Helping out a photography newbie.

[Fighting_falcon_51]

Today I was flipping through the settings of my camera and playing around with it when I discovered some features that I had never seen before. I was able to figure out what some do and others I was stuck on. I did some googling and I was able to find out some info but at times it seemed vague or not even related to what I was searching for. I was hoping I could come here to get some answers. I'm so used to shooting on auto settings some of this is coming as a surprise to me.

Question 1: ISO. I discovered that I could chage the ISO on my camera. I have a list from 64 to 6400. From what I could tell the higher the ISO the lower the quality?

Question 2: Frames. I think I kind of know this from some of my techy stuff but I just need someone to confirm if this is right. I have a choice of 22172frames at 03MP and 719 at 10MP so the higher MP it is the less FPS I get?

Question 3: Sharpness. I know you can eaisly change the sharpness in GIMP (or Photoshop) but I'm do not know when is the best time to switch it from soft to hard.

Question 4: Flash. This is the part that really confuses me I have the following options: +2/3, +1/3, +0, -1/3, -2/3.

Question 5: Brackets. Again this really confuses me I have options of +1/3, +[/b], [u]+1 I really don't know when to use it or what to set it to.

Question 6: Shutter speed and Aperture. I know what both of these things are but again I'm clueless about a standard setting to set it to.

I'm mainly going to take photographs of family events and static aviation photography.

Here is my camera: http://www.fujifilmusa.com/products/dig ... index.html (http://www.fujifilmusa.com/products/digital_cameras/s/finepix_s1500/index.html)

Thank you for reading these questions and I really appreciate any help.

--Kenneth

[Zee71]

Hi Ken,

Let me try to help where I can.

Question 1: ISO. I discovered that I could chage the ISO on my camera. I have a list from 64 to 6400. From what I could tell the higher the ISO the lower the quality? Yes....this HIGHER your ISO setting is the lower the quality. On sunny days you typically want to use the lowest ISO setting you have available. This can vary from 50 to 400.If you're not going to be using a flash, then in low lighting situations you want to use the higher ISO value. This is something you'll have to play around with and see what works best for you. When I shoot on sunny days, I have my camera set to an ISO of 200 (this is the lowest ISO available setting on my camera), and in low light situations is all varies any where from 800 to 1600 or ever 3200 if needed.

Question 2: Frames. I think I kind of know this from some of my techy stuff but I just need someone to confirm if this is right. I have a choice of 22172frames at 03MP and 719 at 10MP so the higher MP it is the less FPS I get? Yes, this would be equivalent to the number of exposures.........this also adjusts your resolution setting for each image. Think of this as how many pixels (or dots) your camera uses to make a picture......the more pixels used (there for a higher Mega Pixel number), the better quality of your image. There's much more to the resolution story but this is a quick version.

Question 3: Sharpness. I know you can eaisly change the sharpness in GIMP (or Photoshop) but I'm do not know when is the best time to switch it from soft to hard. Hmmmmm......I typically don't do anything with sharpness on board with my camera. After I go through my work follow for post processing an image.........sharpening is the last thing I do with software like Photoshop.

Question 4: Flash. This is the part that really confuses me I have the following options: +2/3, +1/3, +0, -1/3, -2/3. Are you sure this a flash setting and not exposure? If it's a flash setting, this may allow you to increase or decrease the output power of your flash. If it's an exposure setting then you can increase or decrease your exposure compensation (i.e., make your image brighter or darker depending on the effect you are trying to achieve).

Question 5: Brackets. Again this really confuses me I have options of +1/3, +[/b], [u]+1 I really don't know when to use it or what to set it to. What bracketing does is it simplely takes a series of pictures (remember...you are shooting the same image, with the same aperture setting) while varying the exposure (it goes from dark, to a correctly exposed image to , an over exposed image. Bracketing is great is you plan to do HDR images.

Question 6: Shutter speed and Aperture. I know what both of these things are but again I'm clueless about a standard setting to set it to. I use shutter priority for action shots such as sports, drag racing, jets flying, etc., but in some case you may want to use a slower shutter speed to ahieve a certain effect. When shooting aperture prioirty you can contool the depth of field....depending on your lens you can blur out the background so the focus of your composition is your main subject for exampe a portrait or a bride. While in landscape photography you want everything in focus. Therefore....lower f-stop (wide open aperture) yields a background that may be out of focus, while high f-stops yield more depth of field.

[moose135]

Kenneth, here's a quick lesson...

ISO. In the olden days of film, ISO (actually ASA was the preferred term) was a measure of the sensitivity to light - it is part of the "Exposure Triangle" of ISO, Aperture, and Shutter speed. The other two remaining the same, with a higher the ISO, the more light that is registered by the film/sensor. With a digital camera, you can set different ISOs rather than having to change film - a high ISO allows you to shoot in darker conditions without a slower shutter speed or wider aperture, but as you discovered, this comes with a price. Higher ISOs often result in noisier photos, although new DSLRs reduce this somewhat. In daylight conditions, I generally shoot at 100 ISO, assuming my shutter speed and aperture are appropriate for what I am shooting.

Frames. I don't think this is referring to Frames Per Second (FPS), which is exactly what it sounds like - when you hold down the button, how rapidly does the camera fire shots. From your description, it sounds like this is a quality adjustment - at 3MP resolution, your files will be smaller, so you can get more on a memory card. At 10MP resolution, you have larger files (up to 10MB each) and thus fewer fit on a card. Again, all things being equal, you would want to shoot at the highest resolution available; this gives you larger, higher quality original files to work from.

Sharpness. I never use any in-camera sharpening, I prefer to do that in Photoshop (or Gimp in your case...) Doing so offers more control over your final edit.

Flash. Those are Flash Exposure Compensation settings - 0 is the normal flash power setting, the others give more or less flash power. Often, if you need a little fill light (say it's a sunny day, but your subject has a little shadow on them) you might want to use some "fill flash" where you would set the flash to fire at -1/3 or -2/3 just to add a little extra light without overwhelming your subject. Don't worry - flash is one of the more difficult photography subjects to master. :wink:

Brackets. Bracketing allows you to take multiple shots of a subject, varying the exposure in each, from normal (based on meter reading) to over and under exposed. If you are shooting in difficult situations, sometimes it is beneficial to bracket shots to ensure you get one properly exposed. Bracketing is also used when creating HDR shots.

Shutter speed and Aperture. There aren't "standard" settings for these, it depends on your subject, the conditions, and your desired end results. Going back to our Exposure Triangle, if we keep ISO constant, Shutter Speed and Aperture work together - for a given condition, a wider aperture (smaller number) will allow more light to reach the sensor, so you can use a faster shutter speed. Conversely, a smaller aperture requires a slower shutter speed under those same conditions. As with all things in life, there are certain compromises that have to be made - a wider aperture, with the resulting faster shutter speed, is helpful in lower light conditions when you don't want to use a flash, but a wide aperture also gives you a shallow Depth of Field (the band in which objects will be in focus) For some photos, a shallow DOF is desired, other times, not so much. A slower shutter speed allows more light (or lets you get some nice prop-blur...) but too slow and you need to use a tripod to prevent camera shake from ruining your photo.

For everyday shooting, I usually work in Aperture Priority mode on my camera, where I pick the aperture, and the camera determines the shutter speed, and set the aperture in the f/7.1 range - provided my shutter speed is reasonable. For static aircraft on a sunny day, that would be a good place to start, but try different settings to see what results you get. If you are shooting at family events, you might play with Shutter Priority, so you can set a shutter speed that lets you capture people without blur. Again, this all depends on available light (or flash use - and with flash, the maximum shutter speed you can use will be limited to allow it to synch with the flash - I told you flash photography was complicated...)

The best thing I can tell you is to practice - take pictures around the house, in the backyard, of family and friends, at different settings, and see what your results are. That's the great thing about digital - you can shoot all you want without buying more film, you get immediate feedback from your photos, and with the EXIF data attached to each shot, you have a record of the camera settings used. Good luck and good shooting!

[Zee71]

Ken,

I highly recommend getting the following book by Bryan Peterson, "Understanding Exposure" (3rd Edition). He has lots of sample photos that address proper exposure, and how to use aperture and shutter speed, etc. for effective compositions. It's not an expensive book and it will be money well spent.

Another author is Scott Kelby, he's got a series of books out, I think it's call "The Digital Photography".....and has 3 volumes, again lots of good stuff there as well. Good luck and welcome to the world of photography.

[Derf]

And remember, when you shoot nude photography, it does not mean that the photographer strips nude!!! (Long story there!) :wink:

[Fighting_falcon_51]

Thanks Zee and Moose (and Fred :lol: ) for your suggestions. I'm going to take your advice and take some shots and see how they come out!

[Derf]

No problem, pleasure to help however I can....and remember, Flash is your friend
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/1096/2137a9950nf3.jpg

[fk6065]

If you can find it "Grunwald's Goof Proof Guide to Photography" is an outstanding book on how a camera works, I was written by a former NY Times photo editor and covers pretty much everything in "normal" everyday language.

[Fighting_falcon_51]

I have another question and I decided I'll just recycle this one instead.

I've been looking at DSLRs at stores like Best Buy, Target, Walmart ect; and it seems like they have limited options and you really can hold them because they are either strapped down or behind glass.

Does anyone know of any good camera shops in the LI area where I can actually see the camera?

The two that are pretty close to me are Cameta Camera and Burger Bros which are both located in Amityville. I've never been to either one of them.Has anyone ever had any experience with them?

[lijk604]

I have another question and I decided I'll just recycle this one instead.

I've been looking at DSLRs at stores like Best Buy, Target, Walmart ect; and it seems like they have limited options and you really can hold them because they are either strapped down or behind glass.

Does anyone know of any good camera shops in the LI area where I can actually see the camera?

The two that are pretty close to me are Cameta Camera and Burger Bros which are both located in Amityville. I've never been to either one of them.Has anyone ever had any experience with them?

Berger Bros. hands down. Great people there, they will explain everything to you in detail, and they dont try to rush you into a sale. I've bought 2 cameras from them already, and although they might be a little more expensive than B&H or Adorama, it's nice to have a local place who will take care of you if there is an issue afterwards. Stop in and see for yourself.

[wunaladreamin]

Interesting as I've yet to have a decent experience at Berger. My experience has been that they cannot be bothered if you're not going to open your wallet, and they do a half-assed job at best with hardware service yet are more than happy to take your money. Cameta, I can only say good things about. They've always been patient and helpful. After I bought my first Nikon there, I was surprised to receive in the mail two weeks later a thank you card filled with coupons and such, and it has continued with every purchase I've made there. A bunch of aces in my book.

[lijk604]

Kenny, I guess it all depends on what salesman you get when your go to either store, time of day, and how busy they are at the time could also dictate their attitude. It shouldn't, but it's human nature.

I didn't want to badmouth Cameta, but our experiences are just the complete opposite. When I went to Cameta, they were pushing Nikon on me hard, then when I insisted I wanted Canon, (because I already had Canon lenses) they "didn't have what I wanted in stock" except for the floor demo, and wouldn't discount it any. I've refused to go back there since.

[NIKV69]

Berger Bros has one guy who is very good and very helpful but besides that is middle of the road. Also every time I have asked them to price match they have been downright rude so unless I need something in a hurry. I gave them one shot at cleaning one of my cams and they did a horrible job. Nikon usually only touches my stuff and even though their CS is poor I will use them because their quality of work is just superior. Cameta is also turned into a factory is trying to move product. We are adept enough to research our purchases and use B&H. Much easier.

[Fighting_falcon_51]

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I'll go to both and see how my experience turns out.