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First Steps, First Shots

In This Chapter

Preparing the camera for its first outing

Getting acquainted with the touchscreen and other camera features

Viewing and adjusting camera settings

Setting a few basic preferences

Taking a picture in Auto mode

Shooting for the first time with a camera as sophisticated as the Nikon D5500 can produce a blend of excitement and anxiety. On one hand, you can't wait to start using your new equipment, but on the other, you're a little intimidated by all its buttons, dials, and menu options.

Well, fear not: This chapter provides the information you need to start getting comfortable with your D5500. The first section walks you through initial camera setup; following that, you can discover how to view and adjust picture settings and get my take on some basic setup options. At the end of the chapter, I walk you step-by-step through taking your first pictures using Auto mode, which offers point-and-shoot simplicity until you're ready to step up to more advanced options.

Preparing the Camera for Initial Use

After unpacking your camera, you have to assemble a few parts. In addition to the camera body and the supplied battery (be sure to charge it before the first use), you need a lens and a memory card. Later sections in this chapter provide details about working with lenses and memory cards, but here's what you need to know up front:

• Lens: You can mount a wide range of lenses on your D5500, but some aren't compatible with all camera features. For example, to enjoy autofocusing, you need an AF-S or AF-I lens. (The 18-55mm and 18-140mm lenses available as a kit with the D5500 body are both AF-S lenses.) Your camera manual offers details about lens compatibility.

  The AF in AF-S stands for autofocus, and the S stands for silent wave, a Nikon autofocus technology. AF-I lenses are older, professional-grade (expensive) lenses that are no longer made but may be available on the secondhand market.

• SD (Secure Digital) memory card: Your camera accepts only this type of card. Most SD cards carry the designation SDHC (for High Capacity) or SDXC (for eXtended Capacity), depending on how many gigabytes (GB) of data they hold. SDHC cards hold from 4GB to 32GB of data; the SDXC moniker is assigned to cards with capacities greater than 32GB.

With camera, lens, battery, and card within reach, take these steps:

1. Turn the camera off.
2. Install the battery into the compartment on the bottom of the camera.

3. Attach a lens.

   First, remove the caps that cover the front of the camera and the back of the lens. Then align the mounting index (white dot) on the lens with the one on the camera body, as shown in Figure 1-1. After placing the lens on the camera mount, rotate the lens toward the shutter-button side of the camera. You should feel a solid click as the lens locks into place.

4. Insert a memory card.

   Open the card-slot cover on the right side of the camera and orient the card as shown in Figure 1-2 (the label faces the back of the camera). Push the card gently into the slot and close the cover. The memory-card access light, labeled in the figure, illuminates briefly to let you know that the camera recognizes the card.

5. Rotate the monitor to the desired viewing position.

   When you first take the camera out of its box, the monitor is positioned with the screen facing inward, protecting it from scratches and smudges. Gently lift the right side of the monitor up and away from the camera back. You can then rotate the monitor to move it into the traditional position on the camera back, as shown on the left in Figure 1-3, or swing the monitor out to get a different viewing angle, as shown on the right.

6. Turn the camera on.

7. Set the language, time zone, and date.

   When you power up the camera for the first time, you can't do anything until you respond to onscreen prompts asking you to select your language, time zone, date, and time. The date/time information is included as metadata (hidden data) in the picture file. You can view metadata in some playback display modes (see Chapter 8) and in certain photo programs, including Nikon ViewNX 2. (Refer to Chapter 9.)

   The easiest way to adjust the settings is to use the touchscreen: Just tap an option to select it. On the final screen (date/time), tap OK to finalize your choices. You also can do things the old-fashioned way, using the Multi Selector and OK button, both labeled in Figure 1-3. Press the edge of the Multi Selector up and down to scroll the highlight cursor vertically; press right/left to travel horizontally. Again, press OK after making your selections on a screen.

   (You can find more details about using the touchscreen and adjusting camera settings later in this chapter.)

8. Adjust the viewfinder to your eyesight.

   This step is critical; if you don't set the viewfinder to your eyesight, subjects that appear out of focus in the viewfinder might actually be in focus, and vice versa. If you wear glasses while shooting, adjust the viewfinder with your glasses on - and don't forget to reset the viewfinder focus if you take off your glasses or your prescription changes.

   You control viewfinder focus through the adjustment dial labeled in Figure 1-4. (In official lingo, it's called the diopter adjustment dial.) After taking off the lens cap and making sure that the camera is turned on, look through the viewfinder and press the shutter button halfway. In dim lighting, the flash may pop up. Ignore it for now and concentrate on the row of data that appears at the bottom of the viewfinder screen. Rotate the dial until that data appears sharpest. The markings in the center of the viewfinder, which relate to autofocusing, also become more or less sharp. Ignore the scene you see through the lens; that won't change because you're not actually focusing the camera. When you finish, press down on the flash unit to close it if necessary.

9. If using a retractable lens, unlock and extend the lens.

   The 18-55mm kit lens sold with the D5500 (and featured in this book) is a retractable lens, sometimes called a pancake lens. The beauty of this type of lens is that when you're not shooting, you can retract the lens barrel so that the camera takes up less space in your camera bag. However, before you can take a picture, you must unlock and extend the lens. Figure 1-5 shows the lens in its retracted (left image) and extended (right image) positions.

   To extend the lens, press the lens lock button, highlighted in Figure 1-5, while rotating the lens barrel toward the shutter button side of the camera. To retract the lens, press the button while rotating the lens in the other direction.

Figure 1-1: Align the white dot on the lens with the one on the camera body.

Figure 1-2: Insert the memory card with the label facing the back of the camera.

Figure 1-3: Here are just two possible monitor positions.

Figure 1-4: Rotate this dial to set the viewfinder focus for your eyesight.

Figure 1-5: If using a retractable lens, press the lens lock button while rotating the lens barrel to extend and retract the lens.

That's all there is to it - the camera is now ready to go. From here, my recommendation is that you keep reading this chapter to familiarize yourself with the main camera features and basic operation. But if you're anxious to take a picture right away, I won't think any less of you if you skip to the very last section of the chapter, which guides you through the process. Just promise that at some point, you'll read the pages in between, because they actually do contain important information.

Checking Out External Controls

Scattered across your camera's exterior are numerous features that you use to change picture-taking settings, review your photos, and perform various other operations. In later chapters, I discuss all your camera's functions in detail and provide the exact steps to follow to access them. This section provides just a basic "what's this thing do?" guide to each control. (Don't worry about memorizing the button names; throughout the book, I show pictures of buttons in the page margins to help you know exactly which one to press.)

Keep in mind, too, that you can adjust many settings by simply tapping the touchscreen, which is sometimes faster and easier than fiddling with the camera buttons. I provide an introduction to using the touchscreen later in this chapter.

Topside controls

Your virtual tour begins with the bird's-eye view shown in Figure 1-6. There are a number of features of note here:

• Shutter button/Power switch: Okay, I'm pretty sure you already figured out this combo button. But you may not be aware that you need to press the shutter button in two stages: Press and hold the button halfway and wait for the camera to...