Nikon D50 User Guide
Nikon D50 User's Guide
© 2006 KenRockwell.com
About these reviews
with 18 - 55 mm.
D50
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. Thanks! Ken.
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Nikon D50 User’s Guide
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION 2
CONTROLS (every button and knob)
FRONT 5
TOP PANEL 7
BACK 8
MENUS (every menu item in detail)
PLAYBACK 10
SHOOTING 11
CUSTOM SETTINGS 14
SETUP 17
INTRODUCTION
This is how I use and set up a D50
Want free live phone support, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year? If you're in the
USA, call (800) NIKON-UX! Nikon also has some of it's own operator's tutorials
here.
Looking for something specific? Use my Search page. Be sure to mention the D50
in your search.
.
I start off explaining things so simply my mom can understand, and get on to
deciphering every menu item for advanced users at the bottom.
For more examples of why you'd want to change these settings and why, also see
my Maui Photo Expedition
page.
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BASICS:
CAMERA
Many of these adjustments require you to be in be in the P, S, A or M exposure
modes. You set that on the top dial. The cute preset modes often lock out some
adjustments.
I leave most settings at their defaults and use the Program exposure mode. I never
use the cute little preset icon modes because I prefer to set anything special myself.
ISO: I use 200. If the light gets dim and my images would get blurry from slower
shutter speeds I increase the ISO to 400, 800 or 1,600. I never bother with inbetween settings like 250 or 640. The D50 looks fine at ISO 1,600 if you need it. I'd
much rather have a slightly grainy but sharp image than a less grainy but blurry
one. Unlike film, the D50 looks great at high ISOs, so I use them anytime I need
them.
I would love to use ISO AUTO, but usually don't because it also remains active in
Manual exposure mode. This firmware defect defeats the purpose of the manual
exposure mode. Using menus to deactivate AUTO ISO for manual exposure mode
takes more time than AUTO ISO saves. Rats.
White Balance (WB): I'd use AUTO and an 81A glass warming filter on the lens. I
prefer warmer (oranger) images. I explain white balance on my White Balance page
and explain more about how to adjust it on the D50 later.
QUAL: I shoot JPG NORMAL. This is called NORM and L on the top LCD, which
stands for NORMal JPG compression and Large (3,008 x 2,000) image size.
I've made 12 x 18" prints of the same shot made in BASIC, NORMAL, FINE and
raw. I saw NO difference! Seriously, if you saw these prints you wouldn't be able to
sort them out either. I can see only the slightest differences on my monitor enlarged
to 100%, which is similar to a 20 x 30" print, and my digital LCD monitor has 100%
MTF pixel-to-pixel, which prints don't. Don't worry: if you need space, shoot BASIC
and no one will see the difference. The only way to tell is by looking at the file size.
I'll use BASIC for parties and sports when I'm shooting many hundreds and
hundreds of images at once. In these cases I'm more concerned with time wasted
for the files to transfer, copy and archive. Basic looks 99% the same as FINE, even
blown up big.
I'll use FINE on rare occasions where I'm shooting just a few images and expect to
peer at them very closely. In these cases the extra size isn't significant if I expect to
be spending a lot of time analyzing each image.
I don't use raw, as you can read on my Raw vs. JPG page.
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I avoid FINE JPG because NORM gives me the same results, with half the file size.
If I shot FINE I might run out of room on a card and miss a shot. Missing a shot is a
very visible defect, and I see no defects in NORM. Nikon knows what they're doing.
That's why they call it Normal and that's why I normally use Normal JPG.
OPTIMIZE IMAGE: I prefer the vivid color I get from Fuji's Velvia 50 film, so I tweak
a D50 to give color as vivid as I can get. To do this go to MENU > Shooting Menu
(camera icon) > Optimize Image > Custom > (set Saturation to + and Color Mode to
IIIa) > - - Done > OK. If you forget to select "- - Done" and hit OK it won't remember
these settings! Details are on the Shooting Menu page.
For photos of people I either set the colors back to normal, or cheat and use the
Portrait preset mode on the top dial.
FOCUS: AF.
METERING: Matrix.
LENS
Many lenses have no switches or settings. If so, don't worry.
More advanced lenses have focus mode settings, which will be either "M/A - A," or
"A - M" on older lenses.
On older lenses I leave it at "A," which is Autofocus. "M" is manual focus.
Sometimes you also have to move the switch on the camera, which is a pain.
If the switch says "M/A - A" then I use M/A. This gives autofocus, and if I grab the
focus ring it instantly lets me make manual corrections. As soon as I tap the shutter
button again I get autofocus. This M/A setting, if the lens has it, provides both kinds
of focus without ever having to move any switches . It's the best.
Non-G lenses will have an aperture ring where the lens is attached to the camera.
Set this this ring to the largest number, usually 22, if not 32 or 16. This number will
be in orange on autofocus lenses. There usually is a lock to keep this ring set there,
since if it comes off that setting you'll get an error message from the D50.
MORE
These are the basics. Keep reading for far more explicit details at the end.
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CONTROLS: FRONT of CAMERA
Focus Mode (the little lever at the bottom of the lens marked AF and M): I set it to
AF. This means Auto Focus. M means manual focus. In manual focus you have to
twist the focus ring yourself and look for a sharp image in the viewfinder. In manual
you also can look for the green dot at the bottom left in the viewfinder. The green dot
lights up when you're in focus.
Flash Bolt Button (left side of flash hump, as seen from the rear): This does several
things depending on how and when you press it.
1.) If the flash is down, press the flash button and the flash pops up. You need to
have a lens attached and the camera turned on.
2a.) If the flash is up, press and hold the flash button and turn the rear dial to change
the flash sync mode. You'll see it on the top LCD in the box with the bolt. I explain
why you'd want to use which mode below.
2b.) If the flash is too bright or dim (as seen playing back your shots on the LCD) you
can change its brightness using flash exposure compensation. If the flash is up,
press and hold the flash button and the +/- button to the right of the power/shutter
button at the same time. While holding these two buttons down, rotate the rear dial to
change the flash exposure compensation. This sets the brightness of the flash. +
makes the flash brighter, - makes it dimmer. This setting only changes the brightness
of the flash. It leaves the background ambient exposure alone. Set it to - if your
subjects are getting washed out. If you run out of flash power beyond 10 to 20 feet
then setting it to + can't make the flash any brighter.
If you set flash exposure compensation to anything other than zero you'll see a little
"+/- bolt" icon in the finder and on the top LCD.
This sounds difficult, but it's actually very easy. You can do it without taking your eye
away from the viewfinder, since all the indications appear there, too!
You won't need to use this very often. That's the beauty of the D50: flash exposures
are almost always perfect without needing adjustment.
FLASH SYNC MODES
Select these by holding down the flash button on the left side of the flash hump and
spinning the rear dial. Your selection is shown on the top LCD in the box with the
bolt.
Normal (blank, which is the default): In Program and A exposure modes, the shutter
won't stay open longer than 1/60 second.
In this mode you won't get blur indoors, but you may not get more than a very black
background either.
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I usually use Normal mode, since if I don't I can get some scary long exposures if I'm
not expecting them in the dark.
Red-Eye (eyeball icon): I never use this. It shines an obnoxious light in your subject's
eyes for a couple of seconds and then releases the shutter. If I set this mode by
accident it bugs the heck out of me, because the camera doesn't go off until several
seconds after I've pressed the shutter, but I've set no self timer! It doesn't do much to
reduce redeye anyway. Skip this mode.
SLOW (called SLOW on the top LCD): This mode is very useful. It lets the shutter
stay open as long as it needs to so dim ambient light can expose properly with flash.
Of course if it's dark these exposure times can get long. You can get blur from
subject motion and camera shake. In daylight SLOW is the same as NORMAL, since
exposure times are short. SLOW unlocks the camera in P and A exposure modes to
make exposures as long as it wants to in dim light.
Have a look at most issues of National Geographic and you'll see many indoor shots
made in this mode. The background exposes correctly, people may be blurred, and a
burst of flash freezes them along with the blurry ghost images.
Normal and SLOW are the same in S and M exposure modes, since you or the
camera may select any shutter speed in these modes regardless of flash sync.
In dim light I'd suggest using M to fix the shutter speed around 1/8 or so if you want
the ambient light to fill in. Otherwise you either get stuck with 1/60, which leave the
backgrounds black, or a very long exposure in other modes that will almost
guarantee blurry everything. Play around, it's only digital.
Red-Eye SLOW (eye and SLOW icon): This is the SLOW mode and redeye. I don't
use it for the same reason I don't use Redeye.
REAR (called REAR on the top LCD): Normally the flash goes off the instant the
shutter opens. With long exposures and blurred ghost images you ordinarily get the
ghost streaming out in front of the subject. Think about it: if a car is driving, the flash
goers off and freezes it, then the car moves forward. You'll have a ghost image
ahead of the car, which usually looks stupid. Select REAR mode to have the flash go
off as the shutter closes. Now you'll have motion blurring behind the frozen flash
image.
Another reason to select REAR is because the flash goes off at the end of the
exposure. People presume photos are made the instant a flash fires, then leave.
This wreaks havoc with long exposures. If you use REAR mode with long exposures
they'll stay put and not move until the end. Of course you'll also want to select flash
lock to eliminate the preflash. Read about flash lock later on my Custom Menus
pages.
REAR doesn't do anything with short exposures. REAR also engages SLOW, but
SLOW doesn't light up on the LCD. This lack of the SLOW indication is a flaw in the
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