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MANUAL SETTINGS ON A CAMERA

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
February 28, 2019
12 replies
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1. What is Aperture?

2. How does Aperture Affect Exposure?

3. How does Aperture Affect Depth of Field?

4. What Are F-Stop and F-Number?

5. What is the difference between Large vs small aperture?

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer rodneyb56060189

aperture is the F stop ( indicated by an F number)

Oddly, the higher the number, the smaller the aperture.

You can think of the aperture as a certain size hole that lets light into the lens, which is adjustable via changing the F stop setting.

F2 is very big hole

F 22 is very small hole.

The F stop is determined in part by some match formula type stuff that has to do with the size of the lens ( focal length). That gets complicated. But generally, if you have a light meter and it tells you that the light requires a certain shutter speed and F stop combination then that works for all lenses, no matter the size of lens. This is also related to ISO speed. One F stop is worth 1 traditional shutter speed.

For example, if your light meter says " shoot this at ISO 400 with a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second, and F 8... then you can change the ISO to 800 (twice as fast ), and HALF the F stop ( F 4.5 )

You can also relate the shutter speed to the F stop the same way. At 1/60th of a second shutter speed ( as light meter told you to do) with F 8, you can reduce the shutter speed by half ( 1/30th of a second ) and close the F stop one stop... from F 8 to F 5.6.

It's kinda easy once you get the hang of it.

The depth of field ( amount of stuff in front of and behind the subject you are focused on, INCREASES the smaller the aperture ( once again this means ( odd as it seems ) a HIGHER F stop number.

More stuff is in focus in front of, and behind, your subject focused on, the higher the F stop NUMBER.

The speed of light is a constant, and has nothing to do with this. It is a matter of the AMOUNT of light (F stop), and time exposed (shutter speed), and SPEED OF FILM ( ISO).

Cactus Cowboy

Inspiring

I've always been a graphics kind of person. Draw or show me a picture and I get it immediately. So maybe this simple graphic will help.

R

rodneyb56060189

Legend

Wow, that's really COOL, Cactus !

R

rodneyb56060189

Legend

Thank goodness there are other areas of very creative and smart people who make stuff for me to enjoy. Other than 'flat art' or 'photography' or 'sculpture' ( dance, music, etc.).

I can just go read a decent book (if I can find one).

Don't look on TV for anything... it's a wasteland. ( Rat's feet over broken glass ).

R

rodneyb56060189

Legend

Norman…. yep, I owe you a beer ! hehe...

Now I get it... the other F stops are on the right side in whole numbers....duh... didn't even see that before.

R

rodneyb56060189

Legend

not related to manual settings … but having to do with changing lenses with adapters on different chip size cameras ...I find that a bit confusing sometimes. It's the field of view thing. I've been using a bmpcc which has a chip equiv. to super 16 I guess. I'm using full chip nikkor lenses on it ( Nikon d800 FX lenses). Some say ( on internet ) that it's a 2.88 crop, but I'm not sure if that is related to full 35mm film camera gate or digital chip or what.

Anyway, the widest I have is 28mm, which turns into about 60mm on the pocket camera.

Very annoying.

R

rodneyb56060189

Legend

hehe, Norman, traditionally you got 5.6 then 8 then 11...you kinda skipped the 8 ?

good explanation. Thanks.

Norman Sanders

Legend

Look again. You owe me a beer.

Ussnorway7605025

Legend

I think of it like a bucket filling up with water, you need to fill the bucket to get a good photo

aperture is the width of your hose
iso is the water pressure
and shutter speed is your thumb cutting off the end of the hose to stop the water coming out

these three things control how fast the bucket fills up and they work in synchronicity so adjusting one higher allows you to get away with having less of the others

Aperture mode is where most photographers live and its for point and shoot type senarios i.e, walking along you see a bird and grab a quick photo of it

Shutter mode is for fast moving things like a race car or the ball in a football match

Auto mode is for people whom don't want to learn but still want some photos i.e, you had no real effect on the outcome

Manual mode is for masochistic people

Norman Sanders

Legend

I am a bit late to the party but perhaps this will help.

One of the first things you will notice when you see the f/stop notations on the lens barrel is that, as the aperture decreases in size, the number assigned to it becomes larger.

It seems to defy logic until you are reminded that the instance when a larger number designates a smaller measure is when it is the denominator of a fraction. Note as we go from ½ to ¼ to 1/8, the denominator grows as the size diminishes. The fraction referred to here refers to the aperture in relation to the lens focal length. An aperture of f/8 has a diameter one-eighth the lens focal length. (Not exactly, and I will get to that in a moment.)

The beauty of this is that as the focal length increases (meaning the lens is further from the chip or film and the light diminishes within the camera), the aperture gets physically larger but, the amount of light gathered on the chip remains the same.

If this system of fraction-of-focal-length was not used as a reference, you would need a separate meter for each focal length of lens you used.

The lens is marked in increments that allow one half the light of its neighbor’s setting (or twice its neighbor) without you having to do the math to adjust the aperture. If you would like to calculate the system of halving the aperture and you have an iPhone, try this:

Choose the Calculator and turn the iPhone horizontally.

Enter: 1 x 2 then strike the square root key that is marked below, then hit the = key

Each click of the = key will step off the calculation for you as shown here,

Note that f/5.6 is really 5.7, f/22 is really 23. I never found any logic for this inconsistency but I'm too old to argue.

Now, don’t whip out a ruler and check the diameter of the aperture. It will be smaller than you might think. The reason is that the shutter on your camera is positioned between lens elements so that some of the light bending occurs before it reaches the shutter. The aperture is actually an effective aperture.

In addition, you cannot arrive at the precise lens focal length by measuring the distance from the lens to the chip when the camera is set at infinity. The distance must be measured from the emergent nodal point of the lens – the point within the lens where the light stops coming in and begins exiting the lens. So, trust the accuracy of the specs offered by the manufacturer.

There us much more to learn about lenses. As I suggested earlier, hit the books.

Norman Sanders

Legend

Edit: A correction to my choice of words in my previous post:

The paragraph that begins:

Now, don’t whip out a ruler and check the diameter of the aperture....

.. should be corrected to read:"

Now, don’t whip out a ruler and check the diameter of the aperture. It will be smaller than you might think. The reason is that the aperture on your camera is positioned between lens elements so that some of the light bending occurs before it reaches the aperture. The aperture is actually an effective aperture.

R

rodneyb56060189

Legend

You'll be happy to know that on sets of movies it's still the same ( using T stops )… and you can say F 8 or F8 11 split....stuff like that... is the same as film was. Thank goodness.

R

rodneyb56060189

Legend

hehe, Nancy... I know... and the F stops and shutter speeds are like now divided into different degrees of change.. no longer 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, whatever...gets confusing.

Even responding to this question I screwed up a couple things …. I'm a dope.

Ussnorway7605025

Legend

yonyd46285557 wrote
1. What is Aperture?
2. How does Aperture Affect Exposure?
3. How does Aperture Affect Depth of Field?
4. What Are F-Stop and F-Number?
5. What is the difference between Large vs small aperture?

1 the hole in the lens that opens to let light in when you press the 'take photo' button on a camera

2 the faster the light comes in the quicker the photo is taken... important if the subject is moving but otherwise ignored

3 a small aperture hole normally = more depth of field... assuming normal sunlight this is true

4 a standard way to messure the amount of light & relate it to different cameras which may have other sensors, lens etc

5 a large aperture lets the light in faster than a small aperture

R

rodneyb56060189Correct answer

Legend

aperture is the F stop ( indicated by an F number)

Oddly, the higher the number, the smaller the aperture.

You can think of the aperture as a certain size hole that lets light into the lens, which is adjustable via changing the F stop setting.

F2 is very big hole

F 22 is very small hole.

The F stop is determined in part by some match formula type stuff that has to do with the size of the lens ( focal length). That gets complicated. But generally, if you have a light meter and it tells you that the light requires a certain shutter speed and F stop combination then that works for all lenses, no matter the size of lens. This is also related to ISO speed. One F stop is worth 1 traditional shutter speed.

For example, if your light meter says " shoot this at ISO 400 with a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second, and F 8... then you can change the ISO to 800 (twice as fast ), and HALF the F stop ( F 4.5 )

You can also relate the shutter speed to the F stop the same way. At 1/60th of a second shutter speed ( as light meter told you to do) with F 8, you can reduce the shutter speed by half ( 1/30th of a second ) and close the F stop one stop... from F 8 to F 5.6.

It's kinda easy once you get the hang of it.

The depth of field ( amount of stuff in front of and behind the subject you are focused on, INCREASES the smaller the aperture ( once again this means ( odd as it seems ) a HIGHER F stop number.

More stuff is in focus in front of, and behind, your subject focused on, the higher the F stop NUMBER.

The speed of light is a constant, and has nothing to do with this. It is a matter of the AMOUNT of light (F stop), and time exposed (shutter speed), and SPEED OF FILM ( ISO).

R

rodneyb56060189

Legend

One reason this is so fresh in my mind is because I was fooling around in the ppro forum yesterday and mentioned I had a few beers and shot some guy in my apt. building and he was out of focus. I'm using a new camera I'm not familiar with (someone sent me, no manual). It's a bmpcc.

It shoots raw, which I like.

Cinema DNG codec, which is working OK on my computers.

Problems:

1) hard to see focus in little LCD screen

2) drunk

3) low light and very small aperture ( like F 2.8 or something ) which means no depth of field to speak of.

Shooting at 24FPS with 180 degree shutter gives me 1/48th of a second shutter speed.

TODAY I re-shot the guy. I also went online and discovered there are some tricky things I can do to help me focus.

To be on the safe side I backed off a ways from subject, cranked up ISO to the max ( so I could use a higher F stop number and get more depth of field ).

If he ended up blurry again I was going to kill myself.

Now that I have some measure of self assurance, I can get closer next time, open up the F stop a little to get some out of focus stuff in background and foreground ( lower the ISO ), and have a prettier picture !

D Fosse

Community Expert

In all fairness, this is obvious to us who have grown up using system cameras.

To a kid coming from an iPhone and Instagram, it might not be so obvious.

But yes, Norman is right. Books could have been written, and indeed are written.

cmgap

Community Expert

Stanford Professor puts his entire digital photography course online for free: Digital Photography

Search on Free University Photography Courses for more free resources

Peru Bob

Community Expert

moved from Photoshop to The Lounge

Norman Sanders

Legend

I admire your desire to grow your knowledge beyond your camera's Auto setting. But providing an adequate definition of terms and application of controls available to you would fill a book. In fact, it fills books that are readily available under such titles as Photography Fundamentals or something similar. It will provide answers to the questions you listed plus many other important factors, such as information regarding the significance of lens focal length, kinds of lighting and the color of light to mention just a few. So, hit the books -- those with clear text and plenty of examples -- and with Magic Marker in hand. Good luck.

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