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1. Full descriptions are found in the following chapter locations Shooting menu bank on the Shooting Menu See page 39 e Custom setting bank on the Custom Setting Menu See page 117 My Personal Camera Setting Recommendations All through the book I offer my own personal recommendations as to settings and how to use them Look for the paragraph s starting with My Recommendation at the end of most chapter sections These are suggestions based upon my own personal shoot ing style and experience with Nikon cameras You may eventually decide to configure things in a different way according to your own needs and style However these rec ommendations are good starting points while you become familiar with the camera a FIG 2 1982 World s Fair site in 2010 Shown are the Sunsphere and Ampitheater Knoxville TN USA Nikon D300 and a Sigma 18 50mm f 2 8 EX HSM lens F8 at 1 125s 200 ISO Matrix meter2. Setup A HI BA d Apples Courtesy of Neale Dyster Digitwized D300S and D300 Reference Material 3 Congratulations You ve purchased or are about to purchase Nikon s flagship DX format camera the Nikon D300 or D300S While no digital camera is inexpensive the D300 D300S provides passionate photographers a genuine professional level camera at an attractive price It is weather and dust sealed with a magnesium alloy body and frame and a rubberized coating that makes it strong and reliable for years of faithful service The 12 megapixel imaging sensor and supporting Nikon Scene Recognition System allows you to take complete creative control of the scene in front of your lens The camera has advanced firmware that does things like automatic chromatic aberration reduction and full color optimization via selectable Picture Controls so that you can create the best pictures you ve ever made This book will explore your incred ibly feature rich camera in great detail using everyday language We ll cover virtually every button dial switch and setting giving you how when and why information so that you can become a master of your new powerful imaging instrument Your passion for excellent photography can be fully expressed with your new Nikon Let s take control of it Since many people appreciate additional reference points for research I ve included appropriate Nikon User s Manual page references und
3. ble resources web page The web address is http rockynook com NikonD300S This document contains some very basic information for first time users such as battery insertion and lens attachment steps If you ve used other Nikon DSLRs in the past I m sure you know how to work with those items so I didn t want to make you read through very basic information that you may not need However new users need to know how to charge and insert the battery format and insert a memory card install a lens for the first time and Shoot Now Camera Configuration 5 understand the controls on a lens The downloadable resources provide that information in a graphical and easily understandable way The upcoming material is best read with camera in hand ready for configuration There are literally hundreds of things to configure on this professional level camera In this chapter lIl give a new user of the D300 S camera a place to start Later as you progress through this book we ll look at all the buttons switches dials and menu settings in detail Each menu in the camera has its own chapter or section Plus there is additional information on how to put it all together in chapters like Metering Exposure Modes and Histogram White Balance Multi CAM 3500DX Autofocus and Speedlight Flash Photography And since the D300S has the new D Movie mode we ll cover that in its own chapter called Live View and D Movie Modes Shoot Now Camera Conf
4. button 13 Flash mode button 14 Built in microphone 15 Flash sync terminal cover 16 Ten pin remote terminal cover 17 Lens release button 18 Focus mode selector FIG 3 19 22 19 Sub command dial 20 AF assist illuminator 21 Depth of field preview button 22 FN FUNC Button Note Special D300 information on page xvii FIG 4 23 32 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 SoA 32 Connector cover Playback button Delete button Viewfinder eyepiece MENU button Protect Help Button info D300 Thumbnail Playback zoom out btn Playback zoom in button OK button Monitor FIG 5 33 46 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 Diopter adjustment control Metering selector AE L AF L Button AF ON button Main command dial Multi Selector Multi selector center button D300S Focus selector lock Memory card access lamp Memory card slot cover D300S Speaker AF area mode selector Info button D300S Live view mode button D300S FIG 1 Top of camera 1 11 Camera Body Reference XV FIG 2 Left front of camera 12 18 B 95S ES SE Oy ws iy e a mae uoni gA gi L ve FIG 3 Right front of camera 19 22 xvi Camera Body Reference PENU 24 7 on G2 Q au of AS FIG 5 Right back of camera 33 46 Colors and Wording Legend xvii Colors and Wording Legend Throughout this book you will be presented with words d
5. e menus in FIG 1 As you scroll up or down in the selector bar you ll see each menu appear one at a time to the right of the bar The name at the top of the menu will help you figure out which one youre currently using 6 Basic Camera Setup 3 PLAYBACK MENU o SHOOTING MENU D CUSTOM SETTING MENU Delete fi Pe Shooting menu bank ij Custom setting bank m Playback folder E Reset shooting menu HE Reset custom settings Hide image i ig Active folder 00 a Autofocus Display mode F File naming a b Metering exposure E Copy image s E Primary slot selection c Timers AE lock TE Image review Secondary slot function Te q Shooting display After delete Ee Image quality Bracketing flash Rotate tall 1 2 image size D f Controls SETUP MENU ip RETOUCH MENU e Format memory card Ia D Lighting B LCD brightness I gt Red eye correction w Clean image sensor x Trim Lock mirror up for cleaning Monochrome E Video mode Filter effects HDMI TE Color balance fee Time zone and date ta Language FIG 1 Six primary camera menus optional Recent Settings menu not shown The six menus that are found under the D300 S menu system are in order as follows see FIG 1 Playback Menu Shooting Menu Custom Setting Menu Setup Menu Retouch Menu COU A W N Be My Menu or Recent Settings Notice that the sixth menu called My Menu can be toggled with an alternate menu called Recent S
6. er the sub headings throughout the book Using these manual references is entirely optional and not necessary for complete understanding of your camera However many people myself included enjoy having a different perspective on things they are learning As you study your new camera keep the Nikon User s Manual handy My addition of the manual s page reference numbers should provide some extra clarity if you need it If you still have difficulty understanding a specific function or setting please feel free to get in touch with me by using the contact link at www YoungIlmaging com Pll do my best to help guide you as you fully master your new Nikon D300 or D300S D300S and D300 Reference Material The two cameras covered in this book are very similar However there are distinct dif ferences in certain areas For instance both cameras have somewhat different button locations completely different Memory card slot cover styles dissimilar features on the Release mode dial and distinctive cable connection points under the Connector cover 4 Basic Camera Setup Since we ll be using button dial and switch names all over this book it s impor tant that you learn their locations on the camera body The Camera Body Reference section at the beginning of this book contains large pictures showing the locations and names of the external camera controls as well as other important technical informa tion Please find this section and loo
7. ettings a seventh menu These two menus can t be active at the same time The menu called My Menuis much more functional for most people so I showed it in the list of menus in FIG 1 The chapter titled My Menu and Recent Settings covers both of them in detail so you can choose which you want to appear most of the time on your camera My Menu allows you to add the most used menu items from any of the other menus to your own personal menu while Recent Settings shows you the latest 20 menu items you ve changed Following is a list of functions that you may want to configure first These set up the basic parameters for camera usage Each function listed is covered in great detail on the page number listed at the end of the reference Please refer to the listed function and its page number then turn there and fully configure the function Afterward return here and move on to the next function When you are done your camera will be ready for use Place a bookmark here since you ll be referring back to this chapter for each configuration item Camera Functions for Initial Configuration 7 Camera Functions for Initial Configuration Setup Menu Time zone and date D300S or World time D300 See page 230 e Format memory card See page 221 e LCD brightness See page 224 e Language See page 233 e Auto image rotation See page 236 e Copyright information D300S only See page 245 Shooting Menu e Primary slot selectio
8. iguration This chapter is devoted to the first time use of the camera There are certain settings that must be set up immediately and others that should be configured as soon as possible I m not going to go into detail on all possible settings in this chapter That is reserved for the individual chapters covering the various menus and functions Instead in list form I ll refer you chapter sections showing the screens and menus used to set each function that should be configured before using the camera for the first time Later chapters will cover virtually all camera settings Accessing the Camera Menus To access the various configurable menus in the D300 S you ll use the MENU button found on the back of the camera at the top left of the Monitor Please remember the location of this button since it will be used constantly in this book I ll not mention that you need to press the MENU button to get into the camera menus again Other wise I would be repeating something over and over unnecessarily There are six primary menu systems found in the camera and this book has a chapter devoted to each one Let s take a brief look at the opening screens of the six menus shown in FIG 1 on page 6 You get to these six menus by pressing the MENU button and scrolling up or down with the Multi Selector A selector bar with tiny icons appears on the left side of the Monitor when you press the MENU button You can see it at the left of each of th
9. isplayed in two colors along with the use of italics The two colors are blue and green and are used as follows e The camera s physical features are listed in blue e Functions and settings viewed on an LCD screen are in green Textual prompts given by the camera on a screen are in Italics On select occasions Italics or Bold Italics are used for special emphasis Here is an example of the colors and italics in use Press the Menu button to reach the Setup Menu and then scroll to the Format memory card option by pressing the down arrow on the Multi Selector You will see a message reminding you All images on Memory card will be deleted OK Select Yes and then press the OK button Please make sure you ve transferred all your images first Special D300 Information The Nikon D300S and D300 are physically different in a few places The Info button Memory card slot cover and Multi selector center button work differently or have different locations Below is a picture of the back of a D300 with the differences noted The Multi Selector on the D300 does not have the newer style Multi selector center button see FIG 5 number 39 However it works the same way by pressing on the middle of the Multi Selector with your thumb In FIG 6 are the locations of the Info button Multi selector center button and Card slot cover latch Use the latch to open the Memory card slot cover FIG 6 D300 control differences Basic Camera
10. k through it Then come back here to continue Leave a bookmark in the section pertaining to your camera so that you ll have an easy reference point for control locations Throughout this book Pll say things like Use the Thumbnail playback zoom out button to change the number of images viewed on the Monitor You ll need to know where to find the Thumbnail playback zoom out button and the Monitor The Camera Body Reference section provides that informa tion and should be your guide I won t constantly refer to the reference section as ld have to do so literally hundreds of times and it would quickly get tiring to read the extra unnecessary text Instead Pll use Nikon s official name for the controls as found in the user s manual If you re unsure of a button dial or switch location simply use the refer ence images specific to your camera to find its location I may slip in a reminder of this from time to time To keep from having to type D300 or D300S or even D300 D300S and wasting book space I ll refer to both cameras as D300 S unless I am talking about a feature specific to one camera type First Time DSLR Users Surprisingly quite a few brand new digital single lens reflex DSLR users are buy ing these advanced cameras Even new users appreciate the robust high quality of the D300 S If you are a first time DSLR user please download the document titled Initial Hardware Considerations from our downloada
11. n D300S Only See page 48 e Secondary slot function D300S Only See page 49 e Image quality See page 50 e Image size See page 60 e JPEG compression See page 61 e White balance See page 68 e Set Picture Control See page 70 e Color space See page 88 e Active D Lighting See page 90 e ISO sensitivity settings See page 97 Playback Menu e Image review See page 28 e Rotate tall See page 31 Custom Setting Menu e AF C priority selection See page 121 e AF S priority selection See page 122 e Dynamic AF area See page 124 e Viewfinder grid display See page 157 e File number sequence See page 163 Two Additional Functions In addition to the camera functions listed above it is important to understand and configure the two following functions The D300 S has four Shooting menu banks and four Custom settings banks These individual banks can be used to completely change how the camera works by simply switching banks The configuration you have just completed by using the functions list above was installed into only one of each of these two bank types You can do this same 8 Basic Camera Setup configuration in all four Shooting menu banks and Custom setting banks When you are done you can give each one a different name and switch between them at will This allows you to configure your camera for different styles of shooting and switch between each style in a few seconds
12. professional photographer a dedicated family man and a good friend all at the same time This approach is crucial in his delivery of valuable information because it helps him draw examples of shooting situations that are quickly understood by readers from all walks of life We would like to congratulate Darrell for his work on this project which goes much further than just delivering a series of chapters and supporting images In this the seventh of the NikoniansPress books in association with Rocky Nook Darrell has extended his efforts to include work on the book s final layout This extra step was inspired in great measure by Darrell s penchant for improving the quality of his books to the benefit of his readers If you are one of the many satisfied owners of the original Mastering the Nikon D300 authored by Darrell you will quickly see this is not just a mere update to accom modate the D3o0o0s This book has been redesigned from scratch based on the lessons learned during the D300 project as well as the subsequent books in this series Bo Stahlbrandt bgs and J Ram n Palacios jrp Nikonians Founders www nikonians org Xiv Camera Body Reference FIG 1 1 11 1 Release mode dial lock release QUAL button WB Button ISO Button Release mode dial Accessory shoe hot shoe Control panel MODE button Exposure compensation button Oo CON AW BW N 10 Shutter releasebutton 11 Power switch FIG 2 12 18 12 Flash pup up
13. xiii Foreword nikonians org Nikonian Darrell Young known to us as Digital Darrell for many years has consistently been a source of instructional wisdom delivered with a touch of friendly humor His extensive collection of informative articles has been a valuable resource in the articles knowledge base Resources at Nikonians This work represents yet another progression in the rapid growth of our international community of photographers from all walks of life recently exceeding 250 000 members from nearly 150 countries Providing educational books such as Mastering the Nikon D300 D300S is a way to confirm our Nikonians vocation in education Additional ways include our more than 80 interactive forums The Nikonian eZine Nikonians Academy Workshops Nikonians News Blog Nikonians podcasts our Wiki and eBooks Nikonians has earned a reputation as a friendly reliable informative and passion ate Nikon user s community thanks in great measure to members like our own Digital Darrell who have taken the time to share the results of their experiences with Nikon imaging equipment despite the pressures of their day jobs The Nikonians community has long been known as a welcoming worldwide home for Nikon users and Darrell s specialty in this community is the ability to share his knowledge in the spirit of a friendly uncle in the comfort of your own living room He understands the Nikon D300 D300s bodies from the perspective of a
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