Nikon SLR Cameras

ISO, aperture, F stop - what is what?

Sourav
Sourav

I bought Nikon D5100, and this is my first DSLR. I've used Canon P&S for last 4 years.
So came here to know what are the basic things to know to shoot in manual mode?

Like when to set
ISO mode to low or high [and how much low or high ]?
when to set f-stop?

[and all other basic things which I forgot (or don't know) to mention]

BriaR
BriaR

You need to read the manual.
Start simple - use P mode and study the settings the camera is using under different cirumstances. Work out how you could've made it better.

Vun
Vun

So, to make it easy, i call this the FSI. Basically, the f-stop is the aperture, which means, it is the hole in your lens that let light through and it controls the light that enters the lens. S stands for shutter speed. The faster it is, the less light you get. Try close your eyes and blink quickly to mimic a fast shutter speed, slow for slow. ISO is the sensor/film sensitivity. It can collect more light data but sometimes too much can cause grainy images.
To put this to work, know your subject. If it is moving, use shutter speed then aperture, like you put in 250/1 and you set a f-stop value of maybe f/3.5 (the smaller the f number, the bigger the opening on the lens). Snap one pic, if you think its not bright enough, pump up the ISO.

jeannie
jeannie

The camera has a light meter built into it. Read the manual to learn to use it. Basically, you choose an ISO lower number means more light is necessary to expose the shot but less noise, higher number means less light is necessary but you will get more noise in the shot.

F number is the aperture. The higher the number the smaller the hole, which mean less light is let in but you will have more depth of field, which is the amount of the image that will appear in acceptable focus. This is not the same as what you have focused on. But if you want to isolate the subject you want a smaller number like 4 - bigger hole-less depth of field. If you want everything to appear in focus you use a bigger number like 16.

Shutter speed is the amount of time the light allowed to hit the sensor. The faster it goes, the more likely you are to freeze motion. The larger the number the less amount of time the shutter will be open. The numbers are actually fractions of a second.

Set the camera on 100, go outside into bright light and choose an aperture. Any will do for this exercise. Then use the meter (set to manual) and move the shutter control until the meter indicates that the exposure is correct. Shoot the picture.

This is the short answer. Read the manual that came with the camera. Play with the controls. Then shoot.

sclicksphotography
sclicksphotography

You can go low 100 to high 25, 800. But i want to mention one thing. All digital cameras have their native iso 640. You can go 100 low and 1250 high.don't go beyond that. You will get noise. This is practical thing i faced.f stop this is depend on lens what lens you had? Some lenses are wider opening and some lens narrow. If you want tight shot of one object you can go f 2.8, and you can cut shutter 1/4000, in case there's heavy light. It will gives shallow depth. My advice is first of all take stills in p, a, s mode A+ mode you will get one idea…

BigAl
BigAl

It's all stuff that photographers use. Read the manual that came with your camera - it's full of useful, interesting stuff.

Jorge
Jorge

Aperture is at the lens, measured in f-stop; shutter is in the camera and iso is in the chips

Steve P
Steve P

Review this site:
http://teenagephotographer.com/the-basics/

Then buy this book:
http://www.amazon.com/...81740502X/