first week with a dslr, shooting in manual question

[k100danny]

Hi my name is danny and i am new to the forum i was hoping someone here could help me out.

so i have wanted to get into photography for a long time and finally got round to buying my first dslr, nikon d3100

I was reading forums ect and most people were recommending to shoot manually over auto even from the beginning, after a few days i went for it. i was quite happy with results using only the cameras on board light meter to set up shots with.

Now i understand the very basics about manual photography, how aperture affects depth of field and how iso allows you to shoot in darker conditions ect. also how shutter speed effects the exposure of pictures and how they work together.

basically what i want to know is what is your starting point when you first turn on your camera to take a pic? should i be thinking about depth of field and then focussing on shutter speed and iso if needed?

should i always try to shoot at the lowest iso possible for a clean image?
also what things make you stray away from the light meter or do you always take note and get it in the middle before shooting?

my other question is in regards to auto focus, it seems that sometimes the subject i want isnt the thing in focus, how much contrl do you have over where the camera focusses? and which modes are best for focussing different types of things?

lastly white balance, never took this out of auto really and when i have i have got shockinhg results. should i leave this in auto as a beginner?

sorry for the long winder question and thank you in advance for any help you can give me.

 

[God]

Hi my name is danny and i am new to the forum i was hoping someone here could help me out.

so i have wanted to get into photography for a long time and finally got round to buying my first dslr, nikon d3100

I was reading forums ect and most people were recommending to shoot manually over auto even from the beginning, after a few days i went for it. i was quite happy with results using only the cameras on board light meter to set up shots with.

Now i understand the very basics about manual photography, how aperture affects depth of field and how iso allows you to shoot in darker conditions ect. also how shutter speed effects the exposure of pictures and how they work together.

basically what i want to know is what is your starting point when you first turn on your camera to take a pic? should i be thinking about depth of field and then focussing on shutter speed and iso if needed?

should i always try to shoot at the lowest iso possible for a clean image?
also what things make you stray away from the light meter or do you always take note and get it in the middle before shooting?

Firstly, welcome to TP mate, I hope you stick around and enjoy all of the experience people have here, you will learn all you need

In regards to shooting, you can always shoot in aperture priority, which lets you choose your DOF (depth of field) and works out the rest for you; Shutter priority, which lets you choose your shutter speed and works out the rest for you or manual. All cameras will have other settings but these are the main ones people will use.

When I first turn the camera on in manual I am looking at the lighting conditions and then the following are things to consider - do I want to freeze the moment? If so a relatively fast shutter speed will be needed. If I want a shallow DOF then a low aperture number (2.8/4 etc) and lastly ISO. Most modern cameras will handle ISO well up to a certain amount. Of course the better the camera the higher ISO it can handle and still have minimal noise but you get what you pay for.

When using fast shutter speeds or deeper DOF it will let in less light, so you will need to compensate with the other settings. I always leave ISO to last because it is essentially a tool to make the sensor more sensitive to light.

lastly white balance, never took this out of auto really and when i have i have got shockinhg results. should i leave this in auto as a beginner?

sorry for the long winder question and thank you in advance for any help you can give me.

Do you shoot in RAW? If so you dont need to be too concerned with white balance as this can easily be sorted afterwards. Its always best t get it right in camera of course, and auto will get it right 95% of the time. I personally have never changed the white balance in the camera

Hope that helps but there are by far more experienced people on here to help as well

 

[seriousrikk]

I'll start by talking about focus.

With auto focus I still retain 100% control over what is in focus and what isn't. I do this by using just one focus point. I don't know how many focus points your camera has but if you stop the camera deciding which one(s) to use you already have much more control.

If I am shooting stuff that is still I use one shot autofocus. This mode achieves focus on the subject the focus point covers and once focus is achieved there will be no further changes by the camera.
For moving stuff I use Servo focus - this focusses on the subject under the focus point then will adjust focus continuously as the subject moves.

When it comes to ISO, low gives a cleaner image - but don't worry about going higher. Use what it takes to get the shot - don't compromise the shutter speed for a lower ISO. A noisy shot with a higher shutter speed is much better than a lower shutter speed which could introduce blur due to camera shake.

When I go out with my camera I usually have an idea what I want to shoot. Lets take wildlife (One of my favourite subjects). I know that I like to throw the background out of focus - so I am going to use a wide aperture. This puts me into AV mode - and while I want the background out of focus, I want all my subject IN focus - so I might stop down a little bit. Say F5.6/F6.3 @ 400mm. But wait - I'm shooting at 400mm and I'm shooting small things that twitch a lot. Ideally I want to keep my shutter speed up as well - fortunately wider aperture = higher shutter speed due to the relationship between the two. I do, however, want to keep my shutter speed above 1/400th to compensate for camera shake and subject movement. Ideally I want to get up to 1/800th or more - so I meddle with the ISO to achieve this. I know the limits of my camera, and will happily set ISO 800 or 1600 if it keeps my shutter speed high.

I've been doing this a while, so what I have just described above is fairly instinctive. The key point is decide what you want to try and achieve before you turn the camera on - and your starting point will come from that.

hope this helps.

 

[Jelster]

Ricard gives some good advice.

One thing to add, when I put the camera away, I lays set it back to a "default" setting, which Aperture Priority, about f2.8 and ISO 400. That way when I pick the camera up, it's in decent setting for most of what I want to do. In time you'll get your own default. Mine is also set to single central point AF, and spot metering.

Steve

Sent from my iPad using TP Forums

 

[k100danny]

Thanks for the replys so far guys.

Im still not 100% on the different focus modes the camera has, all i know is it has 11 point auto focus. i have gone into the menu and looks at single point. dynamic ect but dont really understand them.

also if i am taking a picture of two people at different distances away from me would the only way to get them both in focus be to focus on the nearest and use a high aperture number?

thanks again

 

[MnM]

Thanks for the replys so far guys.

Im still not 100% on the different focus modes the camera has, all i know is it has 11 point auto focus. i have gone into the menu and looks at single point. dynamic ect but dont really understand them.

also if i am taking a picture of two people at different distances away from me would the only way to get them both in focus be to focus on the nearest and use a high aperture number?

thanks again

Choose single point focus on the Nikon and pick which point by using the multi-selector. I'd suggest practising by lining up some objects in the room or garden (beer bottles hic)and focusing on the middle one, take a few shots with different apertures to see which of the ones in front and behind come and go into focus. Only way is just to practice and play around like that.

 

[lensflair]

Choose single point focus on the Nikon and pick which point by using the multi-selector. I'd suggest practising by lining up some objects in the room or garden (beer bottles hic)and focusing on the middle one, take a few shots with different apertures to see which of the ones in front and behind come and go into focus. Only way is just to practice and play around like that.

There's a couple of different ways to focus with single point. You can move the focus point over the subject you want in focus, or you can use centre point and lock focus by half pressing shutter button or use focus lock button, then recompose the image how you like before firing shutter. The second option is quick and some cameras have a more sensitive centre focus point, but be careful doing this with a shallow DOF, once you are wider than about f4 this wont work well if your subject is close as the plane of focus will shift as you move the camera.

 

[boyfalldown]

Choose single point focus on the Nikon and pick which point by using the multi-selector. I'd suggest practising by lining up some objects in the room or garden (beer bottles hic)and focusing on the middle one, take a few shots with different apertures to see which of the ones in front and behind come and go into focus. Only way is just to practice and play around like that.

There's a couple of different ways to focus with single point. You can move the focus point over the subject you want in focus, or you can use centre point and lock focus by half pressing shutter button or use focus lock button, then recompose the image how you like before firing shutter. The second option is quick and some cameras have a more sensitive centre focus point, but be careful doing this with a shallow DOF, once you are wider than about f4 this wont work well if your subject is close as the plane of focus will shift as you move the camera.

I never understand why people suggest using centre point focus nowdays, especially on the higher end Nikons. Try using the 3d tracking instead & back button focusing instead of AF-Lock/ a shutter half press. Works brilliantly.

Anyway - back to the OP. If you are just going to line the meter up in the middle there is little point shooting manually, and you may as well use the A or S modes (depending on what you want to achieve). This of M as an exposure lock, and another way of moving away from what the camera thinks is 'right' depending on what you would like to achieve

H

 

[lensflair]

I never understand why people suggest using centre point focus nowdays, especially on the higher end Nikons. Try using the 3d tracking instead & back button focusing instead of AF-Lock/ a shutter half press. Works brilliantly.


H

Because I want to choose where the camera is focusing. I tend to be shootings brides not rugby players running past me, different strokes. I never got on with back button focus, half shutter press works fine for me.

 

[boyfalldown]

Because I want to choose where the camera is focusing. I tend to be shootings brides not rugby players running past me, different strokes. I never got on with back button focus, half shutter press works fine for me.

you're right about different strokes, but I tend to be shooting weddings and not sports though. 3d tracking lets you chose but it does take getting used to

 

[lensflair]

you're right about different strokes, but I tend to be shooting weddings and not sports though. 3d tracking lets you chose but it does take getting used to

Let me ask how you choose with 3D tracking, I'm interested now.

When I'm shooting say F1.8 and focusing on the brides eye up close I move the cursor where I want focus as the DOF is so shallow. I often move it at other times too, but for quick grabs at a distance I just focus/recompse.

 

[boyfalldown]

Let me ask how you choose with 3D tracking, I'm interested now.

When I'm shooting say F1.8 and focusing on the brides eye up close I move the cursor where I want focus as the DOF is so shallow. I often move it at other times too, but for quick grabs at a distance I just focus/recompse.

I do find for close up/shallow DoF work its at its strongest - but I tend to leave it starting from the centre point, then pick the focal point (an eye for example), then recompose with the AF-button held. As you recompose the camera locks to your initial focal point and moves the focal point to keep that initial point in focus (if that makes any sense).

 

[lensflair]

I do find for close up/shallow DoF work its at its strongest - but I tend to leave it starting from the centre point, then pick the focal point (an eye for example), then recompose with the AF-button held. As you recompose the camera locks to your initial focal point and moves the focal point to keep that initial point in focus (if that makes any sense).

Oh yeah I have played around with that before, seemed like an interesting technique but would take a while to get used to as you said. Might have another go with it sometime.

 

[seriousrikk]

I never understand why people suggest using centre point focus nowdays, especially on the higher end Nikons. Try using the 3d tracking instead & back button focusing instead of AF-Lock/ a shutter half press. Works brilliantly.

Because we're in talk basics offering initial advice to someone not familiar with the various other modes on offer and what they can achieve.

No need to confuse the matter by going into other focus modes that require more time to master, and until mastered will potentially provide inconsistant/dissapointing results results.

Start with the basics, then build on them, right?

 

[boyfalldown]

Because we're in talk basics offering initial advice to someone not familiar with the various other modes on offer and what they can achieve.

No need to confuse the matter by going into other focus modes that require more time to master, and until mastered will potentially provide inconsistant/dissapointing results results.

Start with the basics, then build on them, right?

I realize we're in talk basics

however my comment was in reply to the way two other posters (the clue was the way I'd quoted them) worked, and the advise they gave.

For what its worth I think telling anyone to stick with center point focusing nowdays is not great advice, basics or not.

 

[straycat]

Hugh [boyfalldown] i have sent you several PMs and you havent answered any are they getting thought to you?

this is what i sent you first

"hi Hugh,can you send me the warranty card and any other papers [not in the box]"

your last message was you would post,they have still not arrived.

thanks

 

[Leslie]

Mine is also set to single central point AF, and spot metering.

Steve

Hi, I picked up a Nikon D3100 at the weekend as my first dslr and am very much learning the ropes. I've already set it to single point focus but was wondering about what the benefit of setting it to spot metering is?

 

[Martylaa]

Good info on here for a newbie like me