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Chapter 2

Nikon D90 Roadmap

You should find this Streetsmart Roadmap of the functions of the D90’s con-trols more useful than the tiny black-and-white drawings in the manual packedwith the camera, which has dozens of cross-references that send you on an infor-mation scavenger hunt through dozens of pages. Everything you need to knowabout the controls themselves is here. You’ll find descriptions of menus and set-tings in Chapters 3 and 4.

Nikon D90: Front ViewFigure 2.1 shows a front view of the Nikon D90 from a 45-degree angle. Themain components you need to know about are as follows:

■ Shutter release. The shutter release button has multiple functions. Pressdown halfway to lock exposure and focus. Press it down all the way to actu-ally take a photo or sequence of photos if you’re using the Continuousshooting mode. Tap the shutter button to reactivate the D90’s exposuremeters or to remove the display of a menu or image from the rear colorLCD.

■ On/off switch. Rotate away from the lens to turn the camera on. At themost clockwise position, the top-panel monochrome LCD backlight illu-minates for a few seconds.

■ Red-eye reduction/self-timer/autofocus assist lamp. This LED providesa blip of light shortly before a flash exposure to cause the subjects’ pupilsto close down, reducing the effect of red-eye reflections off their retinas.When using the self-timer, this lamp also flashes to mark the countdownuntil the photo is taken, and provides extra illumination to assist the auto-focus system.

■ Handgrip. This provides a comfortable handhold, and also contains theD90’s battery.

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■ Memory card door. Slide this door toward the back of the camera to pro-vide access to the SD memory card slot.

■ Fn (Function button). This button can be programmed to perform anyone of several functions (including changing the metering mode, disablingthe built-in electronic flash, or changing the autofocus area mode), asdescribed in Chapter 4, but its default behavior is to lock in the currentflash setting.

■ Depth-of-field preview button. Hold down this button to close the lensaperture to the f/stop that will be used to take the picture at the current set-tings, to view the approximate range of sharpness of your final image.

■ Sub-command dial. Provides secondary adjustments for functions withtwo settings. For example, when using the main command dial (on the backof the camera) to change the shutter speed in Manual exposure mode, thesub-command dial is used to adjust the aperture.

David Busch’s Compact Field Guide for the Nikon D9018

Figure 2.1

Memorycarddoor

Handgrip Depth-of-field preview

button

Fnbutton

Sub-command

dial

Shutterrelease

On/Offswitch

Autofocus assist lamp/Self-timer lamp/Red-eye

reduction lamp

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Figure 2.2 shows a front view of the Nikon D90 from the other side, with theelectronic flash elevated. The controls here include

■ Infrared sensor. You can trigger the D90 remotely using the optional ML-L3 infrared remote control, which is detected by this sensor. (The camera can also be activated by a hard-wired plug-in MC-DC2 remote con-trol attached to the Accessory terminal.)

■ Lens release button. Press this button to unlock the lens, and then rotateit away from the shutter release button to dismount your optics.

■ Microphone. Records monaural sound when shooting movies.■ Bracket button. Hold down this button to choose the number of shots to

be bracketed (rotate the main command dial) and the bracket increment(rotate the sub-command dial). You can shoot two or three images withbracketed settings for exposure, flash exposure, white balance, and ActiveD-Lighting. Chapters 3 and 4 explain these features in more detail.

■ Camera body Autofocus/Manual focus switch. Changes from Autofocusto Manual focus. This switch and the one on the lens must agree. If eitheris set to Manual focus, then the camera focuses only manually.

■ Lens Autofocus/Manual focus switch. Changes from Autofocus toManual focus.

■ Flash pop-up/Flash mode button. This button releases the built-in flashso it can flip up and start the charging process. If you decide you do notwant to use the flash, you can turn it off by pressing the flash head backdown. Hold down this button while spinning the command dial to choosea flash mode.

■ Pop-up flash. The flash elevates from the top of the camera, theoreticallyreducing the chances of red-eye reflections, because the higher light sourceis less likely to reflect back from your subjects’ eyes into the camera lens. Inpractice, the red-eye effect is still possible (and likely), and can be furtherminimized with the D90’s red-eye reduction lamp (which flashes before theexposure, causing the subjects’ pupils to contract), and the after-shot, red-eye elimination offered in the Retouch menu. (Your image editor may alsohave anti-red-eye tools.) Of course, the best strategy is to use an externalSpeedlight that mounts on the accessory shoe on top of the camera (andthus is even higher) or a flash that is off-camera entirely.

■ Vibration reduction on/off switch. If available on a particular lens, it turnsthe lens’s image stabilization features on or off.

Chapter 2 ■ Nikon D90 Roadmap 19

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1 Flip-up flash

2 Lens autofocus/Manualfocus switch

3 Bracket button

4 Flash mode/Flash com-pensation button

5 Microphone

6 Infrared sensor

7 Vibration reductionon/off switch

8 Lens release button

9 Autofocus/Manual focusswitch

bk DC power in USB port/HDMI out/AV outcover

bl Remote control/GP-1port

bm DC power

bn USB port

bo AV port

bp GPS connector

bq MC-DC2 remote connector

br HDMI connector

23

4

1

56

bm bn

98

bk bl7 bo bp bq br

Figure 2.2

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■ Port covers. These rubber covers protect the five input/output ports listednext. (See Figure 2.2.)

■ DC power. Connect the optional EH-5/EH-5a DC power connector hereto operate the D90 for extended periods without relying on the internalbattery.

■ USB port. Plug in the USB cable furnished with your Nikon D90 and con-nect the other end to a USB port in your computer to transfer photos,upload settings, or to interface with remote control software like NikonCamera Control Pro or Breeze Systems NKRemote.

■ HDMI port. You need to buy an accessory cable (a C mini-pin HDMIcable available from third-party suppliers) to connect your D90 to anHDTV.

■ Video port. You can link this connector with a television to view your pho-tos on a large screen.

■ GPS/Remote release connector. You can plug in the GP-1CA90 cablefrom the Nikon GP-1 geotagging accessory here to embed latitude, longi-tude, and altitude information in your images. The Nikon MC-DC2remote release also can be plugged in here, or the remote release can beplugged into the GP-1CA90 cable, which has a pass-through connectionto allow use of both devices at once.

The Nikon D90’s Back PanelThe back panel of the Nikon D90 bristles with almost a dozen different con-trols, buttons, and knobs. That might seem like a lot of controls to learn, butyou’ll find that it’s a lot easier to press a dedicated button and spin a dial than tojump to a menu every time you want to access one of these features. You can seethe controls clustered along the top edge of the back panel in Figure 2.3. Thekey buttons and components and their functions are as follows:

■ Viewfinder eyecup. This soft rubber eyecup seals out extraneous light whenpressing your eye tightly up to the viewfinder, and protects your eyeglasslenses (if worn) from scratching. It can be removed and replaced by the DK-5 eyepiece cap when you use the camera on a tripod, to ensure that lightcoming from the back of the camera doesn’t venture inside and possiblyaffect the exposure reading.

■ Diopter adjustment knob. Rotate this wheel to adjust the diopter correc-tion for your eyesight, as described in Chapter 1.


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Figure 2.3

Trash/Format#1 button

Viewfindereyecup

Diopter correction knob

Automatic exposure lock/Auto exposure lock

Main command dial

■ AE-L/AF-L lock. When shooting pictures, the button locks the exposureor focus that the camera sets when you partially depress the shutter button.The exposure lock indication (AE-L icon) appears at bottom left in theviewfinder. If you want to recalculate exposure or autofocus with the shut-ter button still partially depressed, press the button again. The exposure/aut-ofocus will be unlocked when you release the shutter button or take thepicture. To retain the exposure/autofocus lock for subsequent photos, keepthe button pressed while shooting.

■ Main command dial. The command dial is used to set or adjust manyfunctions, such as shutter speed, ISO value, or image quality. It is used inconjunction with the sub-command dial on the front of the camera whenadjusting features with two parameters, such as shutter speed/aperture, ornumber of bracketed shots/bracket increment.

■ Trash/Format #2 button. Press twice when viewing an image on the LCDto erase that image. Hold down this button and the Format #1 button (theMetering mode button on top of the camera) for about two seconds, thenrelease when the For message flashes on the top LCD, then hold down againto reformat your memory card.

You’ll be using the five buttons to the left of the LCD monitor (shown in Figure2.4) quite frequently.

■ Playback button. Press this button to review images you’ve taken. Toremove the displayed image, press the Playback button again, or simply tapthe shutter release button.

■ MENU button. Summons/exits the menu displayed on the rear LCD ofthe D90. When you’re working with submenus, this button also serves toexit a submenu and return to the main menu.

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■ White balance/Help/Protect Image. Hold down this button and rotatethe main command dial to change the white balance settings shown on thetop-panel monochrome LCD. Press the button when a menu item is high-lighted to produce a brief screen that describes the function of that item.When reviewing a picture on the LCD, press once to protect the image fromerasure (except during a format), and a second time to unprotect it. A keysymbol appears when the image is displayed to show that it is protected.

■ ISO/Thumbnail/Zoom Out. Hold down this button and rotate the maincommand dial to change the ISO sensitivity settings, shown on the top-panel monochrome LCD. In Playback mode, use this button to zoom outof an image that is magnified, or to change from full-screen view to six ornine thumbnails.

■ QUAL/Zoom In button. Hold down this button and rotate the main dialto change the Image quality settings. An indicator on the top-panel mono-chrome LCD will cycle among RAW, JPEG Fine, JPEG Normal, JPEGBasic, RAW+Fine, RAW+Normal, and RAW+Basic. Rotate the sub-com-mand dial to cycle among Large, Medium, and Small resolutions. InPlayback mode, press to zoom in on an image.


Figure 2.4

Playback

MENU

White balance/Help/Protect image

ISO/Zoom Out/Thumbnail index

Image size/Quality/Zoom In

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More controls reside on the right side of the back panel, as shown in Figure 2.5.The key controls and their functions are as follows:

■ LCD. View your images and navigate through the menus on this screen.■ Live View button. Press this button to activate Live View; press a second

time to turn off Live View.■ Multi selector. This joypad-like button can be shifted up/down and side

to side to provide several functions, including AF point selection, scrollingaround a magnified image, or trimming a photo. Within menus, pressingthe up/down buttons moves the on-screen cursor up or down; pressingtowards the right selects the highlighted item and displays its options; press-ing left cancels and returns to the previous menu.

■ OK button. Use this button to confirm a selection. When working withmenus, press the MENU button instead to back out without making aselection. When using Live View mode, this button activates the movie-making feature; press a second time to stop motion picture capture.

■ Memory card access lamp. When lit or blinking, this lamp indicates thatthe memory card is being accessed.


Figure 2.5

Live View

Color LCD display

Directional buttons

Enter/Confirm

Lock/unlock focuspoint selection

Memory cardaccess lamp

Image information

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■ Lock/unlock focus point selection (Focus selector lock). Turn to the Lsetting to lock the focus point at its current position. Turn to the • posi-tion, and you can then move the active focus point around among theeleven available points when using Single-point, Dynamic area, or 3DTracking (11 points) focus zone selection.

■ Info display/Quick Settings Display button. Use this button toshow/hide basic shooting information on the color LCD, and to make somesettings changes, such as noise reduction, picture controls, and buttonassignments.

Playing Back ImagesHere are the basics involved in reviewing images on the LCD screen (or on a tel-evision screen you have connected with a cable).

■ Start review. To begin review, press the Playback button at the upper-leftcorner of the back of the D90. The most-recently viewed image will appearon the LCD.

■ Playback folder. Image review generally shows you the images in the cur-rently selected folder on your memory card. A given card can contain sev-eral folders (a new one is created anytime you exceed 999 images in thecurrent folder). You can use the Playback folder menu option in thePlayback menu (as I’ll explain in Chapter 3) to select a specific folder, ordirect the D90 to display images from all the folders on the memory card.

■ View thumbnail images. To change the view from a single image to fouror nine thumbnails, follow the instructions in the “Viewing Thumbnails”section that follows.

■ Zoom in and out. To zoom in or out, press the Zoom In button, follow-ing the instructions in the “Zooming the Nikon D90 Playback Display” inthe next section. (It also shows you how to move the zoomed area aroundusing the multi selector pad.)

■ Move back and forth. To advance to the next image, press the right edgeof the multi selector pad; to go back to a previous shot, press the left edge.When you reach the beginning/end of the photos in your folder, the dis-play “wraps around” to the end/beginning of the available shots.

■ See different types of data. To change the type of information about thedisplayed image that is shown, press the up and down portions of the multiselector pad. To learn what data is available, read the “Working with PhotoInformation” section later in this chapter.


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■ Retouch image. Press the OK button while a single image is displayed onthe screen to jump to the Retouch menu to modify that photograph. (I’llexplain the workings of the Retouch menu in Chapter 3.)

■ Remove images. To delete an image that’s currently on the screen, press theTrash button once, and then press it again to confirm the deletion. To selectand delete a group of images, use the Delete option in the Playback menuto specify particular photos to remove, as described in more detail inChapter 3.

■ Cancel playback. To cancel image review, press the Playback button again,or simply tap the shutter release button.

Zooming the Nikon D90 Playback DisplayHere’s how to zoom in and out on your images during picture review:

1. When an image is displayed (use the Playback button to start), press theZoom In button to fill the screen with a slightly magnified version of theimage. You can keep pressing the Zoom In button to magnify a portion ofthe image up to 6.7X.

2. A navigation window appears in the lower-right corner of the LCD show-ing the entire image. Keep pressing to continue zooming in.

3. A yellow box in the navigation window shows the zoomed area within thefull image. The entire navigation window vanishes from the screen after afew seconds, leaving you with a full-screen view of the zoomed portion ofthe image.

4. Use the command dial to move to the same zoomed area of the next/previ-ous image.

5. Use the Zoom Out/Thumbnail button to zoom back out of the image.6. Use the multi selector buttons to move the zoomed area around within the

image. The navigation window will reappear for reference when zoomingor scrolling around within the display (see Figure 2.6, top).

7. The display will place white borders around up to 10 faces detected whilezooming. The white boxes will appear within the yellow box that indicatesthe zoomed area. You can rotate the sub-command dial to scroll among thedetected faces.

8. To exit Zoom In/Zoom Out display, keep pressing the Zoom Out buttonuntil the full-screen/full-image/information display appears again or pressthe OK button. If you continue pressing the Zoom Out button from thefull-screen view, you’ll be shown four, nine, and 72 thumbnails, plus a cal-endar view.


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Viewing ThumbnailsThe Nikon D90 provides other options for reviewing images in addition tozooming in and out. The D90 lets you switch quickly from single- to four- tonine- to 72-image views, with a scroll bar displayed at the right side of the screento show you the relative position of the displayed thumbnails within the full col-lection of images in the active folder on your memory card. Figure 2.6 offers acomparison between the three levels of thumbnail views (bottom). The ZoomIn and Zoom Out/Thumbnail buttons are used.

■ Add thumbnails. To increase the number of thumbnails on the screen, pressthe Zoom Out button. The D90 will switch from single image to fourthumbnails to nine thumbnails to 72 thumbnails, and then to calendar view(discussed next). Additional presses in calendar view toggles back and forthbetween highlighting calendar dates, or showing pictures taken on that date.(The display doesn’t cycle back to single image again.)


Figure 2.6

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■ Reduce number of thumbnails. To decrease the number of thumbnails onthe screen, press the Zoom In button to change from calendar view to 72to nine thumbnails to four thumbnails, or from four to single-image dis-play. Continuing to press the Zoom In button once you’ve returned to sin-gle-image display starts the zoom process described in the previous section.

■ Change highlighted thumbnail area. Use the multi selector (or the mainand sub-command dials) to move the yellow highlight box around amongthe thumbnails.

■ Protect and delete images. When viewing thumbnails or a single-pageimage, press the Protect button to preserve the image against accidental dele-tion (a key icon is overlaid over the full-page image) or the Trash button(press twice) to erase it.

■ Exit image review. Tap the shutter release button or press the Playback but-ton to exit image review.

Working with Calendar ViewOnce in calendar view, you can sort through images arranged by the date theywere taken. This feature is especially useful when you’re traveling and want tosee only the pictures you took in, say, a particular city on a certain day.

■ Change dates. Use the multi selector keys or main dial and sub-commanddial to move through the date list. If your memory card has pictures takenon a highlighted date, they will be arrayed in a scrolling list at the right sideof the screen (see Figure 2.7).

■ View a date’s images. Press the Zoom In button to toggle between the datelist to the scrolling thumbnail list of images taken on that date. When view-ing the thumbnail list, you can use the multi selector up/down keys to scrollthrough the available images.

■ Preview an image. In the thumbnail list, when you’ve highlighted an imageyou want to look at, press the Zoom In button to see an enlarged view ofthat image without leaving the calendar view mode. The zoomed imagereplaces the date list.

■ Delete images. Pressing the Trash button deletes a highlighted image in thethumbnail list. In the date list view, pressing the Trash button removes allthe images taken on that date (use with caution!).


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Figure 2.7 Calendar view.

■ Exit calendar view. In thumbnail view, if you highlight an image and pressthe OK button, you’ll exit calendar view and the highlighted image will beshown on the LCD in the display mode you’ve chosen. (See “Working withPhoto Information” to learn about the various display modes.) In Date Listview, pressing the Zoom In button exits calendar view and returns to 72thumbnails view. You can also exit calendar view by tapping the shutterrelease or by pressing the MENU button.

Working with Photo InformationWhen reviewing an image on the screen, your D90 can supplement the imageitself with a variety of shooting data, ranging from basic information presentedat the bottom of the LCD display, to three text overlays that detail virtually everyshooting option you’ve selected. This section will show you the type of informa-tion available. Most of the data is self-explanatory, so the labels in the accompa-nying figures should tell you most of what you need to know. To change to anyof these views while an image is on the screen in Playback mode, press the multiselector up/down buttons (unless you’ve swapped the up/down functions withthe left/right functions in the Custom Setting menu). Here’s the order in whichthe screens are displayed when you press the multi selector down button. Theyare shown in Figures 2.8 through 2.15.

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1 Protection status

2 Retouch indicator

3 Frame number

4 Frames shot

5 Folder name

6 Date/time photo taken

7 Filename

8 Image quality

9 Image resolution

1 2 3 4

5 7 8 9

Figure 2.8 File information screen.

6

Figure 2.9 RGB histogram. Showsthe image accompaniedby brightness, red, green,and blue histograms—akind of chart that repre-sents an image’s expo-sure, and how thedarkest areas, brightestareas, and middle toneshave been captured.

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Figure 2.10When the Highlightsdisplay is active, anyoverexposed areas will beindicated by a flashingblack border.

Figure 2.11Shooting Data 1 tellsyou everything else youmight want to knowabout a picture you’vetaken, including meter-ing mode, exposuremode, exposure com-pensation, lens informa-tion, and all the detailsof any built-in or exter-nal dedicated flash unitsyou might have used.

Figure 2.12Shooting Data 2 showswhite balance data andadjustments, sharpnessand saturation settings,and other parameters.

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Figure 2.13Shooting Data 3 showsnoise reduction infor-mation, Active D-Lighting, retouchingeffects that have beenapplied, and your usercomments.

Figure 2.14The GPS data screenappears only if the imagewas taken using the GPSdevice. It includes lati-tude, longitude, alti-tude, and timeinformation.

Figure 2.15Overview data screenadds more information,including meteringmode, shutter speed,f/stop, and ISO setting.

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Shooting Information Display/QuickSettings ScreenThe back-panel color LCD provides a wealth of information through the shoot-ing information display, shown in both dark and light versions in Figure 2.16.The shooting information display is especially useful when the D90 is mountedhigh on a tripod, as you can conveniently view the camera’s settings from theback. The Quick Settings screen allows you to make the basic adjustmentsarrayed along the bottom of Figure 2.16 (and labeled in Figure 2.18) using theLCD’s speedy settings view.


Figure 2.16

To activate the shooting information display, press the INFO button on the backof the camera, near the bottom-right corner of the color LCD. You’ll see settingslike those shown in Figure 2.17. Use Custom Setting menu entry CSM #d8(described in Chapter 4) to switch from dark text on light background to lighttext on dark background display. Or, you can choose AUTO and let the D90decide which color scheme to use, based on the amount of ambient light (light-on-dark is usually easier to read in dim lighting conditions, while the reversescheme is better under bright lighting).

Figure 2.17 shows the full shooting information display/Quick Settings screen,color-coded for easy reference. Not all of the information is shown at once.

When the shooting information display is shown, press the INFO button a sec-ond time to activate the Quick Settings menu at the bottom of the screen, shownin Figure 2.18. Use the multi selector left/right buttons to highlight one of theadjustments, then press the OK button to produce a screen of options for thatsetting. You’ll find the Quick Settings screen can be much faster to use for set-ting ISO Noise Reduction, adjusting Active D-Lighting, accessing a PictureControl, or changing the definition of the Fn and AE-L/AF-L buttons.

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1 Shooting mode

2 Battery/Powerindicators

3 Shutter speed/Exposure,Flash compensation/Color temperature/Shots in bracket set

4 Flash value lock

5 Clock/Commentindicators

6 Flash compensationindicator

7 Exposure compensationindicator

8 Bracketing

9 Aperture/Bracketincrement

bk D-Lighting bracket

bl Release/Drive mode

bm Quick Settings

bn Image Size/Quality

bo Flash options

bp White balance

bq Autofocus modes/Focuspoint

br Exposure mode

bs GPS indicator

bt Analog exposure scale/Exposure compensation/Bracketing progress

ck Number of exposuresremaining

cl ISO settings

cm Beep

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 bk bl

bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt ck cmcl

Figure 2.17 The full shooting information display, color-coded for reference.

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Figure 2.18 Quick Settings can be accessed by a second press of the INFO button.

Long exposure noise

reduction

HighISO noise reduction

Active D-Lighting

SetPictureControl

DefineFn button

Define AE-L/AF-L button

function

Going TopsideThe top surface of the Nikon D90 (see Figure 2.19) has its own set of frequentlyaccessed controls.

■ Accessory shoe. Slide an electronic flash into this mount when you need amore powerful Speedlight. A dedicated flash unit, like the Nikon SB-400,SB-700, or SB-900, can use the multiple contact points shown to commu-nicate exposure, zoom setting, white balance information, and other databetween the flash and the camera.

■ Power switch. Rotate this switch clockwise to turn on the Nikon D90 (andvirtually all other Nikon dSLRs). Rotate all the way clockwise to turn onbacklighting for the monochrome control panel status LCD.

■ Shutter release button. Partially depress this button to lock in exposureand focus. Press all the way to take the picture. Tapping the shutter releasewhen the camera has turned off the autoexposure and autofocus mecha-nisms reactivates both. When a review image is displayed on the back-panelcolor LCD, tapping this button removes the image from the display andreactivates the autoexposure and autofocus mechanisms.

■ Meter mode/Format #2 button. Hold down this button while rotating themain command dial to switch among Matrix, Center-weighted, and Spotmetering. Hold this button while pressing the Format #1 button (the Trashbutton) for about two seconds, then release when the For message appearson the top LCD, and press again to reformat your memory card.

■ Exposure compensation/Reset (#1) button. Press this button while spin-ning the command dial to add or subtract exposure when using Program,Aperture-priority, or Shutter-priority modes. This facility allows you to“override” the settings the camera has made and create a picture that islighter or darker. This is called exposure compensation. You can “apply” expo-sure compensation in Manual mode, too, but in that case the exposure isn’t

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really changed. The D90 simply tells you how much extra or reduced expo-sure you are requesting, using the analog exposure scale display in theviewfinder and color LCD. Hold down this button while pressing theAF/Reset #2 button to reset the camera’s values to their factory defaults.

■ Autofocus mode. Hold down this button while spinning the main com-mand dial to change autofocus settings from among AF-S, AF-C, andAF-A.

■ Focal plane indicator. This indicator shows the plane of the sensor, for usein applications where exact measurement of the distance from the focal planeto the subject is necessary. (These are mostly scientific/close-up applications.)

■ Mode dial. Rotate the mode dial to choose between Program, Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority, and Manual exposure modes, as well as the Scenemodes Auto, Auto (No Flash), Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Close-up, andNight Portrait.


1 Meter mode format #2button

2 Shutter release/On-Off/LCD backlight switch

3 Exposure compensationreset #1

4 Mode dial

5 Focal plane

6 Accessory shoe

7 Monochrome controlpanel status LCD

8 Release/Drive mode

9 Autofocus mode reset #2

12

3

4 5 6 7 8 9

Figure 2.19

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LCD Control Panel ReadoutsThe top panel of the Nikon D90 contains a monochrome status LCD readout(the “control panel”) that displays status information about most of the shoot-ing settings. All of the information segments available are shown in Figure 2.20.I’ve color-coded the display to make it easier to differentiate them; the informa-tion does not appear in color on the actual D90. Many of the information itemsare mutually exclusive (that is, in the White Balance area at lower right, only oneof the possible settings illustrated will appear).


1 Flash options

2 Battery status

3 Metering mode

4 Shutter speed/Exposurecompensation value/Flash compensationvalue/White balancefine-tuning/White balance preset number/Number of shots inbracket sequence

5 Program shift indicator

6 Clock reminder

7 Exposure compensation/Flash exposure compensation

8 Aperture/Bracketingincrement

9 Bracketing

bk Release/Drive mode

bl Image size/Image quality

bm Autofocus options

bn White balance settings

bo GPS indicator

bp Black-and-white indicator

bq ISO setting

br Exposures remaining/Buffer shots remaining/White balance recording/Capture mode indicator/ISO sensitivity

bs Beep

bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs

Figure 2.20 Color-coded top-panel LCD readouts.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 bk

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Some of the items on the status LCD also appear in the viewfinder and shoot-ing information display, such as the shutter speed and aperture. This is a thicketof information, but I’ll spell out what the categories of data include:

■ Battery status. Five segments show the approximate battery power remain-ing. A better indicator is the Battery Info entry in the Setup menu.

■ Image size. Shows whether the D90 is shooting Large (4288 × 2848 pix-els), Medium (3216 × 2136 pixels), or Small (2144 × 1424 pixels) sizes.

■ Image quality. Shows current image quality, including TIFF, JPEG, RAW,and any of the several RAW+JPEG combinations.

■ Autofocus-area/AF mode indicator. Displays the autofocus area status,with the active focus zone shown from among the 11 available points.

■ Clock not set. This indicator is displayed when your clock needs to be reset.You’ll see it when your camera is activated for the first time, any time thatthe internal clock battery loses its charge (say, when you’ve removed themain battery for a few days), and when your internal clock battery wearsout and will no longer hold a charge.

■ ISO indicator. Displayed when you’ve set the D90 to adjust ISO for youautomatically. It flashes when the exposure meters are active, as a way towarn you that the camera may be adjusting the ISO setting.

■ Exposure compensation. Appears when you’ve dialed in exposure com-pensation. Monitor this indicator, as it’s easy to forget that you’ve told theNikon D90 to use more or less exposure than what its (reasonably intelli-gent) metering system would otherwise select.

■ Flash compensation active. Reminds you that you’ve tweaked the D90’selectronic flash exposure system with more or less exposure requested.

■ White balance settings. One of the white balance settings will appear here,depending on the selection you’ve made.

■ Bracketing indicator. Shows that exposure, flash, Active D-Lighting, orwhite balance bracketing is underway.

■ Number of exposures/additional functions. This indicator shows thenumber of exposures remaining on your memory card, as well as other func-tions, such as the number of shots remaining until your memory buffer fills.

■ GPS active. If you have a GPS device attached and working, you’ll knowit when this indicator shows up.

■ Electronic flash settings. The current mode for the D90’s built-in elec-tronic flash unit is shown here.

■ Beep indicator. Indicates that a helpful beep will sound when using theself-timer or when the D90 successfully focuses when in Single-servoAutofocus mode (AF-S).


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■ Aperture/additional functions. The selected f/stop appears here, along witha lot of other alternate information, as shown in the label in the figure.

■ Shutter speed/additional functions. Here you’ll find the shutter speed,ISO setting, color temperature, and other useful data.

Lens ComponentsThe lens shown at left in Figure 2.21 is a typical lens that might be mounted onthe Nikon D90. It is, in fact, the 18-55mm VR “kit” lens sometimes sold withthe camera body. Unfortunately, this particular lens doesn’t include all the com-mon features found on the various Nikon lenses available for your camera, so Iam including a second lens (shown at right in the figure) that does have morefeatures and components. It’s not a typical lens that a D90 user might work with,however. This 17-35mm zoom is a pricey “pro” lens that costs about 1.5X as


1 Filter thread

2 Lens hood alignmentindicator

3 Lens hood bayonet

4 Focus ring

5 Focus scale

6 Autofocus/Manual focusswitch

7 Zoom ring

8 Zoom setting

9 Aperture lock

bk Aperture ring

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

bk

Figure 2.21

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much as the entire D90 camera. Nevertheless, it makes a good example.Components found on this pair of lenses include:

■ Filter thread. Most lenses have a thread on the front for attaching filtersand other add-ons. Some, like the 18-55 VR kit lens, also use this threadfor attaching a lens hood (you screw on the filter first, and then attach thehood to the screw thread on the front of the filter). Some lenses, such as theAF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lens, have no front filter thread, eitherbecause their front elements are too curved to allow mounting a filter and/orbecause the front element is so large that huge filters would be prohibitivelyexpensive. Some front-filter-hostile lenses allow using smaller filters thatdrop into a slot at the back of the lens.

■ Lens hood bayonet. Lenses like the 17-35mm zoom shown in the figureuse this bayonet to mount the lens hood. Such lenses generally will have adot on the edge showing how to align the lens hood with the bayonetmount.

■ Focus ring. This is the ring you turn when you manually focus the lens, orfine-tune autofocus adjustment. It’s a narrow ring at the very front of thelens (on the 18-55mm kit lens), or a wider ring located somewhere else.

■ Focus scale. This is a readout found on many lenses that rotates in unisonwith the lens’s focus mechanism to show the distance at which the lens hasbeen focused. It’s a useful indicator for double-checking autofocus, roughlyevaluating depth-of-field, and for setting manual focus guesstimates.

■ Zoom setting. These markings on the lens show the current focal lengthselected.

■ Zoom ring. Turn this ring to change the zoom setting.■ Autofocus/Manual switch. Allows you to change from Automatic focus to

Manual focus.■ Aperture ring. Some lenses have a ring that allows you to set a specific

f/stop manually, rather than use the camera’s internal electronic aperturecontrol. An aperture ring is useful when a lens is mounted on a non-auto-matic extension ring, bellows, or other accessory that doesn’t couple elec-tronically with the camera. Aperture rings also allow using a lens on an oldercamera that lacks electronic control. In recent years, Nikon has been replac-ing lenses that have aperture rings with versions that only allow setting theaperture with camera controls.

■ Aperture lock. If you want your D90 (or other Nikon dSLR) to controlthe aperture electronically, on lenses with an aperture ring you must setthe lens to its smallest aperture (usually f/22 or f/32) and lock it with thiscontrol.


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■ Focus limit switch. Some lenses have a switch (not shown), which limitsthe focus range of the lens, thus potentially reducing focus seeking whenshooting distant subjects. The limiter stops the lens from trying to focus atcloser distances (in this case, closer than 2.5 meters).

■ Vibration reduction switch. Lenses with Nikon’s Vibration Reduction(VR) feature include a switch for turning the stabilization feature on andoff, and, in some cases, for changing from normal vibration reduction to amore aggressive “active” VR mode useful for, say, shooting from movingvehicles.

The back end of a lens intended for use on a Nikon camera has other compo-nents that you seldom see (except when you swap lenses), but still should knowabout:

■ Lens bayonet mount. This is the mounting mechanism that attaches to amatching mount on the camera. Although the lens bayonet is usually metal,some lenses use a rugged plastic for this key component.

■ Automatic diaphragm lever. This lever is moved by a matching lever inthe camera to adjust the f/stop from wide open (which makes for the bright-est view) to the taking aperture, which is the f/stop that will be used to takethe picture. The actual taking aperture is determined by the camera’s meter-ing system (or by you when the D90 is in Manual mode), and is commu-nicated to the lens through the electronic contacts described next. (Anexception is when the aperture ring on the lens itself is unlocked and usedto specify the f/stop.) However, the spring-loaded physical levers are whatactually push the aperture to the selected f/stop.

■ Electronic contacts. These metal contacts pass information to matchingcontacts in the camera body allowing a firm electrical connection so thatexposure, distance, and other information can be exchanged between thecamera and lens.

Looking Inside the ViewfinderMuch of the important shooting status information is shown inside theviewfinder of the Nikon D90. Not all of this information will be shown at anyone time. Figure 2.22 shows what you can expect to see. These readouts include:

■ Focus points. Can display the 11 areas used by the D90 to focus. The cam-era can select the appropriate focus zone for you, or you can manually selectone or all of the zones.

■ Active focus point. The currently selected focus point can be highlightedwith red illumination, depending on focus mode.


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1 Center-weighted circle

2 Wide-area focus bracket

3 Focus points

4 Flash value lock indicator

5 Battery status

6 White balance bracketing

7 Thousands of exposuresremaining

8 Black-and-white/Battery/No card warnings

9 Focus confirmationindicator

bk Autoexposure lock indicator

bl Shutter speed

bm Aperture

bn Analog exposure display/Exposure compensation value

bo Flash exposure/Exposurecompensation indicators

bp ISO

bq Number of exposuresremaining/Memorybuffer shots/White bal-ance recording/Exposurecompensationvalue/Capture mode

br ISO compensation indicator

bs Flash-ready indicator

1 2 3

98 bk bl bm bn bo bp bq bsbr

Figure 2.22

4 5 6 7

■ Battery indicator. Appears when the D90’s battery becomes depleted.■ Focus indicator. This green dot stops blinking when the subject covered

by the active autofocus zone is in sharp focus, whether focus was achievedby the AF system, or by you using manual focusing.

■ Autoexposure lock. Shows that exposure has been locked.

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■ Shutter speed. Displays the current shutter speed selected by the camera,or by you in Manual exposure mode.

■ Aperture. Shows the current aperture chosen by the D90’s autoexposuresystem, or specified by you when using Manual exposure mode.

■ Automatic ISO indicator. Shown as a reminder that the D90 has been setto adjust ISO sensitivity automatically. It flashes when the exposure metersare active as a warning to you that the camera may be adjusting the ISOsetting.

■ Electronic analog exposure display. This scale shows the current exposurelevel, with the bottom indicator centered when the exposure is correct asmetered. The indicator may also move to the left or right to indicate over-or underexposure (respectively). The scale is also used to show the amountof exposure compensation dialed in.

■ Flash compensation indicator. Appears when flash EV changes have beenmade.

■ Exposure compensation indicator. This is shown when exposure compen-sation (EV) changes have been made. It’s easy to forget you’ve dialed in alittle more or less exposure, and then shoot a whole series of pictures of adifferent scene that doesn’t require such compensation. Beware!

■ Flash-ready indicator. This icon appears when the flash is fully charged.■ Exposures remaining/maximum burst available. Normally displays the

number of exposures remaining on your memory card, but while shootingit changes to show a number that indicates the number of frames that canbe taken in Continuous shooting mode using the current settings. This indi-cator also shows other information, such as exposure/flash compensationvalues, and whether the D90 is connected to a PC through a USB cable.

Underneath Your Nikon D90There’s not a lot going on with the bottom panel of your Nikon D90. You’ll findthe battery compartment access door and a tripod socket, which secures the cam-era to a tripod. The socket accepts other accessories, such as flash brackets andquick release plates that allow rapid attaching and detaching of the D90 from amatching platform affixed to your tripod. One additional accessory that youmight want to consider is the Nikon MB-D80 battery pack/vertical grip, whichattaches to the underside of the D90 and provides extra power for those longshooting sessions, as well as convenient shutter release, main and sub-commanddials, and an AF-ON button, all arranged for easy access when the camera isrotated to shoot pictures in a vertical orientation. This accessory is available for


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about $160—but you may already own one. Nikon was smart enough to makethe D90 compatible with the exact same grip designed for the previous NikonD80, so if you’re upgrading to the D90 and have already purchased the MB-D80, you can continue to use it with your new camera.

To use the MB-D80, just follow these steps:

1. Open the battery compartment door on the bottom of the D90, andremove the EN-EL3e battery.

2. Rotate the battery compartment door at approximately a 35-45 degreeangle. That lines up the hinge with a slot that allows you to pull the doorstraight out at that angle to remove it from the camera body. This step feelswrong the first time you do it, but if you have the door angled properly, itwill snap right out. (To replace the door, position it at the same angle andpress inward evenly.)

3. Slide the extension of the MB-D80 into the empty battery compartment,where it will connect with the electrical contacts inside.

4. When the grip and D90 are fit snugly together, rotate the large wheel underthe base of the MB-D80 to lock the device onto the D90.

5. Take the battery you removed from the camera and insert it into the com-partment in the grip. You can add a second EN-EL3e battery to double youravailable power. Or you can use six AA batteries with the supplied holder.

6. To use the shutter release on the vertical grip, you must turn the rotatingknob so the dot aligns with the line on the grip, indicating that the shutterrelease is unlocked. If you’re holding the camera in horizontal orientationand using the regular shutter release, it’s easy to accidentally trip the verti-cal release with the palm of your right hand. (This accounts for the “phan-tom” shutter releases that mystify new users of this grip.)

7. To remove the grip, reverse these steps.


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