The less time you spend in the field groping with settings the more confident you will be and your pictures will be better. Over time I have set up my Nikon D810 & D850 cameras to make shooting straightforward and logical. Most digital camera bodies have a bewildering number of settings that can do wonderful things but can complicate shooting and even negatively affect your pictures. Modern digitals are vastly more complex than 35 mm film cameras and many people making the transition to digital may be working with less than optimum settings.
While these settings are for the Nikon D 810 & D850 full-frame cameras they will hopefully give you insight into the logic of digital camera settings for landscape photography. If you could care less about the specific menu settings, read the general concepts that may apply to your camera. My settings are specifically for landscapes and will not be optimum for sports, wildlife, portraits or other applications. And even for landscapes you may want to modify them to suit your shooting style.
These settings do not represent a guide or manual for manipulating all the settings on a D 810 or D850, so spend some real time with your camera manual to have a good overview of its functions.
Note: all directions for the physical location of controls on the camera body are relative to you being behind the camera, looking at its back; as if you were shooting.
First, two general recommendations:
Adjust the Camera Strap
While it is not a setting, getting the strap to a comfortable length for walking or just hanging on your neck is important for comfort and ease of use. Because I often shoot from boats or on rough rocky ground, the first thing I do, if not setting up on a tripod, is to put the strap over my head. If I drop the camera and damage it, everything else is lost.
Deleting Photos via the Trash Button
Don’t do this! Deleting files from the camera can result in loss of all the files; a very remote chance but why take it. Delete files from a SD card only when they have been downloaded to LR or PS and the important ones backed up on an external storage device. Carry enough SD cards to comfortably store all of a trips’ shots. I carry a number of SD cards each with reasonable capacity and spread a trips’ shots over several cards to minimize loss and organize the photos in a general way.
1) Establish Basic Exposure Parameters
All from menu button > Shooting Menu >
Image Quality – set to NEF (RAW). There are 7 other choices. I shoot only in raw and will convert to JPEG and TIFF for certain applications but do this in post processing in Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop. Raw gives the maximum color and tone information and greatest editing ability. Image quality including file format and size can also be set by depressing the “Qual” button on the Release Mode Dial. (body top, left) & turning the sub-command dial (body top, right).
NEF (RAW) Recording – set to RAW L, compression OFF and 14-bit (raw) depth. NEF is Nikon’s proprietary raw format and you can select either a large file with 36 megapixels or small with 9 MP; if I want compressed files this is done in PS and 14-bit has more data than 12-bit, the other choice.
Image Area – set to FX 36 x 24 pixels which are the dimensions of a full-frame sensor. There are 3 other smaller dimension choices.
White Balance – Set to Auto 1: Normal. WB is the same as color temperature for the scene. Setting the camera to a particular WB value compensates for light which may be yellow/reddish or bluish. Auto covers the normal range of outdoor light and does a good job preventing the photo from looking too warm or cold. It’s in the ball park and fine adjustments are made in post processing with LR or PS.
Color Space – set to Adobe RGB. Other choice is sRGB which has a smaller color gamut and is used for web output or printing consumer prints. Adobe RGB is for professional prints and publications.
2) Focus the Optical Viewfinder
Manually adjust the view finder’s “diopter adjustment” knob to get maximum focus for your shooting eye. Turn the knob back and forth, in and out of focus until the fine lines of auto focus area come into sharp relief. If these lines look sharp then the view finder is correct for your eye. Do not try to focus on parts of the scene, just the auto focus area lines.
Activate the view finder grid display which is helpful for framing the scene: menu button > custom settings menu > d shooting/display > a 7 for D810 or a9 for D850 viewfinder grid display/ON.
The view finder is a very helpful focus tool; I would not have a camera with only an LCD screen to focus on. The two are inseparable complements. In situations with lots of motion like shooting from a boat you may only be able to use the view finder. However, understand that it is a optically basic device. Light has to pass from the lens onto a mirror and up through a prism to reach your eye. The light is not the same as coming through the lens directly onto the sensor. In contrast, light from the lens is displayed on the LCD screen directly from the sensor. If at all possible use the LCD screen with the single focus point (red outlined box) set to 100% magnification to make sharp focus decisions. (In a future post I will discuss more about sharp focus techniques).
3) Live View Photography & the LCD Screen
Set the Live View switch & its white dot to the camera icon, not the video icon. (Camera back, lower right)
When you push the LV button to turn it on, the mirror for the optical view finder flips out of the way of the sensor and what you see on the LCD screen is the light coming directly from the lens.
Use the little red outlined focus box on the screen to double check the view finder setting. Move it anywhere you want with the multiselector wheel. A very useful tool especially if the red box is magnified. To magnify, use the +/- buttons (body back, left). Or better yet, program the center button on the multi selector wheel for 100% magnification.
Setup for center button zoom: Menu button > Custom Settings menu > f. controls > multi selector center button > select center focus point > Liveview > Zoom on/off > magnification 100%
In addition to precise focusing, the Live View screen gives a composite RGB histogram plot for the scene you are planning to shoot. To display the histogram push the “Info” button (bottom, right, just outside screen edge). The histogram is one of 4 screens that you scroll through.
The histogram shows the number of pixels on the vertical axis and their distribution from black to white on the horizontal axis. Black is on the left, white on the right. By changing aperture, shutter speed or ISO you can place the curve to the right to maximize data collected and preserve shadow detail while preventing important white area clipping or loss. (More on exposure controls in a future post).
Once the photo has been taken, the LCD screen can display 4 histograms: the composite RBG with a white plot and individual graphs for the R, G & B channel color data. This gives a refined check because the combined plot may not show clipping in individual color channel; there is often a lot of blue in landscapes and its channel may be clipped. It will be obvious when you look at the blue channel alone.
Push the “playback” button on body back, upper left to display the photo just taken. Icon is a white triangle in a white border box. Next to the Trash Can button that you will never push!
Setups for displaying RGB histograms with individual photo files: menu button > playback menu > playback display options. There will now appear a list for additional photo information including ” image only”, “highlights”, “RGB histogram”, “shooting data”.
After placing a check in the check boxes for data you want, make sure you scroll past this first screen to a second one that contains one more check box for “overview”. Make sure it is unchecked or you won’t get your above selections. Finally hit the OK button on the body, bottom, left to execute the selections.
Silent Live View Photography – D850 not D810
Menu button > Photo shooting menu > Silent Live View photography > Mode 1, Mode 2 or OFF
Mode 1 reduces vibrations caused by the shutter when shooting landscapes and other static subjects.
Mode 2 limits the shutter speed to 1/30 th of a second so photos can be taken at a higher rate.
4) Set up the Self Timer
When you are in Live View the mirror is up and if you set the self timer to 5 seconds then when you push the shutter release button to take the photo you won’t get any mirror slap vibration or any other camera shake. Plus you don’t have to use a cable release.
Set up: menu button > custom settings menu > c. Timers/AE lock > c3 Self –Timer > self-timer delay > 5 seconds and set the number of shots to 1.
Final thoughts for using the LCD screen: in most cases, in order to do magnified focusing and evaluate histograms I need to use a tripod and block extraneous light so I can properly see the screen. I carry a black focusing cloth originally used for 4 x 5 film camera composition and focus. There are LCD screen shades with optical magnification to help screen viewing (like the Zacuto-Z-Finder). They are said to be good but more equipment to carry around and my black cloth works well.
While not a setting, remember to close the View Finder Eyepiece Shutter when using the LCD screen. If the screen is on when you take a picture, extraneous bright light can enter the eyepiece and fall onto the sensor. The shutter is controlled by the little physical switch located to the upper left of the eyepiece.
5) Exposure Modes (Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority and Manual)
I shoot on Manual so I can place shutter speed, aperture, and ISO where I want for each shot. I have done this since film days and find it quick and easy, giving full exposure control. However, if I were to select a second choice, I would pick aperture priority. The size of the aperture, the hole the light passes through in the lens, is critical to depth of field and what will be rendered sharp in the scene. If not set correctly aperture can make sharpness worse.
For my lenses optimum aperture setting is f 11. Smaller apertures (larger f stop values) give more and more depth of field but past f 11, the light passing through a very small opening gets too bent, causing lack of sharpness. (More on this in a future post).
Set exposure parameters: Menu button > Custom Settings menu > b. metering/exposure >
ISO Sensitivity step values = ½ (this means ISO values will be displayed and can be adjusted at the equivalent of either ½ an f stop or shutter speed)
EV steps for exposure control = ½ (sets the +/- steps for over or underexposure relative to the established neutral meter value at ½ the equivalent of either a full f stop or one shutter speed)
Selecting ½ of an exposure value is a personal preference going back to transparency film days where I would try to get the optimum exposure within ½ an increment. Even with digital cameras I have retained this increment because a 1 Exposure Value change (changing 1 f stop, 1 shutter speed, or 1 ISO value) is ½ or 2 times the amount of light hitting the sensor. Regardless of what increment you choose, make sure you look at the exposure histograms so as not to lose important highlight detail in the important white tones of the image.
6) Set Camera Meter Pattern for Determining Exposure
Choose whether the camera meter reads “matrix” by averaging over the full view, “center weighted” or meters with various diameter spot areas. I use center weighted as it measures form the full field of view but assigns more weight to the center, minimizing the effect of a bright sky. Usually does a good job and is a reasonable compromise between a full screen average and spot metering.
Set via the exposure button (rectangular icon with cross hairs) on the top of the Release Mode Dial.
7) Shutter Release Button (body top, right)
This is an important item. The shutter button default setting is for auto focus to activate when the button is depressed half way, and then for the picture to be taken when fully depressed. You don’t want this after carefully focusing your scene because the AF will undoubtedly change your focus. You want the release button to take the picture and the AF-ON button to be the only control to focus other than you manually focusing.
Set up: Menu button > Custom Settings menu > AF-ON only
8) Focus Modes (Autofocus & Manual)
I usually start to set up a shot by composing in the view finder and doing my best to manually focus with the optical view finder. Then, if conditions permit, I double check focus on the Live View LCD screen. And sometimes, especially for shots where there is time pressure, I use auto focus via the AF-ON button. Auto focus is a sophisticated function and can get you there quickly.
Camera & Lens Focus Setups
To work this way both the camera and lenses have to be set correctly.
On the body: there is a focus switch (front, left, lower side). Put it on AF. If placed on M, it would prevent the AF-ON button from functioning.
On Nikon AF-S lenses there are 2 switches related to focus. Put one on M/a. The other on AF-ON. This means manual focus is the priority with auto focus secondary. With Vibration Reduction lenses, set VR to normal.
Warning: if you are using non AF-S lenses, you must not have the camera focus switch set to manual (M) and the lens set to AF-ON. Damage to the camera or lens can occur.
Auto Focus Settings:
The following settings establish the specific parameters for auto focus.
Menu button > Custom Settings menu > a. Autofocus >
Select a1. AF-S Priority selection > Release
The choice of “Release” means that photos can be taken whenever the shutter release button is pressed. The other 2 choices: “release + focus” and “focus” means photos can only be taken when the camera is in focus.
AF-S refers to Single Servo AF. Used for taking stationary objects. AF-C is continuous focusing for moving objects.
Select a1. for D810 & a9. for D850: AF-area mode selection. There are 7 modes to choose from. For landscapes choose “Single Point AF”. This allows for precise focusing on very specific areas in the optical view finder and in Live View. In both a small focus box shows the area of focus. It can be positioned where you like with the selector wheel and in LV, magnified for precise focusing.
Finally, set the focus selector lock switch (on the outside of the multi selector wheel) to the little white dot not the “L”. If in L position, the focus box will be locked and you won’t be able to move it around the scene to focus.
9) Electronic Front Curtain Shutter
Menu button > Custom Settings > d5 Electronic front-curtain shutter > Enable
Eliminates vibrations caused by the shutter reducing blur. Not necessary for normal focal length lenses but beneficial for telephoto and macro lenses where vibration is magnified.
The camera focal plane shutter is comprised of 2 curtains: a front one that opens to start each exposure and a back one that closes to end the exposure. Exposure is started electronically after the front curtain opens. The exposure then ends when the back curtain closes. Available in Q, Qc or MUP modes only.
10) Focus Stacking – D850 not D810
Menu button > Photo shooting menu > focus shift shooting > ON
Feature called Focus Shift Shooting where the camera will change the focus distance in a scene by making multiple shots. You can set the amount the focus distance changes with each shot and the time interval between each shot. Shots begin from where you initially focus and work out to infinity.
Final thought: if you are still unconvinced that digital camera settings are complex then you are one smart person or perhaps I’m a bit slow.