Newbe back with questions

keyboard

Senior Member
Hi All

I am sitting in my backyard trying to understand my D5100 betterer :). My ambition is to shoot in manual mode.....

The problem I am having, is that whenever I move to M, A, S, or P mode, the live view is very dark but when I move to Auto, the live view seems to be correct.

What am I doing wrong?

Ron
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
No... The picture you just took is controlled by the Preview settings... and displays for a selected time period AFTER you take a shot.

LIVE view shows you the image you are about to take... but due to various limitations doesn't display the correct exposure in a dynamic fashion... IOW... it should show the exposure changing as you change the speed or aperture settings... it doesn't work very well without turning Live View OFF and then back ON again a very cumbersome process...

Better to just turn it OFF and use the View Finder the old fashioned way...
 

keyboard

Senior Member
Boy, I am missing some simple fundamentals...It looks like I need to do some homework like reading manuals .... The picture just not show up in the library, its just dark...
 

nickt

Senior Member
Here is a plan to learn manual:

1) Don't use live view

2) Turn auto iso OFF

3) Watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8T94sdiNjc

4) Read this:

Camera Exposure: Aperture, ISO & Shutter Speed

Not that live view is bad, it is just going to confuse you while you learn.

Same with auto iso, it is a great feature. I especially like it when using manual mode, but it will confuse you as you learn.

You should be able to see your exposure meter in the viewfinder when in manual mode. Take a look at it and start to watch it as you change manual settings. It should not be bottomed out at one side or the other. It should be at the center or at least somewhere on the scale depending on the effect you are going for.
 
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