New Camera

[lurchergrrl 1,441]

Got myself a second-hand Pentax K110D dSLR the other week. I am over the moon with it

 

However, I have no idea what I'm doing so just finding my way as I go.

 

Took a multitude of shots last week on my jollies but I'm still unlear about some things.

 

When I'm trying to take a photo with mulitple focus points, how do I adjust things so it will focus on everyone/thing in the picture?

 

Also, wtf does opening the aperture mean and when is it best to do that?

 

Most of my shots are of moving targets, like the dogs or the sprogs or birds etc.

Edited April 14, 2010 by lurchergrrl

[Tis TM 8]

If its got pre set scenes I would use them to start

[Marksman 934]

Instead of me trying to explain it and typing it all out have a look here.....

 

http://photography.about.com/od/takingpictures/u/BasicsPath.htm

 

Thats should give you the basic knowledge you are looking for.....then it's one hell of a steep learning curve if you wanna take it any further from there...... it's not as easy as just point and shoot!

 

Darryl

[lurchergrrl 1,441]

Thanks for that link Darryl, I'll have a good read thru of it. There's a course running at my local college but it's next to impossible to get on it.

[byron 1,190]

Thanks for that link Darryl, I'll have a good read thru of it. There's a course running at my local college but it's next to impossible to get on it.

tell em your foreign..lol.

they will put you top of the queue..

[Dawn B 212]

This is a very easy to understand guide to the controls and capabilities of a digital camera. It will be really helpful for you.

 

http://www.canon.co.jp/imaging/enjoydslr/part1/1B.html

 

Apertures work on "f" numbers

 

A large aperture of say f/2.8 will be wide open, and an aperture of f/22 will be a small aperture. Larger f numbers will mean the fore and background is more in focus, whereas a lower f number (wider open aperture) will mean a more blurry background for example. The wider open the aperture the faster the camera will perform. Depending on light of course, but generally a faster lens, say an f/2.8 will be good in lower light and for fast moving subjects.

[Dawn B 212]

A couple examples for you.

 

This was shot at F/8, all the foreground is in focus and just the very back isnt.

 

 

This was shot a F/2.5, as you can see just the very front of the image is in focus, concentrating on the cats head.

 

[J Darcy 5,871]

Lurchergrll, if you get stuck get my number off the little 'un and give me a ring....

[ghillies 209]

easiest way to suss it is put the camera on a pod or table, lean a meter rule going up and away from right next to the camera... manualy focous in the middle (50 cm) a keep the focous there, dont move anything...

 

AV setting so the camera sets the shutter speed (apature priority)

 

start with your lowest f/ number take a pic... then every three f/ stops untill its at its highest number.

 

set to manual...(can set the apature and shutter speed to what you want)

 

now for the shtter speed...lol, same set up, nothing moved and still on the highest f/ number (f/=apature) see what happens as you change the shutter speed from slower (say 1 second) to faster (say up to 2000 in randum steps)

 

then go to a mif f/ number... same again.

 

then to the lowest F/ number and same again.......you'll see the lower the f/ number the quicker the shutter speed. to quick it goes dark, too slow it goes light..

 

now have a look at the pics on your pc...........you'll see it.

 

 

 

 

 

for taking moving shots, well... depends how dark it is, too dark and your shutter speed will be well to slow and it'll blurr. but the lowest f/ will give the lightest/fastest pic, the highest f/ the darkest pic...the shutter speed gets faster the more open the apature.(bigger hole more light, but smalest f/number...).

but...f/8 at 20 yards will cover and slight miss focous's.. f/11 or something theres more in veiw, so a slower shutter speed but, more in focos so you'll get it sort of thing... (turn up the iso the shutter gets quicker, but usualy there'll be more noise).

the further away you shoot the more is in focous, so on the ruler at f/2.8 there may be an inch in focus, at 100 yards thats 20- 30 yards in clear focus.

 

seriously...just have a play, and have a look. (the camera info should be on right click the image file, proprties, advanced..one of the tabs at the top. that'll show apature and shutter speed and iso..).

[lurchergrrl 1,441]

Lurchergrll, if you get stuck get my number off the little 'un and give me a ring....

 

Oh sure, give you another ring? Didn't he already give you mine? :laugh:

 

Much appreciated Mr D I will take you up on that and give you a call when there's no kids around to get on my nerves.

 

And I promise, if I ever get the chance to come out and take pictures with you, I am far more quiet than my plodding, door slamming counterpart. Even I wanted to slap him when he told me about that!

 

And thanks Dawn and ghillies I will have a good play with it. But the problem I'm having is working out how to adjust the f thingys in the first place

[MuttleMcTuttle 21]

Best way is to take an hour out with your camera and the manual and just play around with it. I'm not familiar with that camera, but somewhere you'll find how to set it to speed (shutter) or aperture priority, and which button to press to change the speed or aperture.

 

Very basically these settings control how much light hits the sensor. When you use shutter (or speed priority) it does it by altering the shutter speed - if you mainly do action shots you will need a fairly fast shutter speed or the pics will be blurred, so when you're doing kids and dogs rushing around set the camera to 1/500 or more and let the aperture sort itself out.

 

The aperture size will affect how much of the photo is in focus. This is not so obvious with distant subjects, but the closer you get, the more it shows up. What makes it confusing is that smaller apertures have higher numbers - ie f16 is a small aperture, and f4 is a big one! When you "open the aperture up" it means setting it to a lower number... If you're using a wide (big) aperture focusing is more critical, and less of the shot will be in focus. If you want to use the multiple focus points you'll need a small aperture to make sure it's all in focus.

 

Another important setting is the ISO - if there isn't much light you may need to turn it up to a higher setting in order to be able to use a fast enough speed for your action shots.

 

Best way to learn is to keep taking the pics From what I've seen of your pics so far it looks like you're doing okay anyway

[J Darcy 5,871]

Lurchergrll, if you get stuck get my number off the little 'un and give me a ring....

 

Oh sure, give you another ring? Didn't he already give you mine? :laugh:

 

Much appreciated Mr D I will take you up on that and give you a call when there's no kids around to get on my nerves.

 

And I promise, if I ever get the chance to come out and take pictures with you, I am far more quiet than my plodding, door slamming counterpart. Even I wanted to slap him when he told me about that!

 

And thanks Dawn and ghillies I will have a good play with it. But the problem I'm having is working out how to adjust the f thingys in the first place

 

 

Anytime LLggrl......what i will say though is do not try to be too advanced, without sounding patronising just mess around with one or two settings and see what you get. It will all sink in inth eend, but just takes time.

 

The manual mode is a great learning tool.