Welcome to the Brand New & Revised Camera Settings Challenge 2015
Do some of the camera settings intimidate you? Do you want to learn how to develop your photography skills and learn how to use your camera effectively without always going back to the “auto” function? These challenges are for you!
We are going to walk you through various camera settings starting with the basics and build upon them as we move forward. They will no longer be a competition but rather a type of 365 class room community. You can join in and follow which ever challenges interest you.
These are designed for those experienced photographers to share their knowledge with others who are anxious to learn and improve their skills.
This week’s challenge is: using the shutter priority setting and figuring out what shutter speeds work best in certain conditions.
Explanation:
When you set your camera to “shutter priority”, this means that you are going to decide what the shutter speed will be. Your will camera decide what to do about aperture. For this challenge, you will also set your ISO to auto, so that the camera will decide the ISO setting as well.
Shutter speed is the length of time your shutter is open and letting light onto the sensor of your camera. The shorter the time your shutter is open, the less light gets into the camera. The longer it’s open, the more light gets in.
Generally, more light is “better” in terms of getting a good exposure. The difficulty, however, is that if your shutter is open for too long, then your image may come out blurry. This could happen because your subject is moving quickly in comparison to the shutter speed. Or it could happen because the shutter speed was so slow, you weren’t able to keep the camera still while the shutter was open.
Your challenge is to figure out the slowest shutter speed you are comfortable with when working with the camera handheld.
Start by choosing the shutter priority setting on your camera. On a Canon, this is “Tv”; on Nikon, it is S. If you’re not sure, check the manual that came with your camera. Don't forget to also, set the ISO to “auto.”
We’re going to experiment with three different shutter speeds:
(a) 1/125
(b) 1/60
(c) 1/8
For each setting, take some shots of the same subject (don’t use your flash), download them to your computer and compare them.
1. What do you notice about the settings the camera chose for each of the images, for aperture and ISO?
2. What do you think about the quality of the images you took?
3. Were you able to hold the camera still for all three shots?
4. If your subject was moving, were you able to freeze their motion? Or do you see some motion blur?
5. Which of the images do you like best, and why?
Additional Tips:
The general wisdom is that you can manage to hold the camera steady for a shutter speed that is 1/x where x is your focal length. So, if you focal length is 50mm, in theory, you would be able to hold the camera steady for a shutter speed of 1/50s.
However, everyone is different. Some will need a faster shutter speed in order to avoid camera shake; others will be able to take it down to 1/40 or 1/25 or even slower. Some cameras and/or lenses will have an image stabilization feature which will help you with this.
You can often improve your results at a slower shutter speed by bracing yourself against a wall and holding your elbows tight to your body. Play around with different shutter speeds to see “how low you can go”. Experiment and have fun!
Experienced photographers who are knowledgeable in this particular setting are encouraged to offer “kind and constructive” suggestions on the posted entries. Those entering this challenge want to learn and improve.
This challenge starts today, Saturday January 17 and lasts until Sunday, January 25. Please use the tag: camerasavvy-handheld
For these challenges we encourage you to post your photo(s) in this thread to receive feedback and/or tips on what could be done to possibly improve the image (based on this specific challenge). We will not have a voting but we will select a few honorable mentions at the end of the challenge.
ASK QUESTIONS we are all here to help you learn!
Expect to receive constructive suggestions on how to improve your skills.
How to post your photo on this link:
1) Go to your page that has the photo you wish to post.
2) Click on the three dots, and copy the code from the pop up box
3) Return to this thread and paste the code under comments
oh, this should be interesting. I have gotten so used to shooting in full manual and using a tripod, although I did this a lot outside but now it's too cold out. Shooting indoors will be a challenge for me without using flash or tripod.
My Canon doesn't seem to have an "auto" ISO in TV mode...
@zosimasy hmmm... oh dear... i have auto ISO in shutter priority mode for both my 70D and my sony nex7... it didn't occur to me that this may not be available in other cameras :(... indoor light can be tricky... depending on the speed of your lens, you may need to set the ISO to 1600 or so...
And this is one of the reason I came back after being away for a few years! This community rocks in its ability to not only support one another but also its desire to help everyone learn something new! Rock on 365ers!
One of the niftiest new technology in cameras is Image Stabilization (IS), usually on lenses, sometimes in the camera itself. Other manufacturer terms are VR (Vibration Reduction), VC (Vibration Compensation), OS (Optical Stabilization), OSS (Optical Steady Shot) and like terms... It allows you to shoot handheld much slower than the "rule" that @northy talked about above (1/focal-length). IS kicks in when you half-press the shutter for the camera to "meter" (check the light) and magically you will see the image stabilize in the viewfinder. Cuts the "hand shaking" effect, especially for telephoto lenses 100mm and longer.
If you have such lenses (or the camera in the case of earlier Sony DSLRs) you might want to repeat the exercise with IS turned off. A switch on the lens will do that. I think you will be surprised. I hope pleasantly, at slower shutter speeds and longer focal lengths especially, with the feature on versus off.
Hope you are all having fun getting to understand the "slow" limits of you and your camera, and especially the lenses. :)
Real quick one for today, figured I'd use this challenge to fill today's photo.
I like the second photo best, as it is surprisingly in better focus than the first. All three times I had my elbow propped on the table, and I expected the first photo to have the best focus... maybe I wasn't paying attention to my breathing.... or didn't squeeze the button....
in comparing focus I'm primarily looking at the nose of the locomotive, and if you zoom into the photo the lit number boards above the windows are in pretty good focus in the second photo.
@zosimasy Cool Charles! The train subject sharpness at faster speeds. Less room for hand shake to show up.
And leading into a discussion in a week or so on DoF and "aperture" too! Even though 3 is not as sharp as 2 or 1 on the subject, the background is not as blurred. Great first post!
@camerasavvy This is my quick test. I can see the camera shake on my originals at 1/60 amd 1/8 when I zoom in, but I find it hard to notice here. So the first one should be the clearest.
What really surprised me was that my camera adjusted the ISO to compensate for the change in exposure time...from 100 to 800 to 1600. I thought that Tv setting would move the aperture...that's why I had been avoiding it.
I don't see much difference in these in the smaller size. Is there a set-up where I'd see more differences?
@myhrhelper yup, just focusing on shutter speed, the ISO is completely manual in this mode, I left it on 800 for each shot, maybe next time I'll adjust it,, but it only has 5 options (100,200,400,800, and 1600) nothing in between.
For the Camera Settings Challenge: Shutter Priority Setting
- Camera: Canon 700D
- 1/125 , 1/80 , 1/8
- ISO was set to Auto, but it changed to 100 when 3 photos were taken.
- Handheld
- Lens Stabliser is on
- Environment: Outside, slight wind
Verdict: I prefer the first photo, less blur and more sharpness. The last photo more blur and the background was sharper. Even though there was slight wind, I held the camera tight and waited for the wind to drop.
@houser934 It's unclear to me, and even experts, what the various manufacturers' algorithms are for Auto ISO. When does ISO change and by how much rather than one of the other settings allowed by the mode? Here "S" or "Tv." And it varies from model to model for the same manufacturer often.
As your example shows, ISO changed but Aperture didn't for your camera. But see how Lee Ann's @leestevo camera worked - ISO remained constant and Aperture varied, just the opposite from yours for AUTO ISO in Shutter Priority.
But for sure if you *fix* the ISO, the aperture will vary and ISO will remain constant to get "equivalent exposures" (same quantity of light). As would every other camera. We'll talk more about ISO and various AUTO ISO options in a few weeks.
ISO was set to Auto. Focal length was 41.1mm
1/125; 1/60; 1/8
Handheld. Windy conditions.
Aperture changed for each shot but not ISO.
Verdict: the final shot is a dud.
Create a blank image, make it long and not too tall, have the other three open and when in each one grab the marquee tool, select the whole image, copy and paste it into the blank image. Once pasted, right click and click on free transform and you can make the picture smaller. Then do the same for the other two. Hope this helps.
@dannacruzanphotography interesting results Danna. It looks like your aperture is constant in all three as well as the ISO, which is why the 1/8 image is so much brighter. This may simply be because 5.6 is the maximum opening at 55mm. If you tried this in better light like you suggest you may well have different results. I'm eager to see :)
@pamknowler I'm fairly certain you can't post raw images here, they will need to be converted to JPEG. Totally up to you whether you wish to tweak anything about your images for this challenge. This is an interesting one in that no amount of playing about with software will fix a blurry image! But if there are other things about the image that you want to play with, for this challenge I don't see a problem myself.
@pamknowler You could a jpeg along with the raw file or just do what you normally do. You should end up with three shots with the same exposure so you'll only have to tweak one then apply those settings to the other two.
These were taken with the Canon 70D, 50mm lens
ISO was on auto and I noticed that the aperture changed, all have a different look. i'm interested to see which one people prefer?
@dannacruzanphotography As @aliha said, you've reached the maximum aperture for your lens. In theory your Auto ISO setting should have attempted compensate but I had a quick Google of your camera and it looks like in basic mode it tops out at 800 so you reached the limit there too.
Keep an eye on the values in the viewfinder display. If you change one setting another one will change to compensate. If you reach the the limit of one you'll probably get a "Hi" or "Lo" warning :)
By the way I have a cousin who is a big hunter. I was lamenting my inability to hold my camera still. He said that its probably like hunting and to not hold my breath because it makes your hands shake. The idea is to relax and breath slowly. It actually works.
@alinz You've run into the same problem as Danna @dannacruzanphotography only at the other end of the range. The bright conditions coupled with a fairly low shutter speed meant the camera couldn't select a small enough aperture to give the right exposure that's why your first shot is quite overexposed :)
@pamknowler I also shoot RAW... To get the best sense of the results from the different settings, I just apply the same processing in LR... For the example I did, I fixed white balance, increased contrast minimally, sharpened, straightened and cropped... I didn't do any noise reduction because part of the exercise is to see how much noise you get from your camera at the different exposure settings...
@pamknowler i know! i normally shoot manual or aperture priority as well... rarely shutter priority... but i think t's good to test out your tolerance for noise balanced against the lowest shutter speed you can manage :)
Yay, thank you so much for running these challenges! I'm really looking forward to the "classes" :) Here are the results of my experiments. My camera is also very ISO-happy, which is one thing I really don't like about its AV and TV modes. My camera just loves to use the really high ISO numbers, but I just hate the noise!! Normally when I shoot in those modes I set the ISO to 100 or 200. So here's the normal series... you can't see much difference in exposure because of the ISO compensation, but the faster shutter speeds are definitely noisier on close inspection. I took these at 58mm for reference, so 1/60 was a good "check" for the sharpness rule.
I also took @frankhymus suggestion and tried it again without Image Stabilization... big difference! I don't think any of them are as well focused as the first series, but especially at the slower shutters.
I think my favorite is the 1/8 with image stabilization, although TBH I don't really like any of them, because ideally I would have liked a smaller aperture to get the whole still life in focus.
Another weird thing I noticed... I exported them all with the identical settings in Lightroom, and the file sizes got smaller as the shutter speed got slower... does the higher ISO translate to a larger file because of the noise? The file sizes were 1.9MB, 1.6MB and 870KB respectively.
I use a Canon 5D Mark 11. I set the dial to TV and ISO to Auto (A)
I turned IS on lens off as there was not much difference in each shot when it was on.
Aperture and ISO remained the same for both 1/125 and 1/60 (F2.8 and ISO 3200).
At 1/8 aperture changed to F3.2 and ISO to 500. I thought the 1/8 looked blurry. The 1/125 too dark and the 1/60 just about right considering no edits in LR were done to the RAW shot.
I took the shot in RAW and exported to LR which converts it to a .dng, I exported to PS and added text then took them back to LR and they had become .tif files. No further edits done.
I see this exercise is being performed a lot on still life. I would strongly encourage performing this exercise on a moving subject where the impact/effect of shutter-priority mode/shutter speed would be more evident. Although shooting a still life with this exercise will provide a demonstration of the exposure triangle (shutter, aperture, ISO), nothing is moving so the greater impact of slow vs. fast shutter speeds and why you would specifically choose to operate your camera in shutter-priority mode is not being observed. (Outside of any mild motion blur that may be introduced from shooting handheld). When shooting a waterfall for example, you may intentionally choose shutter-priority of 1/8 in order to produce the silky effect vs. 1/125 which will "freeze" the water motion. So I encourage performing this exercise on a moving subject to obtain a stronger demonstration of shutter speed and motion of greater impact as opposed to mildly discernable changes in sharpness of the image due lack of camera/lens stablization.
Image One 1/125s, f1/8, ISO 160
Image Two 1/60s, f2.0, ISO 100
Image Three 1/8s f6.3 ISO 100
I managed to work out how to get the ISO on Auto and left VR on. I would like to do them again with VR off but the light is fading now so I'll try tomorrow. i added Wiggle the Worm as I wanted to see how the settings affected the colour.
These three pictures are SOOC, imported as RAW file, exported as a jpg.
- Camera: Nikon D90
- shooting in S-mode
- shutterspeeds: 1/125, 1/80, 1/8
- 98 mm focal length
- ISO sensitivity auto control on, with maximum sensitivity 3200, minimum shutter speed 1/8
- Handheld
- VR on
- Environment: Inside, side light from window
The ISO was 360 in the first picture and 3200 in the second and third. The aperture was in all three F5.6
I learned a lot as I found out that my Nikon doesn't have an auto ISO in S mode, I still have to give a maximum sensitivity and minimum shutterspeed.
Looking at the three pictures above, I like the middle one the best. The first is slightly blurred, the last a bit too dark. I'm not too keen on the grain. Would like more clarity. I think I have to change my maximum and minimum values?
@frankhymus thanks for the info on VR! It's on now.
@icamera I get where you are coming from but this exercise is primarily about camera shake so still life or a fairly static subject is a valid choice. Freezing movement comes later :)
@iqscotland Well I see that I missed the "handheld" part of the topic subject. I had thought (based on original post context) that the exposure triangle was going to be stepped through and was concerned that the overall point of shutter-priority was being overshadowed by the context of stabilization. Apparently there is a planned curriculum I'm unaware of --- sorry, just meant to help. I'll go back to taking pictures.
@icamera No need to apologise. Just because your post was a wee bit out of step with what was being done doesn't make it any less helpful. Everyone's input is welcome. "Planned curriculum" is maybe a bit of an overstatement :)
@overalvandaan Ah! You are way ahead of me, mentioning the Nikon AUTO ISO Sensitivity capabilities. While the minimum and maximum allowed ISO should kick in for all modes including "S," the minimum shutter should kick in only in "A," in "S" or "M" the shutter remains fixed at where you set it with the command dial.
Nikon have done a great job of the feature and have done it on all of their DSLR cameras, low and high end, for many years. Only if the set ISO cannot shoot at the lower shutter speed will the camera attempt to raise the ISO. Canon have introduced fixed ranges and slowest shutter with their high end 5Dii, 6D and 1Dx, AUTO ISO Speed I think they call it, and only on their latest 7Dii have they implemented configurable ISO limits with the slowest shutter allowed. I can't find similar comprehensive function on other manufacturers. Not Sony, not Lumix, not Fujifilm. I don't know about Olympus or Pentax. Perhaps others can help me find out?
I use the feature all the time, more often than not to make sure the shutter speed doesn't drop below a "safe" hand-held level for the lens I have mounted, telephoto especially.
@polarvrtx Are you shooting with your EOS 6D? If so, you do have a fairly comprehensive set of ISO Speed Settings, the third menu in the Shooting section. You have several fixed ISO ranges to choose from. My post three items up from here talks about this some more.
Also, don't be at all concerned if your AUTO ISO behavior is different from others here. Like "Does ISO move or does Aperture, or both even, when in "Tv" (S) mode when you move the speed?" Not only does it vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but sometimes from model to model from the same manufacturer. Just get a feel for what *your* camea does. All the best...
@camerasavvy I am really keen to learn to use my camera away from full auto and try this challenge, but using a Nikon D3200 I cannot find a setting that allows me to use S mode and Auto for ISO - looking at the manual is no help. Sorry I am possibly (even definitely!!:O() being obtuse on this but please can anyone help? Thank you
Today i used the Canon 20D, same shooting style only difference being the image stabilizer.... i think i did better with the non-image stabilizer though... why is this?
@barneyone Let's see if I can help. I am looking at my D3100, I would assume the D3200 is much the same. Yes, the camera doesn't have an AUTO ISO option so labeled if you are in any mode other than AUTO. A quirk of the D3x00 series.
So what you have to do to have the camera choose a suitable ISO is go into the Shooting Menu, and on the first page towards the bottom (the sixth item on the D3100) pick ISO Sensitivity Settings. Pick a base ISO (100 is suitable), turn ON ISO Sensitivity Settings, pick a maximum ISO (perhaps 1600 is suitable) and then finally pick a slowest shutter speed (although this won't affect the camera in "S" mode). The camera will now juggle the ISO and the aperture for the speed you have chosen from the original "S" mode setting and the command dial. Exactly how I am not sure, neither are any but those in the Nikon Labs it seems. Now other Nikon DSLRs do use AUTO in these modes. Just goes to show that the Product Mangers at even one manufacturer don't talk to each other. :) But like I did say above, your D3200 does have auto control capability that only the newest Canon DSLR, the 7D Mark II, can match in this area. I hope you can learn to love the feature.
Naturally, you can choose any fixed ISO, either in the menus or in the Info screen.
Strange though that the entry level Nikon DSLR would demand you do this for something as conceptually simple as "AUTO ISO" in the advanced metering modes that all others do not. Hope that helps...
You can look at my postings three and six up from this response for more about this. We'll talk more about ISO options in a few weeks. It is probably the least standardized area among the camera manufacturers, for "camera assisted" anyway. But just a few moments with exercises like this you can find out what *your* camera does, and that is really what matters.
@barneyone Just use a fixed ISO if Auto ISO isn't available. You might have to be using one of the scene modes to get it. Using Auto ISO isn't essential for this :)
I did scrub out the birdbath before shooting! I chose the birdbath with the water wiggler so there would be some movement. The first shot looks like it freezes the movement of the wiggler, the second one there is a little blur and the third you can't really see the little spinner thing.
I like the first shot as it is clearer. If this were a stream with rushing water the slower shutter speed would probably add a lot to it.
@zosimasy Sorry, my bad spelling probably didn't help. I just wondered which lens you used yesterday and which one you used today ? The focal length will be the number in "mm" on the lens. A longer focal length is more difficult to hold steady :)
Thank you for this learning challenge. It really got me looking at my settings and thinking about how things worked. I think I liked the 1/60 shot best for the crispness of focus.
The iso changed but not the aperture on this indoor still life, fairly close up.
I'll post another set that I did outdoors with snow.
@iqscotland
yesterday was a standard 24-78, today was 70-300
I suppose that explains the difference, tiny object with long focal length, even with image stabilizer wasn't enough.
@aponi
You're doing great Kathryn. Part of this experiment is to learn how slow of a shutter speed you can use and still be in focus. Very few people can actually hand hold at 1/8 second. So many things have an impact on hand holding, including too much coffee or sugar, even gusting wind. Great shot at 1/125. I can never get any good shots of my goldfish.
Did this 2nd set outdoors in the snow. The aperture changed but iso stayed at 100 - thinking that is due to the bright snow.
I think I liked the 'white' better in the 1/8 -also maybe because the aperture change gave me a depth of field clarity further away.
@candysiegmueller
Great job Candy. I believe you reached the aperture limit (f/4) on your lens. That is why 1/125 shot is darker. If you lens was able to open to f/2.8 that shot would have been lighter (better exposed).
@zosimasy You're quite right, particularly as you had it focussed in closely. You've also fallen foul of the same thing several others have in that you've reached your maximum aperture so two of your shots are under exposed. Keep an eye on the viewfinder readout for warnings :)
Camera: Canon T3i
Lens: 50mm 1.8
Settings: TV, Auto ISO
Focus was on the corner of the pink die
Top to bottom
1/125, F2.0, ISO 800
1/60, F2.0, ISO 400
1/8, F2.8, ISO 100
Shot on table by sliding glass door with insufficient overhead lighting. I was surprised by how much natural light came through the slider, as the sun hits the opposite side of the house in the afternoon. On the camera screen I liked the middle one best, but once they were uploaded I guess the bottom one is a smidge clearer?
Tomorrow I should have more time, and will retreat to the darker areas of the house to experiment more.
Canon T5i, in Tv mode
Canon EF-S18-200mm(@70mm)
1/125, f/5.0, ISO1250
1/60, f5.6, ISO800
1/8, f5.6, ISO100
Shot outdoors during golden hour, but in total shade. Standing with camera unsupported. First shot is most sharp, second is pretty close, and third is usable if not enlarged to much. @camerasavvy-handheld
Camera: Nikon Coolpix P520
Setting: S - couldn't figure out where to change ISO, but it appears it was on auto.
1/125
F-stop: f/3.7
ISO: 1600
Focal Length: 11mm
1/60
F-stop: f/3.7
ISO: 1600
Focal Length: 11mm
1/8
F-stop: f/3.7
ISO: 1000
Focal Length:11mm
Photo was taken indoors, overhead lighting. I had one elbow propped on a table while taking this photo. I didn't edit any of the photos. 1/8th is my preferred out of the trio because you can actually make the snowman out. I believe the lighting looks harsh though.
I hope I can get outside tomorrow to see what shooting in natural light will do.
First, thank you for this learning opportunity. These were taken with a Canon T5i and Sigma 18-250 lens with OS. I'm away from home so I downloaded to my iPad and used an app for the collage.
I've been shooting in manual, so I was apprehensive about going back to TV and particularly auto ISO. I was surprised that the noise was not as bad as I expected at 1600 for both 1/125 and 1/60. Also never expected to be in focus at 1/8, but it's not terrible! OS was on and I steadied myself on a chair. all things considered, I would use Tv mode for fast action but probably not for my usual shooting situations.
Interesting exercise. I did set my ISO to auto but ISO was 200 in all 3 images. It was interesting to see how the dof changed significantly with the change in aperture. I'm going to try again tomorrow when I have more time and I'll confirm my ISO is really set at *auto* :)
BTW, I shoot with a 4/3 sensor so although the lens is 17mm, it is equal to 34mm.
@rosiekerr That's a great example of how the camera has altered the aperture to compensate for you changing the shutter speed. The numbers are even in standard full stop intervals so it's easy to follow. Not so good at showing the camera shake but I suspect you have image stabilisation turned on :)
I expected a bigger difference in these 3 photos due to the difference in S/S (my previous ones from yesterday were hugely different).
I tried to put all 3 onto a collage and this was the only one I found on my Mac - not quite what I wanted but still....
Very disappointed. My camera settings are obviously not correct. ISO was set to auto, however the exif data read 3200 for the 3 of them. The f value was also 3.5 for each. I am using a Canon 550D. Anyone know what I am doing wrong.
@weebindi2 f/3.5 may be as high as your lens will go and the 3200 may be as high ISO will go? So if they were both at the max you only controlled the shutter speed. Try it with more natural light and see if they change then.
I do not like the ISO the canera chose on each of them but in all fairness I should of probaly shot at a higher f number as I think everyone of these is overexposed to some degree. but saying that didn;t the camera choose the f number? I was in Shutter Priority.
I had no problem with handheld even though this lens has no VR as I was leaning steady against something so the slower shutter speeds didn't really affect the outcome.
Perhaps I will try this again tomorrow.
The shot is from below of my cactus and white flower pot in a window on a sunny day.
If I had to chose one I prefered I would chose the 2nd at 1/60 sec
Left to Right
Camera: Nikon Coolpix P520
focal length: 9mm
1/125; F4; IOS-80
1/60; F4.5; IOS-80
1/8; F8; IOS-80
The first photo the colors in the sky are exactly as viewed. The middle I lost some of the color, but it's still a decent shot, the third is garbage, I lost all definition in the clouds.
Left to Right
Camera: Nikon Coolpix P520
focal length: 33mm
1/125; F4.6; IOS-1100
1/60; F4.6; IOS-720
1/8; F4.6; IOS-80
I have to admit, I don't see much of a difference in the 3. The first one looks slightly blurry, the middle one is my preferred one and the last one looks a little bit dark. All in all I think all 3 could be usable.
Tomorrow I am going to try this challenge with my D3200.
@kalm Interesting two collages. For the tree, you might notice that the three frames *do not* have equivalent exposures. The first looks like an optimal amount of light. The second is overexposed by about a stop, the third by four stops. This stems from the fact that your lens has only f/8 as the narrowest stop, typical for this class of camera, and the ISO is stopped down as low as it can be. Not enough room for aperture and ISO to adjust.
For the tree at 1/8 of a second, can you work out what an "equivalent" exposure to the first would be? It would require an f-stop of something like f/22, four stops down from f/4. Your Nikon D3200 and lens can probably get there, your Coolpix can't.
For the second group, the dog, do you see that because the light level is so much lower, the three exposures are indeed "equivalent?" Your camera can find a setting that it can handle for both the Aperture and the ISO.
Back in my original introduction you can see a little about this "equivalent" effect. When one parameter doubles, something else must halve. When we put all three settings together in a few weeks, we'll talk a lot more about this "equivalency."
@weebindi2@jannkc Jann is exactly right. Your camera is struggling to find "equivalent" exposures to the third in the first and second frame, but is running out of room. The ISO is as high as the camera can shoot, and the lens is as wide as it can go, but still not enough for the faster shutter speeds and the light level.. As Jann also said, the only way to get 1 and 2 to work, without resorting to flash, is to put much more light on the subject.
Please don't be disappointed. I think you learned, from experience, a few things here. The camera is trying its best, but just can't get there. It did get there at 1/8, the camera can indeed find one optimal exposure, although the ISO is very high and the shutter very long. You might be interested to shoot this in AUTO and see what the camera itself chose if it is allowed to change all three exposure settings. I bet it will be something like number 3.
@alinz The light level of the tree one so different from your previous ones, so the camera can adjust ISO and Aperture to fit an equivalent exposure for all three shutter speeds. In my two posts just above, for @weebindi2 Helen, there is not enough room on the bottom end for the camera (light level too low for the 1/125 shutter) to get "equivalency" and for @kalm Kim and her trees no room at the top end (light level too high for the 1/8 shutter). Much more to come in the weeks to come on this "equivalent" thing.
@frankhymus Thank you so much for the feedback Frank. I'm glad to know that even though I can't explain it, I can recognize which photos in my trios are decent and not so great. I hope to learn all the terminology as we progress through the lessons. The dog pictures do all look a like to me, I couldn't tell you why though... it took a lot to find something different in them.
I was going to use my d3200 today, but the battery was dead. I really need to invest in a second battery. I look forward to seeing what my dslr can do with this challenge.
i leaned two very important things from this: one; what i see in my LCD screen is NOT what comes out when I upload. many times it just looks black but there are shots there. to think i used to delete all those shots without looking at them! also, i forgot all about the fact the aperture would get reset by the camera.
Like #3 the best. did not find it difficult to hold the camera at this setting at all. don't know what happened with #2, always take at least 2 shots each time and both were like this - with background in focus but not the post.
Two attempts today, both are shot with my Olympus OMD E-M10, Image stabilization on (because I can't figure out how to turn it off), 17mm lens which is roughly equal to a 35mm lens in full frame. L to R - 1/8s, f/4, 200; 1/60s, f/1.8, 250; 1/125s, f/1.8, 500 ISO.
The camera settings are easier to read on this one so won't restate. Whereas in the first attempt all of the images were usable, in this attempt the photo at 1/8 is not, the sky is just too blown out. The differences in settings is more obvious in these shots taken outdoors in bright light. All taken with my E-M10, IS on.
Camera Canon 650D Taken outside in shade Handheld Focal length 106
Left to right 1/125, 5.6, 400
1/60, 5.6, 200
1/8, F11, 100
Not much to choose between first two shots, focus on middle primrose. The third shot definitely more blurred although background more in focus. Tried lots of different shots and noticed generally aperture changed more than ISO.
Great challenge have really struggled with shutter speed. Its sinking I think!
I never shoot in Shutter Priority, so this was interesting and it took me a bit to figure out how the camera was working its choices. I have put all the info with the photo on my page, so won't repeat it here.
@frankhymus Thanks Frank. Now I have re-read your comments for both sets of (my) photos I can see exactly what you are talking about. I am guessing that it is a good thing for the camera to be able to adjust 2 of the variables when I alter 1.
I will try to capture something "moving " for my next attempt as I guess this will be a little trickier!!!
@frankhymus Thanks Frank you are right. I have no VR or auto focus with my 50mm lens. Still it means I have to try harder!. I'm not sure I have steady hands I was supporting arms on a chair to take these. I want to try some outside as well. If anyone is interested this is the video I found which told me how to set up my Nikon D3200 for auto ISO. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHQkF9iZD4E
Whoops. Just seen your very detailed explanation. I shall use that in future.
Thank you for all you doing this project is great.
@houser934 No, not a really shady area at all, though I put my pointsettia between the window and the amaryllis. I was also confused by this...but that must have been what it needed at that speed because it certainly didn't come out dark. It chose 8000 ISO for both the 1/125 images. @frankhymus do you have an explanation?
I have a Nikon 3100. I used shutter priority but my first attempts were really dark - I think we were not supposed to use the flash. My ISO does not automatically change, except in 2 other settings, so I manually changed it myself to brighten up the picture. I'm not sure if I should have done something different. Any suggestions/comments are appreciated.
@candysiegmueller Bright snow and Bright sand, winter and summer, are two situations where all but the very highest end cameras often mis-meter, underexposing. I am sure this is why your 1/8 looks best. One reason to shoot M (more on that in a few weeks working with the absolute settings) or to employ Exposure Compensation (also in a few weeks dealing with EVs or "stops"), both putting all three parameters together. Some people feel comfortable one way, some the other. Me, I'm an EV man in "A" mode. Folks like @northy who set up this first challenge prefer the absolutes of "M." It's a style thing, and what you are comfortable with. But all in small pieces, so don't try and do everything at once. Follow our lead and we'll introduce it in small chunks. Stick with each challenges, and at the end you should come out of them knowing quite a bit more about how it all interacts. And especially how *your" camera deals with varying conditions.
@houser934@houser934 No clue about the inner workings of the camera algorithms. Everyone outside the manufacturer's development labs would also wonder. It even can change model to model, firmware to firmware too. Speed up one stop, Aperture up a little less than 1/2 a stop and ISO down about 1 1/2 stops, so indeed they are "equivalent" as far as the software is concerned.
@linah With the first as a base, the second is about 2 1/2 stops up in speed and ISO down 2 Stops, so it should be a little darker than 1, and indeed it is. Three is one stop down from two in shutter and 1 stop up in ISO, so they are roughly the same brightness. You can't really do better with the D3100, it doesn't support fractional ISO's, and the speed similarly is not very granular either. The aperture too usually doesn't go in low fractions of stops, except on the more advanced cameras and lenses. So this is about what you can get out of the D3100.
BTW, this is one reason that people will "edit" their images in Lightroom, Photoshop, GIMP, Picmonkey and similar. You can adjust the "exposure" fractionally to get it just what you want, when the camera won't support the fractions and granularity you believe you want. But that starts to border on editing and shooting technique and not the base settings, and while we might point these things out, it really is another set of "challenges" that can take you there.
@jannkc Strange. Two and three are "equivalent" exposures, one stop down in Speed, one stop up in Aperture. But they aren't equivalent to one, which is three stops slower in speed (3 EV stops up) from 2, but only about 1/2 an f-stop narrower (1/2 EV stop down). I have no idea why your camera might have chosen 2 and 3 differently from 1, 1 having "correct" standard metering, 2 1/2 EV greater than 2 or 3.
Here's my attempt for this challenge, I quite like the contrast on the middle one artistically, but it was certainly a good chance to try playing with something I don't usually play with - in this case the shutter speed.
@frankhymus Thank you for the feedback- I am trying to understand what you mean by EV. I understand the stops down and stops up but what do you mean by 2 1/2 EV greater than 2 or 3. I dont know why either- Will need to try under different conditions and see what it does.
@jannkc Sorry, jargon, but a term that's good to know, along with "stop." EV = Exposure Value, and when it is used in a relative way (plus or minus), e.g. +1 EV, or -3EV, it has the same meaning (well not quite but it's good enough) as "Stop." That is the number of "doublings" or "halvings" of the light in a final image. +1EV, means that twice the light is getting into the digital image, by say doubling the ISO, or making the shutter speed twice as long, or the aperture wider by one f-stop (twice the area). +2EV (2 stops up) means four times the light, 2*2. Minus EV means halving, -3EV (3 Stops down) means 1/8 of the light in the final image, 1/(2*2*2). Shutter Speed 8 times faster, or ISO 1/8, or Aperture 3 f-stops higher by number (8 times smaller by area).
@nosarian If you look at the values you've included for each shot you'll notice that F 3.1, which is your aperture value, stays the same. What should happen is when you change the shutter speed from a slow speed, like 1/8th of a second, to a faster one, like 1/60th of a second, your camera will attempt to change the aperture to a larger one to allow more light to enter to compensate for the shorter time the shutter is open. Because F3.1 is the largest aperture you have available there is no room for adjustment so it stays the same and your shots get progressively darker. If you try this in brighter conditions it should be easier to see what's happening. What are you using to light this ?
I decided to take a photo of the chooks eating for my Shutter Speed Challenge as it meant I had moving subjects & still objects.
I used a 24-105mm lens at a focal length of 82mm. I turned the Image Stabiliser Off.
From Left to Right:
1/125, f4.5, ISO 800
1/60, f4, ISO 400
1/8, f6.3, ISO 100
The photos were taken at 6am & it was overcast. As the Shutter Speed decreased the Aperture shut down and the ISO decreased because more light was coming into the camera.
I definitely can't hand hold 1/8. Camera Shake isn't as noticeable in the 1/60 Shot, but I think it is there - if you look at the difference in the leaves in the foreground, they seem to be much crisper in the 1/125 Shot.
You can see where there would have been motion blur in the 3rd photo if I had been able to hand hold & there was some slight motion blur in the 2nd photo - however in this photo I don't think motion blur is any good. I feel that motion blur for a bird should be in the wings with the head & eyes still & in sharp focus. So I think that the 1/125 shot is the best.
question... I'm going to try this challenge with my D3200 today, I just tried setting my IOS to auto, I don't have auto. It has 100 to Hi 1. Where would be a good starting point for this challenge? In the S mode it's on ISO 100. I have never shot it this mode or changed anything in this mode. Thank you all for helping me figure this out.
of the three, I like the 1/8 exposure the best because it tickled my brain, opened me up to all the possibilities I have been missing because I have not been using this priority.
@iqscotland I used a small LED torch to light it, and wasn't in a position to take better lit photos at the time, and won't be until the weekend at the earliest, but playing in different situations helps me to learn, and it is a good illustration of the amount of light being picked up down to the shutter speed alone, so effectively isolated the two functions, which from a learning poitn of view has it's benefits. Thanks for the explanation, it makes a lot of sense, and I may try to take another set at the weekend when I can actually sit down with a decent camera in daylight conditions.
I focused on his left eye and then recomposed and changed the shutter speed while looking through the viewfinder, so as to keep the scene framed the same.
I was surprised at how low the camera kept the ISO setting, I didn't think there was all that much light coming in the sliding door. Overall I think I prefer the one taken at 1/60s.
I received my Nikon D5300 as a Christmas present; I am just now learning how to operate a "real" camera. I found the 1/8 setting to be rather washed-out, and had to work harder to hold the camera still at that setting in order to avoid blur.
Ok, so here's another one, 1/125, 1/60 and 1/8
interesting how the first one is so much lighter, plus it almost seems like the WB shifted or something.
@icamera@iqscotland actually - not to add confusion to anything, but i do think trying out the exercise with a moving object is a good idea... just not a high speed moving object... you'll notice my test shots were with a moving object (aka the crazed puppy) against a still subject... i think many folks like to take pictures of pets and children, often inside... and it's good to have a sense of what sort of shutter speed you will need to avoid unwanted motion blur, and what the implications are for high ISO and noise... guess i should have been clearer about that in the instructions - but the write up was getting quite long, so i left that bit out and figured i'd let it emerge, as it were...
@ounooi
Great shots Marelize. They all look well exposed. Now go back to your exif data and see how your camera altered the aperture (f stop) and the ISO.
@sarahsthreads
Well done Sarah. I think all three of your shots could be usable. Hard to tell how much camera shake is in the 1/8 second shot but in the composite it looks real good.
@dsp2
Congratulations on your new camera. Definitely the 1/8 second shot is over exposed. Go back and check your exif data for the aperture (f stop) and ISO. Without knowing that information my guess is that you reached the limits of your camera/lens combination. i.e. your ISO could not go any lower and your aperture could not get any smaller.
@jennymallett nicely done! indeed, for things that move, 1/125 is infinitely more likely to get you a crisper result... unless you decide you want to PLAY like @catsmeowb did (totally funky cool stuff!)... i was actually surprised last summer when i went to the zoo that i needed 1/320 to get a crisp shot of animals that i didn't think were moving that fast... that was one of the few times that shutter priority was truly useful to me...
with respect to playing, i am all in favour of deliberately planned motion blur... of course, the first step is knowing what settings will produce the right sort of blur without compromising your ability to get the critical bits sharply in focus... hopefully these challenges will give some good practice with that :)
Camille - i'm so glad your brain was tickled... makes me smile to hear that!
@ounooi ah yes... so you're already getting a sense here of what a slower shutter speed can do with water... wait until we get to tripods - you can make magic! this is nicely done... does your software let you know the aperture and ISO? it can be helpful to understand how your camera deals with the changes to shutter speed...
@sarahsthreads such a cutie patootie you've got there! a natural in front of the camera :) with respect to the choices your camera made about aperture vs. ISO, this is something that seems to vary from one camera to the next... the best thing is to have a sense of what your camera will do in various situations so that YOU can decide what settings to use in order to get the results you want...
@dsp2 exactly... 1/8 is pretty difficult to hold steady for... washed out in this particular setting because there was plenty of light... in a lower light setting, it might get you an optimum exposure - although, at the expense, in many cases, of a sharply in focus shot... are you able to see the aperture and ISO settings your camera chose? is there anything helpful for you in that information about settings you may want to use in the future?
@zosimasy if you are shooting RAW and processing in Lightroom you could check on whether the white balance shifted... i do see what you mean about that... somewhat oddly, btw, it seems to me that the 1/8 image is the sharpest of them... anyway, cool collage... those lights are totally funky!
So, here is my first attempt at this challenge.
The shot on the left was set at 1/125, which automatically set the aperture at 4 and the ISO at 2500. The shot in the middle was set at 1/60, which set the aperture at 4 and the ISO at 1250. The shot on the right was set at 1/8, which set the aperture at 4 and the ISO at 200. The photos were all shot indoors. I was able to hold the camera pretty still for all the shots by propping my elbows on my desk. I think I like the shot on the right the best. It looks like it got the most light.
@lstasel Thanks! There is definite camera shake on the 1/8s photo when viewed full size, because even at f/8, not one bit of the scene has sharp focus. In a pinch I can go down to 1/15s with a still subject, but I drink too much coffee for 1/8s! :)
Obviously at higher shutter speeds it's easier to catch moving toddlers, but I regularly get decent shots at 1/60s.
@northy Thank you! My poor son is going to think it's normal to have your picture taken repeatedly while eating. :)
And I agree that it's important to figure out what your camera will do when you choose some settings and let it decide others. Tv is not a mode I shoot in often - honestly, the last time I intentionally chose to focus on shutter speed vs. aperture was on a trip to Niagara Falls, trying to capture the motion of the water. So this has been a good exercise!
Oh! I also wound up changing from spot metering back to my camera's default evaluative metering for this series of shots, because the first few I took were underexposed.
I set the ISO on auto, but it didn't change with the aperture and shutter speed. I tried later in the evening, but had the same result - something doesn't seem quite right, but not sure what.
i will try to post something later - maybe - i don't like that have to do something - one thing at least to change my raw photo to a jpg before i can save it. what is the least invasive change i can make for this challenge? i use picasca for basic upload to my computer.
I took these photos yesterday, I had a sick little boy home with me so I didn't have much time to take pictures. He is home again today, I'm hoping I can find a few minutes to get a couple pictures.
Another try at the Camera Setting Challenge - Shutter Speed/Handheld
I was out of inspiration as to what to shoot for the camera setting challenge. So you get a shot of various items in one drawer in my refrigerator.
Left to Right
Camera: Nikon D3200
S mode - no auto IOS
focal length: 29mm
1/125; F4.5; IOS-100
1/60; F4.5; IOS-100
1/8; F4.5; IOS-100
I asked in this post what IOS setting I should use since I don't have auto IOS in S mode. My camera was on IOS 100. I was told IOS 100 would be ok to use. I tried numerous shots outside and inside... they all looked similar to this 1/125 and 1/60 are on the dark side.
@iqscotland , thank you! I will try 1600 indoors. Even outside the ISO 100 wasn't great. I will try bumping the ISO up even outdoors since it's been so overcast here. Again thank you!
@sarahsthreads yeah... i;ve had to play around with that as well... it never seems to work the way i think it should... another reason why my go to setting is M :)
@tahoemb indeed... you did good in terms of holding the camera steady at 1/8... it ain't easy! and it looks like you didn't end up with too much noise at the higher ISO which is good to know...
@pitasmum looks like there was too much light... if you'd shot this on aperture priority likely the shutter speed would have been very high... interesting that you got the same results in the evening... did the images come out under exposed?
@adayinmallacoota hi Belinda... looks like you had lots of light happening... ISO 100 is probably the lowest ISO setting your camera has so instead of adjusting the ISO, it adjusted aperture to compensate... :)
@catsmeowb hi Camile, i'm not quite sure what you're asking.... if you shoot RAW, the easiest thing to do is to make the same changes to all 3 images and avoid making any changes to reduce noise or adjust exposure...
@randystreat interesting... for the first set, i would say that the middle one is a smidgeon darker than the one on the right, but not in the 2nd set... just the luck of the draw perhaps? with respect to focal length, with your camera, are you not able to set it and then not move it? you may not be able to lock it, but if you're careful you should be able to keep it relatively consistent from one shot to the next...
At Foucault's Pendulum Staircase in the Franklin Institute. I tried to take a photo of something that was moving to show the change in shutter speed. I used IS on my lens. I'll try to get a series without the IS too. I also experimented with going lower to get some of the slow motion of the pendulum swinging. If I have time I'll try to get some of those photos up too.
Thanks for the challenge and great conversation. I am learning a lot just from reading the comments here.
@randystreat yeah - I know what that's like... I wouldn't worry about it terribly... The slight difference likely wouldn't have a measurable impact on your ability to hold the camera steady (or not) at the slower shutter speeds
@kalm your welcome. Increasing the ISO will help with low lighting but since this is the very first one we are focusing on how to adjust the shutter speed and what it does. For these shots you may need more lighting to keep at those settings so a daytime photo or a well lite area. But increasing the ISO will for sure help.
Camera: Lumix DMC-GH4
Lense: 12-35mm OIS - on. Lense set at 12mm
Photo taken at Twilight
I like the 2nd one best as it shows a bit of red glow in the background. I cant really see much of a difference with the clarity of the photos (my eye sight is not particularly good). Do you think this was helped because of the lense stabilisation?
I found it interesting that the focus did not change in all 3 shots, it remained at 2.8. I would have thought that when I set camera to Shutter mode that it adjusts the Focus accordingly. I'm not sure if I did something wrong!
This is the first time I have ventured to taking my camera setting of auto, and I'm really looking forward to the weeks ahead to getting to know my camera better with the help of all of you wonderful people. Thank you in advance.
Yesterday I took my camera settings shots indoors. So, today I tried it outside. The top three were taken in a shady area. I like the one on the right because most of the photo is in focus. Then I went to a sunny area and took the bottom three shots. This time I like the one in the middle. I think the focus and the lighting are the best. I am definitely open to some critique here. What do you think?
@northy@Laura Thanks for your help! On all 3 photos that I posted, the ISO was 100; the max aperture was 4. On the 1/8 pic, the f/stop was f/22. On the 1/60 pic, the f/stop was f/13. On the 1/125 pic, the f/stop was f/8. When I had the shutter speed set at 1/8, I consistently got the message that the subject was too light. Does this mean that I should not use shutter speed 1/8 in bright outdoor light?
@dsp2 yup! That's exactly what it means... There are ways of doing it if you really want to, but that's a bit more advanced, requiring additional equipment... We'll probably get into this down the road....
Basically what you're experiencing is your camera trying to reduce the amount of light coming in to the sensor by increasing the f stop, which makes a smaller hole for the light to get in... However, it can on,y get so small and at 1/8, it just can't get small enough! Nicely done!
My second go at this ~ lots more camera shake from me this time, none is particularly clean or sharp, perhaps because of the angle I was holding the camera? ~ pointed to the floor.
What I have discovered from this is that I prefer the lightness produced by my camera with the slower shutter as apposed to the higher ISO and bigger apperture [something I never thought about before as I would always bumo up the ISO for a brighter shot].
of the 2 images above, i much prefer the top one of my grandson, Logan, shot at 1/125 vs the bottom at 1/80. both have high contrasts but i liked the drama the light gave when i was shooting.
@alisonp hi Alison - yes - i find an awkward angle is going to make it much harder to hold the camera steady and hence increasingly likely to result in camera shake... you really got some lovely airy light in the last shot... interesting... when i first played around with high ISO a couple years ago i found that i was getting some lovely soft light i would never have expected - but indeed, in your example, the reverse appears to be the case... glad you learned something new!
@deborah63 hi Deborah... nice set of shots! i always love sky shots from an airplane :) the aperture (f stop) didn't change because it was as wide open as it could go... you were working with very low light... even at 1/8 second, the camera was using an ISO of 1000... at 1/60 it was using an ISO of 3200 and it looks as though this may have been your camera's maximum ISO, or at any rate, the max it would go to on auto (sometimes you can change this if you want)... it was still using ISO of 3200 at 1/125 and you can see that it is quite underexposed...
@tahoemb interesting that you like the top right one for having most of the image in focus... you don't tell us your settings, but given the low shutter speed and the depth of field (dof), it looks like a smaller aperture was used... many photogs prefer to use a smaller dof in order to blur the background somewhat (or a lot) in these sorts of shots, but really, that's a matter of taste :)
i like the middle sunny one too... you seem to have gotten a smidgeon more contrast out of that one which makes the texture of the rock teddy is sitting on come up nicely!
thank you, for replying to my question. I do shoot in raw but have to upload in jpg. in these shots, i think i have done a better job but am not satisfied at all with loss of details. i think the best one is the 1/80 but that is because of the ice on the branch.
Used jpeg for the trial although I normally shoot in RAW. My Nikon d5100 doesn't have auto ISO in shutter priority. I chose to use ISO 800. I thought the 1/60 shutter had the nicer details although very similar to the 1/8 shutter. I also did try using ISO 400 but only the 1/8 had decent lighting.
Camera Canon 650D Focal Length 35mm and ISO 100 for each shot.
1/125 F5.6
1/60 F7.1
1/8 F20
I noticed that the second shot still held its focus fairly well despite the slower shutter. The third shot definitely showed the blur effect of slower shutter which I was pleased to see as a learning curve. Definitely harder to get sharp image at this speed and on moving object
I was surprised that the ISO didn't change but that the aperture narrowed instead I guess to control less light when longer exposure.
I was surprised that you could hold fairly steady at 1/60 - I've never tried to go below 1/100 hand held. I was puzzled why many of the earlier tries of mine ended over exposed - why the ISO didn't compensate better even on automatic.
I like the third shot, as it shows the most color and is lighter,, but none of them are focused well. Initially I shot with ISO 400, but the images were too dark.
I did not do any post-processing with these.
These are my photos. I like the last one (1/8) best, which I didn't expect at all. Usually 1/60 is the shutter setting I use to get sharp pictures while handholding my camera, if the shutter is lower than that photos tend to have a little movement in them. But there's not so much movement in this one and the colors are so much better than in the other two.
Tried the slowest setting again since I had misunderstood - this one the first is at 1/8. None perfectly focused, but much better than I thought it would be.
@jennywren
Great examples Jen. Generally most cameras will try to change aperture before ISO since increasing ISO increases digital noise. It's almost impossible to "freeze" action at 1/8 second. All three exposures look really good.
@jennywren yes.. that would be why the aperture changed... likely the camera was aiming for a very low iso to preserve image quality... have to say, i kinda like the blurry bits of the flag! nicely done!
Another exercise for the camera setting challenge using shutter speed.
These shots were taken indoors. Focal length was 7.8mm. Stabiliser on.
In some of the previous shots taken outdoors, I noticed that the ISO did not change, however, shots taken indoors did kick the Auto ISO into action.
Of the three shots, I prefer the one shot at 1.8. It is surprisingly clear (to my eyes anyway) and free of the noise of the other two.
I normally shoot in Aperture mode and more recently I have ventured to use the Manual function of the camera. Using Shutter Speed mode has been interesting and informative.
Here are some things I have learned from this challenge:
1. Everyone's camera is different. Don't compare your shots to other peoples.
2. My camera has limitations in what it can and can't do. Shots that were overexposed were due to the camera's inability to compensate.
3. It is possible to shoot handheld as low as 1/8.
4. My camera has a stabiliser function.
5. My camera has Auto ISO.
Looking forward to the next challenge.
Thank you to @camerasavvy for all the effort you are putting into the challenges.
@milaniet i'm curious about the overexposed shots... it would likely depend on the light... if there was a ton of light, then even at the smallest aperture (highest f number), you may end up with an overexposed shot... most cameras don't have an ISO lower than 100...
@zosimasy it looks like these were shot at a bit of a tricky angle... i think that would make it even harder for one to hold the camera steady... and indeed, definitely got the best light at 1/8... looks like you would have needed a higher ISO to get enough light for the other two shutter speeds...
@adayinmallacoota glad you found the exercise useful! i rarely use shutter priority either... but it's good to know what your camera can do, and what you can do to control it :)
@northy what do you usually shoot in? I am most comfortable in shutter priority. If I need to get a shot and I feel I may not have enough time to fiddle with settings I use shutter. I try using Aperture.. but am not sure what to do with the settings to get a better shot?!
@dianen hi Diane... it depends on a bunch of different things...
most of my set up shots are done in manual, as are most of my low light shots (e.g.: subway shots) - that way i can have complete control over the settings and can force the exposure i want most easily (i rarely choose the exposure the camera tells me is ideal ;p)
for street or just hoping to capture the kids at play, i will generally choose aperture priority... the only exception is if the light is tricky and i need to be certain of a higher speed (e.g.: when the kids are playing hockey - arena lighting is awful!)... for these i will often choose shutter priority...
when you say you are not sure of the settings in aperture priority in order to get a better shot, what are you trying to shoot, and what are you finding the challenge to be?
@ukandie1 i really like the varying degrees of motion blur in these images... nicely done! if you like playing about with street photography i find it is really helpful to know what shutter speed is needed for a crisp shot, and what will get you motion blur, and how much motion blur :)
@northy Hi, thanks for answering. I learned to use my camera to capture my daughters' sports. So I learned a lot and got comfortable with shutter priority because of basketball. Like you, lighting in gyms is similar to ice arenas! Terrible! They also play field hockey and softball so stopping the motion makes for some fun shots. So when I shoot other subjects...landscapes etc like I have been doing a lot of for my project, I feel like I'm just clueless in Aperture...other than making sure the exposure is correct. The challenge I guess is I just am not confident that the settings I'm using are going to give me the best capture. does that make sense?
@dianen ah... ok... i get it... we'll be covering aperture in a few weeks here on camera savvy, and i expect there are some "correct" rules of thumb somewhere, so don't assume what i am telling you is the only way to go, but here's a quick run down of what i would do:
-- use a wide aperture (i.e.: f/1.8, 2.8, 5.6) for a subject you want to pop from the background - portraits for example...
-- use between f/7 and f/11 for street shots... will get you more in focus, but results in slower shutter
-- f/11 works well for landscape shots and cityscape shots as well as long as most of the image is in the far distance... i also tend to use this setting for architecture shots...
-- if you're working on something where you need both the foreground AND background in focus (you will for some big scenes and landscapes), that's when you'll want f/18 to f/22... and quite likely a tripod
I haven't had a chance to read this whole thread, but I thought I'd post a contribution. I couldn't remember the numbers in the assignment, so I ended up with a 1/6 rather than a 1/8. I decided I liked the overexposure in the 1/6 one, and it won out as my photo of the day.
This was handheld... I had the ISO set manually, as my Auto ISO is purposefully set to not exceed 400 (something I recently realized I could do, and which has paid major dividends).
And now that I've read the thread I see that the ISO thing has been well covered.This is really going to be a great refresher course—thanks so much for doing it. Frank's explanation of EV was a huge clarifier for me for instance.
So I have my own absent-minded mystery concerning my three shots above. Seeing that the aperture isn't changed, I'm second-guessing myself on whether I was in M or Tv for these. I had been doing methodical Tv trios while driving to the store, but this better subject happened to appear before me as I emerged from the store when my mind had moved on, and I'm afraid I didn't concentrate on where my dial was. That's a long-winded way of asking: is it even possible that I was in shutter priority and that the aperture didn't change, or is it patently obvious that I was in manual mode?
It was an overcast day and this was in a shady area.
For shot 1 -I used the shutter speed 1/125 sec. In order to get enough light the camera widened the aperture as much as it could to f/4 and then compensated by raising the ISO to 2200
For shot 2- I lowered the shutter speed to 1/60 sec., the camera still had to widen the aperture as much as it could to get enough light (f/4), but did not have to raise the ISO quite as much as in the first shot. This time it raised the ISO to 1100.
For shot 3- I lowered the shutter speed to 1/8 sec. This allowed the camera to let in more light than in the previous two photos and so the aperture was narrowed slightly to f/10 and the ISO did not need to be raised so much. The ISO was raised to 800. Although this speed made a neat effect for the water, I was not able to keep the camera still enough to get sharp rocks.
@squamloon The full EXIF data from your photo will tell you what mode you were in.
Even if you were in Shutter Priority it looks like you were shooting with the aperture wide open at 1/6th. When you change to 1/60th the lens has to open by a bit over two stops but it has nowhere to go so stays the same and you get underexposure. Same thing when you go from 1/60th to 1/125 that another stop so your third stop is darker still.
First one is definitely over exposed quite a bit though so manual is a possibility :)
@iqscotland I had no idea the full EXIF told me that—thank you! I was indeed in shutter priority mode. And I get what you're saying now, and it should've been obvious to me—my lens couldn't open up any more than that. That's something I still haven't grasped, and look forward to the aperture lesson to really focus on (so to speak)—the maximum aperture for my lens. It seems fluid depending on circumstance. But I might just be crazy.
@squamloon You're not crazy. The maximum aperture will be marked on the lens, most likely on the barrel, and probably says f4-f5.6. That just means the maximum aperture at the shortest focal length of your lens is f4 and at the longer end it will have dropped to f5.6 via a couple of other values on the way.
My first go at this. Interesting to see the difference it makes to the other settings as the ss changes.
From top left clockwise:
ss 1/125 f2.8 iso 1600 focal length same in all 3 9.80 mm.
ss 1/60 f2.8 iso 1600
ss 1/8 f2.8 iso 320
No idea how I got the focal length the same handheld! I like the last one the best as it is clearer and brighter, but also sharper. I don't necessarily understand that as the ss was slower which I thought would make it more prone to movement and a blurred image.
1. Surprisingly to me, the camera chose the same ISO for all three images. I would definitely have tried to make them darker and chosen a lower ISO. Most of my snow shots from this week are at 200. The aperture is also interesting as I probably would have stuck to around f 16.
2. I'm not sure I like the quality of any of the pictures!
3. I found I could hold the camera still for all three, as long as at 1/8 I took a deep breath, held it and was careful to squeeze the shutter button!
4. I'm surprised there's not more difference in motion freeze between 1/60 and 1/125. The snow is moving a lot at 1/8 and doesn't seem to change in the others.
5. I like the image at 1/60 best. It shows more detail and the snow is nicely frozen. It's closer to the exposure level I would have chosen.
Great challenge, I've been practising all week with varying results! It was also a useful exercise in learning how to create triptychs and text in photoshop - my first edit with PS since starting!
@lizfawn interesting... your camera was perhaps evaluating the light based on a point that was darker... interesting, though... i would have thought that you would have ended up with a smaller aperture and a lower ISO...
@catsmeowb Ooh Camille I have just seen your 30s dog shot. If you like this kind of thing stay tuned for next week's challenge which I have just finished writing! Great to see you are discovering fun things your camera can do!!
@aliha thank you, i discovered i was not following the rules of the challenge as i had not set my iso to auto. at one time i had set my camera on timer and just walked around in front of it to see what i got - reallllllly liked it. don't do photo shop so like this stuff a great deal, what can be done naturally. but am finding i have forgotten more than i remember and that there are things about my camera i never even knew. the readings are fantastic.
@northy thank you, these were the only shots i was happy with for the challenge although i realized i did not keep my ISO at auto. i am doing that now and comparing my shots - how do i get rid of this dark grid i see on some of them?
@catsmeowb Camille - can you point me to an example of an image with a dark grid? I'm not really sure what you are talking about and so difficult to think what the solution might be
i am sure i can do the same mistakes or still have some here. yes, i will. thank you. i know i have to change my equation between shutter speed, aperture and iso, that it is off, but can't get it right. i normally shoot in aperture priority as i like to choose my focus point.
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
@acsstudios @adayinmallacoota @aecasey @aliha @alinz @alisonp @andrina @aponi @aquaina @autumneden2015 @barb_b @barbtatum @barneyone @berta @billy52 @bizziebeeme @blinkny @brigette @brittwd @bsheppard @candysiegmueller @cathieg @catsmeowb @christophercox @clake @craazyal @cruiser @cynthiak @darylo @deb60 @deborah63 @deverest @dianen @dibzgreasley @dmcoile @dsp2 @elliotwb @emblegemble @francoise @frankhymus @froggie0628 @gabigabs @gai @grammyn @gratefulness @harts @homeschoolmom @houser934 @iqscotland @jannkc @jantan @jbd1962 @jennymallett @jennywren @jewelofdenial @jocasta @jocee @joeyl @juliedduncan @justaspark @kalm @karlow75 @kauaikris @kerrynz @kimmy15 @ksyvarth @kwiksilver @ladygator @lauramalone82 @leestevo @lensenvy @lfreeman1230 @libertylady @lifepause @linah @lizfawn @lsquared @lstasel @ludgate @luka365 @lynnb @lynnilou @maaayke @madamelucy @maishanny @melinareyes @miata2u @milaniet @motherjane @mrslaloggie @musecreative @mzbull @mzzhope @nanderson @newbank @nickspicsnz @northy @nosarian @olivetreeann @omglooksquirrel @oreos808 @overalvandaan @pamknowler @panthora @paulam @paulaw @pistache @polarvrtx @psychegrrrl @quietpurplehaze @quintus @randystreat @rangerxenos @ribbet9 @rosie1610 @rosiekerr @salza @sarahsthreads @shazzym @slash @soseema @sparkle71 @squamloon @stepheesue @summerfield @susie1205 @taffy @tahoemb @thejazzyj @theresefriis @thistle @trinda @tstb @ukandie1 @voiceprintz @weebindi2 @wingwatcher @yaorenliu @zosimasy
My Canon doesn't seem to have an "auto" ISO in TV mode...
I'll play around with them though.
If you have such lenses (or the camera in the case of earlier Sony DSLRs) you might want to repeat the exercise with IS turned off. A switch on the lens will do that. I think you will be surprised. I hope pleasantly, at slower shutter speeds and longer focal lengths especially, with the feature on versus off.
Hope you are all having fun getting to understand the "slow" limits of you and your camera, and especially the lenses. :)
I like the second photo best, as it is surprisingly in better focus than the first. All three times I had my elbow propped on the table, and I expected the first photo to have the best focus... maybe I wasn't paying attention to my breathing.... or didn't squeeze the button....
in comparing focus I'm primarily looking at the nose of the locomotive, and if you zoom into the photo the lit number boards above the windows are in pretty good focus in the second photo.
And leading into a discussion in a week or so on DoF and "aperture" too! Even though 3 is not as sharp as 2 or 1 on the subject, the background is not as blurred. Great first post!
What really surprised me was that my camera adjusted the ISO to compensate for the change in exposure time...from 100 to 800 to 1600. I thought that Tv setting would move the aperture...that's why I had been avoiding it.
I don't see much difference in these in the smaller size. Is there a set-up where I'd see more differences?
- K.
For the Camera Settings Challenge: Shutter Priority Setting
- Camera: Canon 700D
- 1/125 , 1/80 , 1/8
- ISO was set to Auto, but it changed to 100 when 3 photos were taken.
- Handheld
- Lens Stabliser is on
- Environment: Outside, slight wind
Verdict: I prefer the first photo, less blur and more sharpness. The last photo more blur and the background was sharper. Even though there was slight wind, I held the camera tight and waited for the wind to drop.
Next I try indoors.
As your example shows, ISO changed but Aperture didn't for your camera. But see how Lee Ann's @leestevo camera worked - ISO remained constant and Aperture varied, just the opposite from yours for AUTO ISO in Shutter Priority.
But for sure if you *fix* the ISO, the aperture will vary and ISO will remain constant to get "equivalent exposures" (same quantity of light). As would every other camera. We'll talk more about ISO and various AUTO ISO options in a few weeks.
ISO was set to Auto. Focal length was 41.1mm
1/125; 1/60; 1/8
Handheld. Windy conditions.
Aperture changed for each shot but not ISO.
Verdict: the final shot is a dud.
1/8 F25; 1/60 F22; 1/125 F16
Shot improved as S/S increased
a href="http://365project.org/alinz/365/2015-01-04">
Will try this tomorrow outside in natural light. I took these on 1/17/2015 evidently this site is in a timezone ahead of me. :)
These were taken with the Canon 70D, 50mm lens
ISO was on auto and I noticed that the aperture changed, all have a different look. i'm interested to see which one people prefer?
Keep an eye on the values in the viewfinder display. If you change one setting another one will change to compensate. If you reach the the limit of one you'll probably get a "Hi" or "Lo" warning :)
By the way I have a cousin who is a big hunter. I was lamenting my inability to hold my camera still. He said that its probably like hunting and to not hold my breath because it makes your hands shake. The idea is to relax and breath slowly. It actually works.
I also took @frankhymus suggestion and tried it again without Image Stabilization... big difference! I don't think any of them are as well focused as the first series, but especially at the slower shutters.
I think my favorite is the 1/8 with image stabilization, although TBH I don't really like any of them, because ideally I would have liked a smaller aperture to get the whole still life in focus.
Another weird thing I noticed... I exported them all with the identical settings in Lightroom, and the file sizes got smaller as the shutter speed got slower... does the higher ISO translate to a larger file because of the noise? The file sizes were 1.9MB, 1.6MB and 870KB respectively.
Interesting question about the file size.
My attempt
1 photo 1/125
2 photo 1/60
3 photo 1/8
@ccb I've just done that. You can also follow the @camerasavvy user to keep up to date :)
I turned IS on lens off as there was not much difference in each shot when it was on.
Aperture and ISO remained the same for both 1/125 and 1/60 (F2.8 and ISO 3200).
At 1/8 aperture changed to F3.2 and ISO to 500. I thought the 1/8 looked blurry. The 1/125 too dark and the 1/60 just about right considering no edits in LR were done to the RAW shot.
I took the shot in RAW and exported to LR which converts it to a .dng, I exported to PS and added text then took them back to LR and they had become .tif files. No further edits done.
Camera Nikon D3200
Lens AF Nikkor 50mm f/1:8 D
Image One 1/125s, f1/8, ISO 160
Image Two 1/60s, f2.0, ISO 100
Image Three 1/8s f6.3 ISO 100
I managed to work out how to get the ISO on Auto and left VR on. I would like to do them again with VR off but the light is fading now so I'll try tomorrow. i added Wiggle the Worm as I wanted to see how the settings affected the colour.
These three pictures are SOOC, imported as RAW file, exported as a jpg.
- Camera: Nikon D90
- shooting in S-mode
- shutterspeeds: 1/125, 1/80, 1/8
- 98 mm focal length
- ISO sensitivity auto control on, with maximum sensitivity 3200, minimum shutter speed 1/8
- Handheld
- VR on
- Environment: Inside, side light from window
The ISO was 360 in the first picture and 3200 in the second and third. The aperture was in all three F5.6
I learned a lot as I found out that my Nikon doesn't have an auto ISO in S mode, I still have to give a maximum sensitivity and minimum shutterspeed.
Looking at the three pictures above, I like the middle one the best. The first is slightly blurred, the last a bit too dark. I'm not too keen on the grain. Would like more clarity. I think I have to change my maximum and minimum values?
@frankhymus thanks for the info on VR! It's on now.
Nikon have done a great job of the feature and have done it on all of their DSLR cameras, low and high end, for many years. Only if the set ISO cannot shoot at the lower shutter speed will the camera attempt to raise the ISO. Canon have introduced fixed ranges and slowest shutter with their high end 5Dii, 6D and 1Dx, AUTO ISO Speed I think they call it, and only on their latest 7Dii have they implemented configurable ISO limits with the slowest shutter allowed. I can't find similar comprehensive function on other manufacturers. Not Sony, not Lumix, not Fujifilm. I don't know about Olympus or Pentax. Perhaps others can help me find out?
I use the feature all the time, more often than not to make sure the shutter speed doesn't drop below a "safe" hand-held level for the lens I have mounted, telephoto especially.
Also, don't be at all concerned if your AUTO ISO behavior is different from others here. Like "Does ISO move or does Aperture, or both even, when in "Tv" (S) mode when you move the speed?" Not only does it vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but sometimes from model to model from the same manufacturer. Just get a feel for what *your* camea does. All the best...
Today i used the Canon 20D, same shooting style only difference being the image stabilizer.... i think i did better with the non-image stabilizer though... why is this?
So what you have to do to have the camera choose a suitable ISO is go into the Shooting Menu, and on the first page towards the bottom (the sixth item on the D3100) pick ISO Sensitivity Settings. Pick a base ISO (100 is suitable), turn ON ISO Sensitivity Settings, pick a maximum ISO (perhaps 1600 is suitable) and then finally pick a slowest shutter speed (although this won't affect the camera in "S" mode). The camera will now juggle the ISO and the aperture for the speed you have chosen from the original "S" mode setting and the command dial. Exactly how I am not sure, neither are any but those in the Nikon Labs it seems. Now other Nikon DSLRs do use AUTO in these modes. Just goes to show that the Product Mangers at even one manufacturer don't talk to each other. :) But like I did say above, your D3200 does have auto control capability that only the newest Canon DSLR, the 7D Mark II, can match in this area. I hope you can learn to love the feature.
Naturally, you can choose any fixed ISO, either in the menus or in the Info screen.
Strange though that the entry level Nikon DSLR would demand you do this for something as conceptually simple as "AUTO ISO" in the advanced metering modes that all others do not. Hope that helps...
You can look at my postings three and six up from this response for more about this. We'll talk more about ISO options in a few weeks. It is probably the least standardized area among the camera manufacturers, for "camera assisted" anyway. But just a few moments with exercises like this you can find out what *your* camera does, and that is really what matters.
I did scrub out the birdbath before shooting! I chose the birdbath with the water wiggler so there would be some movement. The first shot looks like it freezes the movement of the wiggler, the second one there is a little blur and the third you can't really see the little spinner thing.
I like the first shot as it is clearer. If this were a stream with rushing water the slower shutter speed would probably add a lot to it.
@frankhymus i don't drink coffee ;p
Thank you for this learning challenge. It really got me looking at my settings and thinking about how things worked. I think I liked the 1/60 shot best for the crispness of focus.
The iso changed but not the aperture on this indoor still life, fairly close up.
I'll post another set that I did outdoors with snow.
yesterday was a standard 24-78, today was 70-300
I suppose that explains the difference, tiny object with long focal length, even with image stabilizer wasn't enough.
You're doing great Kathryn. Part of this experiment is to learn how slow of a shutter speed you can use and still be in focus. Very few people can actually hand hold at 1/8 second. So many things have an impact on hand holding, including too much coffee or sugar, even gusting wind. Great shot at 1/125. I can never get any good shots of my goldfish.
I like the first shot also (great texture) but you did a wonderful job holding the camera steady on the third shot.
Did this 2nd set outdoors in the snow. The aperture changed but iso stayed at 100 - thinking that is due to the bright snow.
I think I liked the 'white' better in the 1/8 -also maybe because the aperture change gave me a depth of field clarity further away.
Great job Candy. I believe you reached the aperture limit (f/4) on your lens. That is why 1/125 shot is darker. If you lens was able to open to f/2.8 that shot would have been lighter (better exposed).
Camera: Canon T3i
Lens: 50mm 1.8
Settings: TV, Auto ISO
Focus was on the corner of the pink die
Top to bottom
1/125, F2.0, ISO 800
1/60, F2.0, ISO 400
1/8, F2.8, ISO 100
Shot on table by sliding glass door with insufficient overhead lighting. I was surprised by how much natural light came through the slider, as the sun hits the opposite side of the house in the afternoon. On the camera screen I liked the middle one best, but once they were uploaded I guess the bottom one is a smidge clearer?
Tomorrow I should have more time, and will retreat to the darker areas of the house to experiment more.
Canon T5i, in Tv mode
Canon EF-S18-200mm(@70mm)
1/125, f/5.0, ISO1250
1/60, f5.6, ISO800
1/8, f5.6, ISO100
Shot outdoors during golden hour, but in total shade. Standing with camera unsupported. First shot is most sharp, second is pretty close, and third is usable if not enlarged to much.
@camerasavvy-handheld
My first try.
Camera: Nikon Coolpix P520
Setting: S - couldn't figure out where to change ISO, but it appears it was on auto.
1/125
F-stop: f/3.7
ISO: 1600
Focal Length: 11mm
1/60
F-stop: f/3.7
ISO: 1600
Focal Length: 11mm
1/8
F-stop: f/3.7
ISO: 1000
Focal Length:11mm
Photo was taken indoors, overhead lighting. I had one elbow propped on a table while taking this photo. I didn't edit any of the photos. 1/8th is my preferred out of the trio because you can actually make the snowman out. I believe the lighting looks harsh though.
I hope I can get outside tomorrow to see what shooting in natural light will do.
I've been shooting in manual, so I was apprehensive about going back to TV and particularly auto ISO. I was surprised that the noise was not as bad as I expected at 1600 for both 1/125 and 1/60. Also never expected to be in focus at 1/8, but it's not terrible! OS was on and I steadied myself on a chair. all things considered, I would use Tv mode for fast action but probably not for my usual shooting situations.
My shots all looked kind of the same, so I guess my camera compensated for the shutter speed in various ways. What do you think?
Left
1/125
2.8 [F]
200 ISO
Middle
1/60
4.0 [F]
200 ISO
Right
1/8
11.0 [F]
200 ISO
BTW, I shoot with a 4/3 sensor so although the lens is 17mm, it is equal to 34mm.
I tried to put all 3 onto a collage and this was the only one I found on my Mac - not quite what I wanted but still....
Very disappointed. My camera settings are obviously not correct. ISO was set to auto, however the exif data read 3200 for the 3 of them. The f value was also 3.5 for each. I am using a Canon 550D. Anyone know what I am doing wrong.
I usually shoot on M in auto focus.
I do not like the ISO the canera chose on each of them but in all fairness I should of probaly shot at a higher f number as I think everyone of these is overexposed to some degree. but saying that didn;t the camera choose the f number? I was in Shutter Priority.
I had no problem with handheld even though this lens has no VR as I was leaning steady against something so the slower shutter speeds didn't really affect the outcome.
Perhaps I will try this again tomorrow.
The shot is from below of my cactus and white flower pot in a window on a sunny day.
If I had to chose one I prefered I would chose the 2nd at 1/60 sec
Left to Right
Camera: Nikon Coolpix P520
focal length: 9mm
1/125; F4; IOS-80
1/60; F4.5; IOS-80
1/8; F8; IOS-80
The first photo the colors in the sky are exactly as viewed. The middle I lost some of the color, but it's still a decent shot, the third is garbage, I lost all definition in the clouds.
Left to Right
Camera: Nikon Coolpix P520
focal length: 33mm
1/125; F4.6; IOS-1100
1/60; F4.6; IOS-720
1/8; F4.6; IOS-80
I have to admit, I don't see much of a difference in the 3. The first one looks slightly blurry, the middle one is my preferred one and the last one looks a little bit dark. All in all I think all 3 could be usable.
Tomorrow I am going to try this challenge with my D3200.
For the tree at 1/8 of a second, can you work out what an "equivalent" exposure to the first would be? It would require an f-stop of something like f/22, four stops down from f/4. Your Nikon D3200 and lens can probably get there, your Coolpix can't.
For the second group, the dog, do you see that because the light level is so much lower, the three exposures are indeed "equivalent?" Your camera can find a setting that it can handle for both the Aperture and the ISO.
Back in my original introduction you can see a little about this "equivalent" effect. When one parameter doubles, something else must halve. When we put all three settings together in a few weeks, we'll talk a lot more about this "equivalency."
Good shooting!
Please don't be disappointed. I think you learned, from experience, a few things here. The camera is trying its best, but just can't get there. It did get there at 1/8, the camera can indeed find one optimal exposure, although the ISO is very high and the shutter very long. You might be interested to shoot this in AUTO and see what the camera itself chose if it is allowed to change all three exposure settings. I bet it will be something like number 3.
I was going to use my d3200 today, but the battery was dead. I really need to invest in a second battery. I look forward to seeing what my dslr can do with this challenge.
Like #3 the best. did not find it difficult to hold the camera at this setting at all. don't know what happened with #2, always take at least 2 shots each time and both were like this - with background in focus but not the post.
Camera Canon 650D Taken outside in shade Handheld Focal length 106
Left to right 1/125, 5.6, 400
1/60, 5.6, 200
1/8, F11, 100
Not much to choose between first two shots, focus on middle primrose. The third shot definitely more blurred although background more in focus. Tried lots of different shots and noticed generally aperture changed more than ISO.
Great challenge have really struggled with shutter speed. Its sinking I think!
I will try to capture something "moving " for my next attempt as I guess this will be a little trickier!!!
Whoops. Just seen your very detailed explanation. I shall use that in future.
Thank you for all you doing this project is great.
I have a Nikon 3100. I used shutter priority but my first attempts were really dark - I think we were not supposed to use the flash. My ISO does not automatically change, except in 2 other settings, so I manually changed it myself to brighten up the picture. I'm not sure if I should have done something different. Any suggestions/comments are appreciated.
BTW, this is one reason that people will "edit" their images in Lightroom, Photoshop, GIMP, Picmonkey and similar. You can adjust the "exposure" fractionally to get it just what you want, when the camera won't support the fractions and granularity you believe you want. But that starts to border on editing and shooting technique and not the base settings, and while we might point these things out, it really is another set of "challenges" that can take you there.
Good shooting! (And editing!) :)
Here's my attempt for this challenge, I quite like the contrast on the middle one artistically, but it was certainly a good chance to try playing with something I don't usually play with - in this case the shutter speed.
I decided to take a photo of the chooks eating for my Shutter Speed Challenge as it meant I had moving subjects & still objects.
I used a 24-105mm lens at a focal length of 82mm. I turned the Image Stabiliser Off.
From Left to Right:
1/125, f4.5, ISO 800
1/60, f4, ISO 400
1/8, f6.3, ISO 100
The photos were taken at 6am & it was overcast. As the Shutter Speed decreased the Aperture shut down and the ISO decreased because more light was coming into the camera.
I definitely can't hand hold 1/8. Camera Shake isn't as noticeable in the 1/60 Shot, but I think it is there - if you look at the difference in the leaves in the foreground, they seem to be much crisper in the 1/125 Shot.
You can see where there would have been motion blur in the 3rd photo if I had been able to hand hold & there was some slight motion blur in the 2nd photo - however in this photo I don't think motion blur is any good. I feel that motion blur for a bird should be in the wings with the head & eyes still & in sharp focus. So I think that the 1/125 shot is the best.
of the three, I like the 1/8 exposure the best because it tickled my brain, opened me up to all the possibilities I have been missing because I have not been using this priority.
Not part of the challenge as I did a minor crop and fine tune edit but did handhold this after enjoying the results of the 1/8 above. this is 30 sec.
I focused on his left eye and then recomposed and changed the shutter speed while looking through the viewfinder, so as to keep the scene framed the same.
I was surprised at how low the camera kept the ISO setting, I didn't think there was all that much light coming in the sliding door. Overall I think I prefer the one taken at 1/60s.
interesting how the first one is so much lighter, plus it almost seems like the WB shifted or something.
Great shots Marelize. They all look well exposed. Now go back to your exif data and see how your camera altered the aperture (f stop) and the ISO.
Well done Sarah. I think all three of your shots could be usable. Hard to tell how much camera shake is in the 1/8 second shot but in the composite it looks real good.
Congratulations on your new camera. Definitely the 1/8 second shot is over exposed. Go back and check your exif data for the aperture (f stop) and ISO. Without knowing that information my guess is that you reached the limits of your camera/lens combination. i.e. your ISO could not go any lower and your aperture could not get any smaller.
with respect to playing, i am all in favour of deliberately planned motion blur... of course, the first step is knowing what settings will produce the right sort of blur without compromising your ability to get the critical bits sharply in focus... hopefully these challenges will give some good practice with that :)
Camille - i'm so glad your brain was tickled... makes me smile to hear that!
So, here is my first attempt at this challenge.
The shot on the left was set at 1/125, which automatically set the aperture at 4 and the ISO at 2500. The shot in the middle was set at 1/60, which set the aperture at 4 and the ISO at 1250. The shot on the right was set at 1/8, which set the aperture at 4 and the ISO at 200. The photos were all shot indoors. I was able to hold the camera pretty still for all the shots by propping my elbows on my desk. I think I like the shot on the right the best. It looks like it got the most light.
Obviously at higher shutter speeds it's easier to catch moving toddlers, but I regularly get decent shots at 1/60s.
And I agree that it's important to figure out what your camera will do when you choose some settings and let it decide others. Tv is not a mode I shoot in often - honestly, the last time I intentionally chose to focus on shutter speed vs. aperture was on a trip to Niagara Falls, trying to capture the motion of the water. So this has been a good exercise!
Oh! I also wound up changing from spot metering back to my camera's default evaluative metering for this series of shots, because the first few I took were underexposed.
I set the ISO on auto, but it didn't change with the aperture and shutter speed. I tried later in the evening, but had the same result - something doesn't seem quite right, but not sure what.
ISO was set to Automatic. Focal length was 37.9mm. Stabiliser was on.
Left to right:
1/125; f3.2; ISO 100
1/60; f4.5: ISO 100
1/8; f8.0; ISO 100
Verdict: The third shot at 1/8 is overexposed and not very sharp.
I am noticing that the ISO does not change - should it be? It is set to Auto.
This was my attempt today, I'm not sure which I prefer but it was good to test the limits of handheld
Another try at the Camera Setting Challenge - Shutter Speed/Handheld
I was out of inspiration as to what to shoot for the camera setting challenge. So you get a shot of various items in one drawer in my refrigerator.
Left to Right
Camera: Nikon D3200
S mode - no auto IOS
focal length: 29mm
1/125; F4.5; IOS-100
1/60; F4.5; IOS-100
1/8; F4.5; IOS-100
I asked in this post what IOS setting I should use since I don't have auto IOS in S mode. My camera was on IOS 100. I was told IOS 100 would be ok to use. I tried numerous shots outside and inside... they all looked similar to this 1/125 and 1/60 are on the dark side.
Although I shoot in RAW, I did not process these at all. Not much difference in the left and middle photo to my eye.
I also took these same photos with the IS off at Frank's suggestion.
The first two are perhaps not quite as crisp but hard for me to tell. The last one definitely is out of focus.
I do have one question - how do you keep the focal length the same. I'm using a Rebel T2i camera with a EFS 18-200 mm lens.
At Foucault's Pendulum Staircase in the Franklin Institute. I tried to take a photo of something that was moving to show the change in shutter speed. I used IS on my lens. I'll try to get a series without the IS too. I also experimented with going lower to get some of the slow motion of the pendulum swinging. If I have time I'll try to get some of those photos up too.
Thanks for the challenge and great conversation. I am learning a lot just from reading the comments here.
Camera: Lumix DMC-GH4
Lense: 12-35mm OIS - on. Lense set at 12mm
Photo taken at Twilight
I like the 2nd one best as it shows a bit of red glow in the background. I cant really see much of a difference with the clarity of the photos (my eye sight is not particularly good). Do you think this was helped because of the lense stabilisation?
I found it interesting that the focus did not change in all 3 shots, it remained at 2.8. I would have thought that when I set camera to Shutter mode that it adjusts the Focus accordingly. I'm not sure if I did something wrong!
This is the first time I have ventured to taking my camera setting of auto, and I'm really looking forward to the weeks ahead to getting to know my camera better with the help of all of you wonderful people. Thank you in advance.
Yesterday I took my camera settings shots indoors. So, today I tried it outside. The top three were taken in a shady area. I like the one on the right because most of the photo is in focus. Then I went to a sunny area and took the bottom three shots. This time I like the one in the middle. I think the focus and the lighting are the best. I am definitely open to some critique here. What do you think?
Basically what you're experiencing is your camera trying to reduce the amount of light coming in to the sensor by increasing the f stop, which makes a smaller hole for the light to get in... However, it can on,y get so small and at 1/8, it just can't get small enough! Nicely done!
What I have discovered from this is that I prefer the lightness produced by my camera with the slower shutter as apposed to the higher ISO and bigger apperture [something I never thought about before as I would always bumo up the ISO for a brighter shot].
of the 2 images above, i much prefer the top one of my grandson, Logan, shot at 1/125 vs the bottom at 1/80. both have high contrasts but i liked the drama the light gave when i was shooting.
i like the middle sunny one too... you seem to have gotten a smidgeon more contrast out of that one which makes the texture of the rock teddy is sitting on come up nicely!
thank you, for replying to my question. I do shoot in raw but have to upload in jpg. in these shots, i think i have done a better job but am not satisfied at all with loss of details. i think the best one is the 1/80 but that is because of the ice on the branch.
Used jpeg for the trial although I normally shoot in RAW. My Nikon d5100 doesn't have auto ISO in shutter priority. I chose to use ISO 800. I thought the 1/60 shutter had the nicer details although very similar to the 1/8 shutter. I also did try using ISO 400 but only the 1/8 had decent lighting.
Camera Canon 650D Focal Length 35mm and ISO 100 for each shot.
1/125 F5.6
1/60 F7.1
1/8 F20
I noticed that the second shot still held its focus fairly well despite the slower shutter. The third shot definitely showed the blur effect of slower shutter which I was pleased to see as a learning curve. Definitely harder to get sharp image at this speed and on moving object
I was surprised that the ISO didn't change but that the aperture narrowed instead I guess to control less light when longer exposure.
I was surprised that you could hold fairly steady at 1/60 - I've never tried to go below 1/100 hand held. I was puzzled why many of the earlier tries of mine ended over exposed - why the ISO didn't compensate better even on automatic.
I like the third shot, as it shows the most color and is lighter,, but none of them are focused well. Initially I shot with ISO 400, but the images were too dark.
I did not do any post-processing with these.
These are my photos. I like the last one (1/8) best, which I didn't expect at all. Usually 1/60 is the shutter setting I use to get sharp pictures while handholding my camera, if the shutter is lower than that photos tend to have a little movement in them. But there's not so much movement in this one and the colors are so much better than in the other two.
Great examples Jen. Generally most cameras will try to change aperture before ISO since increasing ISO increases digital noise. It's almost impossible to "freeze" action at 1/8 second. All three exposures look really good.
Another exercise for the camera setting challenge using shutter speed.
These shots were taken indoors. Focal length was 7.8mm. Stabiliser on.
In some of the previous shots taken outdoors, I noticed that the ISO did not change, however, shots taken indoors did kick the Auto ISO into action.
Of the three shots, I prefer the one shot at 1.8. It is surprisingly clear (to my eyes anyway) and free of the noise of the other two.
I normally shoot in Aperture mode and more recently I have ventured to use the Manual function of the camera. Using Shutter Speed mode has been interesting and informative.
Here are some things I have learned from this challenge:
1. Everyone's camera is different. Don't compare your shots to other peoples.
2. My camera has limitations in what it can and can't do. Shots that were overexposed were due to the camera's inability to compensate.
3. It is possible to shoot handheld as low as 1/8.
4. My camera has a stabiliser function.
5. My camera has Auto ISO.
Looking forward to the next challenge.
Thank you to @camerasavvy for all the effort you are putting into the challenges.
#1 1/8, f8, iso 100
#2 1/60, f2.8 iso 160
#3 1/125, f2.8 iso 320
I did have IS on, and all were taken at 50mm. I found this exercise interesting.
most of my set up shots are done in manual, as are most of my low light shots (e.g.: subway shots) - that way i can have complete control over the settings and can force the exposure i want most easily (i rarely choose the exposure the camera tells me is ideal ;p)
for street or just hoping to capture the kids at play, i will generally choose aperture priority... the only exception is if the light is tricky and i need to be certain of a higher speed (e.g.: when the kids are playing hockey - arena lighting is awful!)... for these i will often choose shutter priority...
when you say you are not sure of the settings in aperture priority in order to get a better shot, what are you trying to shoot, and what are you finding the challenge to be?
-- use a wide aperture (i.e.: f/1.8, 2.8, 5.6) for a subject you want to pop from the background - portraits for example...
-- use between f/7 and f/11 for street shots... will get you more in focus, but results in slower shutter
-- f/11 works well for landscape shots and cityscape shots as well as long as most of the image is in the far distance... i also tend to use this setting for architecture shots...
-- if you're working on something where you need both the foreground AND background in focus (you will for some big scenes and landscapes), that's when you'll want f/18 to f/22... and quite likely a tripod
i am quite happy with how this shot came out; i tried very hard to maintain the balance between shutter speed and aperture
all 3 shots from today
1) 1/125; f/5/6 2) 1/80; f/8 3) 1/8; f/32 all were shot at ISO 800
of the 3, i prefer the one shot at 1/80
photo of the day.
This was handheld... I had the ISO set manually, as my Auto ISO is purposefully set to not exceed 400 (something I recently realized I could do, and which has paid major dividends).
Hi,
Are you able to add me to your list, please. I think I'm going to find this really helpful.
Thanks
So I have my own absent-minded mystery concerning my three shots above. Seeing that the aperture isn't changed, I'm second-guessing myself on whether I was in M or Tv for these. I had been doing methodical Tv trios while driving to the store, but this better subject happened to appear before me as I emerged from the store when my mind had moved on, and I'm afraid I didn't concentrate on where my dial was. That's a long-winded way of asking: is it even possible that I was in shutter priority and that the aperture didn't change, or is it patently obvious that I was in manual mode?
It was an overcast day and this was in a shady area.
For shot 1 -I used the shutter speed 1/125 sec. In order to get enough light the camera widened the aperture as much as it could to f/4 and then compensated by raising the ISO to 2200
For shot 2- I lowered the shutter speed to 1/60 sec., the camera still had to widen the aperture as much as it could to get enough light (f/4), but did not have to raise the ISO quite as much as in the first shot. This time it raised the ISO to 1100.
For shot 3- I lowered the shutter speed to 1/8 sec. This allowed the camera to let in more light than in the previous two photos and so the aperture was narrowed slightly to f/10 and the ISO did not need to be raised so much. The ISO was raised to 800. Although this speed made a neat effect for the water, I was not able to keep the camera still enough to get sharp rocks.
Even if you were in Shutter Priority it looks like you were shooting with the aperture wide open at 1/6th. When you change to 1/60th the lens has to open by a bit over two stops but it has nowhere to go so stays the same and you get underexposure. Same thing when you go from 1/60th to 1/125 that another stop so your third stop is darker still.
First one is definitely over exposed quite a bit though so manual is a possibility :)
My first go at this. Interesting to see the difference it makes to the other settings as the ss changes.
From top left clockwise:
ss 1/125 f2.8 iso 1600 focal length same in all 3 9.80 mm.
ss 1/60 f2.8 iso 1600
ss 1/8 f2.8 iso 320
No idea how I got the focal length the same handheld! I like the last one the best as it is clearer and brighter, but also sharper. I don't necessarily understand that as the ss was slower which I thought would make it more prone to movement and a blurred image.
1. Surprisingly to me, the camera chose the same ISO for all three images. I would definitely have tried to make them darker and chosen a lower ISO. Most of my snow shots from this week are at 200. The aperture is also interesting as I probably would have stuck to around f 16.
2. I'm not sure I like the quality of any of the pictures!
3. I found I could hold the camera still for all three, as long as at 1/8 I took a deep breath, held it and was careful to squeeze the shutter button!
4. I'm surprised there's not more difference in motion freeze between 1/60 and 1/125. The snow is moving a lot at 1/8 and doesn't seem to change in the others.
5. I like the image at 1/60 best. It shows more detail and the snow is nicely frozen. It's closer to the exposure level I would have chosen.
Great challenge, I've been practising all week with varying results! It was also a useful exercise in learning how to create triptychs and text in photoshop - my first edit with PS since starting!
Feedback most welcome!
My preference is probably the one at 1/125 because I like the blurred background, but was interested to find the detail at the slower speeds.