How to make the pictures less bright on my 50mm 1.8 lens?
This is a totally noobie photography question.
I've just bought a Nikon 50mm 1.8AF lens - and am using it manual focus with my D3100 - not having any problems focusing using the rangefinder etc - my issue is that all my photographs are coming out way to bright!
Have tried adjusting the aperture, which doesn't seem to be making much difference - am I doing something wrong? Any tips?
Added (1). Thank you, both brilliant bits of advice! Will do some more reading and experimenting, and have ordered a filter.
Try measuring the exposure with the light meter. Then make the necessary adjustments to the shutter speed, aperture and ISO sensitivity.
Before you start trying to do manual exposures (not focus) you need to understand exposure. Start here: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/...tering.htm and here: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/...posure.htm
What mode are you shooting in? If it's aperture priority and you have the aperture wide open, in bright conditions there may be just too much light. If you want to shoot with wide apertures in bright sunny conditions you need a neutral density filter.
If you stop down the aperture, less light will get in - try shooting in manual exposure & see what the light meter's reading - adjust aperture & shutter speed (check ISO is as low as it will go too) until the meter is zeroed.
If the lens is second hand, there's a possibility that the aperture blades are stuck open, so the lens isn't stopping down as it should when the shutter is pressed - unlikely in a new lens. If this is so then the lens will need repairing.
Put your camera on Aperture Priority (A Mode) open the aperture right up to f 1.8, point your camera, half press the shutter and the camera will tell you the shutter speed it wants to use for a good exposure, if you see 4000 and flashing it means that your camera can't select a shutter speed fast enough for the amount of light coming through the lens. Adjust the aperture downwards and half press again, eventually you will see a steady 4000 shutter speed selected, and away you go a correct exposure.
This will only happen in bright light of course, the other reason might be your ISO is set too high try 100 or even 50.
What mode are you shooting in?
What aperture are you shooting at?
What ISO are you shooting at?
What shutter speed are you shooting at?
How much ambient light is there?
All these things (well, except the mode) will control your exposure… How bright your picture is.
Aperture is basically how wide the lens is opened and ins measured in fstops so your 50mm f1.8 can open up to f1.8. The smaller the number, the larger the opening (in relation to focal length). The wider the opening, the more light floods in while the shutter is released.
Shutter speed is a measure of how long the sensor or film is exposed and is measured in fractions of a second or in whole seconds. The longer the shutter stays opened, the more light gets soaked up by the film/sensor.
ISO or ASA is a measure of how sensitive to light your film or sensor is. The higher the number, the more sensitive to light it is. The more sensitive it is, the faster it soaks up light.
Ambient light is just really how much light there's in the scene.
If you are in manual mode, you might see a little light meter (something like this |… |… |… |… | ). If the bar is in the center, then your shot is perfectly exposed… Too much to the right means too much light and to much to the left means to little light.
Do you have the same effect with your other lenses? If so, make sure that you did not inadvertently change your exposure adjustment setting on the camera. Without knowing it, you may have it set to overexpose your shots. Refer to your manual to see how you would check this and fix it.
If your other lenses are fine and changing aperture does not affect the results with the 50mm, then you might have a stuck diaphragm on the lens. To check this, set your camera on manual exposure. Set the shutter speed on some value that seems right for the light conditions, say 1/250. Take one picture at f/1.8, another at the smallest aperture, probably f/22 or thereabouts. If you get both shots white, speed up the shutter speed. If both black, slow it down. Once you get to an exposure where one of the shots has a good exposure, the other should be grossly overexposed (or under, depending on which one you picked). If you see no difference between the two, then your diaphragm is stuck. If it's a new lens, send it back on warranty. Otherwise, you will have to pay for a repair.
Your camera's range of shutter speeds should be more than adequate to cover all bright light conditions. You do not need a neutral density filter unless you want to get into long exposure photography on bright days. Save yourself some money.