What is Digg?42 Comments
- GrahamStw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Another good guide at http://www.uscoles.com/fstop.htm
This is a bit more advanced and explains why f-stops are such odd numbers. (Ignore the humble title: "A Tedious Explanation of the f/stop" - it is very readable and makes a lot of sense).
There is some good stuff on Wikipedia too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography
Check out the "See Also" section. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Nothing annoys me more than seeing someone with a £2000 DSLR using it in automatic mode, anything that helps change that gets a digg from me!
Shame they missed out a little detail though, the relationship between ISO speed, aperture size, and exposure time is actually really simple, and once people get their head around that and it's relationship to focal depth, they usually start taking much, much better photographs - yongfook, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5excellent article - especially for those who are making / recently made the jump to SLR. I remember when I first started out with my dSLR my pictures looked horrific if I ever ventured into manual mode. Now after a lot of learning and googling, manual mode is my friend - an article like this would have been very helpful in the beginning.
- CosmicJustice, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7They may not know as much as you do about taking pictures, but they apparently know a lot more than you do about making money. So it balances out.
- arnar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I recommend reading the camera manual, this is all explained there (at least in the Canon EOS series manuals)
- LeftistPersona, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Especially great for those new to using film cameras and look for really basic tips. It is still helpful for digital users, but again, these are pretty basic tips.
- drlog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This is very good for beginners! Simple to understand and informative.
I did photography in high school and learnt all of this. So I bought a Canon 350D recently and love it! :) - benb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Looks like a good start for those venturing past the auto modes for the first time. Another great resource is the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson, for those that want some great information in paper format.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3What I hate is when its dark and they have their $2000 DSLR's on camera flash trying to illuminate something like a massive building, or a subject 5o feet away. :)
- DWatch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I've seen more than one digital SLR with an LCD monitor. The Pentax *ist DS, the Canon Digital Rebel XT, the Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D, the Canon EOS Rebel K2 (which has a triple sized LCD screen). I have not had the opportunity to use them, though, so I could be wrong about the brightness preview, but I have seen someone demonstrate the Canon Rebel, and it did do the brightness preview, and it behaved the same as my G4 did. I can't imagine a preview feature not being a basic of any digital SLR camera, but I could be wrong, I just assumed the other models could do a preview as well. The mirror lockup feature might be needed to perform this, though (?).
- Hirusan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Cheers. I am working my way up becoming a pro and these are great basics for those who are just beginning. Keep reaching for that rainbow!
- samsite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2A great starting guide, I wish i had been able to read this before finding out the hard way.........
- SinisterAngel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Here's another good resource.
http://www.silverlight.co.uk/tutorials/toc.html
This is also a good read for some things, for example it talks about DPI which people seem to misunderstand
http://www.danheller.com/techfaq.html - sphinx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have been looking for something like this to read up on for quite sometime now, thanks!
a must digg - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I find the on camera flash on my D70 to be more than ample in the right situation (quick shot of fill flash outside to balance background and forground exposures) but its use as the main light like metioned above is not very flattering.
However, lighting up a subject from 50 feet however is not the 'right' situation. :) - nosmelc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Ha, ha! Well I'm one of those people who occasionally uses his DSLR in automatic. I admit it, I'm new to SLR and my technique needs improvement. I usually try Manual or one of the other shooting modes first, but sometimes you just want to make sure you get the shot.
- InternetUser, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Brilliant, I am just looking into getting a decent digital SLR and have been confused by all the terms and methods. This article is exactly what I was looking for!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have no idea why people are digging me down and you up. As of this moment there is one digital SLR camera that allows you to look through the viewfinder and see a preview on the LCD. I never said that DSLR's dont have LCD's... of course they do all digital cameras do. What you can't do is look at the LCD to get a preview of the shot you are about to take. You can take a picture and look on the LCD, but that is not the same as a live preview.
- cazabam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you are referring to the OP's linked article then check page 3. f-stops are there and explained quite well. It doesn't explain where the numbers come from, but this is a 'getting started' article and the concept of 'each stop doubles or halves the light' is probably enough.
- DWatch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Modern digital SLR and even 'prosumer' cameras do a good job of approximating what the shot will look like on the LCD monitor before snapping the shot. I have an older Canon G4, and I can set it to manual, adjust the shutter, aperture, and half-press the shutter release button, and the LCD monitor will show a pretty good image of how exposed things will be in the final shot. You can then adjust the stops, and try again. When you get it dialed in using the LCD as a rough guide, you can then take a few shots, bracketing them (several shots in a row, adjusting the shutter or aperture higher and lower) so you get at least one or two 'keepers' of the bunch.
- Rosewood, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thank you for that link. A guide to photography that says it covers the bases with shutter-speed, aperture and ISO and forgets to cover f-stop just hurts my brain.
- GrahamStw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1smokester: the on-camera flash on the Nikon D70s is pretty usable and I don't typically see any shadow from the "glare guard" (lens hood) - though I guess you might with other lenses.
The main problem with on-camera flash is that it is almost directly in line with the lens, so you tend to get a lot of harsh and unflattering glare from it. Adjusting the flash output and using a cheap flash filter like a "Lumiquest Soft Screen" does help a bit with this. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Not even sure why people are arguing with me on this, yes, there are one or two times the on-camera flash can be used, but buy a cheap flash with tilt/swivel, and bounce it off walls or ceilings, the difference it makes in quality is astounding
For those experimenting away from automatic mode I'd recommend switching to aperture priority and just having a play, bearing in mind:
Smaller number = freezing action / narrow depth of field
Larger number = motion blur / wide depth of field
I'll dig up a photo to use as an example, I took this at the Seve Trophy last year, obviously because it's sport there's going to be a lot of fast movement I want to freeze, using aperture priority I picked a small aperture size so the exposure could be as fast as possible:
http://img513.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2434380imgsmall4cj.jpg
If this had been taken in automatic mode there would have been alot of blur on the golpher, and the bits of flying mud wouldn't have shown up clearly
Hope this helps explain why I think it's so useful :)
Ha, I forgot about this photo, me getting a look of death from Colin Montgomerie a few minutes later:
http://img105.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2434366imgsmall0vr.jpg - darkdude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've found quite a good site about photography.
http://digitalicious.eugened.com and a cool tip: http://digitalicious.eugened.com/tips_exposure.php - scruffmaster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Very nice. Even many point and shoot digicams have the Tv and Mv modes and most users dont know a dime about them. Excellent article there.
- liutang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is really informative to the beginner. Just yesterday, my girlfriend asked me, "Why can't they make a camera that can take pictures indoors without making everything blurry?" I tried to explain aperture and shutter speed to her and found myself not knowing how to explain it clearly. This article has everything that I wanted to say. I wish that the author bolded some important sections of the text, such as: "So, for any given scene with a set amount of light, if you increase the aperture by one stop (thus doubling the amount of light entering the camera), you’ll need to put the shutter speed down by one stop (and thus halving the amount of light entering the camera)." and "So if you use a large aperture, you let more light in. This means to get a correct exposure you can use a shorter shutter speed. The tradeoff is that you lose some depth of field. Conversely, if you use a small aperture, you need to use a longer shutter speed to get the correct exposure, which brings with it the possibility of introducing camera shake."
Also, the author introduced some points that the beginner might not understand. For instance, what exactly is a 200mm lens? By explaining that, the author might've been able to explain why a 200mm f/2.8 is so expensive. ;-) - chicagospur, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1It's worrying when people start talking about "Manual" mode when not using Automatic.
You just can't use Manual when you feel like it. Manual mode is used when you use an light meter or flash meter or when setting very long exposures for night shots. If you use Manual without a reference exposure reading then any good photo comes from shear luck, your photos WILL be severely over or under exposed.
If you want to take control with shutter speed or Depth of Field, use Shutter Priority or Aperture Priority. Marked on the camera as A or S (or T on some cameras.) - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Digg is messing with the links, just copy and paste :)
- rhenzhen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is the best guide and tips for me... Almost everything you want to learn to take great pictures is on this Web site. It's very detailed, with pictures and animation.. Enjoy!!!
http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/enjoydslr/p_2_001.html - bram, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Nice site. Thanks
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2@CosmicJustice
What's with the hostility, did I say something to offend you? I get the same feeling seeing a ferrari being used to pootle around town in, these things WANT to be used for what they were designed for, you know?
@EssPea
Yeah, I don't understand why they bother putting those built in flashes on the expensive DSLRs, more often than not the glare guard on the lens will leave a dark semi-circle at the bottom of the photo if you try use it anyway - maxmojo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Umm, perhaps you could post a link to a good university, or community college instead of being a troll. Just a thought.
- mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1i take photography in my highschool class.. b&w slr film photography.. i love it.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1SLR's do not have an LCD preview function. The mirror is blocking the sensor up until the time it is exposed so there is no way for it to preview on the LCD. There is only one camera that has a LCD live preview that is and SLR, but really who needs it? Just look through the viewfinder.
- Str1der, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Nicely explained ...
Definate Digg .. - mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1automatic is good for point-and-shoot cameras.. they have no place in SLR photography, if you want to capture truly great photos.
manual allows more human emotion and aesthetics.. automatic is just a computer making calculations so your photo won't look like complete crap - djcontact, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0great find,
wish i would have ran into this when i first started shooting,
had too learn the hard way... - samuelcotterall, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Nice article - sound advice.
It's amazing how many people have Nikon D70's or Canon 20D's and don't understand the relationship between ASA, Aperture and Shutter Speed. I recomend one of John Hedgecoe's books before anyone even looks at buying an SLR.
I was just writing something similar, but touched upon some more points: focal length, framing, flash, and film basics. Maybe I'll finish it off and publish it. - ShaolinTiger, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Not bad, the pictorial examples aren't very good though.
The first image for example just looks like a jpg with the brightness adjusted, it doesn't actually look like different exposure levels. - Clamps, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3take a ***** class
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -14/+9I definitly wish I had known about this when I first started out. Trial and error on dollar store film is not the way to do it. :)
You can check out my photoblog here if you want: http://esspeaphotography.blogspot.com
If not, bury me.
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