Nikon Z fc For Dummies. Julie Adair King
of the chart mean that the scene is likely overexposed (too bright), and a heavy concentration at the other end signals possible underexposure.If the Brightness histogram doesn’t appear, open the Custom Settings menu, choose Shooting/Display, and check the status of the Apply Settings to Live View option. When this option is disabled, so is the Brightness histogram.Information display: This screen enables you to view picture-taking settings without the distraction of the live preview. You can modify this screen’s color scheme, switching from dark type on a light screen to white type on a dark screen. To do so, open the Setup menu and choose Information Display. Option B is the default; choose W for white type on a dark background.Virtual Horizon display: This feature is useful when you need to make sure that the camera is level to the horizon. If the two horizontal lines in the graphic are yellow, tilt the camera until they turn green, as in the figures, indicating a level position.FIGURE 1-21: Data is arranged a little differently in the viewfinder, and the Information display is unavailable. To quickly hide all data, press the red Record button on top of the camera. Press the button again to bring the data back into view. Of course, this trick only works when shooting photos; when you’re shooting videos, pressing the button starts and stops recording. Additionally, you can’t use the button to hide and display data if you use the customization options that I discuss in Chapter 10 to assign a different photo-shooting function to the button.
You can add gridlines to help align your shots, as shown in Figure 1-22. Open the Custom Settings menu, choose Shooting/Display, and select Framing Grid Display. You can choose a 3 x 3 or 4 x 4 grid design.
The camera enables you to adjust display brightness and color — but use caution. Normally, the live preview updates to reflect changes you make to color and exposure settings, which is obviously helpful when determining whether the new settings are on target. You can turn off these updates, but I can think of only one reason you may want to do so: When using the viewfinder, some people find that frequent display updates cause eyestrain. Turn the feature on and off via the Apply Settings to Live View option, found in the Shooting/Display section of the Custom Settings menu. A reminder icon appears just above the Touch Shutter symbol on the monitor and in the upper left corner of the viewfinder. The symbol looks like a camera labeled with the word View! Turning off this setting also disables Histogram display mode. When you change the setting to On, the symbol disappears and Histogram display mode becomes available.You also can make wholesale baseline changes to display brightness and color via four options on the Setup menu: Monitor Brightness, Monitor Color Balance, Viewfinder Brightness, and Viewfinder Color Balance. But if you change any of these settings from their defaults, what you see in the displays may not provide an accurate reflection of the picture. For example, if you increase monitor brightness, an underexposed photo may look just fine in the displays.FIGURE 1-22: You can add gridlines to the displays as an additional framing alignment aid.As you ponder these adjustments, keep in mind that what you see in the displays often doesn’t match what you see with your eyes exactly because the camera can’t capture all the variations in brightness and color that the human eye can discern. You may want to try using the Active D-Lighting and HDR features discussed in Chapter 3 to broaden the range of tones the camera can capture. If you determine that the camera displays are out of whack, I suggest taking the camera in for a service check, using the adjustment options as only a temporary solution.
You also can customize the displays you see when you’re reviewing photos and recording videos. Check out Chapter 8 for details on playback options; see Chapter 7 for video recording options.
Magnifying the display
Figure 1-23 shows the monitor display at the normal magnification (left) and after one press of the Zoom In button. Each button press increases the magnification level. While the display is zoomed, a reference box appears briefly, as shown on the right in Figure 1-23. The yellow box indicates the area of the frame you’re inspecting. Press the edges of the Multi Selector to scroll the display to view hidden areas of the scene.
FIGURE 1-23: Press the Zoom In button to magnify the display; press Zoom Out to reduce the magnification.
You also can magnify the displays during picture playback to inspect small details, such as whether someone’s eyes are closed in a portrait. (Blinkers, whaddya gonna do?) During playback, though, pressing the Zoom Out button also enables you to view thumbnails of multiple images on the screen and to switch to Calendar display view. Chapter 8 explains these playback zoom features and a few others that are unavailable during shooting.
Using the Touch Shutter (or Not)
Another feature to get to know during your meet-and-greet with the camera is the Touch Shutter. The Touch Shutter enables you to focus and take a picture by simply tapping your subject once on the monitor. The focusing part of the feature assumes that the camera and lens are set to use autofocusing. (If you use the 16–50mm kit lens, that setting is the default.)
The Touch Shutter comes in handy on occasion — for example, when you’re using the Self-Portrait mode, outlined near the end of this chapter. But more often than not, I find myself mistakenly tapping the screen and taking a picture when I had no intention of doing so. Because the feature is enabled by default for photo shooting, my guess is that you’ve snapped a few errant pics as well. too. The good news is that you can disable the Touch Shutter or use it only for autofocusing, which is my choice. To cycle through the available settings, tap the Touch Shutter symbol on the monitor, labeled in Figure 1-24.
FIGURE 1-24: Tap the Touch Shutter symbol to cycle through the settings that determine what happens when you tap your subject on the monitor.
You can choose from four Touch Shutter settings, represented on the monitor by the symbols that appear in the margins here:
Touch Shutter/Touch AF: The camera system sets focus on the spot you touch and then releases the shutter when you lift your finger off the monitor.