Shooting manual on the Nikon D7500

In manual mode, you set the exposure and the camera only reports on it. The D7500 is well suited to this, since it has two command dials, so aperture and shutter speed each have their own control.

This covers the controls, what each setting does to a picture, how to read a scene, and starting settings for common situations.

The D7500 controls for manual

The basic numbers on this camera:

The meter in the viewfinder

With the camera in M, half-press the shutter and look at the exposure indicator in the viewfinder. The mark in the middle is the camera’s idea of correct exposure. A bar to one side shows how far under or over you are, in the steps you set.

Exposure indicator
+ ········|········ -      centred: the meter is satisfied
+ ········|■■■···· -      underexposed by the length of the bar
+ ■■■■····|········ -      overexposed

The side for plus or minus can be swapped in Custom Setting f5, so read the marks on your own display. If the display flashes, the scene is beyond what the meter can measure.

Centred is a suggestion, not the goal. The meter assumes that whatever it sees should come out as a mid-tone. That is why snow looks grey and a black cat looks grey when the bar is centred. Manual exists so you can overrule it.

Exposure in stops

A stop means double or half the light. All three settings work in stops, which is what lets you trade one for another.

Full stops on each scale:

Shutter   1/4000  1/2000  1/1000  1/500  1/250  1/125  1/60  1/30  1/15
Aperture  f/1.4   f/2     f/2.8   f/4    f/5.6  f/8    f/11  f/16  f/22
ISO       100     200     400     800    1600   3200   6400  12800 25600

The D7500 moves in thirds by default, so three clicks of either dial is one stop. That makes counting easy: three clicks away from where the meter was centred is one stop.

Each of these gives the same exposure:

So exposure is one decision, and how you get there is another. The rest of this guide is about the second.

Aperture and f-stops

The aperture is the opening in the lens. The f-number is the focal length divided by the opening’s diameter, so a 50mm lens at f/2 has a 25mm opening. That is why smaller numbers mean bigger openings. A step of 1.4× in f-number halves the area, and so halves the light.

Aperture controls three things.

Light. Each full step lets in half or double.

Depth of field. This is how much of the scene looks sharp, from near to far. A wider aperture, a longer lens, or a closer subject makes it shallower. These figures use a 0.02 mm circle of confusion, a common value for DX:

You can calculate your own lens and distance:

def depth_of_field(focal_mm, f_number, subject_mm, coc=0.02):
    hyperfocal = focal_mm ** 2 / (f_number * coc) + focal_mm
    near = subject_mm * (hyperfocal - focal_mm) / (hyperfocal + subject_mm - 2 * focal_mm)
    far = subject_mm * (hyperfocal - focal_mm) / (hyperfocal - subject_mm) if subject_mm < hyperfocal else None
    return round(near / 1000, 2), round(far / 1000, 2) if far else "infinity"

print(depth_of_field(35, 1.8, 1500))
print(depth_of_field(18, 8, 3000))

(1.44, 1.57)
(1.21, 'infinity')

Sharpness. Lenses are usually softest wide open, sharpest a couple of stops down, and soft again when stopped down hard, because of diffraction. Pixels on this sensor are about 4.2 microns wide, and the diffraction spot grows with f-number:

Softening starts to show around f/11, and f/16 to f/22 costs real detail. So for sharpness on the D7500, f/5.6 to f/8 is a dependable zone, and going past f/11 should be a deliberate choice for depth or a slow shutter.

Choosing an aperture

Zooms and variable apertures

Many kit zooms, such as the 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6, have a widest aperture that changes as you zoom. In manual, if you are at f/3.5 at 18mm and zoom in, the camera moves to f/5.6, and you lose over a stop with no warning but the meter. Setting f/5.6 from the start avoids this.

Shutter speed

Shutter speed controls motion. It decides whether movement freezes or blurs.

Camera shake

The classic rule is that handheld shutter speed should be at least 1 over the focal length. On DX, multiply by 1.5 first:

Vibration reduction on a lens buys a few stops against your hands. It does nothing for a moving subject, which still needs its own speed.

ISO

ISO sets how much the signal from the sensor is amplified. It does not change how much light reaches the sensor. Shooting at a higher ISO gets you a usable shutter speed or aperture, at the cost of noise and reduced dynamic range.

• Use ISO 100 when you have the light, for the cleanest files and the most highlight room.
• Raise it without guilt when you need speed. A noisy sharp frame beats a clean blurred one.
• Avoid Hi settings for anything you care about. Nikon warns that noise is particularly likely there.
• Lo 1 is not a free extra stop, since it adds contrast. It is useful for a slower shutter in bright light.

A workable mental model:

Your own limit depends on your tolerance and how the image will be used. To find it, take the same dim scene at each full stop from ISO 800 to 25600, and compare them at 100% on a computer.

Auto ISO in manual

This is the most useful setting on the camera for moving subjects. With aperture and shutter speed fixed by you, the camera changes ISO to keep the exposure. You keep control of depth and motion, and the light can change freely.

1. In the Photo Shooting menu, open ISO sensitivity settings.
2. Set Auto ISO sensitivity control to On.
3. Set Maximum sensitivity, such as ISO 6400.
4. Hold the ISO button and turn the sub-command dial to toggle it later. ISO AUTO shows when it is on.

In M, the minimum shutter speed setting is not involved, since you chose the speed. The ISO floor is 100, and the ceiling is your maximum. If the ceiling is hit, the picture just comes out dark, so watch the indicator.

Nikon’s own D7500 tutorial uses this combination for a stage, with compensation at -0.7 to stop the performers overexposing against a dark background.

Metering, and the spot meter

Select the mode by holding the metering button and turning the main command dial.

Using spot metering

Spot is the most exact tool on the camera, and it pairs naturally with manual. On the D7500, the spot circle sits on the active focus point, so it moves when you move the point. In auto-area AF, it uses the centre point instead, so use single-point AF for spot metering.

The routine:

1. Set the metering mode to spot.
2. Set your aperture and ISO for the shot.
3. Put the focus point on the tone that matters most.
4. Half-press, and turn the main command dial to place the indicator at the chosen value.
5. Recompose. In manual, the exposure stays where you set it, though the indicator will move.

Step 5 is the benefit. Unlike auto modes, nothing shifts when you recompose, so a sequence of shots stays consistent.

The spot meter wants to make whatever it reads a mid-tone, so offset it according to what you are pointing at:

These are starting values. Check them on the histogram, as cameras and scenes vary.

Backlit portrait. Matrix sees a bright sky and darkens the subject. Spot the face, set +2/3 to +1, and the face is right, even if the sky burns out.

Stage performer. Spot the face, under a key light. A centred matrix reading would be fooled by the black stage.

Sunset. Spot a part of the sky to the side of the sun. Use 0, and darken from there for richer colour.

Checking the result

The rear screen lies, since it depends on brightness and the ambient light. The histogram does not.

1. In the Playback menu, open Playback display options, and enable Highlights and RGB histogram.
2. After a shot, press up or down on the multi selector to reach those views.
3. Blinking areas are blown out, with no detail.

Reading a histogram:

Left edge = pure black              Right edge = pure white

      ▂▄▆█▆▄▂                                     ▂▄▆█▇▅
      |--------------|--------------|--------------|
   Shadows         Mid-tones      Highlights

Stacked hard against the right: highlights are clipped
Stacked hard against the left:  shadows are clipped

A dark scene should sit left, and a bright one right. The goal is not a central hump. The goal is no clipping where it matters. Lost highlights cannot be recovered, and shadows can usually be lifted, so expose for the highlights you care about.

Shoot in RAW. It leaves a stop or two of leeway in correcting an exposure, plus free white balance control.

The working routine

A repeatable order for any scene:

1. Pick what matters: depth or motion? Set that one first.
2. Set the other as far as the scene allows.
3. Set ISO as low as those two allow.
4. Meter. Spot the key tone, or use matrix for even light.
5. Shoot, check the histogram, adjust in whole clicks.
6. Re-meter when the light changes. Cloud and shade can move it by stops.

Starting settings

These are starting points, worked out from typical light levels. Each needs a test shot.

Sunny 16 is a useful check. In full sun, f/16 at 1 over the ISO gives a correct exposure: f/16, 1/100, ISO 100. It works with no meter, and shows when one has been fooled.

The 500 rule estimates how long stars can stay points on a tripod: 500 divided by the DX-equivalent focal length. For an 11mm lens that gives about 30 s, and for 35mm about 9 s. On a 20 MP sensor, shorter is safer.

Long exposures

The D7500 offers two long modes, past 30 s on the main command dial:

• Bulb stays open as long as the shutter button is held.
• Time opens with one press, and closes with another.

Use a tripod and a remote release, so that pressing the button does not shake the camera. For timed exposures of 30 s or less, the 2 s self-timer does the same job.

Each extra stop of ND filter doubles the exposure time, so a 10-stop filter turns 1/30 s into about 34 s.

Flash in manual

Flash adds a second exposure inside the first.

• Shutter speed controls the background, and has little effect on the flash burst.
• Aperture and ISO affect both.
• Flash power controls the subject.

The sync limit is 1/250 s, and past it, a dark band appears unless you use high-speed sync with a compatible flash. Set the background first with the ambient exposure, usually a stop under, then add flash until the subject is right.

Common problems

One page summary

• Rear dial is shutter. Front dial is aperture. ISO button plus rear dial is ISO.
• Three clicks is one stop.
• Decide on depth or motion first, and let ISO take what is left.
• f/5.6 to f/8 is the dependable sharp zone on this sensor.
• Handheld, stay at or above 1 over 1.5 times the focal length.
• Spot follows the focus point. Offset it for the tone you are reading.
• M plus Auto ISO is the best setup for changing light.
• Trust the histogram and highlight display, not the rear screen.