I'm a beginner.. need loadsa help+advice

congo_90

so, Lets see how friendly everone is in helping me get the most outta my cam..
basically i just need basics exaplained to me.

First Q: ISO, this increases the speed of the lens yes? ideal for sport shots and that sort of thing? i heard the higher the number (say 1600) means you got to increase something else. I forget the name. Anyone know what i'm even talking about or am i completly off track here?

Metering: my cam has 3 options. Multi, Spot and Average. Which is best for general shots?

Also is there any just general advice yous could give me towards taking photos? particularly shots of people in low light conditions.

Maybe the odd landscape shot

My cam is a fuji film S5800

mathias

OK I'll bite ,

First Q: ISO, this increases the speed of the lens yes? ideal for sport shots and that sort of thing?

No it does not increase the speed of the lens ,thats a fixed property of a lens and wont change with any setting except on a zoom lens which will have a range from widest to maximum zoom.

High ISO raises the sensitivity of the sensor , this helps in low light situations , its not at all ideal for sports shots, for that you want a fast shutter speed and a lot of light.
High ISO on a digital sensor also raises the noise level , thats colour distortion on the final picture , so dont go mad with it.

The Best thing you can do is get this , ( nearly christmas , make a nice pressie , so drop some hints )

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Updated/dp/0817463003/ref=pd_sim_b_img_3

Its a quick read , and tells you all you need to know about lens shutter speeds , ISO etc , with some exercises for you to try out with your camera to get used to it.

Im pretty sure I saw it in waterstones at the weekend for about the same price.

Cabaal

If you asking questions like this I'd also recommend Understanding Exposure - http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/727839/Understanding-Exposure/Product.html

Its the biz and will answer lots of questions like the above

nilhg

A good place to start.

congo_90

mathias wrote: »

OK I'll bite ,


High ISO raises the sensitivity of the sensor , this helps in low light situations , its not at all ideal for sports shots, for that you want a fast shutter speed and a lot of light.
High ISO on a digital sensor also raises the noise level , thats colour distortion on the final picture , so dont go mad with it.

So, in lame man terms, this is like engaging night mode on a camera phone? where the pic seems to become more distorted to compensate fot the light?

nilhg wrote: »

A good place to start.

This is a good link. I have bookmarked it!


I will be (like most i'm sure) taking a lot of indoor shots of the xmas season. Is it best to just hit 'AUTO' and let the cam throw up the flash? or should i go for one of the other options where there is no flash? Say in a room around dusk with some lights on inside the house.

I noticed when talking about lens, the term: F2.6 etc seems to appear. Is this the apperature?

Thanks for replying!

mathias

So, in lame man terms, this is like engaging night mode on a camera phone? where the pic seems to become more distorted to compensate fot the light?

Exactly , if you have a wide aperture , ( wide means low numbers like F1.4 , F1.8 , F2.8 ) you wont need High ISO to get good shots in low light , but if your aperture is small , say F8 or above , you need the high ISO but you get noise into the bargain, obviously the better the camera the less noise you get , with SLR's being the best.

I noticed when talking about lens, the term: F2.6 etc seems to appear. Is this the apperature?

Yes again , with aperture the smaller the F number the wider ( or bigger ) the hole is that lets in the light , the higher the F number , the smaller the hole.
Small F numbers are also considered " Fast " lenses , so if you here someone taking about a fast lens they are talking about lens with a small aperture.

To get a correct exposure , you must adjust shutter speed , aperture , so that you get a good exposure , this means that the light meter will be centred in your camera , you must balance the 3 to get the shot right.

Do all the lessons in that link , and if possible get that book as well , Ive never seen it explained better or quicker than in that book.

Mellor

mathias wrote: »

I noticed when talking about lens, the term: F2.6 etc seems to appear. Is this the apperature?

Yes again , with aperture the smaller the F number the wider ( or bigger ) the hole is that lets in the light , the higher the F number , the smaller the hole.
Small F numbers are also considered " Fast " lenses , so if you here someone taking about a fast lens they are talking about lens with a small aperture.

As he is new/learning (like me) it is probably best to give him the actualy definition of the F number. Its not the seze of the aperature but the reletive aperature (ratio between the aperature and the focal length, from this is giving angle of view)
So two lens with F of 2, one being a 50mm lense one being 40mm lens have aperatures of different sizes (25mm and 20mm) but the angle of view is the same, so they let in the same amount of light, are the same speed etc.
As I said I am very new to this so feel free to point out any errors I my thinking.

Dades

I'm still getting a handle on the terminology and using it too.

What I'm trying to figure out is the relationship between the aperture and the shutter speed. A low f number allows more light, but so does a slow shutter speed. So what, you use a low f number when shooting an scene that requires a faster shutter speed?

Took a bucketload of shots today trying to get my head around this!

MagicMarker

This may seem like a smartarse answer but i suggest reading your manual. It will tell you what everything on the camera does and then you can start practising.

congo_90

**EDIT*

MagicMarker wrote: »

This may seem like a smartarse answer but i suggest reading your manual. It will tell you what everything on the camera does and then you can start practising.

not really a smart answer just pointing out the obvious... I'm going to be honest with ya... That manual is something else not really explaining the terminology. I kind of have a grasp for this sort of stuff. Just with a digi camera it seems a little messy.

Its not a SLR or a compact. Somewhere in between. Just seeing how to get the best from it in the way of shots.

found this link here while doing research. It shows 3 sample images from the camera. The shooting mode for each is set to ''AUTO'' but all the other things like ISO,speed etc have changed. If the camera, (take any for example) is in AUTO mode. Will it change those settings like it has there or is there any part which could be manual? i say could because something tells me what my cam can't do yours can vice/versa.

_Whimsical_

If you are a complete beginner you might find this site worthwhile.
http://www.photonhead.com/
It 's aimed at total beginners and gives some quick easy explanations on subjects such as exposure. It has a handy/gimmicky little tool that you can change the shutter speed and exposure on a picture thats already taken and see how changing exposure etc would have effected it. If you're brand new to such things you might find it helpful. It's here :http://www.photonhead.com/simcam/shutteraperture.php

Also I have a Fuji camera and I don't think the Auto mode is great on it. It tends to boost the ISO a good bit indoors and the shots tend to be nosier than I would like. Your camera might be different though.

Dades

MagicMarker wrote: »

This may seem like a smartarse answer but i suggest reading your manual. It will tell you what everything on the camera does and then you can start practising.

Indeed! The manual (Canon 400D) has been read, and it does of course tell me which buttons to press to alter settings however it is somewhat inhuman in it's approach. I'm also reading another book on starting photography which hasn't yet cleared the fog, so to speak.

That said, the answer to my question might be so lengthy as fill a book itself, so I shall endeavour to keep reading and pressing 'click' until it becomes clear!

Will be checking out those links tomorrow (today, actually).:)

congo_90

chilly wrote: »

If you are a complete beginner you might find this site worthwhile.
http://www.photonhead.com/
It 's aimed at total beginners and gives some quick easy explanations on subjects such as exposure. It has a handy/gimmicky little tool that you can change the shutter speed and exposure on a picture thats already taken and see how changing exposure etc would have effected it. If you're brand new to such things you might find it helpful. It's here :http://www.photonhead.com/simcam/shutteraperture.php

Also I have a Fuji camera and I don't think the Auto mode is great on it. It tends to boost the ISO a good bit indoors and the shots tend to be nosier than I would like. Your camera might be different though.

So how did you solve this problem? i took a few test shots it's actually my xmas present from *''santa''* which i bought in blanch.parents just gave the cash and said go get it (lazy b*stards) anyways back on topic, i took a few night shots in the car. seemed ok but maybe looking at a 2.5inch screen wouldn't show much.

*Anyways if any mods are passing through. Perhaps make this a sticky for the forum for all beginners and change the title to something a little more understandable. I noticed i'm not exactly the only one struggling a bit. anyone second that?

If i just use something like flash mode. the cam should reduce ISO to match automatically yes? thus reducing noise?

_Whimsical_

congo_90 wrote: »

So how did you solve this problem?
If i just use something like flash mode. the cam should reduce ISO to match automatically yes? thus reducing noise?

Noise is definitely less of a problem when you use the flash alright. I didn't solve the noise problem with my camera in Auto mode to be honest. Now I either use the flash or I use manual mode and rely on a wide aperature and slower shutter speed at ISO 200 or so when I take pics indoors . Those pics tend to be fine noise wise.
I tested my Fuji out against a small point and shoot Panasonic recently (I've fallen in love with it but I have to give it back as its just on loan). I took identical indoor pics both with the Fuji and the Panasonic on Auto mode. The Panasonic results were much better than the Fuji. The Auto on the Fuji had boosted the ISO to 1600 rather than change the aperature whereas the Panasonic got much better results by using ISO 400 and an appropriate aperature.
In manual mode on the Fuji it's possible to get equally good/better results though. It's just a matter of playing around with it to get the best out of it I find. If your parents will just use it indoors for family snaps etc then if they use the flash in Auto mode they should be happy enough

congo_90

chilly wrote: »

Noise is definitely less of a problem when you use the flash alright. I didn't solve the noise problem with my camera in Auto mode to be honest. Now I either use the flash or I use manual mode and rely on a wide aperature and slower shutter speed at ISO 200 or so when I take pics indoors . Those pics tend to be fine noise wise.
I tested my Fuji out against a small point and shoot Panasonic recently (I've fallen in love with it but I have to give it back as its just on loan). I took identical indoor pics both with the Fuji and the Panasonic on Auto mode. The Panasonic results were much better than the Fuji. The Auto on the Fuji had boosted the ISO to 1600 rather than change the aperature whereas the Panasonic got much better results by using ISO 400 and an appropriate aperature.
In manual mode on the Fuji it's possible to get equally good/better results though. It's just a matter of playing around with it to get the best out of it I find. If your parents will just use it indoors for family snaps etc then if they use the flash in Auto mode they should be happy enough

on my cam, in the auto mode you can select flash on off etc. so i was thinking maybe it would go around ISO 400?
If not i will just find a typical appeature, speed and use flash. Then. If pics are bad just edit em on the laptop.

Found a great link which helped me understand lot of basics of photography without the "techno talk" for anyone interested...
http://www.fujifilm.com/support/tips_for_better_photos/index.html

oshead

Photonotes.org is an invaluable resource.