Complete Guide to the Nikon D200- P21 potx

You’re taken to the Setup screen, where you may be able to choose options for print size, border, and time stamp depends upon your printerF Note: DPOF and PictBridge printers expect imag

1 Press the ▲ and ▼ keys on the Direction pad to increment or decrement the number of copies you want

2 When you’ve selected all the images you wish to print, press

the ENTER button

3 You’re taken to the Setup screen, where you may be able

to choose options for print size, border, and time stamp

(depends upon your printerF

Note: DPOF and PictBridge printers expect images using the sRGB

color space If you plan to use either to print, you should set

the Color Space of your D200 to sRGB See “Color Profiles,

Color Spaces, and Color Modes” on page <H557>

Note: The D200 stays powered and active the entire time that it is

connected to a PictBridge printer Batteries can get

exhausted rapidly: in printing 12 images, for example, the battery in my D200 lost almost half its charge Generally, I’d recommend that you use the EH-6 AC Adapter to power the camera when printing directly from the camera

Printing Resolution

Okay, if you’re reading this section you’ve opted to print images from your computer to your printer instead of using a direct PictBridge connection to the camera While this might

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I originally thought to show each of these options, but found with just a few PictBridge printers the combinations and permutations were piling up in a way that would have added many pages to this work Fortunately, the D200 will only show you the options that are available for the printer you’re connected to (all others will either not appear or be disabled), so it should be relatively obvious what you can and

seem easy enough, you’re left on your own devices by most camera and printer companies (and even most software companies) The one area that usually stops first timers dead

is resolution

Resolution is a word that’s often used casually in the digital world The camera has 3872 x 2592 pixels of resolution Your printer might claim 1440 dpi (dots per inch) resolution Your computer monitor might have 1280 x 1024 pixels of

resolution Or it might be specified as 90 dpi Photoshop might report your JPEG images as having 72 dpi Are you confused yet?

Don’t be Most of the numbers you encounter in the

resolution world are arbitrary Let’s make them work for us Your camera can capture 3872 pieces of information across

the (usually) horizontal axis That’s an absolute There really

are 3872 pieces of data to deal with in that axis What

happens as that image moves to other devices is where things get murky for some

On your computer monitor, for example, you might specify to

view your 3872 x 2592 pixel image via your software’s Fit in Window command If the maximum size of that window is

640 x 480, obviously the software has to scale the original

data in some way Normally, it does this by creating a

temporary, interpolated copy of your data Nothing changed

in your original data But you’re also no longer looking at your original data! That’s why you’ll find that most tutorials

on post processing ask you to look at the effects of destructive

tools like Sharpening filters at 100% View That way you see

the exact effect on (a portion of) your original data, not a

simulation of it Bottom line: viewing at different scales or

sizes on your computer monitor does not change the actual

“resolution” of your image

Another place where we see resolution numbers is in the software we use For example, if you use Photoshop or

Photoshop Elements Image Size command, you’ll see a entry called Resolution that’s specified in pixels/inch (or

pixels/cm) For D200 JPEG images this value will normally

be 72 This is an arbitrary assignment by the software program

and sometimes controlled by a value in the EXIF data Above this value you’ll see values for the width and height for the

image if it is printed at that dpi Read it this way: IF you print

at that pixels/inch value your photo will be X” high and Y” wide That’s a big IF Usually we want to print at a specific

pixels/inch value that will maximize the output of our printer

If we have to change the dpi value (but not change the

original pixels), we do this by:

1 Unchecking the Resample Image box in Photoshop’s Image Size dialog

2 Entering a new value in the Resolution box in the Image Size dialog (For an Epson and most other

inkjet printers, I’d suggest 240 pixels/inch.)

If you then need to resize the image, set your dpi value as just

described, then

3 Recheck the Resample Image box

4 Enter new dimensions in the Width and/or Height

boxes However, if you perform this step, you’ll no longer be dealing with the actual pixels you captured while shooting, but Photoshop’s interpolation of them

at the new size

Why do we specify the “resolution” as 240 dpi for printing? Because typically that’s the most pixels per inch you need to send to the printer to get a very high perceived quality

Anything over that makes changes that are very difficult to see, if they can be seen at all The printer driver of your printer “invents” in-between pixels, if necessary, to maximize its output quality, but those invented pixels are usually good enough that we don’t have to supply them in the first place

Output on Commercial Printers

While it’s a little bit out of the scope of this book, enough D200 users have asked me about professional printing options that it makes sense to give a brief set of tips here, especially since color issues are usually the biggest complaint

As I write this, the Fuji Frontier is probably the most

ubiquitous automated printer you’ll run into at labs (and Mart and Costco in the US)F

Wal-149

Thus, I’ll present the overall workflow for it (other printers should be similar—but work with your lab to verify each step I present) The following example assumes you use Photoshop or Photoshop Elements (other software products should be similar, but may use different file extensions or command names):

1 Crop, size, adjust, and sharpen your image as usual

2 Instead of 240 dpi (see “Printing Resolution” on page

3 Save your edited copy as a PSD file in case you need

to revisit your changes

4 Flatten all layers

5 If it isn’t already in bit RGB, convert the image to bit RGB color (16-bit RGB color and Lab Color aren’t usually supported by commercial printers)

8-6 Use the Canvas Size menu item to make sure that

your final image size is one that the Frontier supports (e.g., 8x10” in the US) In other words, if the final crop

of your image was 7x9.5” you would use Canvas Size to center that on an 8x10” canvas (If you don’t

perform this step, the Frontier—and most other

automated printers—resizes your image, causing all kinds of ugly artifacts.)

7 Use Photoshop to convert the Color Space you were

working in, if necessary (e.g AdobeRGB), to the one the Frontier uses (sRGB) (If you give a Frontier an image in a Color Space it doesn’t support, guess what, you get wrong colors!)

8 Save the image as a TIFF or JPEG file Do not embed

the Color Space (usually a checkbox in the Save dialog; it’s ignored by the printer, anyway)

9 Save all your images on a CD-R and take them to the printer

Viewing Your Images

The D200 can be connected to a television so that what would normally appear on its color LCD appears instead on the TV It can also present a “slide show” of all the images on the CompactFlash card inside your camera

1 Press the Þ button to display the menus

2 Use the Direction pad to navigate to the SET UP MENU (wrench icon) and then the > key on the

direction pad to select it

3 Use the Direction pad to navigate to Video mode,

and then the > key on the Direction pad to select it

4 Use the Direction pad to navigate to either NTSC or PAL, and then the > key on the direction pad to select

The video connection (top

connector, labeled AV Out on the

rubber cover) is on the left side of

the camera (and interferes with holding the camera when connected

to a television) Nikon supplies a short video cable with the camera

it

5 Turn the camera OFF

6 Plug one end of the EG-D2 video cable into AV Out

jack on the left side of the camera, the other ends into

the Video In and Audio In jacks on your television Your TV must be set to its Aux or similar composite

video input setting

7 Turn the camera ON Operate the camera as you would normally while reviewing images

8 When you’re done, turn the camera OFF before unplugging the video cable

You may also plug the D200 into a VCR’s Video In and Audio In connections Depending upon your VCR and

television, to see the image from the D200 you will either

have to have the VCR feed the TV’s Aux (composite video)

input or tune the television attached to the VCR to a specific channel (usually 3 or 4) after pressing a button on the VCR

(usually Aux or Line)

One thing that surprises many D200 users is that the camera still functions normally when connected to a television Yes, that means that you can take pictures with the camera hooked

up to a TV Anything that would normally be displayed on the color LCD appears instead on the television This facility is useful in studio shooting

Note: You should note that battery consumption for the camera is

considerably higher as long as it driving an external display device The D200 continues to show images on a television for up to 10 minutes, after which this connection is turned

OFF, regardless of the color LCD’s status or the camera’s timeout settings

Note: If the camera is connected to a PAL compatible television

(and Video Output is set to PAL), output resolution is

reduced somewhat, as the camera has to alter the number

of bits in the thumbnail to adapt the image to the screen resolution

Slide shows

The D200 has a crude slide show function built into it, allowing you

to show one or more folders of D200 images in sequence, with a specific delay between each image (two to ten seconds) Since the D200 can be connected to a television (see “Television Playback”

on page <H606>), this allows you to shoot images and them show them to a group of people as a completed presentation

õ You can make the camera display all the images in the

current folder in sequence by selecting the Slide Show

option from the PLAYBACK MENU When you do so, you’ll

see an additional menu (above) that allows you to Start the show, or set the Frame Intvl (time each image is displayed)

Intervals of 2, 3, 5, and 10 seconds are supported

Slide shows can be paused by pressing the ENTER button (then select Restart and press the > key on the Direction pad

to continue), or terminated early by pressing the Þ button (actually, just about any button) At the end of a slide show, the pause display is shown, allowing you to restart the show

from the beginning if desired:

Obviously, if you’re using the slide show option you probably

are displaying images to others, perhaps in a review session The D200 supports television display of the images for this very situation (see “Television Playback” on page <H606>) Timeouts are handled a little differently in slide show mode, though The D200 does not power OFF when displaying a slide show unless 10 minutes have passed since you pressed a button on the camera

Digital Workflow

You need to establish a consistent and repeatable workflow when working with digital images Here is mine:

• Before going out on a shoot, I make sure that I’ve already

saved all previously shot images on my CompactFlash (and Secure Digital if I’m using another camera that supports it, like the Coolpix models or a D50) cards, and then I format the cards I’ll be using

• I always use sequential numbering on my D200 (and D70,

D100, D1x, D2x, and Coolpix, for that matter) But before heading out, I always perform a camera check to make sure that this and the rest of my custom settings are set to

my desired settings

• In the field, I shoot until I fill a card I use a small case that

holds four cards When a card is full, I remove it from the camera and stick it in the case face down Any card I find face down means that it hasn’t been downloaded to the computer yet Cards with the label side up are empty and ready to use

• I try to carry enough CompactFlash storage with me so

that I don’t have to perform “field saves,” but if I have my portable computer or Epson P-2000 download device with me and need to use a card again, I open my case and transfer all the data from one of the face down cards so that I can re-use it

• I usually shoot only in NEF format, so when I return from

a shoot with cards full of images, I not only need to transfer them to the computer, but also need to have them converted to a non-proprietary format For each card:

1 I create a folder on my computer with the location data (e.g., Hawaii Feb 01) With the latest versions of Nikon View, I simply let it make these folders For example, I’ll create the top folder as something like HAWAIIFeb01 and then let Nikon View put each card transfer in subfolders labeled HAW001, HAW002, etc These are my “digital negatives.” I usually mark these files with a Read Only attribute so that I don’t

accidentally edit them in placeF

4 I create a second subfolder under the master called FULL Whenever I work with an image from the CAMERA folder, I save the Photoshop format result to the FULL folder Generally, I don’t crop this image Usually, I only perform color and curve adjustments,

then touch up any dust using a clone tool I never do

more than a basic sharpening of the image at this

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One proofreader of the draft manuscript also suggested write protecting the folder

on the computer This has the side effect of making it so that files can’t get moved out

a folder, keeping an entire shoot together I’m not quite that strict with my files, but it’s a good idea, nonetheless

point I try to avoid using levels adjustments, as that changes the data in the file

5 When I know how I’m going to use the image, I manipulate it again, sizing it, sharpening it, and finally saving it into yet another folder (usually PRINT, MAGAZINE, SLIDESHOW, or WEB) (PRINT is full resolution, cropped, and sharpened for my inkjet, MAGAZINE is full resolution but not sharpened, SLIDESHOW is sized to VGA size in JPEG format at maximum quality, and WEB is sized to 400 pixels maximum in the long axis and saved in JPEG format at moderate quality.)

6 As soon as possible, I save the outer folder (created in Step 1) and all of its contents to a backup drive If I later make significant changes to images in the

subfolders, I’ll save a new version to my backup Thus, when all is said and done, I can recover the original image and produce versions on demand for several different uses The structure of my drive looks something like this: Patagonia Feb 01

You’ll notice that I mentioned a few pieces of software in my workflow description Notably, I use Nikon View to transfer images, Nikon Capture to convert images, and Photoshop to manipulate images further The next sections deal with a wide variety of software you might consider using, including those I just mentioned

D200-related Software

Nikon provides one software product with the D200, a

program called PictureProject As I write this, Nikon produces three programs that work with D200 images (plus a plug-in):

• Nikon PictureProject This is a new product that tries to do

a little bit of everything with images (transfer, catalog, retouch, show, print, and archive) and manages to do none of it exceptionally The version that shipped with initial D200 cameras is 1.6.1, which is the current version

as I write this

• Nikon View This is a mature program that primarily

serves to transfer images from the camera to your

computer, and then allows you to browse them, with a modicum of organizational tools The primary attraction

to Nikon View is that it works very well at the things it does If you shoot NEF files, you’ll find that not all third-party programs understand them Good news: Nikon View 6.2.7 and later understands D200 NEF files just fine It can even batch them into JPEG files, should you desire View

is my preferred transfer and browsing program over Nikon PictureProject I suggest that you download it and install

it instead of PictureProject

• Nikon Capture Nikon has a 30-day free trial version of

Nikon Capture that is downloadable from its Web sites Capture is a mature, robust, full-featured raw image converter (indeed, about the best converter I’ve seen provided by a DSLR maker) This is the program you need

if you want to shoot and use NEF images to the fullest Beyond the raw conversions, Capture also is needed to support tethered shooting (camera connected directly to the computer or via the WT-3 Wireless Transciever), to adjust Custom Curves (see “Custom Curves,” on page

<H554>), and to load and store camera settings via the computer You need version 4.4 or later for the D200

• Nikon Photoshop plug-in Hidden beneath the

PictureProject and Nikon View installers is the fact that they also install a NEF converter plug-in for Photoshop if

Photoshop CS2’s Raw Converter 3.3, the Nikon plug-in is minimal in features

Nikon announced in early 2006 that both View and Capture will undergo significant changes by summer of 2006 In particular, View will add additional features and become a product that must be bought Capture has been redesigned from scratch by Nik, a company in which Nikon is an

investor, and will re-emerge as Capture NX, again with new features Neither product was available as I wrote this section,

so it won’t be until the 2nd Edition of this eBook that they get covered

Nikon PictureProject

PictureProject is Nikon’s new do-all, be-all program, and is provided with everything from Coolpix models to the D200 That means that it probably has features you don’t need or won’t use (e.g red-eye removal tools), but fortunately the design is decent enough so the ones you don’t use don’t get in the way of the ones you do

Nikon provided a CD with version 1.6.1 of PictureProject with the initial shipments of D200 bodies

Once you’ve installed PictureProject, you’ll be presented with

a screen:

This is the first of many things that may have you initially baffled PictureProject is an image cataloging program in addition to its other capabilities That means that it can keep a database of thumbnails and information about your images When you’re presented with this initial “import” request, PictureProject is asking if you’d like to bring your existing images into its cataloging system If you choose to check the

Copy photos into PictureProject box you’ll not only get

the cataloging capabilities, but PictureProject will be working

on copies of your images rather than the originals That’s a double-edged sword If you make copies, you’ll be chewing

up drive space; if you don’t, you could accidentally make changes to your original files

This is probably the point where I should make a comment about PictureProject’s suitability for pro users Better

cataloging options exist (see “Catalog Programs” on page

<H700>) PictureProject is obviously a work in progress, and it’s unclear in my mind if it will eventually make it past the ACDSee level of program (capable, with good performance) let alone up to the Extensis Portfolio level of product

(comprehensive, with great performance)

If you’re getting the idea that I’m not a fan of PictureProject, you’re correct It has rough edges, can chew up resources, uses yet another new UI designF

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, isn’t particularly documented, and isn’t better than other choices already available Still, it does a modest range of things decently, so this initial import screen is an important decision point

well-Fortunately, you can defer to import later (choose Import or Import Assistant on the PictureProject File menu—for newcomers to PictureProject, I suggest Import Assistant, as

it has clearer wording and options)

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Yes, the three primary Nikon software products all have distinctly different UI