 Caleb L. Adams |
f-? I know this sounds like I am a total whack! ( it's because I am a total rookie!). But Is "IOS" the same as an F-stop? If not can some one tell me the difference?
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Sharon Day |
ISO is the speed of film or what you set your camera on. ISO combined with the aperture & shutter speed are what makes a perfect exposure. The aperture is the little roundish think inside of your lens that widens and narrows to control the light passing through. The shutter is the curtain thing on the camera that opens and closes at different speeds. An F stop of 4 is fairly wide open. An F stop of 22 is very narrow. A shutter speed of 1/30th of a second is very slow. One of 1/1000th is very fast. Your camera's meter basically tells you what to set shutter speed and f/stop for the ISO you have set. Hope this helps.
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Caleb L. Adams |
OOOOO I See! Thanks! But my camera dosen't even say "f-whatever", Is it the "A" I think that stands for apeture. (Along w/ "P," "M," and "S?") I understand what it does, but I didnt see the F- sign.
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Christopher A. Vedros |
I think by "IOS", you really mean "ISO". ISO refers to the sensitivity of the film or the digital sensor. Film is available in different speeds, such as ISO 100, ISO 400, ISO 800. The higher the ISO speed, the more sensitive the film is to light. Digital cameras have equivalent ISO settings that adjust the sensitivity of the digital sensor. An f-stop is a number representing the aperture setting of the camera. The aperture is the opening in the diaphragm that lets light in through the lens. ISO settings are related to f-stops in that they are both part of the triangle that makes up a proper exposure. The third corner of the triangle is the shutter speed. For a given scene with a certain amount of light in it, you (or the camera on Auto) need to select the proper combination of ISO speed, aperture (f-stop), and shutter speed to make a proper exposure. Once you have a correct combination for an exposure, if you change one of the three values, you need to change another one in order to keep the same exposure. For example, when metering your scene, your camera meter tells you that at ISO 100, f/5.6 and 1/30th second will give you a proper exposure. But what if you want to use 1/60th as your shutter speed? This shutter speed will only let in half as much light, so in order to keep the same exposure, you can either open your aperture 1 stop to f/4.0, or increase your ISO to 200. The larger aperture lets in twice as much light, the higher ISO makes the sensor twice as sensitive to light. Is this starting to make a little sense?? Chris
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Craig m. Zacarelli |
Caleb, most if not all cameras do not show the f, they just show a number..depending on your lens it can be anywhere between 1.4 to 32. The F-Stop is the size of the hole in your Aperture and depending on the lens you use, the f stop or f number can be very small or very large. Remember,, the smaller the f-number, the bigger the hole so more light can come in. My 50MM f 1.8 lets in enough light that I can shoot in low light at faster speeds than with my 70-200 f 4 L! Food for thought.. the lower the F number, usually means the faster the lens and the more $$$ its gonna cost you! Craig-
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
BetterPhoto Member |
The aperture works the same way the iris works in your eye. The iris closes down in bright light, and opens (dilates) in low light. With the camera, the aperture allows a certain amount of light in to help create an exposure. Each time you stop down (go to the next smaller setting) the aperture, it will allow half the light in as it did in the previous setting. If you stop the aperture up one complete stop (say go from f-16 to f-8), you will allow in twice as much light. I hope I've helped.
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
chrisbudny.com - Chris Budny Contact Chris Budny Chris Budny's Gallery |
Caleb... you didn't mention your camera model, but you mentioned the "A", "P", "M" and "S" - those sound to me like modes your camera has... Shutter priority mode (where you can manually set a shutter speed, and let the camera compensate the rest) or Program mode (where the camera may fully take charge of every setting.) You won't find "F" there---assuming your camera is a point-and-shoot, you may see aperture settings (the F number) through the view finder (and be able to adjust it, in certain Modes.) Hope this helps.
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Caleb L. Adams |
Wow! Thanks for all the help! Umm... One more question. How long does it usually take someone to totally understand there camera? Its been a year and I still feel totaly illiterate!!!
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
BetterPhoto Member |
Have fun and keep shooting,
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Justin G. |
Caleb, it really all depends on a lot of factors. #1 how fast you learn. #2 Law of Repitition, "don't use it, you lose it", meaning how often you use your camera. #3 the complexity of the camera. #4 Your general knowledge of photography #1 if you learn fast, obviously you'll catch on quicker. #2 you can use your camera monthly and pick up on it slowly, but if you use it everyday you'll pick up on it a lot faster. #3 If you camera is very complex with countless custom functions it could take a long time to learn them all and when it's appropriate to use them. With my old Canon Elan, I could read the manual every couple months and learn something but with another camera I have it only has 2 controls on it so it took me about 20 minutes to learn it. #4. basically if you don't know what aperture is, then you probably won't know what aperture priority is, but once you learn the basics of aperture and depth of field (what everyone else was teaching with the F-number) you might find yourself using Av or M quite often. Hope this helps a little. justin
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Justin G. |
An I think there's a difference between "what it physically can do" and "you can do with it". Just a thought. -Justin
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Craig m. Zacarelli |
Caleb, what camera are you using? if we knew, we could help you even further. Craig-
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Bob Chance |
Caleb, As Craig said, it might help if we knew what camera make and model you're talking about. Bob
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Caleb L. Adams |
Its A Minolta Maxxum 50.
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Irene Troy |
Hi Caleb – I understand the frustration that you can experience when trying to learn a camera. I spent more time than I’d admit trying to get the right feeling for my camera (at the time a Minolta Maxxum 9) and feeling as if I might never manage to get decent images. What helped me was taking courses here at BP and also reading some great books by people such as John Shaw and Bryan Peterson. I think the classes were helpful for several reasons; first, because the instructors were very good; second; the fact that I had weekly assignments forced me to get out and shoot even when I felt frustrated and would have rather stayed home in bed; third, simply sharing images with others in my class really helped me to see that I was not alone in my difficulties. Most of all, I did a whole lot of shooting over about a year’s time. I am still learning and as others have said; when you stop learning it is time to hang up your camera (and maybe your life!). I have a new camera (a Canon 5D) and am facing a whole new learning curve – but at least this time I understand the basic concepts and am finding the curve much easier this go around. Don’t let frustration ruin your enjoyment of photography, just keep coming here for help and consider some reading and/or classes when you have time. Specific to that camera there are controls for aperture and for shutter speed. You can manually set either control or allow the camera to select either or both control. One final suggestion is to read your manual backwards and forwards until you fully understand what each dial, control and function on your camera does.
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Bob Chance |
To add to Irenes' suggestion of learning your camera controls forward and backward by reading your manual forward and backward. After learning where the controls are and what they do, the next big step is in learning how to use these controls to achieve creative results in your photographs. It's not enough to know how to make a good exposure. You need also to learn how to make a good 'creative' exposure. To a lot of people, photography is little more than capturing a moment in time. To others, it's an art form, fought long and hard by pioneers like Edward Steichen and others. A creative photographer must not only know how to use the cameras controls to achieve a good exposure, but how to use those controls creatively to acheive a desired result. Probably more importantly than learning the controls themselves and that is where some courses would really help you to not only learn your camera, but how to best use those controls to achieve the results you're looking for in your pictures. And one last thought. As you are learning your camera and how to use it to your creative advantage, you must also learn it's limitations and the limitations of whatever medium you're shooting, be it film or digital. Above all, don't be discouraged. Keep learning. Keep shooting. And have fun. There are plenty of knowledgable people here in this forum to answer just about any question you can think of. Photography wise that is. Best of luck. Bob
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
This old forum is now archived. Use improved Forum here
Report this Thread |
||||||||