Getting to know your SLR cameras settings.
When you venture into the SLR market you will discover that these cameras have whats known as Shooting Modes common to them. They are known as Automatic, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual.
Automatic is pretty much self explanatory. With the camera at this setting, the camera itself will decide what aperture & shutter speed to use with no input from you in a given situation determined by the amount of light available.
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Aperture Priority is usually defined by the symbol “Av” on your camera. With this mode of shooting chosen, you the photographer are choosing what aperture you wish to use and the camera in turn chooses the shutter speed to use based on the amount of light available in a given situation. Aperture priority is usually used when shooting landscapes as by setting the aperture the photographer is determining the dept of field or how much of the picture is to be in focus. Dept of field is discussed in another tutorial.
Its important to remember that although you are choosing the Aperture here, you are still at the mercy of the amount of light available in a given situation. Most modern SLR's recognise the fact that below a shutter speed of 1/60th Second it becomes impossible for the average person to hold the camera still enough to prevent "camera shake" and therefore producing blurred images. So if you choose an aperture which requires the camera to choose a shutter speed below 1/60 the camera will warn you by either flashing the settings in your viewfinder or giving you an audible warning by beeping, or both. In this situation the use of a tripod is advisable to achieve the best results.
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Shutter Priority is usually defined by the symbol “Tv” or "S" on your camera. With this mode of shooting chosen, you the photographer are choosing what Shutter speed you wish to use and the camera in turn chooses the Aperture to use based on the amount of light available in a given situation. Shutter priority would normally be used where you are trying to capture something like action eg a football match, and you want to "freeze" the movement.
Its important to remember that although you are choosing the shutter speed here, you are still at the mercy of the amount of light available in a given situation. If the camera is unable to choose a suitable aperture because the maximum aperture is still not enough for the shutter speed you have chosen, the camera will warn you by either flashing the settings in your viewfinder or giving you an audible warning by beeping, or both.
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Manual is defined by the "M" symbol on your camera. This is where all the fun begins. You the photographer have total control over what aperture and what shutter speed you intend to use.
Your SLR has a lightmeter and based on what aperture/shutter speed combination you choose, your lightmeter will tell you whether you are overexposing, underexposing or perfectly exposed. To most beginners using the camera in fully manual mode seems a bit scary but once you start using manual you will find that you will stick to this setting most of the time as it gives you the opportunity to experiment.
The beauty of digital cameras, DSLR's, is that you can now experiment by shooting hundreds of photographs at no additional cost unlike film cameras where experimentation cost a lot in terms of film purchase and development and printing.
Automatic is pretty much self explanatory. With the camera at this setting, the camera itself will decide what aperture & shutter speed to use with no input from you in a given situation determined by the amount of light available.
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Aperture Priority is usually defined by the symbol “Av” on your camera. With this mode of shooting chosen, you the photographer are choosing what aperture you wish to use and the camera in turn chooses the shutter speed to use based on the amount of light available in a given situation. Aperture priority is usually used when shooting landscapes as by setting the aperture the photographer is determining the dept of field or how much of the picture is to be in focus. Dept of field is discussed in another tutorial.
Its important to remember that although you are choosing the Aperture here, you are still at the mercy of the amount of light available in a given situation. Most modern SLR's recognise the fact that below a shutter speed of 1/60th Second it becomes impossible for the average person to hold the camera still enough to prevent "camera shake" and therefore producing blurred images. So if you choose an aperture which requires the camera to choose a shutter speed below 1/60 the camera will warn you by either flashing the settings in your viewfinder or giving you an audible warning by beeping, or both. In this situation the use of a tripod is advisable to achieve the best results.
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Shutter Priority is usually defined by the symbol “Tv” or "S" on your camera. With this mode of shooting chosen, you the photographer are choosing what Shutter speed you wish to use and the camera in turn chooses the Aperture to use based on the amount of light available in a given situation. Shutter priority would normally be used where you are trying to capture something like action eg a football match, and you want to "freeze" the movement.
Its important to remember that although you are choosing the shutter speed here, you are still at the mercy of the amount of light available in a given situation. If the camera is unable to choose a suitable aperture because the maximum aperture is still not enough for the shutter speed you have chosen, the camera will warn you by either flashing the settings in your viewfinder or giving you an audible warning by beeping, or both.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Manual is defined by the "M" symbol on your camera. This is where all the fun begins. You the photographer have total control over what aperture and what shutter speed you intend to use.
Your SLR has a lightmeter and based on what aperture/shutter speed combination you choose, your lightmeter will tell you whether you are overexposing, underexposing or perfectly exposed. To most beginners using the camera in fully manual mode seems a bit scary but once you start using manual you will find that you will stick to this setting most of the time as it gives you the opportunity to experiment.
The beauty of digital cameras, DSLR's, is that you can now experiment by shooting hundreds of photographs at no additional cost unlike film cameras where experimentation cost a lot in terms of film purchase and development and printing.
