Exposure Help

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jonny7

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John
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Hi all !!!
I've recently made the switch from Digi point & shoot to DSLR and with the help of Talk Photography i've bought a camera, a few lenses and a flash.
As you all know all the canned settings were usually under one dial and were relatively easy to understand, however the changeover was never going to be easy peasy so I like most beginners need a bit help.
I understand that shutter speed, f/stop, and iso, all work together to produce the perfect exposure but how do you know which settings to use ???
I know they control the amount of light coming through the lens but would like to know how they work together.
The equipment i've just bought is :-
Nikon D200
Nikon AF-S 35mm 1:1.8G Prime Lens
Nikon AF - 35mm -70mm 1:3.3-4.5
Nikon AF-S 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G ED

Thanks for looking - John
 
have a read here
http://www.shutterbee.thinkrandom.com/#ApertureSize
http://web.canon.jp/imaging/enjoydslr/part2/2A.html
I understand that shutter speed, f/stop, and iso, all work together to produce the perfect exposure but how do you know which settings to use ???
Click to expand...
what do you know of these

the speed controls how long the light is allowed on the sensor - and so also freezes or blurs movement
the aperture control how much light can get through the lens by changing the hole (aperture) - which also determines the depth of field available
ISO - is the sensitive of the sensor to the light so a low iso needs nore light than a high ISO - but as you increase the ISO you also increase the noise on the image

so depending on if you want to freeze action or change dof should help determine the settings

also do you know the relationship between the settings -
changes of 1 stop reperents twice or half the light

so F4 @1/125th @ISO100 is the same as
F5.6 @1/60th @ISO100

since the hole is smaller and lets half the amount of light in
the speed has increased to allow twice as much light in
overall the same light therefore goes to the sensor
 
jonny7 said:
Hi all !!!
I've recently made the switch from Digi point & shoot to DSLR and with the help of Talk Photography i've bought a camera, a few lenses and a flash.
As you all know all the canned settings were usually under one dial and were relatively easy to understand, however the changeover was never going to be easy peasy so I like most beginners need a bit help.
I understand that shutter speed, f/stop, and iso, all work together to produce the perfect exposure but how do you know which settings to use ???
I know they control the amount of light coming through the lens but would like to know how they work together.
The equipment i've just bought is :-
Nikon D200
Nikon AF-S 35mm 1:1.8G Prime Lens
Nikon AF - 35mm -70mm 1:3.3-4.5
Nikon AF-S 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G ED

Thanks for looking - John
Click to expand...

Here is a site that I used when I was learning exposure. I must have looked at 100 of them and this one stud out to me. I hope it helps you.

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/
 
With digital taking pictures is almost free so why not just take lots of pictures, altering the various settings between each, and view them on your pc. I'm pretty sure that a practical demonstration will make more sense quicker than reading internet articles.

Just an alternative view on ISO to one previously expressed... it's not really altering the sensitivity of the sensor, it's more like turning the volume up :D As a general rule most people tend to use the lowest ISO that they can and only select higher ISO's when making a specific decision to do so to allow the use of faster apertures and/or smaller apertures as higher ISO's can lead to more noise and degraded image quality.

Anyway, enough of that, my advice is to shoot lots of pictures and view the results :D
 
I agree with woof woof. Taking pics is probably the best thing to do. But understanding the basics is a must in my opinion. One thing I did that really helped me get a better understanding of depth of field was to hook my camera up to my laptop and take pics at the different settings. It gave me a close look at just how important and sensitive dof can be in your pics. I got a lot less out of focus pics after that little test. The other thing that made a big difference in my shots was from the advise of Mr Phil. His advise was to not let the camera choose the focus point, always set it yourself. Seems trivial to those who been doing this for a wail but for us beginners it was good advise that made a difference.
 
THANKYOU ALL !!!!!!
This will get me started !!!
 
The aperture controls depth of field (how much is in focus from front to back) the higher the number say F22 a lot of your picture from foreground to background may be in focus, a lower number say F2.8 a lot less will be in focus, maybe just the foreground or background but probably not both, this is the one to use to blur the background in say a portrait.

Depth of field also varies depending on the lens used and the distance to the closest point that you focused on, a longer lens giving less DOF, a wider lens giving more.

Shutter speed controls how much subject movement you get, a low number perhaps half a second will allow say a waterfall to blur or trafic to leave light trails, but you'd need a tripod to keep it steady, a high number will help "freeze" movement in action shots and avoid camera shake which can accidentially blur your photos.

Of course as you know altering one affects the other, so theres always a trade off with aperture against shutter speed.
 
swanseamale47 said:
The aperture controls depth of field (how much is in focus from front to back) the higher the number say F22 a lot of your picture from foreground to background may be in focus, a lower number say F2.8 a lot less will be in focus, maybe just the foreground or background but probably not both, this is the one to use to blur the background in say a portrait.

Depth of field also varies depending on the lens used and the distance to the closest point that you focused on, a longer lens giving less DOF, a wider lens giving more.

Shutter speed controls how much subject movement you get, a low number perhaps half a second will allow say a waterfall to blur or trafic to leave light trails, but you'd need a tripod to keep it steady, a high number will help "freeze" movement in action shots and avoid camera shake which can accidentially blur your photos.

Of course as you know altering one affects the other, so theres always a trade off with aperture against shutter speed.
Click to expand...

This is what i like about this forum, there is a lot of common sense people use it which helps us beginners.

THANKS Wayne !!! :)
 
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