Ben's Newbie Guide to Digital SLR Photography

[Ben Fried]

Thanks again for all your comments guys! I apologize for the delay of part 3. I know I said I'd have it for you a week or 2 ago. Things have just been kind of crazy with work.

Thanks for your patience and happy shooting!

[kekoa]

Awesome. I'm still a little confused on the crop section. Can you also go through the different camera modes sometime? ie. manual, auto, av, etc...

thanks!!

[laidback71]

Originally Posted by Ben Fried

Thanks again for all your comments guys! I apologize for the delay of part 3. I know I said I'd have it for you a week or 2 ago. Things have just been kind of crazy with work.

Thanks for your patience and happy shooting!

Eagerly awaiting part 3. Very good information.

[jasonp80]

Excellent write up, thanks for taking your time to help beginners.

[Windy]

Cool thread well written easy to understand. Thank you so much

[Cody21]

Thank you for this .... Timely info as I was really starting to struggle with my AV & TV modes.

[cathy1951]

this is the first time in two years i have read and understand. Many thanks

[starkc]

can i copy this and post it in my blog? so that your infos can be passed on to other users very helpful!

[Ben Fried]

Originally Posted by starkc

can i copy this and post it in my blog? so that your infos can be passed on to other users very helpful!

That's fine, just throw a link or something in the blog post that gives me credit .

Thanks!

[Ben Fried]

Originally Posted by kekoa

Awesome. I'm still a little confused on the crop section. Can you also go through the different camera modes sometime? ie. manual, auto, av, etc...

thanks!!

I'll have to add that, but in the mean time:

Auto: You don't adjust anything. Your dSLR is now a point and shoot. Just press the shutter button and take a picture. (A waste of your expensive camera in my opinion).

TV & AV: You adjust 1 setting and the camera will automatically adjust the other settings to properly expose your picture. I don't remember which is TV and which is AV, but on one you adjust the aperture and on the other you adjust the shutter speed. This is good when you're starting out and you want to make sure your pictures are properly exposed but you still want SOME control.

Manual: You adjust all of the settings. If you don't adjust them properly (and look at your exposure meter) you can massively under or over expose your picture. However, once you get familiar with the adjustments and controls, shooting in manual is very satisfying .

[BillyR]

I'd like to add my thanks for your tutorial, and looking forward to Part 3. I've had a digital SLR (Canon 20D) for a couple of years now, after various fixed-lens Digitals. Just bought a 5D with a 24-105L lense a few weeks ago, and having some fun learning to use it (It's not that different, at least in terms of menus and buttons).

By the way, re your last post, Av is aperture mode and Tv is shutter mode, and you forgot to mention P (program) mode, where you can adjust some things such as ISO and flash exposure compensation but the camera still sets the shutter speed and aperture for you.

I also prefer M mode, but keep my cameras set on P / ISO 400 so that I may get a quick shot if I don't have time to set it. It'll be pretty close, and I can always fix it later in Photoshop.

[theartist53]

I have a question....if my readings were at F8 at 1/60 what would be my new shutter speed if the aperature was changed to F16? How do I know how to change things around?

[BillyR]

Originally Posted by theartist53

I have a question....if my readings were at F8 at 1/60 what would be my new shutter speed if the aperature was changed to F16? How do I know how to change things around?

Why don't you set the aperture to that setting in Av mode and take a picture? Then you can see what the shutter speed was. Actually, you can see it in bottom of the viewfinder when you press the shutter button halfway down. My guess would be about 1/15 sec., far too slow without a tripod. The consensus of opinion seems to be that 1/60 is the slowest practical shutter speed for a handheld camera, maybe a little slower with Image Stabilization. That is, if your subject stays still.

[jb_browneyes]

thank you!

[DigitalDawn]

Ben thank you so much for this great information. My hat is off to you for taking the time and making such an effort to provide such valuable information. THANK YOU!

Even though I have already learned about ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture, I was just looking into Focal Length, Zoom Range, and Crop-Factor type information. Can't thank you enough for saving me a lot of time.

Thank you,