thanks cpuer.. i see those numbers below but still not too sure about how to set them.. i only know how to use the manual mode to set the ISO for now...
Now i'm confused again.. when i'm in the manual mode, i can't change the AF...btw.. wat's AF?? there's another thing that keep popping up when i take photos ... it's the '!AE' in red by the side of the screen.. and also '!(hand sign)' i wondered what it means..
Hi chery08,
Very good, you have found the problem.
The red '!AE' (
Auto
Exposure warning) is a warning from the camera telling you that the current exposure value is beyond the limit of the camera (can be above or below the limit, but in your case it is below). What this means is that, the camera cannot achieve a proper, good exposure, due probably to very bright or very dark scene. Hence your picture will either turn out too bright (under very bright scene) or too dark (under very dark scene).
The 'hand sign' is a warning telling you that the current shutter speed is too low and will cause camera shake, resulting in blur pictures. This is a tell tale sign that the lighting condition is too dark for your current iso setting.
Here are some fundamentals regarding exposure:
- 3 settings on your camera control the exposure of a picture by your camera: iso, shutter speed, aperture. For a picture to 'look good' (properly exposed) the camera (or you) will need to adjust these 3 to achieve proper exposure.
- the iso value sets the sensitivity of the camera's sensor to light. The lower the value, the less sensitive and lower noise it is. The higher the value, the more sensitive but with higher noise (e.g. iso100 is less sensitive and lower noise then iso800). In very dark condition you'll need high iso (hence high sensitivity), but the side effect is higher noise. If left at 'auto' the camera will try to raise this value in dark condition.
- shutter speed determines how long the camera's sensor is exposed to light when you press the shutter release button (the button to snap a picture). This is indicated by the camera on the lower left of the lcd screen as shown in the picture posted by poh6702 (the value '100'). The higher the value, the faster the shutter speed and hence the shorter the exposure time, because what this actually mean is 1/100s (e.g. 100 => 1/100s is slower then 250 => 1/250s). In very dark condition, the camera will try to lower the shutter speed to allow more light in to achieve proper exposure, but if the shutter speed is too low, the camera will give you the 'hand sign' warning. This is because if the shutter speed is low, any movement of the camera will also be captured onto your picture, resulting in blur image.
- aperture determines how big the aperture blades are opened up to allow light into the camera. This is indicated by the camera on the lower left of the lcd screen as the value 'F3.5' in the pic above. The smaller the value, the bigger the aperture opening and hence more light hitting the sensor (e.g. F5.6 lets in less light then F3.5). In dark condition, the camera will try to open this up as much as possible, but there is a limit how big it can open.
Now let's see how the camera makes use of these 3 settings. The camera has a build in light meter to measure the amount of light hitting the sensor. This measurement is used to determine whether your picture will be properly exposed. In very dark situation, the camera will detect that the light is insufficient, and will try to compensate by (i) opening up the aperture, (ii) lowering the shutter speed, and (iii) raising the iso (if set to auto mode). If after doing this, the exposure is ok then all is well. If the exposure is ok, but the shutter speed drops too low, it will give you the 'hand sign' warning you the possibility of camera shake which causes blur picture. If after adjusting all 3 and yet the camera is still unable to achieve proper exposure, it will give you the red !AE warning, and if you force the camera to take a pic by pressing the shutter release button, it will turn out dark.
What if you set the iso setting manually? In this case, since you are forcing the iso to be a certain value, the camera will only have aperture and shutter speed to play with, and you'll have higher chance of getting !AE if the iso is set too low.
Of course under very bright condition you can also get !AE warning. In this case it means that the camera had tried lowering the iso, raising shutter speed, and closing up the aperture to their limit and yet unable to achieve a proper exposure. If you force the camera to take a pic, it will turn out too bright.
So in order to take good, sharp and properly exposed picture, you'll want to avoid seeing the '!AE' and 'hand sign'. In situation where it is too dark, you can always turn on the flash (add more light), or use a tripod (reduce camera shake).
Oh, almost forgot. AF means
Auto
Focus. In a point and shoot camera like the Z5, there is no manual focus function and hence you can't override the focusing.
Hope that helps. Cheers.
