Newbie - hello - help A Mode settings.

Hi
I am the proud owner of a D3100 been keen on getting into photography for ages.

Anyhow, I've had my camera for over a week and have been taking some great pics in Aperture priority mode.

Yesterday i wanted to take some backlit pictures of my children and was playing with metering modes and got some ok pictures. But on finishing up I noticed that when I was in aperture priority mode the aperture was static whilst turning the lens and the shutter speed was changing as I was turning.

I have been through all the menus it seems and I have done both 'reset' options but still when I turn the lens in A mode the shutter speed changes but the f.stop number stays the same. Probably why I'm not getting as sharp pictures.

Any ideas? Am a complete newbie by the way and I think I have reset all my options, but I've clearly flicked something, somewhere....

TIA

beaner said:

I noticed that when I was in aperture priority mode the aperture was static whilst turning the lens and the shutter speed was changing as I was turning.

I have been through all the menus it seems and I have done both 'reset' options but still when I turn the lens in A mode the shutter speed changes but the f.stop number stays the same. Probably why I'm not getting as sharp pictures.

Click to expand...

What do you mean, when you say turning the lens ?? in aperture mode, you set the f stop you want to use and the camera will set a shutter speed to match, the shutter speed will go up and down according to the light, but the f stop will stay at the setting you have applied

Nikon Photographer said:

What do you mean, when you say turning the lens ?? in aperture mode, you set the f stop you want to use and the camera will set a shutter speed to match, the shutter speed will go up and down according to the light, but the f stop will stay at the setting you have applied

Click to expand...

When I first used the camera and zoomed in and out and f.stop number would change as I zoomed, now it remains static and the shutter speed indicator changes as i zoom....?

Thanks for replying!!

This is what you get with the standard zoom lens that usually comes with the camera. You will notice it says on the lens 3.5-5.6 or similar numbers. This means that the actual aperture changes between the shortest focal length (18) to the longest (55). This is how consumer zoom lenses behave. If you want to invest in "constant aperture" zooms, usually 2.8, then the aperture won't vary.

Enjoy your Nikon!

That's exactly how aperture priority mode should work. To piggyback on what Marcel said, I'd guess that your set aperture right now is smaller than the max aperture of the lens at all focal lengths. When you noticed it changing as you 'turned the lens' you likely had it set for a larger aperture (smaller f/number) and the camera was forced to use the largest available as you changed the focal length of the lens.

Hi Thanks for the replies guys, I think I have been confused between aperture/zoom (told you I was a newbie). Been playing more today and getting sharp pictures again.

Another question though, it appears to be possible to set the aperture to beyond the 'lens size' of 5.6? Is that right? Bit confused now!

beaner said:

Hi Thanks for the replies guys, I think I have been confused between aperture/zoom (told you I was a newbie). Been playing more today and getting sharp pictures again.

Another question though, it appears to be possible to set the aperture to beyond the 'lens size' of 5.6? Is that right? Bit confused now!

Click to expand...

Yes, that right, you can select the aperture to probably f22 (depending on the lens). Now to try to make you understand, think of aperture like a faucet and your camera's sensor as a pail. To get a good picture, the pail needs to be filled. So, if you use bigger aperture (smaller f-stop), you will fill the pail faster(faster -shorter shutter speeds). If you make the aperture smaller(bigger f-stops numbers 11-16-22), your shutter will open longer in order to get enough light to expose properly.

Google f-stops and you will see the numbers actually relate to opening of the lens iris.

Hope this helped.