Advice for almost zero knowledge on camera/photography dude (me)

[Halfgeek]

Just to share few more pictures

Exposure time 1/500
ISO 800
Focal length 21mm
Max aperture 4

Exposure time 1/250
ISO 100
Focal length 31mm
Max aperture 4

Exposure time 1/2 sec
ISO 400
Focal length 18mm
Max aperture 3.6171875


Ok these are actual details. All without tripod

 

[Halfgeek]

Just right click on your photo, click on properties and click on detail.

Anyway, I think your exposure is correct, but on your second photo, it seemed off focus, thats why the flowers are not sharp. That is why I am wondering where is your focus point. You might want to set your aperture narrower (bigger f-value) so that more was in focus (if all the flower you wanted was to be in focus).

The other thing was try to get rid of the building in your third photo. You can use a free program called the GIMP (search it out in the net). Can use the clone tool (from the tool box) to slowly remove the building.

Irfanview is a good viewing tool, but not a great editing tool for photo. Either use the photoshop or the GIMP.

OK thanks for infor got it!

1st red flower pictures is
Exposure time 1/800 sec
ISO 100
Focal length 19mm
Max aperture 4.3359375

2nd orchid
Exposure time 1/250
ISO 100
Focal length 54mm
Max aperture 4.96875

3rd guilin view with building
Exposure time 1/1000
ISO 200
Focal length 25mm
Max aperture 4

will check out the softwares

 

[SkyStrike]

Just as curious as DD, why you prefer to use Manual over other modes?

 

[Halfgeek]

Just as curious as DD, why you prefer to use Manual over other modes?

pic 1
Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/800 second ===> 0.00125 second
Lens F-Number / F-Stop = 9/2 ===> ƒ/4.5
Exposure Program = manual control (1)
ISO Speed Ratings = 100

pic 2
Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/250 second ===> 0.004 second
Lens F-Number / F-Stop = 71/10 ===> ƒ/7.1
Exposure Program = aperture priority (3)
ISO Speed Ratings = 100

pic 3
Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/1000 second ===> 0.001 second
Lens F-Number / F-Stop = 4/1 ===> ƒ/4
Exposure Program = manual control (1)
ISO Speed Ratings = 200

I am curious, why do you use Manual exposure?

Hello i updated the exif with the actual one. Hmm I was playing with autofocus at first, which is everything focus automatically. Than tried to play around with a lil manual. Should i stop using manual exposure? Sorry i really clueless on what i really should do...

 

[SkyStrike]

Hello i updated the exif with the actual one. Hmm I was playing with autofocus at first, which is everything focus automatically. Than tried to play around with a lil manual. Should i stop using manual exposure? Sorry i really clueless on what i really should do...

No worries, we all once started as newbies. ( I'm a newbie too )

I'm quite sure your camera comes with alot of modes. But personally, I feel that you can start off with either Aperture Priority (controls aperture), Time Priority (controls shutter speed) mode. If you are not comfortable, you can always start off by shooting AUTO.

There is NO shame is shooting in Auto with DSLR (or whatever term used for NEX). By shooting Auto, you learn how camera choose settings, from there, you try to interpret why the camera choose such settings. Of course there are times where the camera does not expose the scene correctly, that's when you will/may need to venture into Manual mode where you can control such variables like Aperture/Shutter/ISO precisely.

 

[rhino123]

Hello i updated the exif with the actual one. Hmm I was playing with autofocus at first, which is everything focus automatically. Than tried to play around with a lil manual. Should i stop using manual exposure? Sorry i really clueless on what i really should do...

Whatever works for you. There really is no need to stop using manual mode... you can play with it as much as you like. I started off using Auto mode, then P mode, then manual... and recently I got lazy and stick to either Av mode or Tv mode (lol).

Just practice on your composition (read some books on it, or do a simple search online and you will find plenty of useful tips). As for your exposure, you got it there with you shots, no worries. However, do remember there are time you would want to purposely underexpose or overexpose a scene (very difficult to explain now)... so I guess you would have to read up and take more photos.

Practice is the key.

 

[Halfgeek]

Whatever works for you. There really is no need to stop using manual mode... you can play with it as much as you like. I started off using Auto mode, then P mode, then manual... and recently I got lazy and stick to either Av mode or Tv mode (lol).

Just practice on your composition (read some books on it, or do a simple search online and you will find plenty of useful tips). As for your exposure, you got it there with you shots, no worries. However, do remember there are time you would want to purposely underexpose or overexpose a scene (very difficult to explain now)... so I guess you would have to read up and take more photos.
Practice is the key.

Ya i get what you mean... some pictures looks nicer when look not natural some picture looks nicer when natural or its how the individual wants to express his imagination in a photo.
Actualli i played with a little P mode and S mode too... but i notice difference is if you use P mode only can manual set the P mode but the rest all auto and if select S mode only can manual set the S but rest all auto... (dont know if im correct).

M mode gives me flexiblility... but i notice after using M mode the time to take one picture very long... cos set here set there see see which one better den take the picture... lol. Thanks rhino for the pointers!

No worries, we all once started as newbies. ( I'm a newbie too )

I'm quite sure your camera comes with alot of modes. But personally, I feel that you can start off with either Aperture Priority (controls aperture), Time Priority (controls shutter speed) mode. If you are not comfortable, you can always start off by shooting AUTO.

There is NO shame is shooting in Auto with DSLR (or whatever term used for NEX). By shooting Auto, you learn how camera choose settings, from there, you try to interpret why the camera choose such settings. Of course there are times where the camera does not expose the scene correctly, that's when you will/may need to venture into Manual mode where you can control such variables like Aperture/Shutter/ISO precisely.

Ahh i see so im correct hehe... Maybe i should start this way too so i can better understand shutter and aperture much better thanks for advice. Was just playing around with M mode to see what each individual affects which part of the photos, take quite long to just take a picture

 

[tecnica]

for landscape, manual mode gives a more accurate exposure.

 

[rhino123]

One advice... for landscape shoot, you might want to use a tripod... even if you have abundant light. And you might want to shoot at different angles for flower shots, experience shooting the same scene using different angle and locations, you will be amaze at what you can get.

Also, try to play around with lighting... such that shooting during sunset, sunrise, etc... while not at the time when the sun is already up and the place is very bright (not saying that you cannot though). Also sometime, make use of shadows... and stuff like that. It will make your photo very interesting and not like those from postcard.

 

[Halfgeek]

for landscape, manual mode gives a more accurate exposure.

I see... Haha but I must also know what settings to set otherwise jia lat hahaha.

One advice... for landscape shoot, you might want to use a tripod... even if you have abundant light. And you might want to shoot at different angles for flower shots, experience shooting the same scene using different angle and locations, you will be amaze at what you can get.

Also, try to play around with lighting... such that shooting during sunset, sunrise, etc... while not at the time when the sun is already up and the place is very bright (not saying that you cannot though). Also sometime, make use of shadows... and stuff like that. It will make your photo very interesting and not like those from postcard.

Ya that's the hard part! I wanna try next weekend to do some night landscape shoots, and some sunset shoots if possible. I heard from my colleague that my pancake lens is better for shooting night shots because of the bigger aperture. Didn't use much of my pancake lens yesterday except for some close up shoots. Wana try next week. Must bring my cheapo tripod liao lol.

 

[Halfgeek]

Btw guys I don't wanna create another thread to hog the bytes in this forum. Wanna ask if I should get a filter base solely on protection of the lens? If yes Any good ones to reco? Saw one review here hayo lens is the best right? Hmm

 

[SkyStrike]

Btw guys I don't wanna create another thread to hog the bytes in this forum. Wanna ask if I should get a filter base solely on protection of the lens? If yes Any good ones to reco? Saw one review here hayo lens is the best right? Hmm

If you are expecting alot of dust/water/sand to enter the lens, yes, get a clear filter for protection.

Also If you are going for nightscapes, take off the filter (or any filter unless you have a reason for it to be there). And I think the brand you are talking about is HOYA. There are a couple of other high end brands for filters.

 

[Halfgeek]

If you are expecting alot of dust/water/sand to enter the lens, yes, get a clear filter for protection.

Also If you are going for nightscapes, take off the filter (or any filter unless you have a reason for it to be there). And I think the brand you are talking about is HOYA. There are a couple of other high end brands for filters.

So it's not a necessity if I don't take pictures in dusty areas or something? Cos I also read that filters degrades IQ even those high end one just that higher end reduce the amount of degradation of the IQ

 

[rhino123]

Ya that's the hard part! I wanna try next weekend to do some night landscape shoots, and some sunset shoots if possible. I heard from my colleague that my pancake lens is better for shooting night shots because of the bigger aperture. Didn't use much of my pancake lens yesterday except for some close up shoots. Wana try next week. Must bring my cheapo tripod liao lol.

What your colleague said is true but not the whole true (very confusing, yes?) Anyway, to have a bigger aperture, would mean you have a faster lens because more light can enter your lens to your sensor faster when the aperture is opened fully. However that would mean that your DOF would be very thin... only part of your subject would be in focus, all other will become out of focus.

There are plenty of genre for night shots... if you are taking landscape at night, you would want to set your camera on a tripod, lower your ISO to the lowest base ISO (be it 50, 100 or 200), close your aperture to as low as possible (depending on the envirnoment), then lower your shutter speed according to give you the accurate exposure. Sometime shutter will be open for more than 30 sec or even a couple of minutes depending on what you are shooting and what is the environment lighting.

In the above case, there is really no use for a lens with very large aperture, because you are closing the aperture to very small (watch out for defraction of light).

Second, if you are taking street shots at night or in dark atmosphere, whereby actions need to be taken at a very fast speed as there will not be a second chance... then, yes, a wider aperture will help a lot... if you have a f1.8 or a f0.95, go for it.

 

[rhino123]

So it's not a necessity if I don't take pictures in dusty areas or something? Cos I also read that filters degrades IQ even those high end one just that higher end reduce the amount of degradation of the IQ

There are lots of debate on whether or not you need a UV filter. Well, in the past, UV filters are very useful for film camera, whereby film is more sensitive to UV rays as compared to modern digital sensor.

Nowaday, you don't really get the advantage of the UV filters as compared to the past... in stead, a lens hood is more important in many case (blocking of flare and stuff like that... also to act as a bumper for you to protect your lens' front element from knocks and bumps).

Anyway, I do have a filter on most of my lens (personal preference) and I use the cheapest one I can find... really it do have some effect on the IQ, but not really a whole lot of differences in my opinion...

 

[Halfgeek]

What your colleague said is true but not the whole true (very confusing, yes?) Anyway, to have a bigger aperture, would mean you have a faster lens because more light can enter your lens to your sensor faster when the aperture is opened fully. However that would mean that your DOF would be very thin... only part of your subject would be in focus, all other will become out of focus.

There are plenty of genre for night shots... if you are taking landscape at night, you would want to set your camera on a tripod, lower your ISO to the lowest base ISO (be it 50, 100 or 200), close your aperture to as low as possible (depending on the envirnoment), then lower your shutter speed according to give you the accurate exposure. Sometime shutter will be open for more than 30 sec or even a couple of minutes depending on what you are shooting and what is the environment lighting.

In the above case, there is really no use for a lens with very large aperture, because you are closing the aperture to very small (watch out for defraction of light).

Second, if you are taking street shots at night or in dark atmosphere, whereby actions need to be taken at a very fast speed as there will not be a second chance... then, yes, a wider aperture will help a lot... if you have a f1.8 or a f0.95, go for it.

Hmm but would the long shutter time able to cancel the small aperture's weakness in dark low light situations? Cos on theory gonna let lights in as much as possible. But than longer shutter speed also enable more time for lights to go in. So for a pancake it's just for landscape and portraits? If so the normal one with smaller aperture could do the same just with longer shutter speed. That renders the pancake lens useless and redundent already? (except for high speed stuff like maybe football match, F1 racing"? Correct me if I'm wrong plz. Ty very much I'm learning more and more...

There are lots of debate on whether or not you need a UV filter. Well, in the past, UV filters are very useful for film camera, whereby film is more sensitive to UV rays as compared to modern digital sensor.

Nowaday, you don't really get the advantage of the UV filters as compared to the past... in stead, a lens hood is more important in many case (blocking of flare and stuff like that... also to act as a bumper for you to protect your lens' front element from knocks and bumps).

Anyway, I do have a filter on most of my lens (personal preference) and I use the cheapest one I can find... really it do have some effect on the IQ, but not really a whole lot of differences in my opinion...

Those normal clear filter for purely protection purpose by default comes with UV protection too? Just mainly want protection from dust ok so it's mainly a preference thing no right or wrong should or shouldn't..

 

[rhino123]

Hmm but would the long shutter time able to cancel the small aperture's weakness in dark low light situations? Cos on theory gonna let lights in as much as possible. But than longer shutter speed also enable more time for lights to go in. So for a pancake it's just for landscape and portraits? If so the normal one with smaller aperture could do the same just with longer shutter speed. That renders the pancake lens useless and redundent already? (except for high speed stuff like maybe football match, F1 racing"? Correct me if I'm wrong plz. Ty very much I'm learning more and more...

In short, long shutter speed, means more light to enter through your lens. If your aperture is close to a very small pinhole and still maintain a very fast speed, then not enough light would be allowed to hit the surface of your sensor.

However if your aperture is opened wide, more light is able to enter your lens and hit the surface of your sensor at a shorter time.

That say, however, if your aperture is opened to the widest, you will have a thin DOF, which mean, only certain part of your subject will be in focus while other part are blurry (off focus). Pancake lens... or prime lenses are good for alot of thing. Most of the prime lens are consider fast lens, they have wide aperture... so you can raise your shutter speed without touching on your ISO setting (that is a simplest way of explaining).

It is not that by opening your shutter long enough, a lens with smaller aperture could do the same as what a lens with wider aperture... because the DOF would be different.

And a wide aperture lens is good for capturing fast moving items in not so abundant lighting. I would always use a at least f1.8 lens for night shots (street shooting)... because most of the time flash is not allowed (you would not want someone to be using flash and still shoot at you without asking you first, so don't do it to others too).

Another thing is... for portrait shoot, most of the time, many professional would prefer to shoot at smaller aperture value, one of the photographers I know, told me that he shoot at f8 and above at times, because in most portraiture shoots, most professionals would use flash, so they can afford to shoot at smaller aperture (so most or all of their subject would be in focus) and still have good shutter speed.

 

[Halfgeek]

In short, long shutter speed, means more light to enter through your lens. If your aperture is close to a very small pinhole and still maintain a very fast speed, then not enough light would be allowed to hit the surface of your sensor.

However if your aperture is opened wide, more light is able to enter your lens and hit the surface of your sensor at a shorter time.

That say, however, if your aperture is opened to the widest, you will have a thin DOF, which mean, only certain part of your subject will be in focus while other part are blurry (off focus). Pancake lens... or prime lenses are good for alot of thing. Most of the prime lens are consider fast lens, they have wide aperture... so you can raise your shutter speed without touching on your ISO setting (that is a simplest way of explaining).

It is not that by opening your shutter long enough, a lens with smaller aperture could do the same as what a lens with wider aperture... because the DOF would be different.

And a wide aperture lens is good for capturing fast moving items in not so abundant lighting. I would always use a at least f1.8 lens for night shots (street shooting)... because most of the time flash is not allowed (you would not want someone to be using flash and still shoot at you without asking you first, so don't do it to others too).

Another thing is... for portrait shoot, most of the time, many professional would prefer to shoot at smaller aperture value, one of the photographers I know, told me that he shoot at f8 and above at times, because in most portraiture shoots, most professionals would use flash, so they can afford to shoot at smaller aperture (so most or all of their subject would be in focus) and still have good shutter speed.

Wow.... A lil confused. But will return to read and digest again I can catch what you are getting at a lil here and there
*edited* ok I get you now

 

[rhino123]

Wow.... A lil confused. But will return to read and digest again I can catch what you are getting at a lil here and there

lol

Anyway, to make things simpler,

Wide aperture - more light will enter at a shorter time, so shutter speed can be faster.
Small aperture - less light will enter at a given time, so shutter speed must be slower to allow the sensor to be expose to light a longer time in order to properly expose your photo.

Wide aperture - thin DOF (less part in your subject are in focus)
Small aperture - deeper DOF (more of your photos are in focus).

a) For landscape shots always use a smaller aperture... since landscape don't run away, you can afford to have a longer shutter speed.

b) For moving object that you try to freeze (street shots, F1 race, wild life, running kids, skateboarding etc), a quick shutter speed is needed, so there is a couple of way of doing it

1) bump up your ISO (but that will reason in more noise)
2) use a wider aperture (this is where your fast lens came in play)
3) Use flash (sometime more than 1 or 2 flash is needed) - this is especially important if you are shooting portrait, you would not want your models to be standing or posing in an exact position for too long a time... because if they just move a wee bit, it will ruin your entire picture if you are shooting with a long shutter speed... and it is extremely cruel to ask someone to pose in an exact position for too long... the human right group will be all over you
4) use both 1 and 2

Hope that is more useful.

 

[Halfgeek]

lol

Anyway, to make things simpler,

Wide aperture - more light will enter at a shorter time, so shutter speed can be faster.
Small aperture - less light will enter at a given time, so shutter speed must be slower to allow the sensor to be expose to light a longer time in order to properly expose your photo.

Wide aperture - thin DOF (less part in your subject are in focus)
Small aperture - deeper DOF (more of your photos are in focus).

a) For landscape shots always use a smaller aperture... since landscape don't run away, you can afford to have a longer shutter speed.

b) For moving object that you try to freeze (street shots, F1 race, wild life, running kids, skateboarding etc), a quick shutter speed is needed, so there is a couple of way of doing it

1) bump up your ISO (but that will reason in more noise)
2) use a wider aperture (this is where your fast lens came in play)
3) Use flash (sometime more than 1 or 2 flash is needed) - this is especially important if you are shooting portrait, you would not want your models to be standing or posing in an exact position for too long a time... because if they just move a wee bit, it will ruin your entire picture if you are shooting with a long shutter speed... and it is extremely cruel to ask someone to pose in an exact position for too long... the human right group will be all over you
4) use both 1 and 2

Hope that is more useful.

Even short summarization of a part of what you trying to say

Got time can wait use small hole
No time cannot wait use big hole

:bsmilie:


Thanks I understand already need to put it to practice to be familiar with it