Can you explain this please? Nikon D5300 query

[LouiseTopp]

I took my Nikon D5300 for a trial run yesterday and photographed some old houses on AV mode. What I notice is when I press the shutter button, the mirror doesn't flick back unless I release the shutter button again after pressing it.

I was a bit concerened about this and have been into my local camera shop to inquire about this. They said it was because I wasn't used to how quiet the shutter was, but this isn't the point. When I click the shutter It should click and flip back, which is not what I'm getting when I press the shutter. It's like it's in Bolb mode, can anyone advise me please?

Also my mega pixles are on normal, should I change to fine or leave it as it is please?

Many thanks.

[Geoff F]

Are you accidentally working in Mirror Lock Up mode?

[Black Pearl]

Are you saying the viewfinder stays black and you can't see through it unless you completely let go of the shutter button?

EDIT:

Are you using the rear screen to take pictures? If so you have the Live View in Tripod mode - change it to handheld.

[Mike Buckley]

I believe Geoff's point is that if your camera allows you to lock up the mirror, pressing the shutter release button the first time only raises the mirror. You have to press the shutter release button a second time to actually release the shutter. Doing so allows you to give the camera enough time to allow all shaking to come to a stop before you release the shutter. After the shutter closes, the mirror automatically returns to its original position that allows you to use the viewfinder.

If Geoff and I are leading you down the correct path to your solution, my hunch is that you got the sound of the shutter release confused with the sound of the mirror. That's very easy to do until you realize how the system works.

If you were shooting using a tripod, using the mirror lockup makes sense. When shooting handheld in a typical situation, don't use the mirror lockup.

Whatever the issue is, it most definitely has nothing to do with the file format or file size your camera is configured to produce.

[Mike Buckley]

Are you using the rear screen to take pictures? If so you have the Live View in Tripod mode - change it to handheld.

That's confusing to me so it's also probably confusing to Louise. Though I don't have Louise's Nikon camera, I do have a more advanced Nikon camera and it has only one Live View mode with no difference whether using it on a tripod or handheld.

[Shadowman]

I would check to see if you are in Quiet Shutter Release Mode under the settings menu.

[Stagecoach]

Does the D5300 have a 'mirror up' mode as we use for tripod shooting (not sensor cleaning mode), not according to the manual.

There may be more to this

Mirror 'delay' function? Live View?

What I notice is when I press the shutter button, the mirror doesn't flick back unless I release the shutter button again after pressing it.

This is confusing Louise, you say "unless I release the shutter button AGAIN after pressing it.". Are you saying you have to press fully and release the shutter button twice?

I suspect we need a better description, and does the same occur at every shot where we would expect all to work instantaneously.

[inkista]

Check custom function d5: Exposure delay mode. This function adds about a second's delay from the time of the shutter press until the shutter actually fires. It's meant for using long lenses on a tripod to give time for any shake from the shutter button press to have dissipated by the time the shutter opens.

I'm guessing that the timing of the delay is just enough to fool you into thinking it's the second press that triggered it. But I could be very wrong.

Also my [megapixels] are on normal, should I change to fine or leave it as it is please?

Depends on how much you're willing to trade off file size against image quality, or whether you're shooting RAW+JPEG. The difference between Normal and Fine is how much compression you've got dialed in for JPEG files. Normal will give you smaller files, but may run the risk of having more compression artifacts. File has less compression but bigger files. If you're shooting RAW+JPEG, you'll have full resolution and uncompressed files (RAW), anyway, so you may be willing to compress the JPEGs more, or use a smaller size to save on space on the card. And, of course, this depends on what you plan to use the JPEGs for.

On my X100T, for example, I shoot RAW+JPEG, with the JPEGs set to Medium Normal, because I only use the JPEGs immediately to post via my phone on social media or to print out a small Fuji Instax print. Neither function requires very high resolution or high quality, so a smaller image with more compression is fine for those uses, and speeds up file transfer. But if I were going to post-process and was switching to JPEG from RAW+JPEG because I was running out of space on the card and forgot my spare, I'd probably shoot full resolution Large+Fine.

[Black Pearl]

From the Nikon page for the D5300:

When shooting is complete, the photograph will be displayed in the monitor for a few seconds before the camera returns to live view mode.

[Black Pearl]

That's confusing to me so it's also probably confusing to Louise. Though I don't have Louise's Nikon camera, I do have a more advanced Nikon camera and it has only one Live View mode with no difference whether using it on a tripod or handheld.

Sorry Mike my last Nikon has two Live View modes but I didn't check before posting to see if the D5300 was the same.

[LouiseTopp]

Thanks for your replie's.

Are you accidentally working in Mirror Lock Up mode?

What is this, and how do I check this please?

Are you saying the viewfinder stays black and you can't see through it unless you completely let go of the shutter button?

Not sure what you mean. The mirror doesn't go back down unless I completely let go of the shutter button is what happens.

Are you using the rear screen to take pictures?

No, view finder. How do I change it to handheld?

I would check to see if you are in Quiet Shutter Release Mode under the settings menu

Sorry to ask a dim question, but how do i check this please?

Are you saying you have to press fully and release the shutter button twice?

No, it's like what you would get on bolb mode?

[Mike Buckley]

Louise,

The easy way to check the various details people have mentioned is to open the PDF of your camera's manual. Then search the document (using Windows: Ctrl+F) for whatever word or phrase you want to look up. As an example, search for lockup, lock or lock up, noting that you might spell it differently than how it is spelled in the manual. To be safe, I would instead search for mirror and then look for anything returned in the search that mentions mirror lock up. If your search returns nothing about the lock up, that means your camera does not have that capability but only so long as you conducted the search correctly.

[D L]

Louise, I think I have replicated your "problem" on my D3300. It looks like John (Shadowman) is correct in that you are using "Quiet Release Shutter Mode". I've never used it before but it works exactly as you describe.
I'm not sure of the easy way for you to change this since I don't have your camera model. At worst, you can probably delve into the "Shooting Menu" and find "Release Mode". From there, change it to Single Frame or Continuous to get a response more familiar to you.

As a side note, another discovery in trying to replicate Louise's problem is that I couldn't get my camera to fire while in Mirror Lockup Mode. It seems to be exclusively for cleaning the sensor. To shoot with mirror locked up, I must go into live view mode.

Louise, your other question was about "Fine" or "Normal"? This setting won't effect the megapixels used to capture the image. It changes the compression used when converting the RAW capture (using all 24Mpix) to a jpeg file. I think a simple answer is that the larger the print you might want to make from the jpeg, the higher quality compression you should use. I'd say use "Fine" unless your memory card is filling up too quick.

[Mike Buckley]

I just now looked at my camera's manual and was reminded of the two terms Nikon uses:

Mirror Up mode (also sometimes written as Mirror-up mode) refers to capturing an image while the mirror is up. The mirror is up when pressing the shutter release during Live View, when Mirror Up mode is used in combination with a remote control that releases the shutter, when Mirror Up mode is used in combination with configuring a timer to automatically delay release of the shutter, and when Mirror Up mode is used while pressing the shutter release button. Whether using your finger or the remote device to release the shutter while using Mirror Up mode, activating the shutter release the first time only raises the mirror. Activating it the second time then releases the shutter. The name of the mode is indicated on the Release Mode dial as Mup.

Any reference to locking the mirror up refers to doing so only for the purpose of cleaning the sensor, not releasing the shutter.

[Jimr1961]

I would suggest looking through the menu for any option that reverts all settings back to default, then go back and re-do the settings you know you want changed.

[Mike Buckley]

I would suggest looking through the menu for any option that reverts all settings back to default, then go back and re-do the settings you know you want changed.

Good idea!

[Stagecoach]

Louise, were you taking pictures successfully with your new D5300 before this started happening?


There are two different Manuals for the D5300 available from Nikon. One is a 'User Manual' the other is a 'Reference Manual', 6 & 22 Meg respectively.
Both downloadable from here http://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.co.../25/D5300.html

For info, both pages from the D5300 Reference Manual

In answer to your question about checking 'Quiet Shutter Release Mode'.


Operational description from Nikon;
Quiet shutter-release mode reduces the amount of noise made by the camera. In this mode, when the shutter-release button is pressed, the mirror is raised and the shutter is released but the mirror is not lowered until the shutter-release button is released. Thus the photographer can choose when the camera releases the mirror. The beep sound that the camera makes once it has acquired focus is also disabled, even if this is turned on in the cameras setup menu.

and for info to Reset the Camera

[LouiseTopp]

Louise, were you taking pictures successfully with your new D5300 before this started happening?

Yes.

thanks for your replies. I think I'm going to get the dummies book on the D5300, is that a good book?

Tried doing some jewellery yesterday with the camera on F22, the camera keeps over-exposing the image which is a pain. How can I correct this please?

Also where is the self timer please?

[Dave Humphries]

thanks for your replies. I think I'm going to get the dummies book on the D5300, is that a good book?

Anything is likely to help Louise, if you can't discover what you need from the manual.
I have not read a camera 'dummies' book (but ones on other subjects were OK), so I can't directly answer the question.
I have David Busch's Digital SLR Photography book for my D7100, but when I just looked on Amazon for the D5300 version, it was silly money (over £200 GBP), although he has a Compact Field Guide for it which is about a tenner. You may benefit more from something that goes in to the 'why' rather than just where to find the controls though.

I wonder if you may assimilate the knowledge from a video easier than a book (seeing is believing), here's a couple I found:

Tony Northrup's D5300 Overview Training Tutorial, it runs to 40 minutes, but may help you. (I haven't watched it)
If you expand the READ MORE bit, it has a Table of Contents that allows you to quickly locate specific areas.

Or there's an alternative here:
Brian Tobey's D5300 Review and Tutorial, again 40 minutes and I haven't watched much of it, just skipped through looking to answer your final question.

Tried doing some jewellery yesterday with the camera on F22, the camera keeps over-exposing the image which is a pain. How can I correct this please?

We need more info; what exposure system (P, A, S, M) or Scene Mode were you using?
Perhaps show us an image with EXIF shooting data please.

Also where is the self timer please?

It can be accessed via the button below the lens release button, on left hand side (as you hold camera).
This is shown at the 3 minute mark in the Brian Tobey video, see also approx. 22'58" (delay set) 34'40" (enable) for it in menu.

Cheers, Dave

[Stagecoach]

I think I'm going to get the dummies book on the D5300, is that a good book?

Tried doing some jewellery yesterday with the camera on F22, the camera keeps over-exposing the image which is a pain. How can I correct this please?

Also where is the self timer please?

Louise, have you solved the 'problem' you raised in your initial post?

Was it that the camera was set in the "Quiet Shutter Release Mode"?