Photography and Videography isn’t an easy game. Especially with all of the things you can control in manual mode, it may seem daunting and the picture you get out of the camera always looks off. However, to become an expert with your camera, it is impertinent to learn how to use these manual settings so you can get the look you want out of the camera, not what the camera’s automatic mode thinks is correct. So where do we begin?
The best place to begin is to get a good central concept on the most important camera aspects and how they interact with each other. In this lesson, we’ll go over:
Aperture
Shutter Speed
ISO
Exposure
Focal Length
So how do these numbers interact with each other? Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO directly work with each other to affect how the picture looks through how the camera sees light. Exposure and Focal Length are more loosely related, but interact with the picture in different ways
Aperture adjusts the “iris” of the camera lens. The thing that is most confusing especially for beginners is that a larger physical aperture is equal to a smaller number. In other words, an aperture of f/8 lets in less light than an aperture of f/2.8.
When the aperture is larger (the number indicating it becomes smaller), since the camera is given more light, it is often used in low light and night shots. Also when the aperture is opened up, there is a shallower depth of field, essentially blurring out the background (or the foreground if the camera is focused on it). With a larger aperture, fewer objects are in focus, so be sure to set peak focus on the right subject.
ISO adjusts the sensitivity of light hitting the sensor. With a higher ISO, the sensor is more sensitive to light, so it creates a brighter image. However, as a result, image grain becomes much more apparent, creating noise. Generally, it is better to keep ISO as low as possible to avoid image grain unless you are trying to get a specific look.
Shutter Speed adjusts how long the shutter of the camera is opened. A slower shutter speed lets in more light while a faster shutter speed lets in less light. As a result, in lower light, it is better to use a slower shutter speed to get a brighter image. However, when dealing with moving objects such as sports or shooting without a tripod, a slower shutter speed will lead the image to become blurry. Sometimes this effect is desirable such as with waterfalls or time lapses, but generally, it just makes the image blurrier.
Exposure is the overall “brightness” of the image. On the camera dial, it just makes the overall picture brighter or dimmer (on some cameras it is known as exposure compensation). Often it is better to figure out the ideal settings for the previous three (ISO, Aperture, Shutter speed).
Focal length is the optical zoom of the camera. It changes the camera’s field of view (think about peripheral vision) For example, GoPro has its iconic wide-angle view, where the edges are distorted to include more action. When shooting portraits, a longer focal length is more desirable (50-90mm) as it compresses the face and makes it more appealing. The human eye is around. The human eye somewhere between (24-50mm) depending on various circumstances.
Overall, here is a nice graphic to summarize the three main factors that play with image quality:
I’ll put in/link a PowerPoint explaining these topics if that would be helpful, just leave a comment or contact us, thanks!
We wish you guys the best of luck in your photography/videography career!
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