Nikon D7000 manual First Things First

Chapter 1 ■ Nikon D7000: Thinking Outside of the Box 7

No matter how extensive your experience level is, you don’t need to fret about wading through a manual to find out what you must know to take those first few tentative snaps. I’m going to help you hit the ground running with this chapter, which will help you set up your camera and begin shooting in minutes. You won’t find a lot of detail in this chapter. Indeed, I’m going to give you the basics, accompanied by some interesting tid- bits that will help you become acclimated. I’ll go into more depth and even repeat some of what I explain here in later chapters, so you don’t have to memorize everything you see. Because I realize that some of you may already have experience with Nikon cam- eras similar to the D7000, each of the major sections in this chapter will begin with a brief description of what is covered in that section, so you can easily jump ahead to the next if you are in a hurry to get started.

First Things First

This section helps get you oriented with all the things that come in the box with your Nikon D7000, including what they do. I’ll also describe some optional equipment you might want to have. If you want to get started immediately, skim through this section and jump ahead to “Initial Setup” later in the chapter.

The Nikon D7000 comes in an impressive gold box filled with stuff, including con- necting cords, booklets, a CD, and lots of paperwork. The most important compo- nents are the camera and lens (if you purchased your D7000 with a lens), battery, battery charger, and, if you’re the nervous type, the neck strap. You’ll also need a mem- ory card as one is not included. If you purchased your D7000 from a camera shop, as I did, the store personnel probably attached the neck strap for you, ran through some basic operational advice that you’ve already forgotten, tried to sell you a memory card, and then, after they’d given you all the help you could absorb, sent you on your way with a handshake.

Perhaps you purchased your D7000 from one of those mass merchandisers that also sell washing machines and vacuum cleaners. In that case, you might have been sent on your way with only the handshake, or, maybe, not even that if you resisted the efforts to sell you an extended warranty. You save a few bucks at the big box stores, but you don’t get the personal service a professional photo retailer provides. It’s your choice. There’s a third alternative, of course. You might have purchased your camera from a mail order or Internet source, and your D7000 arrived in a big brown (or purple/red) truck. Your only interaction when you took possession of your camera was to scrawl your signature on an electronic clipboard.