Help - Camera settings

[cherrybee]

oh so not a good idea to use the higher setting then whats the use of it then
sorry i am asking an awful lot of questions forgive and old nanna of Ten grandkids I only learnt the pooter 10 years ago I have my own website paid for and designed by my old wrinky hands so I dare say I will master it one day and b4 anyone asks my age I will be 54 on 1st June.(go on say it )Your not old enough to have 10 grandchildren or the best is you dont look old enough

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by cherrybee

I am so ignorant of wildlife I can sometimes identify a small amount and I am going through all my photos picking what i like to show in the Gallery.But I am stuck what catagory is a snail

Hi Cherrybee youcould hae asked me
invertibrate
And don't forget to do your home work

[digi]

The higher iso setting will allow you to take an image in lower light. Even though digital does not have film speed the iso still works in a similar way and at higher iso's the sensor gets hotter and developes more noise.

Thats it for tonight I have given myself a headache.

[cherrybee]

aww so sorry to give you headache that is very useful to me especially this time of year with the low light Thank you Digi your an Angel,now go to bed with an aspirin and be in top form tomorrow I might want to probe your tired brain some more

[Alan]

cherrybee

It sounds like the cameras you have are 'digital compact' types. This mean that generally you don't have any control over the 'F stops' because your cameras don't have the ability to use interchangable lenses, only SLR's or DSLR's have this option. Your camera lenses probably have a fixed range of 'F Stops', maybe something like F3.2 - F4.5. Depending on whether you are focusing on something close-up or distant. In which case probably the best thing you can do is learn to use the cameras different shooting modes such as landscape, portraits etc.

You are always limited by the auto-everthing cameras I'm afraid.

Alan

[crisscross]

As a male who is still frustrated at (a) understanding the manual (b) persuading the camera to do what the manual says it is going to after 3 years, perhaps a share of learning so far.

Most shots can be taken with a large number of different combinations of ISO, aperture (f) and speed. A typical affordable digital camera is biased to shoot at shutter speed of 1/125 or faster to avoid blur from hand movement BUT that often means using a larger aperture than is desirable to get everything one wants sharp. If, for example the readout from Auto is giving 1/250 f6, you could get the same exposure with 1/500 f5.3 or 1/60 f6.7. The funny f numbers are to get the apertures exactly doubling/halving the area of the hole at each shift. That was all at ISO 100, the default virtual film speed. Increasing ISO to 200 would enable 1/500 to be used at f6 in the above example.

As the camera is having to do a lot of 'thinking' in a short time, if it doesn't have time, eg if the ISO is raised without real need, it 'ad libs' ie throws in areas of random colour in areas it thinks don't matter. They only start to matter if you try to print a large print ie A4 or larger or magnify the image on screen to look at a detail in the shade...and find there isn't any.

Program modes change the bias eg Portrait to small f no so only a face is in focus and the background is not. Landscape is opposite, but sets the focus at infinity, which is OK in good light as it uses a high f no so medium to huge distances are in focus. The 'close up' can be tiresome as the camera needs a sharp edge to focus on and it is usually easier to go back further and zoom than stick the camera right into the flower.

[digi]

Originally Posted by stoatytoat

cherrybee

It sounds like the cameras you have are 'digital compact' types. This mean that generally you don't have any control over the 'F stops' because your cameras don't have the ability to use interchangable lenses, only SLR's or DSLR's have this option. Your camera lenses probably have a fixed range of 'F Stops', maybe something like F3.2 - F4.5. Depending on whether you are focusing on something close-up or distant. In which case probably the best thing you can do is learn to use the cameras different shooting modes such as landscape, portraits etc.

You are always limited by the auto-everthing cameras I'm afraid.

Alan

Alan that's not completely correct many compact cameras have aperture priority that allow the selection of aperture (Fstop)

[wildone]

Cherrybee you are a mere teenager in comparison to me.

[digi]

Originally Posted by wildone

Cherrybee you are a mere teenager in comparison to me.

I'm saying nothing Maam.

Time for bed.....zzzzzzzzzz

[Alan]

Originally Posted by wildone

But digi, digital cameras don't have film. So how is that related to the modern camera.

The ISO/ASA on a digital camera is a throw-back term inherited from film. It essentially means the same thing. As was stated, ISO in film relates to its sensitivity to light, so the higher the ISO number the more sensivie it was.

In a digital camera you can essentially change your ISO - usually refered as ISO equivalent, and so change the sensitivity without the need to change film.

So it follows that the higher the sensitivity setting, the faster the shutter speed at any given F Stop, which means being able to take pictures light levels you woudn't have been able to do at a lower setting, and also freeze action more.

As with film the downside of this is a more grainier or pixelated image.

It's all a matter of balance.

Hope this helps,

Alan