ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed Questions

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<td>It is a bright, sunny, day. It is noon and you are on a picnic under a tree. I want to take a picture of food. Where would I begin my ISO, shutter speed, aperture and white balance at? </td>

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<td><label for="Field1_1">100, 1/10, 3.5, sunny</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field1_2">100, 1/100, 13, shade</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field1_3">1600, 1/10, 3.5 incandescent</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field1_4">1600, 1/100, 13, flourescent</label></td>

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<td>2.

It is a dark cloudy day of rain. I'm trying to take a picture of the drizzle from a rain gutter while stopping the motion of the rain drops. Where would I <strong>begin</strong> your ISO, shutter speed, aperture and white balance at?

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<td><label for="Field2_1">100, 1/100, 5.6, Cloudy</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field2_2">400, 1/100, 13, flourescent</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field2_3">800, 1/100, 32, incandescent</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field2_4">1600, 1/250, 3.5, sunny</label></td>

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<td>3. Which aperture allows the greatest depth of field?</td>

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<td><label for="Field3_1">1.8</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field3_2">13</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field3_3">32</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field3_4">8</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field3_5">22</label></td>

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<td>4. Which shutter speed allows the greatest amount of light to be captured? </td>

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<td><label for="Field4_1">1/100</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field4_2">1/1000</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field4_3">1/10</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field4_4">10"</label></td>

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<td>5. Which ISO responds the fastest to light? </td>

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<td><label for="Field5_1">100</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field5_2">200</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field5_3">400</label></td>

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<td><label for="Field5_4">800</label></td>

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<td>1600</td>

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<p>I think that if we answer your test questions for you, that would be considered cheating. Were you planning on asking us to do your homework for you too?</p>

<p>Is this exactly how the homework question reads? I don't meant to be snarky, but these are the very most basic of issues, addressed in every camera owner's manual, every text book, and in untold thousands of forum postings right here on photo.net, which you can search. I actually will answer each of those questions - I promise - if you can at least provide a hint that you've looked into the answers to them yourself, or can explain better why you're asking these questions in just this way. <br /><br />Normally, the Beginners forum will provide answers to even the most basic question. But the way you've asked this one suggests an odd perspective on what this forum is really for. Any one of those questions would be answered in a heartbeat. But that list of questions suggests that something else is going on, here (and the odd mix of "I" and "your" is adding to the mystery!).</p>

<p>Look I don't have my own camera, I don't have a photo book, and I'm not a photographer so at least for the first two questions I have no idea how to begin. I've narrowed it down the best I can. I'm almost positive 5 is 1600, 4 is 1/100, and 3 is 1.8 but since I have nothing to try that on I just wanted some kind of help.</p>

<p>If you really do wish to learn, I'd suggest starting with Bryan Peterson's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-3rd-Photographs-Camera/dp/0817439390/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284260935&sr=1-1">"Understanding Exposure."</a></p>

<p>Edit: You got one out of three. Anyone answering your questions is doing you a great dis-service. You really, really need a basic grounding, and the link below will help.</p>

<p>You really need to read this web site.</p>

<p>http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm</p>

<p> </p>

<ul>

<li>F1.8 has the least amount of depth of field. F22 has the most. At F1.8 the lens aperture is wide open. At F22 the lens aperture closes down to a small hole.</li>

<li>ISO 800 responds the fastest to light. ISO 100 is the slowest. Some cameras can go lower than 100. ISO 50 is slower than ISO 100 butISO 50 is faster than ISO 25. </li>

<li>10" (10 seconds) allows the sensor to collect more light than 1/1000.</li>

<li>For white ballance I would leave it on Auto and then <em>if necessary</em> adjust in later on the computer.</li>

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<p>As to what shutter aperature iso setting to use it depends. For starters if you are hand holding you will need a shutter speed of 1/focal length for a full fram camera. that means if you are using a 50mm lens you should use 1/50 of a second or faster for a sharp image. For a 100mm use 1/100. some people cannot hold a camera as steady as others. So this is a general guide line. You might want to use a shutter speed a little faster than indicated. Also most cameras are not full frame. Most have APS-C sized sensors which have a crop factor of 1.6 or 1.5. If you are using a APS-C camera then take your crop factor and multiply it with the lens focal length. Nikon is 1.5 so for a 50mm lens you should use 1/75 of a second or faster. Canon is 1.6. Olympus and panasonic u4/3 cameras have srop factor of 2. I'm not sure on Sony or Pentax.</p>

<p>Once you know the shutter speed you need determine howmuch aperture you need. Sellect an aperture and then use preview button. This is a button or function in software that will close down the aperture so that you can see the depth of field . This will also cause the image o get darker. Cameras with live view can compensate for this darkening making it easiter to determine Depth of field. By default the lens aperture is kept wide open until you press the shutter botton to take the picture. Note for any given aperture and focal length the depth of field will drop as you get closer to the subject. If you step back you will get more. So you might want to switch to manual focus or set the camera to auto focus, let auto focus focus the image and then lock in the focus by switching to manual focus.</p>

<p>Once you know the shutter and aperture setting you want I would set the camera to AV mode, set the aperture, and then adjust the iso until the shutter speed is high enough to get the shutter speed you need.</p>

<p>I should have added in my response that AV mode is aperture priority mode You set the aperture and ISO and then the camera selects the shtter speed. There is also a TV mode, Shutter priority where you set the shutter speed and ISO while the camera sellects the aperture. M, Manual mode you set the shutter, aperture, and ISO. Some newer cameras can be set to automatically adjust the ISO in manual, TV and AV modes</p>

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<p>Look I don't have my own camera, I don't have a photo book, and I'm not a photographer</p>

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<p>And you just joined today. You must be on a scavenger hunt, then. What fun!</p>

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<p>F1.8 has the least amount of depth of field. F22 has the most.</p>

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<p>Aside from the other concerns about your questions, you can't even rely on the answers you get here. Steven apparently didn't notice that f/32 was one of the choices, and it is the one (among the choices offered) which will give you the greatest depth of field, other things being equal.</p>

<p>Hi Bob, Thanks for the Fred Parker link - as a beginner in photography I found this particular page was very helpful :-)</p>

welcome to pn christian. good advice at the heart of the comments. the forums are a great help,from cameras to criticisms! go for it and please post your results. regards miken

<p>Jamie,<br>

I printed out the two Fred Parker charts and I use them in the field when I use my cameras with no meters. Those charts will yield GREAT exposures, and you can learn the EV light scale in minutes. It is really useful stuff - try it!</p>

<p>No camera, no books, .... so, why do you want to know ? Are you taking a class, but don't have a text book or the equipment yet ?</p>

<p>People are questioning you, because it just seems to be a odd post. Needing to know this stuff is not odd, but it sure seems like you have copied some classroom test questions.</p>

<p>So my current answers from looking things up some more would be...<br>

1. B<br>

2. D<br>

3. C<br>

4. D<br>

5. D<br>

The first two are the ones I really have no idea. So any help would be appreciated.</p>

<p>the answers are actually in the questions.</p>

<p>#1: "It's a bright sunny day.... "</p>

<p>#2: " It's a dark cloudy day .... "</p>

<p>Wouldn't the first phases of the question give you a pretty good place to start ?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>C Higgins - I send the person above in suggesting Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" as a good book for you to read.</p>

<p>PS: 'Interesting' way of asking a question if you don't actually know the answers. I actually thought you were an experienced photographer or even moderator starting up a quiz thread for the new guys to learn some basic concepts from.</p>