Argh!

HanC

HanC

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Hannah
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Just need a bit of a rant!! iv spent so much time reading through my camera manual and books and tutorials and i still don't feel like i'v really learnt anything!! lol i must have really but i cant remember exactly how to use aperture or what iso is suitable for what, and what is best for particular surroundings and i feel too overwhelmed to try it all out properly atm, im just guessing!
oh dear. rant over! it'l be fine i'm sure, just having a negative day! :(:p
 
Haven't we all been there? Someone told me not to worry that one day it would all just click.. and it did.. It took me a very long time though :(.. I just kept going until it clicked... You will get there quicker than I did:) Just keep shooting and asking..
 
Has anyone got an old analogue deflective needle type meter? I got rid of mine in favour of a digital one. If someone can take a decent close up pic of one with the aperture and shutter speed scales aligned as though you'd just taken a meter reading, (make sure its aligned with whole stops) and post it or send it to me I can feel a tutorial coming on. :)
 
I do CT, but the battery's gone :(

Oh, and HanC, at least you're making the effort to read the manual. :thumbs: You'll be surprised one day when you dredge up a snippet of information that you read somewhere :)
 
there there...

Y'know, you learn an awfull lot just by shooting the thing, details kinda stick in your mind more than stuff you read.
I always find shooting priority modes and reading the exif in the viewfinder before I take the shot, fairly helpfull.
Just set iso to 200 and leave it, you wont need to change it unless the conditions are out of the ordinary, and noise won't be a factor.
Its just balance for a decent exposure, between all the variables, take iso out of the equation and shoot for good exposure with shutter speed and aperture...only 2 settings = less to fathom..
 
dod said:
I do CT, but the battery's gone :(
Click to expand...

LOL. No matter really Doddy, a good close up of the aperture and shutter scales would be fine as long as you align the scales as though you just took a reading.
 
Whilst I was waiting for my 30D to arrive, I spent hours pouring over "Understanding Exposure" and various other photography tomes. To be honest, none of it made very much sense to me at all. Id thought Id nailed something, then all these crazy numbers with decimal points and Fs and slashes came along and that was it - no clue (Im not the worlds sharpest mind when it comes to numbers ;) ).

Anyway, when the camera arrived, I decided the best way to learn was to stick it in one of the priority modes and learn one at a time. I felt comfiest with shutter priority, as even numbskull like me could grasp big numbers meant really fast speeds! I did what Joxby said and checked what the camera was doing to aperture and ISO as well.

One day it all clicked - probably about 2000 clicks of the camera later in my case. Although I still class myself as a learner, I can now understand most of the basic principles and what will happen if I adjust various things.

Id highly recommend starting in shutter priority first - AND there is also no shame in using auto, as you can learn a lot from what the camera does and very soon you will be able to think "No, I dont want that setting" and be off onto manual in no time. Thats how I learnt anyway, and as I said, Ive still got a looooooooong way to go, but I do feel confindent with all those confusin' numbers now :D .

Allie
 
okay, I'll see if I can find it :thinking:
 
Don't stress too much about.........I'm still in the very very early learning stages, and am battling with the aperture and shutter speed combination, lol. I can see wide and smaller apertures in my head, and know that the bigger the aperture, the more light comes in, but trying to combine or use it with shutter speed, just totally loses me. It's starting to sink in bit by bit, but think it's going to take a very long time. Never been stuck on understanding something like this for sooo long, lol. :D;)
 
old faithfull...:love:

73op1mp.jpg


iso is set at 200, and so is the dial, so the readings are for correct exposure

may I say CT, this is an excellent idea...
 
thanks joxby, can't find mine.
 
Top man Joxers. :thumbs:

Thanks mate - much appreciated! I can make this the basis of a tutorial which should be a real help to anyone having trouble understanding which aperture/shutter speed combo. Bear with me folks - I will get round to it - honest!
 
Thanks for all the comments guys :) had a bit of a wander around with the camera this afternoon which was good and at least i took sum pictures....now i will wait for it all to make sense! hehe:p
CT a tutorial would be great! :D
 
I know it sounds a bit daunting, but go to a favoured (preferably quiet) spot and set the camera to M and play around with it all day if need be. At least this gloomy weather will enable you to see the difference in ISO settings!

It worked for me (although i prefer hands-on to reading!)
 
There so much stuff on the internet offering as much information as you can shake a stick at. I found a site that contained information about every setting on you camera and their effects of the final image it also has animations and examples to go with the description. I'll have a look see if i can find it.

There is only really one way to become totally familiar with your camera that is to walk round with it taking pictures of anything changing settings, get stuck it dont worry if u end up not being able to change them back there should be a restore defaults options somewhere.

Dan
 
Roody262 said:
....
There is only really one way to become totally familiar with your camera that is to walk round with it taking pictures of anything changing settings, get stuck it dont worry if u end up not being able to change them back there should be a restore defaults options somewhere.

Dan
Click to expand...

Yep - doing that at the moment. I started by reading reams of stuff and taking notes but got bored reading and just got out there and took pics. After all, no one seeing me knows I am taking bad shots and I can learn from the results when I transfer them to my PC later. I am actually getting a few "keepers" now which is very rewarding :)
A great absorbing hobby which I wish I had taken up much earlier.
 
Maybe the problem with modern cameras is they can do it all for you. my first Pentax ( film)camera had no exposure meter so you had to work it out for yourself witha hand held one Mine was a Weston ll as well. It died so I upgraded to a Gossen . Still have that one.

One advantage was you did get to understand exposure, now it's really all second nature. To be honest it's not all that difficult.

If you need a little help try

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understandexposure.shtml

Best advice. Don't sweat it. It'll come. Enjoy
 
Just wanted to say thanks again for all the positive advice here :) am feeling much better now although i still have aLOT to learn! but TP is a great help :)
 
I found that the TP meetings are an amazingly good way to learn stuff from others, you should keep your eye open for anything happening near you Han :thumbs:
 
We've all been there. When I first got my D80 (my first dslr), It was driving me mad as to why all my shots were really dark. By accident I found two things, Exposure compensation at full - ! Also:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Camera/dp/0817463003

Written in a way that I actually understood most of it. I still to this day go back every now and then just to absorb some more. Well worth the money.
Keep at it. It does start to make sense. ;-) I still find my D300 manual mind boggling!!
 
joxby said:
old faithfull...:love:

73op1mp.jpg


iso is set at 200, and so is the dial, so the readings are for correct exposure

may I say CT, this is an excellent idea...
Click to expand...


God I've got one of those with my Halina 35x.
 
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