Grey options in menus

NewNikonian

Hi,
I'm very new to DSLR photography and just received my D3200 yesterday; my very first DSLR. I've been looking at tutorials here and elsewhere regarding how to set up the camera according to my desired settings before I even start shooting. I can't wait to get started! I charged the battery, formatted the memory card and I'm ready to go!

However, certain options in the menus are in grey, meaning they cannot be adjusted. Even the official Nikon manual does not help to resolve this, and I'm left wondering if I can get a quicker response here. How can I adjust menu settings, specifically those in the Shooting Menu?

Why are these options even grey, considering the camera is literally new out of the box?

Kind regards.

PaulsPics

Hi NewNikonian,
Not all menu options are available in every mode. If you have the camera set on Auto, then many of the options in the shooting menu are grayed out. This is because the camera takes care of these settings for you. If you change to P, S, A or M mode, then you have the option of adjusting the settings to suit the type of photography you want to shoot. See the note on page 127 of your reference manual.
;-)