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Nikon DSLR Cameras
D3100
D3100 ISO numbers and F settings
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<blockquote data-quote="SteveH" data-source="post: 354449" data-attributes="member: 9252"><p>Hi Dave,</p><p>The aperture (F-stops) is how wide the hole in the lens is, and therefore how much light can get through. It is a bit like the iris in your eyes opening and closing according how light it is.</p><p></p><p>The ISO is how sensitive to light the sensor is, so how much information it will record in a given time (While the shutter is open)</p><p></p><p>Then you have the shutter speed, normally measured in fractions of a second - This is how long the light allowed through the aperture hits the sensor.</p><p></p><p></p><p>There is no "Right" setting for any single component, they work like a triangle makes a loop - One side can be longer or shorter than the others, as long as the ends meet - I hope that bit makes sense? lol Google the "Exposure triangle".</p><p></p><p></p><p>Each of the three parts has different characteristics that affect the resulting picture, for example the wider the aperture (LOWER F-stop number) the less depth-of-field you have... This results in the blurring (Bokeh) in front of, and behind the focus point. A wider aperture also allows more light in, so you need a lower ISO (Sensitivity) and / or faster shutter speed.</p><p></p><p>The shutter speed is the "Recording time" of your sensor, so a fast shutter freezes action and lets in less light, a slow speed lets in lots of light, but movement will blur the subject.</p><p></p><p>ISO is the sensor sensitivity, low ISO is less sensitive, but has less "Noise" or "Grain" in the resulting picture, high ISO gathers plenty of info from dark scenes, but is also "Noisy" or grainy.</p><p></p><p>A narrower aperture (High F-stop) lets much less light in, but brings more of the scene into focus - The less light means you need a slower shutter speed and / or higher ISO.</p><p></p><p>You use these settings to create the image you want - There are no hard and fast rules, use experience and trial and error.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>For example, on a light day you want to photograph a flower in your garden. You want the main bloom to be the subject, so want the other foliage in the background to be out of focus. We know we need a low F-stop (Wide aperture) to do this given the info above, but consider that the wide aperture will let in too much light and over expose the picture... To overcome this, you would lower the ISO, and make the shutter speed faster.</p><p></p><p>You then want a second picture of the same flower, but it is early evening and a bit darker - The aperture could stay the same, for the out-of-focus effect in the background, but when you decrease the shutter speed for darker conditions, you find that the flower isn't sharp - Most likely a bit of breeze or your natural hand shake while the shutter was open. You can overcome this by increasing the ISO, to allow a faster shutter speed in lower light.</p><p></p><p>I hope the above gives you a bit to go on, it is a huge subject and there are others with WAY more knowledge and experience than me here who I'm sure will help to.</p><p></p><p>With lenses not focussing etc, be aware that lenses have a minimum focus distance... The 18-55mm will not focus on subjects closer than 8 or 12 inches if I remember rightly. The longer lens, 55-200mm will be more than 1 meter.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SteveH, post: 354449, member: 9252"] Hi Dave, The aperture (F-stops) is how wide the hole in the lens is, and therefore how much light can get through. It is a bit like the iris in your eyes opening and closing according how light it is. The ISO is how sensitive to light the sensor is, so how much information it will record in a given time (While the shutter is open) Then you have the shutter speed, normally measured in fractions of a second - This is how long the light allowed through the aperture hits the sensor. There is no "Right" setting for any single component, they work like a triangle makes a loop - One side can be longer or shorter than the others, as long as the ends meet - I hope that bit makes sense? lol Google the "Exposure triangle". Each of the three parts has different characteristics that affect the resulting picture, for example the wider the aperture (LOWER F-stop number) the less depth-of-field you have... This results in the blurring (Bokeh) in front of, and behind the focus point. A wider aperture also allows more light in, so you need a lower ISO (Sensitivity) and / or faster shutter speed. The shutter speed is the "Recording time" of your sensor, so a fast shutter freezes action and lets in less light, a slow speed lets in lots of light, but movement will blur the subject. ISO is the sensor sensitivity, low ISO is less sensitive, but has less "Noise" or "Grain" in the resulting picture, high ISO gathers plenty of info from dark scenes, but is also "Noisy" or grainy. A narrower aperture (High F-stop) lets much less light in, but brings more of the scene into focus - The less light means you need a slower shutter speed and / or higher ISO. You use these settings to create the image you want - There are no hard and fast rules, use experience and trial and error. For example, on a light day you want to photograph a flower in your garden. You want the main bloom to be the subject, so want the other foliage in the background to be out of focus. We know we need a low F-stop (Wide aperture) to do this given the info above, but consider that the wide aperture will let in too much light and over expose the picture... To overcome this, you would lower the ISO, and make the shutter speed faster. You then want a second picture of the same flower, but it is early evening and a bit darker - The aperture could stay the same, for the out-of-focus effect in the background, but when you decrease the shutter speed for darker conditions, you find that the flower isn't sharp - Most likely a bit of breeze or your natural hand shake while the shutter was open. You can overcome this by increasing the ISO, to allow a faster shutter speed in lower light. I hope the above gives you a bit to go on, it is a huge subject and there are others with WAY more knowledge and experience than me here who I'm sure will help to. With lenses not focussing etc, be aware that lenses have a minimum focus distance... The 18-55mm will not focus on subjects closer than 8 or 12 inches if I remember rightly. The longer lens, 55-200mm will be more than 1 meter. [/QUOTE]
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D3100 ISO numbers and F settings
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