Nikon D5200 For Dummies Cheat Sheet

With the D5200 camera, Nikon proves once again that you don’t have to give an arm and a leg — or strain your back and neck — to enjoy dSLR photography. The D5200 addition to the Nikon family of dSLRs doesn’t skimp on power or performance, offering a great set of features to help you take your photography to the next level. To help you get started using your camera, here’s a handy reference to your camera’s buttons, dials, and exposure modes.

Controls on Your Nikon D5200 Camera

If you're not familiar with the Nikon D5200, here's a quick guide to its buttons, dials, and other external controls. The D5200 is available as a kit with the lens shown, the Nikkor 18–55mm AF-S DX (Vibration Reduction) model. Other lenses may not have the same controls.

Automatic Exposure Modes on Your Nikon D5200

For photography novices, the D5200 offers automatic settings that enable point-and-shoot simplicity. The settings listed here help you capture the most common types of subjects; just set the Mode dial to the icon shown in the table. To access additional Scene modes, set the Mode dial to Scene and rotate the Command dial to select the scene type you want to photograph. For automatic photography using special effects, set the dial to Effects and rotate the Command dial to select an effect.

Advanced Exposure Modes for Your Nikon D5200

To really take creative control over photographs on your Nikon D5200, step up to one of these exposure modes, which enable you to adjust aperture (f-stop) to manipulate depth of field (the zone of sharp focus) and to adjust shutter speed to determine whether moving objects appear sharply focused or blurry. You also gain access to some features not available in the fully automatic modes, such as the option to adjust flash power and tweak white balance.

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