Delighted with first DSLR

Yakuza42

Hey guys,

I just picked up my new Nikon D5100 and have to say I love it. As an architecture student I have used DSLR's quite a bit but never got around to buying my own. After researching them a good bit i went with the D5100 along with a Sigma 18 - 125 OS lens.

Any other photography newbies out there, or anybody know of any good tutorials / books to learn all the ins and outs of the camera.

Kenny Logins

Congrats, I have a D5100 too and I'm also very happy with it. Youtube is an excellent resource I think.

nedd

I got a D5100 about a year ago and love it. I was a total newbie to photography and it is a great camera for people like us.

I booked a 10 week evening course in my local school (Clane) and the knowledge I gained was amazing. I had been reading websites and tutorials about photography but I learn much quicker in a classroom environment.

You need to understand how Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO all work together to change the exposure and how much is in focus. Once you have a handle on that its all about getting out and taking photos.

Enjoy!

zt-OctaviaN

I +1 on Nedd response above find out how those 3 setting affect an image.

Im not a pro but In Summary:

Aperture:
=======
- Denoted as e.g F4.5 etc on the rear display and in the viewfinder.
when adjusted in summary it allows more light into the lens/camera its the iris of the lens.
- When the number is lower e.g. 2.8 (if your lens goes down to that) there is more light coming into the camera, you'll see by switching your camera to M for manual and adjust it, on the rear display i.e. LiveView your image will brighten as you lower the number.
(This gives also nice background and foreground blur.)

- On the other end the higher the number blocks out the light but makes the image clearer in terms of depth i.e. the foreground and background are more in focus.
- So adjust aperture depending on the style of shot you might want perhaps?
Also this is known as Depth of field DOF
(Remember that lens sharpness differes at different Apertures see Photozone.de reviews for your lens)


Shutter Speed:
===========
- Simply put the measurement is in time and allows the shutter to stay open for the given period of time.
- When open longer the brighter the image will become but any object moving will blur.... more pronounced when that object is more exposed over the rest of the image, i.e. do a search for light painting you will see that whilst in a dark environment and using lights creates some cool effects when the shutter is allowed to be open for a period of time.
- When a fast shutter speed is used it doesn't stay open for long thus less light comes into the camera (reduces blur on moving objects).


ISO:
====
- This is how sensitive the sensor in the camera is to light.
- I normally leave this setting until last or at least I did when starting out as the higher the number the more noise is introduced e.g. shooting at ISO 3200 will give a noisy/speckly image.
- So if you need to shoot moving objects or camera is handheld in a low light environment you adjust your ISO speed to allow more light in, then you can keep the shutter speed fast!



So if you need to shoot a shot e.g. with some DOF (depth of field) for the effect and the object might be moving and not bright environment
you would have to set your camera shutter to be capable of capturing the object in focus (in this case thats what you want to do is have your shot in focus) e.g. maybe 1/500ths set the aperture quite low so you wont have a high ISO value e.g. F2.8 and then set the ISO to allow a properly exposed image.
The priority here is that you must get the item in focus so you set shutter first then the aperture can be used to help the brightness and lastly ISO as you want to set this as low as possible so the image is a clean as possible.

I hope this helps a little.

Plenty of videos on youtube for light painting, steel wool, portrait photog the list is endless.

Well wear and have fun!! Join a club! helps in getting started and out shooting!!!!

Nick

Kenny Logins

Did you want to know more about the ins and outs of the D5100 or photography in general? I read it as you are experienced with photography already...

This is a pretty good guide -

http://www.dojoklo.com/Full_Stop/Nikon_D5100_Experience.htm

vic20

This page is well worth a read. Follow the link to the exposure combinations calculator & print it. Experiment. Enjoy
http://www.uscoles.com/fstop.htm

Yakuza42 wrote: »

Hey guys,

I just picked up my new Nikon D5100 and have to say I love it. As an architecture student I have used DSLR's quite a bit but never got around to buying my own. After researching them a good bit i went with the D5100 along with a Sigma 18 - 125 OS lens.

Any other photography newbies out there, or anybody know of any good tutorials / books to learn all the ins and outs of the camera.

Yakuza42

Thanks for all the information guys.. A lot of useful tips there.