (real or perceived) over its image quality, when it comes right down to it, the feature set of this camera, its resolution, and expectedly good high ISO performance (for a camera so many pixels!) instantly makes the D800 a hit. When my D800 arrived, I dumped both my D700 and D7000, and this is the camera I use when I want a smaller bodied camera (well, smaller than my D4) when I travel light (especially overseas).
But, despite its bulging feature list, the D800 retains the ease of use that smoothes the transition for those new to digital photography. For those just dipping their toes into the digital pond, the experience is warm and inviting. The Nikon D800 isn’t just a full-featured, full-frame camera—it’s a tool for the most serious thinking photographer.
Once you’ve confirmed that you made a wise purchase decision, the question comes up, how do I use this thing? All those cool features can be mind-numbing to learn, if all you have as a guide is the manual furnished with the camera. Help is on the way. I sincerely believe that this book is your best bet for learning how to use your new camera, and for learning how to use it well.
If you’re a Nikon D800 owner who’s looking to learn more about how to use this great camera, you’ve probably already explored your options. There are DVDs and online tutorials—but who can learn how to use a camera by sitting in front of a television or computer screen? Do you want to watch a movie or click on HTML links, or do you want to go out and take photos with your camera? Videos are fun, but not the best answer.
There’s always the manual furnished with the D800. It’s thick and filled with information, but there’s really very little about why you should use particular settings or features. Its organization makes it difficult to find what you need. Multiple cross-references send you searching back and forth between two or three sections of the book to find what you want to know. The basic manual is also hobbled by black-and-white line drawings and tiny monochrome pictures that aren’t very good examples of what you can do.
I’ve tried to make David Busch’s Nikon D800/D800E Guide to Digital SLR Photography different from your other D800 learn-up options. The roadmap sections use larger, color pictures to show you where all the buttons and dials are, and the explanations of what they do are longer and more comprehensive. I’ve tried to avoid overly general advice, including the two-page checklists on how to take a “sports picture” or a “portrait picture” or a “travel picture.” You won’t find half the content of this book taken up by generic chapters that tell you how to shoot Landscapes, Portraits, or Product photographs. Instead, you’ll find tips and techniques for using all the features of your Nikon D800 to take any kind of picture you want. If you want to know where you should stand to take a picture of a quarterback dropping back to unleash a pass, there are plenty of books that will tell you that. This one concentrates on teaching you how to select the best autofocus mode, shutter speed, f/stop, or flash capability to take, say, a great sports picture under any conditions.
This book is not a lame rewriting of the manual that came with the camera. Some folks spend five minutes with a book like this one, spot some information that also appears in the original manual, and decide “Rehash!” without really understanding the differences. Yes, you’ll find information here that is also in the owner’s manual, such as the parameters you can enter when changing your D800’s operation in the various menus. Basic descriptions—before I dig in and start providing in-depth tips and information—may also be vaguely similar. There are only so many ways you can say, for example, “Hold the shutter release down halfway to lock in exposure.” But not everything in the manual is included in this book. If you need advice on when and how to use the most important functions, you’ll find the information here.
David Busch’s Nikon D800/D800E Guide to Digital SLR Photography is aimed at both Nikon and dSLR veterans as well as newcomers to digital photography and digital SLRs. Both groups can be overwhelmed by the options the D800 offers, while under-whelmed by the explanations they receive in their user’s manual. The manuals are great if you already know what you don’t know, and you can find an answer somewhere in a booklet arranged by menu listings and written by a camera vendor employee who last threw together instructions on how to operate a camcorder.
Once you’ve read this book and are ready to learn more, I hope you pick up one of my other guides to digital SLR photography. Six of them are offered by Course Technology PTR, each approaching the topic from a different perspective.
David Busch’s Compact Field Guide for the Nikon D800/D800E
Readers have told me they love my 400-plus page guidebooks written specifically for their cameras, but asked me to condense the most essential information about settings, menus, and options into a pocket-sized format they can tuck in a camera bag. Well, you can throw away your cheat sheets and command cards. My Compact Field Guide for your D800 is an on-the-go reference you can refer to as you shoot. It’s a spiral-bound, lay-flat book with advice on using every setting and control your D800 offers. While my “big books” contain everything you need to know, the compact versions make sure you’ll have the must-have information, when you need it.
Quick Snap Guide to Digital SLR Photography
Consider this a prequel to the book you’re holding in your hands. It might make a good gift for a spouse or friend who may be using your D800, but who lacks even basic knowledge about digital photography, digital SLR photography, and Nikon photography. It serves as an introduction that summarizes the basic features of digital SLR cameras in general (not just the D800), and what settings to use and when, such as continuous autofocus/single autofocus, aperture/shutter priority, EV settings, and so forth. The guide also includes recipes for shooting the most common kinds of pictures, with step-by-step instructions for capturing effective sports photos, portraits, landscapes, and other types of images.
David Busch’s Quick Snap Guide to Using Digital SLR Lenses
A bit overwhelmed by the features and controls of digital SLR lenses, and not quite sure when to use each type? This book explains lenses, their use, and lens technology in easy-to-access two- and four-page spreads, each devoted to a different topic, such as depth-of-field, lens aberrations, or using zoom lenses.
David Busch’s Quick Snap Guide to Photo Gear
Which three filters must you own—and which filters are obsolete in the era of digital photography? What’s the best type of tripod or monopod for sports, landscape, or wildlife photography? Shoulder bags, sling bags, backpacks, and travel cases: which make the most sense to you? Of all the different gadgets for close-up photography, which are the best? Do I need a special memory card for my camera? What does a radio trigger do? You’ll find the answers to all these questions in my guidebook for choosing and using the best photo gear and accessories.
Mastering Digital SLR Photography, Third Edition
This book, completely revamped with six brand new chapters for this latest edition, is an introduction to digital SLR photography, with nuts-and-bolts explanations of the technology, more in-depth coverage of settings, and whole chapters on the most common types of photography. While not specific to the D800, this book can show you how to get more from its capabilities.
This is my more advanced guide to dSLR photography with greater depth and detail about the topics you’re most interested in. If you’ve already mastered the basics in Mastering Digital SLR Photography, this book will take you to the next level.
Family Resemblance
If you’ve owned previous models in the Nikon digital camera line, and copies of my books for those cameras, you’re bound to notice a certain family resemblance. Nikon has been very crafty in introducing upgraded cameras that share the best features of the models they replace, while adding new capabilities and options. You benefit in two ways. If you used a Nikon D700 prior to switching to the latest D800 model, you’ll find that the parts that haven’t changed have a certain familiarity for you, making it easy to make the transition to the newest model. There are lots of features and menu choices of the D800 that are exactly the same as those in the most recent models. This family resemblance will help level the learning curve for you.
Similarly, when writing books for each new model, I try to retain the easy-to-understand explanations that worked for previous books dedicated to earlier camera models, and concentrate on expanded descriptions of things readers have told me they want to know more about, a solid helping of fresh sample photos, and lots of details about the latest and greatest new features. Rest assured, this book was written expressly for you, and tailored especially for the D800. Indeed, I completely reorganized the content of this book, relegating some of the introductory stuff to the appendixes. If you need to learn the basics of lenses, or how to unbox and set up your D800, you can find what you need to know in those “bonus” sections. The rest of this book is all meat.
Who Am I?
After spending many years as the world’s most successful unknown author, I’ve become slightly less obscure in the past few years, thanks to a horde of camera guidebooks and other photographically oriented tomes. You may have seen my photography articles in Popular Photography & Imaging magazine. I’ve also written about 2,000 articles for magazines like Petersen’s PhotoGraphic (which is now defunct through no fault of my own), plus Rangefinder, Professional Photographer, and dozens of other photographic publications. But, first, and foremost, I’m a photojournalist and made my living in the field until I began devoting most of my time to writing books. Although I love writing, I’m happiest when I’m out taking pictures, which is why I took off to Salamanca, Spain, for two solid weeks in the historic city, photographing its people and monuments, and brushing up on my Spanish. In the last year, I’ve explored Old San Juan in Puerto Rico, and visited less exotic locations that included Florida, San Diego, and Ireland. You’ll find photos of some of these visual treasures within the pages of this book.
Like all my digital photography books, this one was written by a Nikon devotee with an incurable photography bug who has used Nikon cameras professionally for longer than I care to admit. Over the years, I’ve worked as a sports photographer for an Ohio newspaper and for an upstate New York college. I’ve operated my own commercial studio and photo lab, cranking out product shots on demand and then printing a few hundred glossy 8 × 10s on a tight deadline for a press kit. I’ve served as a photo-posing instructor for a modeling agency. People have actually paid me to shoot their weddings and immortalize them with portraits. I even prepared press kits and articles on photography as a PR consultant for a large Rochester, N.Y., company, which shall remain nameless. My trials and travails with imaging and computer technology have made their way into print in book form an alarming number of times, including a few dozen on scanners and photography.
Like you, I love photography for its own merits, and I view technology as just another tool to help me get the images I see in my mind’s eye. But, also like you, I had to master this technology before I could apply it to my work. This book is the result of what I’ve learned, and I hope it will help you master your Nikon D800 digital SLR, too.
Guide to the Guide
Whether you subscribe to the “my camera is just a tool” theory, or belong to the “an exquisite camera adds new capabilities to my shooting arsenal” camp, picking up a new Nikon D800 or D800E (I use the term D800 to refer to both models in this book) is a special experience. Those who simply wield tools will find this camera as comforting as an old friend, a solid piece of fine machinery ready and able to do their bidding as part of any creative process that calls for high resolution and reliability.
Other photographers see the ultra-high–res 36-megapixel sensor, advanced movie-making capabilities, unexpectedly good (for its resolution) higher ISO performance, and sophisticated tools like built-in high dynamic range (HDR) capabilities, and gain a sense of empowerment. Here is a camera with fewer limitations and more capabilities for exercising renewed creative vision. In either case, using less mawkish terms, the D800 in its two versions is a pair of the coolest cameras Nikon has ever offered. Whether you’re upgrading from another brand, from another Nikon model (like the D700), or (O brave one!) your D800 is your first digital camera and/or SLR, welcome to the club.
But, now that you’ve unwrapped and recharged the beast, mounted a lens, and fueled it with a memory card, what do you do with it? That’s where this book should come in handy. Like many of you, I am a Nikon user of long standing. And, like other members of our club, I had to learn at least some aspects of my newest camera for the very first time at some point. Experienced pro, or Nikon newbie, you bought this book because you wanted to get the most from a very powerful tool, and I’m here to help.
Depending on your path to the camera, the Nikon D800 is either the company’s most ambitious camera for the avid amateur, or most affordable entry-level “pro” camera, which are both distinctions that I find almost meaningless in the greater scheme of things. I know consummate professionals who produce amazing images with a D90 and experienced wedding photographers who evoke the most romantic photos from an old Nikon D200. The Nikon D800 is a professional camera in most of the traditional senses: built like a tank with a magnesium body, reliable for hundreds of thousands of exposures, capable of lightning-fast autofocusing and superb image quality, whether you’re shooting in a studio or drenched in driving rain. But whether your images are of professional quality, both technically and inspirationally, depends on what’s between your ears, and how you apply it. The goal of this book is to provide you with the information you need to put your brain cells together with your Nikon’s electro-mechanical components to work productively.
D800 VS. D800E
Many new owners of Nikon’s 36-megapixel full-frame camera agonized over the decision of whether to purchase the “stock” Nikon D800, with its moiré-combating anti-aliasing filter, or the Nikon D800E, which replaces the (slight) blur-inducing low-pass filter with an optically-neutral filter that has no anti-aliasing properties. (Nikon didn’t “delete” the AA filter; it “defanged” it by putting a filter of similar thickness with properties that cancel out the anti-aliasing effect.)
I’m not going to enter the debate here. Functionally, the D800 and D800E are identical, so I’ll treat them as a single camera model, except where the difference between them actually makes a difference. You’re free to decide for yourself whether 36 anti-aliased megapixels simply isn’t enough for you and, if you opt for the D800E, investigate software and other techniques that will remedy any moiré effects you experience (if they show up in your photos at all).
There’s a lot to learn, but you don’t have to master every detail all at once. Some of the other camera guides I’ve seen winnow this information down to about one-third as many pages. Indeed, I find it odd that those guidebooks use the same basic template for the advanced D800 cameras as for a resolutely amateur-level model like the Nikon D3200. A camera like the D800/D800E has a lot more depth than that, and deserves the in-depth coverage you’ll find here.
Some readers who visit my blog have told me that the Nikon D800 is such an advanced camera that few people really need the kind of basics that so many camera guides concentrate on. “Leave out all the basic photography information!” On the other hand, I’ve had many pleas from those who are trying to master digital photography as they learn to use their D800, and they’ve asked me to help them climb the steep learning curve.
Rather than write a book for just one of those two audiences, I’ve tried to meet the needs of both. You veterans will find plenty of information on getting the most from the D800’s features, and may even learn something from an old hand’s photo secrets. I’ll bet there was a time when you needed a helping hand with some confusing photographic topic. I’ve tucked most of the really basic material away in the bonus appendixes. And those who are looking to learn about photography and their camera will find just what you need in this book, too.
Here’s a quick guide to my Guide:
Part I: Nikon D800/D800E Quick Start. I won’t insult you by giving you the newbie tour outlining the procedure for unboxing your camera and charging the battery. At least, not here. If you really do want the 50-cent introduction to your camera, you’ll find it in the “bonus” material in Appendix A. Part I is devoted to letting you hit the ground running, with a quickie guide to exposure, autofocus, and other controls, a Streetsmart Roadmap that shows you what every component is, and how/when to use it, and a full chapter of recommended settings. Nikon’s default settings for your D800 are nice, but mine are better.
Part II: Mastering Your Tools. The four thick chapters in this Part tell you everything you need to know about exposure (including my dismantling of the myth of the 18-percent gray card), autofocus, HDR, and other tools. There’s a chapter where I evaluate most of the current Nikon lens line-up (and a few old favorites). Beginners who need to know basics of using lenses can jump to Appendix B in the bonus section at the end of the book.
Part III: Working with Light. Three chapters here explain the nature of light, and how to use it, with a full chapter on electronic flash (even the basics), and another on using the Nikon Creative Lighting System’s wireless/multiple flash modes.
Part IV: Configuring Your Nikon D800. Most guidebooks have a chapter near the front of the book that lists all the menu options available, and what they do. Just like Nikon’s own manual, only with more words. Part IV, more than 100 pages long, not only tells you when and why to use each of the dozens of shooting, custom, and setup options of your Nikon D800—but when not to use them.
Part V: Introduction to Movie-Making with the D800/D800E. How far we’ve come! When the Nikon D90 was introduced, I explained movie-making in part of a chapter that also discussed live view and other techniques. Now, with the Nikon D800’s full HD video mode, I needed three full chapters to explain just what you need to know to get started. If you’re serious about movie-making, this Part will ready you for more in-depth study. Entire books have been written about dSLR movie-making (I’ve written one myself with video guru Rob Sheppard), but these chapters offer a good summary of the tools and techniques at your disposal.
Part VI: Bonus Material. You’ll find four appendixes here, each with kernels of essential information that was better put at the end, keeping the main body of this humongous guidebook more streamlined. You’ll learn about the D800 and its accessories; basics of wide-angle, telephoto, zoom, prime, and specialized lens technology; and how to choose your software tools, from Lightroom 4 to Photoshop CS 6 to Nikon Capture NX 2 and Camera Control 2. There’s also an appendix on troubleshooting your camera, upgrading firmware, and cleaning your sensor.
As you can see, like you, I love photography for its own merits, and I view technology as just another tool to help me get the images I see in my mind’s eye. But, also like you, I had to master this technology before I could apply it to my work. This book is the result of what I’ve learned, and I hope it will help you master your Nikon digital SLR, too.
In closing, I’d like to ask a special favor: let me know what you think of this book. If you have any recommendations about how I can make it better, visit my website at www.dslrguides.com/blog, click on the E-Mail Me tab, and send your comments, suggestions on topics that should be explained in more detail, or, especially, any typos. (The latter will be compiled on the Errata page you’ll also find on my website.) I really value your ideas, and appreciate it when you take the time to tell me what you think! Some of the content of the book you hold in your hands came from suggestions I received from readers like yourself. If you found this book especially useful, tell others about it. Visit http://www.amazon.com/dp/1285084519 and leave a positive review. Your feedback is what spurs me to make each one of these books better than the last. Thanks!