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Question: Can anyone explain a camera's shutter speed and aperture to me!?
I just bought a Nikon D40, and have been trying to read the manual and figure it out!. I have most of it down, but I really don't understand the shutter speed and aperture!. What does it mean when my shutter speed increases!? And what is the aperture for!? My range is from 1!.3ish to 4000ish!.!.!.whatever that means for shutter speed, and F 4, 5 or 6!.!.!.whatever that means!. When the shutter speed range goes down, it takes longer to take the picture and when it goes too high up, my pictures are black!.
1) How do I figure out the proper shutter speed for the picture I am taking (if it's a manual setting)!?
2) also, I have no idea what the aperture means!. I know that it has something to do with overexposing/underexposing my picture, but how do I figure out the proper aperture number for the picture I am taking (in manual setting)!?
3) Most importantly, how do I make the picture look the same as what I'm seeing through the lens!? (I tried taking a close up of a flower!.!.!.!.and the picture was crystal clear and in focus, but the actual depth of the color and flower itself, looked like it was taken with a disposable!.!.!.either too dark, or almost washed out)
My manual just locates these things on my camera, but it doesn't tell me how to set them for the picture I want!. Any help would be much appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Imagine the camera has an eye that is going to let in light!.
The aperture decides how much light will come in like a pupil!.
The shutter speed is the eyelid and will open at different speeds controlling how long light will come in!.
If you have the hole (aperture) wide open you don't want it open for too long or you will OVER expose your image!.
If you have the hole closed small you need to open it long enough for enough light to get in or you will UNDER expose your image!.
Now the smaller the number of your aperture the bigger the opening!.
And your shutter speeds represent fractions of a second: 1/2 1/4 1/8!.!.!.!.!.1/60 1/80 1/100!.
OK now not to confuse you, but film speed also plays a role here!.
Just know that the darker your shooting conditions the faster the film you want!. 100, 200 are slower 400, 800 are faster!.
Even digital cameras have film speed settings!.
Ok that said your camera should have a meter!. It should tell you if you have the right settings!. If you want to shoot moving things in daylight have a fast shutter speed and a small (bigger #) aperture!.
If you want to shoot close ups or portraits with a blurry back ground you'll want your aperture wide open and an apropriate (for the light) shutterspeed!. Fast for bright light slower for low!.
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shutter speed is how long the lens is open for!.
apreture is the depth of field!.
to make them no black you have to set the meter to where it is happy (in the middle of the bars when you look threw the view finder)
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Your shutter speeds are in fractional parts of a second, generally from a high speed of 1/4000th of a second to a long exposure of many seconds, up to maybe 30 seconds!.!.
Your F stops are like the Iris in your eye, open more in low or dim light and closed more in bright light!. Un like your eye tho, camera F stops do have set values and many do not worry about the in between settings!.
If you use your camera in the full P or Program Mode you won't have to worry much about how to do what right now!. Let the camera do it, however, inside the viewfinder, at the bottom, will be all the information on what the camera is doing!. Watch it!.!.! Study it a bit!.!.
In M or Manual mode you will see a scale in your viewfinder where the middle setting is the "right on' mark and by changing either shutter speeds or f/stops (sometimes both) to get the scale is in the center, you then take your pic!.!.
In A or Aperture Priory Mode, YOU change the f/stops (the Aperture) and the camera will automatically adjust the shutter speeds!. Here again, you can watch the light meter scale move back n forth, and when centered, it is the correct setting!.
Only time and practice will be able to teach you what is what and how to use the settings, however, the full P or Program Mode (full auto everything) is the best and as said, watch in your view finder what the camera is telling you and start to acquire a feeling for what is happening!.
Remember, this is digital, your not waisting film or a whole lot of money here experimenting!. Only some battery juice is being 'spent' as well as some time, but THAT is something we ALL had to do, in the beginning!. Spend time with our camera and learn it!. Not often right out of the box did any of us take award winning images or even come close to what we wanted!.
As once said, take it out (a lot) and play with it!.!.!. Only then can and will you understand what is going on!.!.!.
Bob - TucsonWww@QuestionHome@Com
There are three factors to determining correct exposure: shutter speed, aperture, and sensor "speed" (ISO)!. Photographers speak of exposure adjustments in terms of stops, where one stop represents a change of a factor of two!.
Shutter speeds are given in fractions of a second, so 4000 means 1/4000th of a second!. For hand-held shots, the rule of thumb is you want to be faster than 1/focal length to avoid camera shake, so you want a number of 100 or more (1/100th or faster) if you're shooting at a focal length of 100mm!.
The aperture is given in f-stops, where the number represents the diameter of the lens opening as a fraction of the focal length!. So at 100mm, f/4 means an opening of 1/4th the focal length, or 25mm!. besides controlling the amount of light coming through the lens, f-stops affect depth of field (the range of distances at which everything is in focus)!. Larger apertures (smaller f-numbers) have less depth of field and are useful for isolating a subject against an out-of-focus background!.
ISO numbers are an arbitrary scale originally devised to measure film sensitivity!.
A one stop change in shutter speed means a doubling or halving of the speed!. One stop in aperture means a doubling or halving of the area of the opening, which means a factor of the square root of 2 (~1!.4) in aperture diameter!. One stop in ISO is a doubling or halving of the ISO number!.
On mechanical cameras, there were click-stops for aperture and shutter speed in one-stop increments!. The standard sequence of whole stops for aperture runs 1, 1!.4, 2, 2!.8, 4, 5!.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, etc!. The shutter speed sequence is 1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 30, 60, 125, 250, 500, 1000, etc!. where 30 means 1/30th of a second!.
In manual mode you can evaluate your exposure by holding the shutter button halfway down and watching the exposure scale in the viewfinder!. The center position represents the meter's recommended exposure, and the large divisions are whole stops of over (to the right) and under (to the left) exposure!. Start with the recommended setting, and adjust depending on how the exposure looks!. If the exposure is too dark, for example, you can choose a larger aperture (lower f-number), a slower (smaller) shutter speed, or a higher ISO to make it brighter!. Www@QuestionHome@Com
You have an excellent, fully adjustable camera!.
You can use it as a sophisticated P&S by putting it in the Program mode!.
If you set your cameras aperture (the opening of the lens) wide open, with your camera is the aperture priority mode, your camera will choose the right shutter speed to expose the sensor correctly
The reason your colour is either too dark or two light is because you are not using the meter in the viewfinder as you adjust the aperture or shutter speed!. Us the aperture priority mode and your exposures will be fine!.
You can save a lot of frustration by taking a class in photography
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1) you should be able to choose the correct shutter speed by looking through the view finder!. there is usually a little symbol or light or meter type thing on one of the sides when you look into the view finder!. if you dont see anything make sure your batteries work and put your finger on the shutter button (sometimes it's triggered by your finger) If you still cant find it ask an art teacher or consult the owners manual!.
2) the aperture is how wide your shutter opens!. A smaller aperture lets in less light so it requires a slower shutter speed to get a good exposure!. it also increases the depth of field so more things are in focus (i!.e!.- foreground middleground and background are in focus)
A larger aperture lets in a lot of light so you need to use a faster shutter speed!. it also limits depth of field so you can have one thing in focus and the foreground and background will be blurry!.
3)the reason a picture is too dark is because not enough light was let into the camera!. this can be fixed by using a longer shutter speed or a larger aperture (not both)
if the picture is washed out there is too much light getting into the camera!. fix this by using a shorter shutter speed or a smaller aperture!.
a good thing to do to ensure the right exposure is to take 3 pictures of the same thing!. one, use the shutter speed your camera recommends!. two, use one shutter speed slower then the recommended!. three, use one shutter speed higher than the one recommended!.
I've taken a lot of photography classes so i tried to keep it simple!. if you have trouble understanding some of the terms, try looking them up on wikipedia!. you could even look up 'shutter speed' and 'aperture' and read about them to understand more!.
wow, this was long, good luck!.Www@QuestionHome@Com