How to Remove Red Eye on Nikon D90
Red-eye is one of those annoying flash side effects that can ruin an otherwise solid portrait. The good news is that you can remove red eye on Nikon D90 without any third-party software or computer editing. The camera has a built-in red-eye correction tool right in its Retouch Menu, and it works in just a few taps.
Here’s the step-by-step process to fix red-eye directly on your D90.
Step 1: Display Your Picture
Start by pressing the Playback button to browse through your photos. Find the image that has the red-eye problem and display it in single-image view (not thumbnail view). Once the photo is on screen, press the OK button on the back of the camera.
Step 2: Open the Retouch Menu
After pressing OK, the Retouch Menu appears on screen. This menu has several editing tools for fixing common issues. Look for the “Red-eye correction” option and highlight it.
If the D90 detects red-eye in your image, it applies the correction automatically when you select this option. If the camera can’t find any red-eye, you’ll see a message telling you so. The red-eye correction option is also grayed out for photos that were taken without flash, since red-eye only happens with flash photography.
Step 3: Inspect the Correction
After the camera applies the red-eye fix, take a close look at the result. You can press the Qual button on your D90 to zoom in and magnify the image. This lets you check whether the correction looks natural and whether all instances of red-eye were properly fixed.
Step 4: Scroll Around the Image
While zoomed in, use the Multi Selector to scroll around the image. Press left or right to move the view sideways, and up or down to move vertically. A small yellow box in the lower-right corner of the screen shows which part of the image you’re currently viewing, so you can keep track of your position.
Step 5: Save the Corrected Image
If you’re happy with how the correction looks, press the OK button to save. The camera creates a new copy of the photo with the red-eye removed. Your original image stays untouched on the memory card.
If you zoomed in to inspect the image, you’ll need to press OK twice: once to zoom back out, and once to save the corrected copy.
Step 6: Discard If Needed
Not satisfied with the result? No problem. Press the OK button once, then go to the Playback menu to discard the edited copy. Your original photo remains exactly as it was.
When Does Red-Eye Happen?
Red-eye shows up when your flash fires in a dim environment and the light bounces off the blood vessels at the back of your subject’s eye. The closer the flash is to the lens axis, the worse it gets, which is why built-in pop-up flashes are the worst offenders. External speedlights mounted on a hot shoe sit higher above the lens and produce red-eye far less often.
You can reduce red-eye before it happens by turning on the D90’s red-eye reduction mode. This fires a brief pre-flash (or lights the AF-assist lamp) before the main flash, causing your subject’s pupils to contract. Smaller pupils mean less light reaches the back of the eye, which means less red reflection.
Tips for Better Results
The auto-detection works best when the red-eye is obvious and clearly defined. Very slight red-eye or red-eye in very small faces (like group shots taken from far away) sometimes slips past the detection. In those cases, you’ll need desktop software for a manual fix.
If you’re shooting an event where flash is unavoidable, try to have your subjects look slightly off-camera rather than directly at the lens. Even a small angle change can reduce or eliminate red-eye entirely.
Red-eye correction on the Nikon D90 is one of those small features that saves real time. Instead of importing photos to your computer just to fix a few red pupils, you can handle it right on the camera before you even pack up your gear.
