Where do I start?

flicker

flicker

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Dean
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Ok! My camera arrived today and I have just finished charging the battery and reading the manual. I tested it in auto and exr modes and a couple of others just see how it all works. I want to be able to take great pictures so I am assuming I should try and learn to avoid the auto mode. I have read loads about exposure, aperture and iso the last few days and understand it in it's basic form.

I put it in "M" and tried taking some photos and just got blackness - it's harder than I thought!

So...

Should I be ignoring all the other modes and starting with "M" or do the pros use some of the more automated settings as well?

I am in my house, it's night time - so...could someone post a picture that I could try and replicate with something similar in my house to get me started and I will post my efforts here - if you could include the settings I should use as well it would be a great help. I haven't got a tripod yet but I can use a chair or something for now :bonk:

If anyone has any other advice they could give me on getting off the ground it would be appreciated. Please bare in mind that before this camera arrived I had only ever taken the odd photo with my phone. I have done lots of reading over the last few days and I absord information very well so hopefully I will be able to post something half decent in the near future.
 
You could try AV mode, this will let you control the aperture and the camera will set the shutter speed for you, this will let you see what sort of setting you will need to use.


Dave.
 
dizidav said:
You could try AV mode, this will let you control the aperture and the camera will set the shutter speed for you, this will let you see what sort of setting you will need to use.


Dave.
Click to expand...

Only canon call it Av mode, Most other Manufactures call it Aperture Priority Fuji included, so it becomes a little confusing to someone not using Canon gear.

Regards Toonie
 
For this time of night you will need to start with ISO.

ISO controls the sensitivity of the sensor to light ISO 100 for a nice bright day and basically about as high as it goes for nightime :) Try ISO 1600 if you have it.

Then pop it on A as suggested. The aperture allows you to control the little hole in the lens that lets light in. Now this has two effects, The lower the number the bigger the hole, the more light gets in. This then allows the camera to set a higher shutter speed which should avoid too much shakin' about and blurring. It also controls how much of the pic is in focus and the lower the number the less is going to be in focus.

Put on lamps. :) Enjoy!
 
Agree with above.

Get to know your camera in the other modes before you try manual, it is harder than it looks and reads.

Practice practice practice is all I can say, you will soon learn what does what.
Then post a few pics up on here and you will learn even more
 
I agree with the above, I've been into photography for quite a few years and still rarely venture into manual (only when I want to create a specific effect and the camera will get it wrong!).

Start with aperture priority. Experiment with different apertures and see what that does to the shutter speed. If you're handholding, you should be looking for shutter speeds of around 1/the focal length (e.g. at 50mm, whatever your aperture is, try and make sure it stays shorter than 1/50).

As Ali says above, pay close attention to the ISO. At 100 you'll get the nicest looking photos, but you'll need long shutter speeds to capture enough light. At ISO 1600 you can have much shorter shutter speeds, but the image will be noisy/grainy.

Just play about, you'll soon find out what works and what doesn't! If you don't understand why something has gone wrong, post it up here. No-one will laugh, and we'll be able to help you find out what's wrong. Good luck :thumbs:
 
Same as everyone above, start in A mode and have see what happens.

I dont use manual very often.

Eventually you will learn the balance between, apature, shutter speed and ISO to get the best pictures
 
And once you become properly obsessed you will be able to walk into a room and know within a stop what the light levels are :)

The tablets help though ;)
 
Ok...I have been messing on with manually setting aperture and then manually setting shutter.

Please ignore the fact they are completely un-artistic and pointless photos as I am just getting to know the camera and the settings:

dscf0078small.jpg


dscf0094small.jpg


The first pic of the headstock I think I did using one of the automatic settings but I can't remember which one. That is the type of effect I am trying to work out how to do manually. The second picture is with auto iso/aperture but manual shutter. It's as close as I seem to be able to get to the focussed subject and blurred background objects.

Am I correct in thinking that the longer the shutter is open, the more that background will blur? If so, why?
 
And by the way..."Full Respect" to you all - it's damn hard work!!!!!!!
 
The background blur is a function of aperture not shutter, the shutter speed is not directly related to depth of field (blur)

The way I think of depth of field is simple small number= big hole=small depth of field and a lot of blur.

I'd suggest getting a book from the library or Amazon on the basics which will help a lot because they have diagrams and examples which make it easier to learn. :)
 
On a related "getting you off the ground" note, do you now how to read the Exif info embedded inside each of your photos? (It shows the information used to take the shot - ie: your aperture, shutter speed, iso, focal length etc.) This can be very handy when reviewing your work on the computer, to remember and learn which combinations of settings give the results you are looking for. :thumbs: (You can also look at other people's Exif info, and learn what settings they used to obtain a certain look.) ;)

I use some software called Exif Viewer on the mac, but I think Opanda is a well known (and free) download for Win machines. Fire up google! ;)

The Exif info from your second shot looks like this:

File name: dscf0094small-1.jpg
File size: 61181 bytes (4000x3000, 0.0bpp, 588x)
EXIF Summary: 0.8s f/3.8 ISO200 24.8mm

Camera-Specific Properties:

Equipment Make: FUJIFILM
Camera Model: FinePix S200EXR
Camera Software: Digital Camera FinePix S200EXR Ver1.01
Maximum Lens Aperture: f/2.8
Sensing Method: One-Chip Color Area
Maker Note Version: 0130

Image-Specific Properties:

Image Orientation: Top, Left-Hand
Horizontal Resolution: 72 dpi
Vertical Resolution: 72 dpi
Image Created: 2010:02:02 19:22:43
Rendering: Normal
Exposure Mode: Auto
White Balance: Auto
Scene Capture Type: Standard
Sharpness: Normal
Subject Distance Range: Unknown
Exposure Time: 0.8 sec
F-Number: f/3.8
Exposure Program: Shutter Priority
ISO Speed Rating: 200
Lens Aperture: f/3.9
Brightness: -2.9 EV
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Metering Mode: Pattern
Light Source: Unknown
Flash: No Flash, Compulsory
Focal Length: 24.80 mm
Color Space Information: sRGB
Image Width: 4000
Image Height: 3000
Sharpness: Normal
White Balance: Auto
Chroma Saturation: Normal
Contrast: Normal
Flash Mode: Off
Macro Mode: Off
Focus Mode: Auto
Slow Synchro Mode: Off
Picture Mode: Shutter Prior AE
Continuous/Bracketing Mode: Off
Blur Status: Blur Warning
Focus Status: OK
Auto Exposure Status: Over Exposed

Other Properties:

Resolution Unit: i
Chrominance Comp Positioning: Co-Sited
Exif IFD Pointer: 366
Compression Scheme: JPEG Compression (Thumbnail)
Image Orientation: Top, Left-Hand
Horizontal Resolution: 72 dpi
Vertical Resolution: 72 dpi
Resolution Unit: i
Offset to JPEG SOI: 1518
Bytes of JPEG Data: 9006
Chrominance Comp Positioning: Co-Sited
Exif Version: 2.20
Image Generated: 2010:02:02 19:22:43
Image Digitized: 2010:02:02 19:22:43
Meaning of Each Comp: Unknown
Image Compression Mode: 3.2
Shutter Speed: 1/1 sec
Focal Plane Horiz Resolution: 5017 dpcm
Focal Plane Vert Resolution: 5017 dpcm
Focal Plane Res Unit: cm
File Source: Digital Still Camera
Scene Type: Directly Photographed

Hope that helps - sorry if you already knew this!

Keep at it, it's worth it! :)
 
I'm pretty much in the same boat as yourself, Flicker. My camera should arrive this week and I'm really looking forward to spending the weekend playing with it.

It certainly looks a lot harder than I thought, be prepared to see a thread of my own pop up next week :D

Keep at it, though.
 
I'm only a beginner and have been trying my best with the AV mode and i think i'm getting the jist of throwing the background out of focus now. Still got alot to learn. Hoping to have a go at Long exposures at night soon. Enjoying the camera to, a Fujifilm S1500 :)
 
Just quickly, the 'blur' you see behind your subjects is controlled by the aperture you use.

A larger aperture (or smaller F Number) will result in increase blur which can be used for some amazing effects. The smaller the aperture (higher the number) then the more of your picture will be in focus.
 
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