 Claire A. Evelyn |
How to read the settings I have a Vivitar 38000N camera which came with a 50mm lens. I was able to see the various settings such as f1.7,f4, f5.6 and so on but I wanted to experiment a little more and purchased a zoom lens 72mm but noticed thatthe same f-stops were not the same. However there were numbers along the body of the lens when I zoomed in and out. I don't understand how to read it and don't really know when to change from 1/60 to 1/125 to 1/250 and so on...Maybe there is a book to help me???
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Kerry L. Walker |
I suggest you go to the bookstore and buy a good book on beginning photography. To give you a short lesson, the f-stops are a function of the lens, not the camera, so they will vary with different lenses. The numbers along the body of the lens are the focal lengths of the zoom, which vary as you zoom the lens in and out. 72mm is probably the diameter of the lens, which has nothing to do with the focal length. 1/60, 1/125 etc. are the shutter speeds, which are a function of the camera. The shutter speed should be set at the reciprocal of the focal length of the lens. For example, the shutter speed should be set at no less than 1/60 when using the 50mm lens. The shitter speed and the f-stop will both need to be varried with the speed of the action of the subject and the amount of the light entering the lens. If all of this sounds confusing, it will become clear as you learn more about photography. Rest asured, it won't be as difficult as it sounds. Get a good book and begin learning. As you learn more, you will discover you want to learn even more. Believe me, you will never know it all. Nobody does.
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Jon Close |
Just to get started: f/1.7, f/4, etc. on the lens refer to the lens aperture. The aperture is a diaphram that can be closed down to limit the amount of light the lens allows through it. The f-numbers are standardized so that the same setting gives the same exposure, regardless of the lens size or focal length. It may seem counter-intuitive, but the smaller the f-number the larger the aperture (more light allowed through). The lens aperture setting will affect Depth of Field. Depth of field is the range in front and behind a sharply focused subject that will also appear to be in apparent focus. Large apertures (small f-numbers) limit depth of field to a smaller range than small apertures (large f-numbers). Shutter speed is the amount of time that the film is exposed to the light coming through the lens. The shutter speed controls how motion is rendered in the photo. Higher speeds (shorter duration) will "freeze" action. Longer shutter speeds will allow a moving subject (or the background) to be blurred. When shooting with the camera handheld it is not perfectly still, thus longer shutter speeds can result in blurring due to "camera shake." To avoid this, use the rule of thumb given by Kerry W. above: set the shutter speed for 1/ the lens focal length, or faster. If the camera is secure on a tripod, any shutter speed can be set. Getting proper exposure involves balancing the aperture setting and the shutter speed for the amount of light in the scene and the sensitivity of the film (measured in ISO).
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