If you’re like me, the first thing you probably did when you first extracted your Z50 from the box (after admiring how charmingly petite this little gem is), was to attach a lens, power the beast up, and begin taking photos through a tentative trial-and-error process. Who has time to even scan the manual? If you’re a veteran Nikon shooter, you probably found many of the controls and menus very similar to what you’re used to, even though the camera itself is much more compact and lighter in weight than your previous Nikon.

But now that you’ve taken a few hundred (or thousand) photos with your new Nikon Z50, you’re ready to learn more. You’ve noted some intriguing features and adjustments that you need to master. Goodies packed inside your Z50 include diffraction correction, totally silent shooting, 4K movie-shooting capabilities, a nifty electronic viewfinder, and other enhanced capabilities.

Of course, on the other hand, you may be new to the Nikon world, or the Z50 may be your first mirrorless digital camera, and you need some guidance in learning to use all the creative options this camera has to offer. In either case, despite your surging creative juices, I recommend a more considered approach to learning how to operate the Nikon Z50. This chapter and the next are designed to get your camera fired up and ready for shooting as quickly as possible. And while it boasts both Auto, Scene, and sophisticated Programmed Auto modes, the Z50 is not a point-and-shoot model; to get the most out of your camera, you’ll want to explore its capabilities fully.

So, to help you begin shooting as quickly as possible, I’m going to first provide a basic pre-flight checklist that you need to complete before you really spread your wings and take off. You won’t find a lot of detail in these initial two chapters. Indeed, I’m going to tell you just what you absolutely must understand, accompanied by some interesting tidbits that will help you become acclimated to your Z50. I’ll go into more depth and even repeat a little of what I explain here in the chapters that follow, so you don’t have to memorize everything you see. Just relax, follow a few easy steps, and then go out and begin taking your best shots—ever.

I hope that even long-time Nikon owners won’t be tempted to skip this chapter or the next one. No matter how extensive your experience level is with dSLRs, your new mirrorless camera has a lot of differences from what you may be used to. Yet, I realize you don’t want to wade through a manual to find out what you must know to take those first few tentative snaps. I’m going to help you hit the ground running with this chapter, which will help you set up your camera and begin shooting in minutes. Because some of you may already have experience with previous Nikon cameras, each of the major sections in this chapter will begin with a brief description of what is covered in that section, so you can easily jump ahead to the next if you are in a hurry to get started.

TIP In this book you’ll find short tips labeled My Recommendation or My Preference, each intended to help you sort through the available options for a feature, control, or menu entry. I’ll provide my preference, suitable for most people in most situations. I don’t provide these recommendations for every single feature, and you should consider your own needs before adopting any of them.

First Things First

The Nikon Z50 comes in an impressive black and Nikon-yellow box filled with stuff, including a connecting cord, and lots of paperwork. The most important components are the camera and lens (if you purchased your Z50 in either the one-lens or two-lens kits), battery, battery charger, and, if you’re the nervous type, the neck strap. You’ll also need an SD memory card, plus a spare, as they are not included.

The first thing to do is carefully unpack the camera and double-check the contents. While this level of setup detail may seem as superfluous as the instructions on a bottle of shampoo, checking the contents first is always a good idea. No matter who sells a camera, it’s common to open boxes, use a particular camera for a demonstration, and then repack the box without replacing all the pieces and parts afterward. Someone might have helpfully checked out your camera on your behalf—and then mispacked the box. It’s better to know now that something is missing so you can seek redress immediately, rather than discover two months from now that the USB cable you thought you’d never use (but now must have for an important video project) was never in the box.

In the Box

At a minimum, the box should contain the following components:

• Nikon Z50 digital camera. It almost goes without saying that you should check out the camera immediately, making sure the back-panel LCD touch screen monitor isn’t scratched or cracked, the memory card/battery door opens properly, and, when a charged battery is inserted and lens mounted, the camera powers up and reports for duty. Out-of-the-box defects like these are very rare, but they can happen. It’s more common that your dealer played with the camera or, perhaps, it was a customer return. That’s why it’s best to buy your Z50 from a retailer you trust to supply a factory-fresh camera.
• Lens (optional). At its introduction the Z50 was available as a body only, bundled with both 16-50mm and 50-250mm kit lenses, or with the 16mm-50mm kit lens only. Those two lenses were the only Z-mount lenses at introduction designed specifically for the Z50’s APS-C (cropped) sensor. Other lenses, designed for Z-series full-frame cameras like the Z7 and Z6, will also work just fine on your Z50 camera. You may prefer a Nikkor 24-70mm or 14-30mm S-series zoom lens, or any of the prime (single focal length) lenses also available, including 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm lenses (all with f/1.8 maximum apertures). As lenses are introduced, most retailers will readily package this camera with the lens of your choice, often at a savings over buying them individually.
• USB cable UC-E21. You can use this cable to transfer photos from the camera to your computer (I don’t recommend that because direct transfer uses a lot of battery power), to upload and download settings between the camera and your computer (highly recommended), and to operate your camera remotely using Nikon Camera Control Pro software (optional, and not included in the box).

  My recommendation: This is a standard USB 2.0 Micro cable that works with some other digital cameras. If you already own such a cable, use it as a spare. If you need a longer cable, you can find them at affordable prices online. I’ve tried several third-party cables and they work fine.

• Rechargeable Li-ion battery EN-EL25. You’ll need to charge this 7.6V, 1120mAh (milliampere hour) battery before use. You’ll want a second EN-EL25 battery (about $70) as a spare (trust me), so buy one as soon as possible.
• Quick charger MH-32. This multi-voltage charger (AC 100–240V, 50/60Hz) comes with a plug or adapter (the configuration depends on the country where the camera is sold) that you can use to plug the charger directly into a wall outlet.
• AN-DC20 neck strap. Nikon provides you with a neck strap emblazoned with the Nikon Z logo. It’s not very adjustable, and, while useful for showing off to your friends exactly which nifty new camera you bought, the Nikon strap also can serve to alert observant unsavory types that you’re sporting a higher-end model that’s worthy of their attention.

  My recommendation: I never attach the Nikon strap to my cameras, and instead opt for a more serviceable strap like the one shown in Figure 1.1. I strongly prefer this type over holsters, slings, chest straps, or any support that dangles my camera upside down from the tripod socket and allows it to swing around too freely when I’m on the run. Give me a strap I can hang over either shoulder, or sling around my neck, and I am happy.

  I use the UPstrap shown in the figure, with a patented non-slip pad that keeps your Z50 on your shoulder, and not crashing to the ground. Inventor-photographer Al Stegmeyer (https://journeycamera.com/) can help you choose the right strap for you.

• BF-N1 body cap. The body cap keeps dust from infiltrating your camera when a lens is not mounted. Always carry a body cap (and rear lens cap) in your camera bag for those times when you need to have the camera bare of optics for more than a minute or two. (That usually happens when repacking a bag efficiently for transport, or when you are carrying an extra body or two for backup.) The body cap/lens cap nest together for compact storage. If you lose yours, you can get an extra (plus Z-mount rear lens caps) at www.laserfairepress.com.

Figure 1.1 Third-party neck straps like this UPstrap model are often preferable to the Nikon-supplied strap.

• DK-30 rubber eyecup. This is the rectangular rubber eyepiece that comes installed on the viewfinder of the Z50 It slides on and off the viewfinder. If you prefer, you can augment it or replace it with several accessories discussed in the next section.
• User’s manuals. Even if you have this book, you’ll probably want to check the user’s guide that Nikon provides, if only to check the actual nomenclature for some obscure accessory, or to double-check an error code.

  My recommendation: If you lose your printed material, just Google “Nikon Z50 manual PDF” to find a downloadable version that you can store on your laptop, on a USB stick, or other media in case you want to access this reference when the paper version isn’t handy. You’ll then be able to access the reference anywhere you are, because you can always find someone with a computer that has a USB port and Adobe Acrobat Reader available. Nikon also offers a “manual reader” app for Android and iOS smart devices you can use to read the factory manual. The Nikon app includes links to let you download manuals directly from their website, without needing to Google them. As a final option, you can view the Nikon Reference Manual online using a web browser at https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.com/z50/en/.

• Warranty and registration card. Don’t lose these! You can register your Nikon Z50 by mail or online (in the USA, the URL is www.nikonusa.com/register), and you may need the information in this paperwork (plus the purchase receipt/invoice from your retailer) should you require Nikon service support.

Optional and Non-Optional Add-Ons

Don’t bother rooting around in the box for anything beyond what I’ve listed. There are a few things Nikon classifies as optional accessories, even though you (and I) might consider some of them essential. Here’s a list of what you don’t get in the box, but might want to think about as an impending purchase. I’ll list them roughly in the order of importance:

• Memory card. As I mentioned, the Z50 does not come with a memory card. That’s because Nikon doesn’t have the slightest idea of what capacity or speed card you prefer, so why charge you for one?

  My recommendation: The Z50’s 21-megapixel images have file sizes that range from roughly 9.4 MB (for a JPEG Fine image) to 44.1 MB (for uncompressed 14-bit NEF [RAW] files). I recommend Sony 64GB G-series cards as the best price/capacity compromise, although I also own Sony 128GB media. It’s better to have two 64GB cards available than depend on a single 128GB SD card, if only so you’ll have a backup to your main card.

• Extra EN-EL25 battery. As a mirrorless model, the Z50’s sensor and electronic viewfinder and/or LCD monitor are energized anytime you are using the camera, so you may note that you are getting fewer shots per charge than you may be used to. Nikon says that if you shoot with the viewfinder only, you can expect to get 280 images before you’ll need to swap batteries; if using the less energy-hungry LCD monitor, around 320 shots should be possible. You should be able to capture 85 minutes’ worth of video with either display.

  My recommendation: Buy an extra EN-EL25 or two. They can be charged in the camera while the camera is turned off, using a USB cable connected to a power supply. Keep all your batteries charged, and free your mind from worry. Although third-party vendors may eventually reverse engineer the encoding required to allow their batteries to function in the Z50, I don’t recommend using them simply to save $70 or so with a camera that costs more than ten times that amount.

• EH-73P charging AC adapter. Plug this small, square “wall wart” into an AC outlet and connect a USB connector cable to the USB port of the Z50 and you can recharge the battery of the camera internally while the camera is turned off. It cannot be used to supply power to the camera for taking pictures, however. It is an optional accessory priced at about $30.

  My recommendation: You can pick up one of these if you feel the need. Nikon warns against using any other charger or cable other than the UC-E21 USB cable furnished with the camera. However, the EH-73P is rated at 5V/1A, and I have used other cables and similar smartphone chargers and they’ve worked fine for me. Note that while you can use the Z50 when the charger is connected, the battery will not charge and the camera will not draw any power from the adapter.

• Nikon Capture NX-D or Nikon ViewNX-i software. You can download a free copy of these software utilities from Nikon’s website. Nikon no longer packs a CD-ROM with its cameras.
• Camera Control Pro 2 software. This is the utility you’ll use to operate your camera remotely from your computer. Nikon charges extra for this software, but you’ll find it invaluable if you’re hiding near a tethered, tripod-mounted camera while shooting, say, close-ups of hummingbirds. There are lots of applications for remote shooting, and you’ll need Camera Control Pro to operate your camera.

  My recommendation: You may already own Adobe Lightroom, which does an excellent job for tethered shooting, or Phase One’s application, Capture One. Buy a suitably longer USB cable, too.

• Add-on Speedlight. If you do much flash photography at all, consider an add-on Speedlight with more power than the Z50’s internal flash as an important accessory.

  My recommendation: An add-on flash can serve as the main illumination for your picture, diffused or bounced and used as a fill light, or, if you own several Speedlights, serve as a remote trigger for an off-camera unit. At around $250, the Nikon SB-500 has the most affordable combination of reasonable power, compact size, and features, including a built-in LED video light. If you need more power, the Speedlight SB-700, SB-910, or SB-5000 also offer more flexibility. I’ll provide more information on electronic flash in Chapter 8.

• ML-L7 Bluetooth Remote Control. Pair this device with your camera using the Wireless Remote (ML-L7) Options entry of the Setup menu and you can use Bluetooth connectivity to wirelessly trigger the shutter and control other functions, including exposure settings at a range of up to 33 feet/10 meters. I’ll explain all the options of this device in Chapter 11.

  My recommendation: You’ll need this accessory to take pictures or start/stop movies without the need to touch the camera itself, as no wired or infrared remote control is supported by the Z50. In a pinch, you can use the Z50’s self-timer to minimize vibration when triggering the camera. But when you want to take a photo at the exact moment you desire (and not when the self-timer happens to trip), or need to eliminate all possibility of human-induced camera shake, you need this remote control.

• BS-1 accessory shoe cover. This little piece of optional plastic protects the electrical contacts of the “hot” shoe on top of the Z50. You can remove it when mounting an electronic flash or other accessory, and then safely leave it off for the rest of your life. I’ve never had an accessory shoe receive damage in normal use, even when not protected. The paranoid among you who use accessories frequently can keep removing/mounting the shoe cover as required.

  My recommendation: Find a safe place to keep it between uses, or purchase replacements for this easily mislaid item. The previous low-cost source for these covers has gone out of business, so I’ve imported a stock of them, in both standard and bubble-level versions, which I’ll send you for a few bucks. (Visit www.laserfairepress.com for more details.)

• HDMI audio/video cable. The Z50 can be connected to a high-definition television, and can export its video output to an external recorder. You’ll need to buy an HDMI Micro D (high-definition multimedia interface) cable to do that. No HDMI cable is included with the camera.
• SC-28 TTL flash cord. Allows using Nikon Speedlights off-camera, while retaining all the automated features.
• SC-29 TTL flash cord. Similar to the SC-28, this unit has its own AF-assist lamp, which can provide extra illumination for the Z50’s autofocus system in dim light (which, not coincidentally, is when you’ll probably be using an electronic flash).

  My recommendation: If you intend to work with an external flash extensively, you’ll definitely want to use it off camera. Either of these cables will give you that flexibility. Wireless flash operation (described in Chapter 12) is more versatile, but requires more setup and has a steeper learning curve. With a flash cord, you just connect the cable to your camera and flash and fire away.

Your SD Cards

Your Z50’s memory card slot is compatible with UHS-I SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards rated Class 3 or better, which are fast enough to meet the demands of 4K video recording. The majority of all SD cards sold today (except for the very cheapest cards) are rated at UHS-I Class 3. (Look for the numeral 3 nested inside a letter U on the front of the card. Ignore other, earlier, “class” specifications, such as a numeral 10 contained within a circle.) As a practical matter, that means you can use just about any card in your Z50.

Another “speed” metric used to differentiate memory cards, the so-called write speed means how fast the device can transfer an image file to storage, while read speed (which may be emphasized by the vendor because it is faster) represents how quickly the image can be transferred to your computer though a sufficiently fast connection (such as a USB 3.1 link). For a given card, each may be different; one popular UHS-I U3 memory card has a 90 MB/s maximum read speed, but a maximum write speed of only 40 MB/s. That means it will take more than twice as long to write a typical image to the memory card than it will take to read it when transferring to your computer. Obviously, the write speed is more important (unless you’re in a big hurry to copy images from your memory card to computer), but some vendors tout the read speed more prominently in their advertising.

My recommendation: Buy the best quality cards you can afford. It may be a waste of money, however, to purchase the highest-speed cards, rated UHS-II Class 3, as the Z50 does not support the faster UHS-II specification. However, if you have or may purchase at some point a camera that does support UHS-II (such as the Nikon Z7 and Z6), you might as well get the fastest cards now.

Initial Setup

Once you’ve unpacked and inspected your camera, the initial setup of your Nikon Z50 is fast and easy. Basically, you just need to set the clock, charge the battery, attach a lens, and insert a memory card. If you already are confident you can manage these setup tasks without further instructions, feel free to skip this section entirely. While many buyers of a Z50 are experienced photographers, I realize that some readers are ambitious, if inexperienced, and should, at the minimum, skim the contents of the next section, because I’m going to list a few options that you might not be aware of.

Mastering the Multi Selector and Command Dials

I’ll be saving descriptions of most of the other controls used with the Nikon Z50 until Chapter 3, which provides a complete “roadmap” of the camera’s buttons and dials and switches. However, you may need to perform a few tasks during this initial setup process, and most of them will require the MENU button, and the multi selector buttons and pad. (See Figure 1.2, left.) You’ll also use the command dials (See Figure 1.2, right.)

• MENU button. It requires almost no explanation; when you want to access a menu, press it. To exit most menus or to confirm and exit in some cases, press it again.
• Multi selector pad. This pad may remind you of the similar control found on many point-and-shoot cameras, and other digital cameras. It consists of a thumbpad-sized button with notches at the up, down, left, right, and diagonal positions, used as directional buttons.

  The multi selector is used extensively for navigation, for example, to navigate among menus; to advance or reverse display of a series of images during picture review; or to change the kind of photo information displayed on the screen.

Figure 1.2 Location of the MENU and OK buttons and navigation controls (left), and the command dials (right).

• Multi selector center (OK) button. The center button (as well as the right directional button) can be used to select a highlighted item from a menu. (I find pressing the right button faster and easier.) The center button also can function as an OK/Enter key.
• Main command dial/Sub-command dial. The main command dial and sub-command dial are located on the rear and front of the Z50, as shown at left and right (respectively) in the figure. The main command dial is used to change settings such as shutter speed, while the sub-command dial adjusts an alternate or secondary setting. For example, in Manual exposure mode, you’d use the sub-command dial to change the aperture, while the main command dial is used to change the shutter speed. In either case, the dial is “active” for these adjustments only when the Z50’s exposure meter is on. The meter will automatically go to sleep after an interval (you’ll learn how to specify the length of time in Chapter 10), and you must wake the camera (just tap the shutter release button) to switch the meter back on and activate the main and sub-command dials.

Touch Screen

The tilting LCD monitor supports a number of touch operations. For example, you can use it to navigate menus or make many settings, focus and release the shutter, or view photos and movies. Touch controls are not available when you’re using the viewfinder. The touch screen can be especially useful during image playback and when shooting. The screen has two active areas:

• Control area. The right edge of the screen contains touch-sensitive control icons (which were shown at left in Figure 1.2). From top to bottom they are: Zoom In, Zoom Out/Index/Help, and Display. I’ll explain how to use them next. These controls replace the traditional buttons used to activate these functions; their conversion to touch-screen operation helps make the Z50 as small at it is. It also means their functions may be more difficult to access. You can’t locate them by “feel” in the dark, and may have trouble using them when wearing gloves.
• Menu/Preview area. The rest of the screen is also touch sensitive, and is used to display menus (when making adjustments to your settings), to preview the image you’re about to take, make settings, and to enter text, trigger the shutter, or select a focus point, as described next.

Here’s a list of things you can do with the touch screen:

• In Playback mode:
  • Navigate among images. You can flick the screen to advance to other images during playback. (I’ll explain all the touch screen gestures shortly.)
  • Rapid scroll. When reviewing an image in full-frame view, touch the bottom edge of the screen to produce a gray bar that can be dragged to scroll among images.
  • Zoom in or out. Tap the Magnifying Glass/+ and Magnifying Glass/- icons in the control area, or (more conveniently), just double tap on the touch screen to zoom in or out of an image under review.
  • Relocate zoomed area. You can slide a finger around the monitor to reposition the zoomed area.
  • View thumbnails and movies. You can navigate among index thumbnails and movies.
• In Photo shooting mode (when using the LCD monitor):
  • Zoom in and Out. Tap the Magnifying Glass/+ and Magnifying Glass/– icons in the control area to zoom in or out to examine/focus on the image you have framed.
  • Take pictures. In photo mode, when the monitor is active you can tap the touch screen to take a picture without pressing the shutter release. (However, you can’t begin video capture with a tap.)
  • Select a focus point. In both Photo and Movie modes, you can touch a location on the touch screen to specify a focus point. When you release your finger, a picture will be taken.
  • Adjust settings. Some settings overlaid on the frame will be highlighted with a box drawn around it (such as shutter speed, aperture, ISO, or a Help icon [a question mark]). Tap that box to use those options.
  • Navigate menus. Personally, I find the touch screen clumsy for navigating menus. The menu bars and icons are a bit too small on the 3.2-inch screen to be tapped with precision. You still must press the MENU button to produce the menus, tap the main menu tab at the left of the screen, then tap the specific item, and then choose among its options. Most of the time the multi selector directional buttons are a lot faster.
  • Enter text. When working with a text entry screen (for example, to enter an Image Comment in the Setup menu), you can tap the on-screen keyboard to enter your text. That’s much faster than the alternative—using the directional buttons to tediously move the highlighting from one character to another.

You can disable touch functions entirely or enable them for Playback functions only (and thus disabling touch menu navigation) in the Setup menu, as described in Chapter 11. You can also specify direction for full-frame playback “flicks” (left/right or right/left) using the Touch Controls entry. In addition, you can turn the Touch Shutter/AF feature off by tapping an icon that appears at the left side of the screen during live view and movie shooting. I’ll offer some more advanced uses for the touch screen in Chapter 3.

When adjustments are available, a white rectangle is drawn around the indicator that can be accessed by touch. You will see up/down and left/right triangles used to adjust increments, or other icons for various functions. Available gestures include:

• Flick. Move a single finger a short distance from side to side across the monitor. Note that if a second finger or other object is also touching the monitor, it may not respond. During playback, a flick to the right or left advances to the next or previous image.
• Slide. Move a single finger across the screen in left, right, up, or down directions. You can use this gesture during playback to rapidly move among subsequent or previous images in full-frame view, or to scroll around within a zoomed image. (See Figure 1.3, top left.)
• Stretch/pinch. Spread apart two fingers to zoom into an image during playback, or pinch them together to zoom out. (See Figure 1.3, bottom left.)

Figure 1.3 Flick or slide your finger across the touch screen to scroll from side to side or up or down (top left); pinch or spread two fingers to zoom in and out (bottom left). Tap menu tabs, entries, and settings to make adjustments (center). Slide finger from side to side to scroll among images during Playback.

• Tap. Touch the screen with a single finger to make a menu adjustment. (See Figure 1.3, center.) For example, you can tap an up/down or left/right triangle to increment or decrement a setting, such as monitor brightness. When Touch Shutter is activated, tapping the screen locates the focus point at the tapped location and takes a picture when you remove your finger from the screen. When Touch Shutter is deactivated, tapping the screen simply relocates the focus point. (You’ll find a Touch Shutter on/off icon at the left side of the LCD monitor screen, as explained in Chapter 11.)
• Scroll. Tap the lower edge of the screen in Playback mode to produce a scroll bar. (See Figure 1.3, right.) Drag left or right to scroll quickly among images.

Because the screen uses capacitance, it may not respond when touched with gloved hands, fingernails, or when covered with a protective film. I have a GGS glass screen over my Z50’s monitor and it works just fine; your experience may vary, depending on the covering you use. Don’t use a stylus, pen, or sharp object instead of a finger; if your fingers are too large, stick to the physical controls such as the buttons or dials. As you’ll learn in Chapter 11, you can enable or disable the touch controls or enable them only during playback, using an option in the Setup menu.

Setting the Clock

The Z50’s clock settings are stored in internal memory powered by a rechargeable battery that’s not accessible to the user. It is recharged whenever a removable battery is installed in the battery compartment, and two days of normal use will recharge the internal battery enough to power the clock for about a month. The Z50 is normally sold without its main battery installed, so you’ll probably see a Clock Not Set icon the first time you power it up. In addition, if you store your Z50 for a long period without a charged main battery, the “clock” battery may go dead and “forget” your time/date/zone settings. It will recharge when a fresh EN-EL25 battery is inserted, and you’ll need to set the clock again.

So, when you receive your camera, it’s likely that its internal clock hasn’t been set to your local time, so you may need to do that first. You’ll find complete instructions for setting the four options for the date/time (time zone, actual date and time, the date format, and whether you want the Z50 to conform to Daylight Savings Time) in Chapter 11. However, if you think you can handle this step without instruction, press the MENU button, use the multi selector (that thumb-friendly button I just described, located to the immediate right of the back-panel LCD monitor) to scroll down to the Setup menu, press the multi selector button to the right, and scroll down to Time Zone and Date choice, and press right again. The options will appear on the screen that appears next. Keep in mind that you’ll need to reset your camera’s internal clock from time to time, as it is not 100 percent accurate.

Battery Included

Your Nikon Z50 is a sophisticated hunk of machinery and electronics, but it needs a charged battery to function, so rejuvenating the EN-EL25 lithium-ion battery pack furnished with the camera should be your first step. A fully charged power source should be good for approximately 320 shots, based on standard tests defined by the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) document DC-002. In the real world, of course, the life of the battery will depend on how much image review you do, and many other factors. You’ll want to keep track of how many pictures you are able to take in your own typical circumstances, and use that figure as a guideline, instead.

All rechargeable batteries undergo some degree of self-discharge just sitting idle in the camera or in the original packaging. Lithium-ion power packs of this type typically lose a few percent of their charge every few days, even when the camera isn’t turned on. Li-ion cells lose their power through a chemical reaction that continues when the camera is switched off. It’s very likely that the battery purchased with your camera is at least partially pooped out, so you’ll want to revive it before going out for some serious shooting.

Charging the Battery

When the battery is inserted into the MH-32 charger properly (it’s impossible to insert it incorrectly), a Charge light begins flashing, and remains flashing until the status lamp glows steadily indicating that charging is finished, in about three hours. (See Figure 1.4, left.) When the battery is charged, flip the lever on the bottom of the camera and slide the battery in, as shown at right in Figure 1.4. As noted earlier, when the camera is powered down, you can also charge the battery in the camera using the EH-7P3 AC adapter.

My recommendation: Because Li-ion batteries don’t have a memory, you can top them up at any time. However, their capacity when fully charged will eventually change over time. Once in a while, it’s a good idea to use a battery until it is fully discharged, and then recharge it beyond the normal charging time. (Don’t remove the battery from the charger until the light has gone out and the battery has fully cooled down.) It’s also best to not store a battery for long periods either fully discharged or completely charged in order to maintain its longevity. If you own several (as you should), you’ll probably want to rotate them to even the electronic wear and tear.

Figure 1.4 Charge the battery before use (left) and then insert the battery in the camera; it only fits one way (right).

Final Steps

Your Nikon Z50 is almost ready to fire up and shoot. You’ll need to select and mount a lens, adjust the viewfinder for your vision, and insert a memory card. Each of these steps is easy, and if you’ve used any Nikon before, you already know exactly what to do. I’m going to provide a little extra detail for those of you who are new to the Nikon or digital camera worlds.

Mounting the Lens

As you’ll see, my recommended lens mounting procedure emphasizes protecting your equipment from accidental damage and minimizing the intrusion of dust. If your Z50 has no lens attached, select the lens you want to use and loosen (but do not remove) the rear lens cap. I generally place the lens I am planning to mount vertically in a slot in my camera bag, where it’s protected from mishaps, but ready to pick up quickly. By loosening the rear lens cap, you’ll be able to lift it off the back of the lens at the last instant, so the rear element of the lens is covered until then.

After that, remove the body cap by rotating the cap away from the release button. You should always mount the body cap when there is no lens on the camera, because it helps keep dust out of the interior of the camera. (Although the Z50’s sensor cleaning mechanism works fine, the less dust it has to contend with, the better.) The body cap also protects the sensor from damage caused by intruding objects (including your fingers, if you’re not cautious).

Once the body cap has been removed, remove the rear lens cap from the lens, set it aside, and then mount the lens on the camera by matching the alignment indicator on the lens barrel with the raised white bump on the camera’s lens mount. Rotate the lens toward the shutter release until it seats securely.

Set the focus mode switch on the lens (if it has one; the two kit lenses do not) to A (autofocus). If a lens hood is bayoneted on the lens in the reversed position (which makes the lens/hood combination more compact for transport), twist it off and remount with the “petals” (found on virtually all lens hoods for newer Nikon optics) facing outward. A lens hood protects the front of the lens from accidental bumps, and reduces flare caused by extraneous light arriving at the front element of the lens from outside the picture area.

Adjusting Diopter Correction

Those of us with less than perfect eyesight can often benefit from a little optical correction in the viewfinder. Your contact lenses or glasses may provide all the correction you need, but if you are a glasses wearer and want to use the Z50 without your glasses, you can take advantage of the camera’s built-in diopter adjustment, which can be varied from –3 to +3 correction. Rotate the diopter adjustment control next to the viewfinder (see Figure 1.5) while looking through the viewfinder until the image of your subject is sharp. (The focus screen where your subject appears, and the indicators outside the image area are at slightly different “distances” optically, so you should use an actual image rather than the status indicators if you want to be able to evaluate focus through the viewfinder accurately.)

Figure 1.5 Viewfinder diopter correction from –3 to +3 can be dialed in.

If more than one person uses your Z50, and each requires a different diopter setting on the camera itself, you can save a little time by noting the number of clicks and direction (clockwise to increase the diopter power; counterclockwise to decrease the diopter value) required to change from one user to the other.

Inserting a Memory Card

You’ve probably set up your Z50 so you can’t take photos without a memory card inserted. (There is a Slot Empty Release Lock entry in the Setup menu that enables/disables shutter release functions when a memory card is absent—learn about that in Chapter 11.) So, your final step will be to insert a memory card. Slide the door on the back-right edge of the body toward the back of the camera to release the cover, and then open it. (You should only remove a memory card when the camera is switched off, or, at the very least, the yellow-green memory access light that indicates the camera is writing to the card is not illuminated.)

Insert the SD card with the label facing the back of the camera, oriented so the edge with the contacts goes into the slot first. (See Figure 1.6.) Close the door, and, if necessary, format the card. The card can be removed just by pressing it inward; it will pop out far enough that you can extract it.

Figure 1.6 The memory card is always inserted with the label facing the back of the camera.

Formatting a Memory Card

There are three ways to create a blank memory card for your Z50, and two of them are wrong. Here are your options, both correct and incorrect:

• Transfer (move) files to your computer. When you transfer (rather than copy) all the image files to your computer from the memory card (either using a direct cable transfer or with a card reader), the old image files are erased from the card, leaving the card blank. Theoretically. Unfortunately, this method does not remove files that you’ve labeled as Protected (by pressing the i button during Playback and selecting Protect from the screen that pops up), nor does it identify and lock out parts of your memory card that have become corrupted or unusable since the last time you formatted the card. Therefore, I recommend always formatting the card, rather than simply moving the image files, each time you want to make a blank card. The only exception is when you want to leave the protected/unerased images on the card for a while longer, say, to share with friends, family, and colleagues.
• (Don’t) Format in your computer. With the memory card inserted in a card reader or card slot in your computer, you can use Windows or Mac OS to reformat the memory card. Don’t! The operating system won’t necessarily install the correct file system. The only way to ensure that the card has been properly formatted for your camera is to perform the format in the camera itself. The only exception to this rule is when you have a seriously munged memory card that your camera refuses to format. Sometimes it is possible to revive such a corrupted card by allowing the operating system to reformat it first, then trying again in the camera.
• Setup menu format. To use one of the recommended methods to format a memory card, press the MENU button, use the up/down buttons of the multi selector to choose the Setup menu (which is represented by a wrench icon), navigate to the Format Memory Card entry with the right button of the multi selector, and select Yes from the screen that appears. Press OK to begin the format process.

  My recommendation: I always use the Setup menu format before each shoot, as long as the images thereon have already been transferred to my computer. Nothing is worse than beginning a session and discovering that your memory card is almost full and contains images you don’t want to delete to make room for new shots. If you neglected to bring along an extra memory card, you may have some difficult decisions to make.