Beginner Aperture priority mode

Carpy2001

Carpy2001

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Andrew
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Hi all its me again lol, I am still trying but have encountered a minor issue with wich I need some advice. I am trying to use the Aperture priority mode (to see how it affects the pics I take), I have been using the Auto mode, but am trying to move on a little, the issue is that if I use the "A" mode on my dial which will give me some control over the aperture size, normaly a choice of two, at wide angle the choice is f3.1 or f8, but the camera in this mode will not let me use auto iso, so my question is should I use the lowest iso I can (iso 64) or use say iso 100 ??.
Thanks Andy.
ps, sorry if I am being a pain or doing it wrong again.
 
I presume you're using a zoom lens?

If you are using something like a variable (rather than constant aperture) 18-50mm f3.5-5.6 the aperture will be f3.5 at 18mm and as you turn the zoom ring towards 50mm the aperture will change from f3.5 to... something like f3.8, 4 and eventually f5.6. These will be the widest apertures you can select. You can of course use smaller apertures like f8, f11 etc. It'll all be written on the front of the lens.

I don't know why your camera wont let you use auto ISO in Aperture priority mode, what make and model is it? Oh and while you're at it what's the lens?

ISO wise I think ISO 100 could well be the cameras starting point with ISO 64 possibly being somehow derived from that but I can't guess what effect changing from 100 to 64 will have on image quality, maybe none, it could affect your shutter speed though and if your shutter speed gets too low you could end up with blurred images so keep an eye not only on your aperture but also your shutter speed.
 
It's usually best practice to use the lowest iso you can without going so low that you get a low shutter speed and camera shake. In Aperture mode you need to keep an eye on what shutter speed the camera sets just to be on the safe side. What speed you need with depend on what your shooting, if the subject is moving and how steady your hand is. ;)
 
Before trying to answer your question can you please tell us first what camera you have, from a previous post about batteries you refer to a Fuji Fine Pix -which one?
Also, on the front of the lens there will be some numbers, something like 18-55 and 1:2.8-5.6 what are they? as it is difficult to give you a meaningful answer without knowing that
 
troutfisher said:
Before trying to answer your question can you please tell us first what camera you have, from a previous post about batteries you refer to a Fuji Fine Pix -which one?
Also, on the front of the lens there will be some numbers, something like 18-55 and 1:2.8-5.6 what are they? as it is difficult to give you a meaningful answer without knowing that
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No problem troutfisher here we go, it is a finepix s4200, 24x zoom bridge camera on the lens it says, f= 4.3-103.2, f3.1-f5.9. It has iso from 64 to 6400 plus auto iso 400 and 800 but only in certain modes.
In auto, then its just point and shoot, In "P" (program?) In this mode, the camera sets exposure automatically. "If desired, you can choose different combinations of shutter speed and aperture that will produce the same exposure" whatever that means lol. I copied that bit from the manual. and you can use auto iso, In "S" (shutter priority) you can use auot iso, In "M" and "C" you cannot use auto iso.
I know this will get me in bother with some people, but it seems as if the camera is actually trying to limit what you can do with it ??. Like I have said, it is probably me making a hash of things again.
 
I think with that camera I'd use it in aperture priority with the aperture wide open.... ie. as wide as you can... so that'll be f4.3 to f5.9. You may find that the shutter speed may drop too low and if it does what I'd do is switch to manual mode and dial in suitable aperture and shutter speed settings.

But that's me because I'm old fashioned :D

You could just leave it is auto or P mode.

If you do want ti experiment with aperture priority try not to use very small apertures such as f16 as these could hit image quality, oh, and keep an eye on that shutter speed and don't let it drop too low, you'll need a fast enough shutter to prevent camera shake and freeze movement.

Good luck with this, I hope you get a lot of enjoyment from your camera :D
 
Thanks woof woof, I know I am new to all this but, it seems to me that some of what I am struggling with is down to the camera not allowing some changes to be made, I have tried it in manual mode, but I just made a complete mess of it lol. I have been out again today at my local park, trying to get some nice shots of the water foul and swans, but they are all blurry, I even tried shutter priority and went to 1/1600 and even then the swan was blured ( it was just slowly moving across the water, not going fast), It is probably me, but it seems like this camera does not deal with moving objects very well, nor does it deal with an object that is in the shadow of a tree very well. But for still objects in good light it is fine.
 
Carpy2001 said:
No problem troutfisher here we go, it is a finepix s4200, 24x zoom bridge camera on the lens it says, f= 4.3-103.2, f3.1-f5.9. It has iso from 64 to 6400 plus auto iso 400 and 800 but only in certain modes.
In auto, then its just point and shoot, In "P" (program?) In this mode, the camera sets exposure automatically. "If desired, you can choose different combinations of shutter speed and aperture that will produce the same exposure" whatever that means lol. I copied that bit from the manual. and you can use auto iso, In "S" (shutter priority) you can use auot iso, In "M" and "C" you cannot use auto iso.
I know this will get me in bother with some people, but it seems as if the camera is actually trying to limit what you can do with it ??. Like I have said, it is probably me making a hash of things again.
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No, you're probably right. It could be automatically limiting itself under some circumstances. It may do this when you try and exceed the tolerance at certain settings. And I can imagine it is frustrating. I think it's common to be able to push the settings in program mode and achieve the same result. Thing is, do you want to use auto ISO? If you're in a semi manual mode AV, or TV, for example, the light will determine what ISO you set manually. But the lower you go the less flexible your camera will become. I'd be wary of going to low as it makes shooting in duller conditions too challenging.
 
Similar has been said before, it is a camera with limited manual capabilities, and trying to use it in manual or semi manual modes will probably result in frustrations.

Maybe best to concentrate on the user influenced aspects of taking a shot.
 
Carpy2001 said:
I have been out again today at my local park, trying to get some nice shots of the water foul and swans, but they are all blurry,
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From a review on the internet...

Once we'd concluded our test shots, we made one decision about the Fujifilm FinePix S4200: It's not a camera to rush around with. Taking landscapes, cityscapes, posed portraits, still life and macro subjects are great. The camera works fine doing these because it doesn't need to act fast. However, sports photography, street candids, some nature and family shots may not fall in the remit of the S4200 if things are happening too fast. The sample shots of the horses were only two of around 20 we took. The others were blurred or – mostly – out of focus because the animals had moved before the camera could react. So we know it's slow.
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Fujifilm FinePix S4200 Review | Photography Blog

The new Fujifilm FinePix S4200 super-zoom camera boasts a 24x zoom lens, 14 megapixel sensor, 3 inch LCD screen and 720p movies, all for under under $150 / £150. Does the S4200 cut too many corners though? Find out by reading our in-depth Fujifilm FinePix S4200 review...
www.photographyblog.com www.photographyblog.com

I've had students with cameras like these before and they all start to limit folks when straying off auto modes. 'Can't have this when you do that', fixed apertures at full zoom, limiting ISO ranges when in random modes... It's a headache, and can really be a limiting factor if you're trying to learn. Can't help any more than others have tried to with your original question, but I can tell you you're not alone.
 
Thanks for your reply to my question
You should have enough information to get the best out of the camera within it's limitations
All the best
Chris
 
Thank everyone at least I know I am not going mad lol, for now I think I will just stick to putting it in auto and take pics of flowers and stuff that wont move on me, maybe think about something different when finances allow, I just hope I dont get bored before then as I am enjoying myself even if I get frustrated. Plus asking all these questions will get on peoples nerves eventualy, almost seems like asking the same thing over and over lol.
 
We don't mind questions we we know we are helping people and they acknowledge the help
 
Carpy2001 said:
Thank everyone at least I know I am not going mad lol, for now I think I will just stick to putting it in auto and take pics of flowers and stuff that wont move on me, maybe think about something different when finances allow, I just hope I dont get bored before then as I am enjoying myself even if I get frustrated. Plus asking all these questions will get on peoples nerves eventualy, almost seems like asking the same thing over and over lol.
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Carpy, that's quite normal. After all, I'm still here. :p Sounds like a plan though.
 
My suggestion would be to put the camera on P. The idea is that the camera will try to get the exposure right but that can be done with various combinations of aperture and shutter speed.

For example if you have a large aperture (small number. lets more light in) the shutter will be open for a shorter time, whereas if you have a small aperture (large number, lets less light in) the shutter will be open for longer. In both cases the total amount of light will be the same.

Think of a tap open fully for a short time and then opened only slightly for a longer time.

In P mode you can try out the different combinations to see what effect they have without encountering the built in restrictions in some of the other modes.

One thing that @Phil V said on here was that the 2 most important decisions to make when taking a picture are:

Where to place the camera
When to press the shutter

That has stuck with me since and I quote it to people all the time, giving Phil credit of course :)

Concentrate on those 2 and your pictures should improve
 
The camera sounds like the Fuji S602 pro zoom I used to have. It was incredibly slow and there was a lag between me pressing the shutter button and the camera taking the picture. Anything moving was often out of focus.

It's likely that this camera will give decent results when used to photograph still subjects but anything else could just be too much for it.
 
Carpy2001 said:
"If desired, you can choose different combinations of shutter speed and aperture that will produce the same exposure" whatever that means lol.
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It means that you can choose to increase or decrease aperture or shutter speed while the camera automatically alters the other parameter to compensate and give you the same exposure. If you can't use Auto ISO it's as good as S or A mode to my way of thinking.

If you want to alter the aperture you can, just like being in aperture priority. Same for the suhtter speed as if you were in shutter priority mode. Whatever mode you are in and whatever the camera sets it's up to YOU to make sure the settings are what YOU want them to be.

IMO, with a camera that has a long focal length lens I'd be more inclined to keep an eye on the shutter speed to avoid camera shake causing blur. Not least because the small 'largest' apertures you have and the small sensor are not going to give you much noticeable control over depth of field.

I'm sure I'll get shot down for this as most hobbyists seem to favour aperture priority - I avoid it.
Suvv said:
One thing that @Phil V said on here was that the 2 most important decisions to make when taking a picture are:

Where to place the camera
When to press the shutter

That has stuck with me since and I quote it to people all the time, giving Phil credit of course
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I don't think he was the first to offer that advice to the world. ;)
 
I think I posted before that whilst this camera has the ability to shoot in A, S and M modes - it's a bit of a gimmick rather than actual proper functionality.

I've not used this specific camera but have used some Fuji bridge cameras of a similar vintage. And they look much more like cameras than they actually behave (and they don't look that much like a camera) :)

Genuinely - if you want to use that camera to take pictures, stick it on auto and go take pictures.

But if you want to learn photography, you're gonna have to invest a little in a proper camera, where the modes actually work and the settings behave themselves.
 
Phil V said:
I think I posted before that whilst this camera has the ability to shoot in A, S and M modes - it's a bit of a gimmick rather than actual proper functionality.

I've not used this specific camera but have used some Fuji bridge cameras of a similar vintage. And they look much more like cameras than they actually behave (and they don't look that much like a camera) :)

Genuinely - if you want to use that camera to take pictures, stick it on auto and go take pictures.

But if you want to learn photography, you're gonna have to invest a little in a proper camera, where the modes actually work and the settings behave themselves.
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One camera I've often recommended is the Panasonic G1. I loved mine. These days you can find them at used dealers for £50-£100 and £100 would I think be on the expensive side. Add a cheap lens or even a cheap film era lens to use via a cheap adapter and you could be taking digital pictures for under £200 and possibly quite a bit under £200.
 
woof woof said:
One camera I've often recommended is the Panasonic G1. I loved mine. These days you can find them at used dealers for £50-£100 and £100 would I think be on the expensive side. Add a cheap lens or even a cheap film era lens to use via a cheap adapter and you could be taking digital pictures for under £200 and possibly quite a bit under £200.
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Or a G2 without the G1's sticky rubber coating they usually have by now.

For £200 you will easily find a G5 with lens, and for £140 a G3 with lens. G2s with a lens often go for £50 or less.

G5 hardly used £175 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175892492377?hash=item28f4027059:g:L0wAAOSwiz5k-cCY (that G5 is a very good buy :) )

G3 shutter count 7806 £139 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175892461173?hash=item28f401f675:g:yXwAAOSw1rhk-bqS

I have bought from and recommended this seller numerous times, and his cameras are much better than he describes, and superb service

If you watch on ebay, you will do much better on price too, but as always with something used, you don't know what you are getting, however you are well protected on ebay if it has been wrongly described, and if it works when it arrives, no-one van predict a future problem, no matter who you buy from.
A 3 month guarantee is plenty to show up any problems, six months may be better, but it has to be honoured to be of any use at all :)
 
My advice: always say what camera you are using each time you pose a question! It’ll get more relevant answers.
 
Looking at the manual the s4200 is shown as having auto iso, auto iso 400 and auto iso 800 (page 75) I cant find any mention of it being limited to any modes, nor is there a mention in the aperture mode page. I dont have one to check though.
 
Thats courious, I wonder why it's not an option. Looks like you'll have to use manual iso in A mode.
 
Sangoma said:
Or a G2 without the G1's sticky rubber coating they usually have by now.

For £200 you will easily find a G5 with lens, and for £140 a G3 with lens. G2s with a lens often go for £50 or less.

G5 hardly used £175 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175892492377?hash=item28f4027059:g:L0wAAOSwiz5k-cCY (that G5 is a very good buy :) )

G3 shutter count 7806 £139 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175892461173?hash=item28f401f675:g:yXwAAOSw1rhk-bqS

I have bought from and recommended this seller numerous times, and his cameras are much better than he describes, and superb service

If you watch on ebay, you will do much better on price too, but as always with something used, you don't know what you are getting, however you are well protected on ebay if it has been wrongly described, and if it works when it arrives, no-one van predict a future problem, no matter who you buy from.
A 3 month guarantee is plenty to show up any problems, six months may be better, but it has to be honoured to be of any use at all :)
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Thanks Sangoma, not sure which way to go, I like the Iidea of M4/3 being mirrorless, but those lenses seem to cost a lot, also looked at nikon D3500 or D5300, but Canon seems to have more variation and availability of lenses, just not sure about which model model. I have abround the £500 mark maybe a bit more if really needed. I would idealy like 1 standard lens, 1 zoom lens and 1 macro lens, if that would be a good idea, the local wild life is easily spooked so tends to be a way off, and I seem to like close up shots.
 
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Carpy2001 said:
Thanks Sangoma, not sure which way to go, I like the Iidea of M4/3 being mirrorless, but those lenses seem to cost a lot, also looked at nikon D3500 or D5300, but Canon seems to have more variation and availability of lenses, just not sure about which model model. I have abround the £500 mark maybe a bit more if really needed. I would idealy like 1 standard lens, 1 zoom lens and 1 macro lens, if that would be a good idea, the local wild life is easily spooked so tends to be a way off, and I seem to like close up shots.
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And I don't think any one could advise you and be sure of being right.

You are going through a normal process of building up experience, and narrowing down your direction and choices.

I was using Canon until two years ago, when I bought a G3 to try. I now just have a Canon 650D left, and everything else is Panasonic M43, and I am very happy, having more fun than ever before.

I would certainly not suggest trying to spend you budget and hope you get what will be what you want for the next 5 year, as it simply just won't happen :)

The Lumix 45-150 (90-300 equivalent) is fairly cheap, and with a screw on close up lens does a good job of bugs and flowers..

My son (recently turned 13) was a faithful Canon user. Well, he has gone from Panasonic G5 to G7 then G80, and I can see his eyes on my one G9 :)

The G5 is a very good entry point, but it doesn't matter what system you choose, you will never get all you want for what you think your budget is now !


Don't dismiss something on paper specs, you have used the 600D so you will have an idea what it is like, if that suits you, maybe that is the way to go, but there are many reasons I would suggest the Panasonic from personal experience of them both.
 
You might be better off with a D3400 than a 3500 as they have an extra button you can set up for changing iso. Both the 3X00 a and 5X00 series are nice cameras (some will disagree) until you try and shoot manual. They both don't have enough buttons to make that easy. They are okay for P, A and S modes as long as you don't want to change things quickly.

If you want to go cheap then a D90 and a 18-70 lens would come to around £150. You could also use all the cheap older D lenses with it. It won't be great in the dark but it won't be that far from more modern cameras.
 
Sangoma, I have never had anything other than this finepix s4200, (apart from an old Zenith film camera for a short time in the 80's). If I can get the camera and lenses that will get me going and last a couple of years while I learn, then I can always save up from now until then so I could possibly upgrade whatever was in need of it lol.
 
Carpy2001 said:
Thanks Sangoma, not sure which way to go, I like the Iidea of M4/3 being mirrorless, but those lenses seem to cost a lot, also looked at nikon D3500 or D5300, but Canon seems to have more variation and availability of lenses, just not sure about which model model. I have abround the £500 mark maybe a bit more if really needed. I would idealy like 1 standard lens, 1 zoom lens and 1 macro lens, if that would be a good idea, the local wild life is easily spooked so tends to be a way off, and I seem to like close up shots.
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I've bought most of my MFT lenses on the used market and I've saved quite a lot compared to buying new.
 
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