What does this button do please?

LouiseTopp said:
What's the speed for landscapes please?
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Hi

There is a rule of thumb for calculating exposure known as the Sunny f16 Rule.

In a nutshell it means on a sunny day with your aperture set at f16, your shutter speed should be reciprocal of your ISO.

Basically this means at f16, if

ISO100, then shutter =1/100
ISO200, then shutter =1/200
ISO400, then shutter =1/400 and so on.

Now there are a few things to consider which I wouldn't concern myself with right at this specific moment - these will become more relevant as you progress but could swamp you just now. These are; diffraction at smaller apertures, white balance, exposure compensation, ETTR, the use of AEB, software and hardware grads and metering, not to forgot minimum recommended shutter speeds for handheld work and related to that, are you using a tripod?

So to answer your question more directly, shoot in Aperture (A, Av) = f11 with ISO 400 - this should give you decent handheld landscape shutter speed, not to bad ISO performance.

There is no right or wrong speed for landscapes but as light changes then exposure parameters have to change too. Best tips for landscape work is to be more concerned with the time of day - sunrise and sunset typically being optimal times to be out for landscapes. Composition trumps what Camera mode was used, so don't worry about manual modes too much just now if its not making sense - we have all been there :thumbs:
 
Splog said:
Nope! With 'P' mode you have both Av and Tv at the same time :cool:
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Yep, exposure shift. Never really got on with it in the same way as using EC in Av or Tv.

I suppose the key thing is that 1/60s @ f/5 (or whatever) is just that in whatever mode. It's how you get to that setting that is totally down to user preference :)
 
LouiseTopp said:
What's the speed for landscapes please?
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That's not a straightforward question at all.

Many landscape photographers will stick their cameras on tripods, so even slow (1/30s down to many seconds) will not be blurred by camera movement, but trees moving in the breeze etc will be blurred. Often with running water the blur is deliberate and can give various effects that imply movement.

On your Pentax hand-held, I'd take a whole series of shots from fast to slow shutter speeds and examine them on your computer. The slower ones should start looking blurry - this will give you an idea of the speed you can hand-hold. Please remember, though, that wider angles can be hand-held at slower shutter speeds than telephoto shots - the more you zoom in, the more a small movement in camera body makes a big change in where the camera is pointing on the subject.

This is a tough thread as you've almost said 'Tell me about photography!'

Phil
 
I have stolen Alastair's 4 line summary, and added the modes which should not be named. ;)

M - If you know what you're doing
Tv - If it's moving. (Fast shutter to freeze action, slow shutter to blur action)
Av - If it's not moving. (Wide aperture to blur background. Narrow aperture for near and far in focus)
P - You can't decide between Av and Tv.
SCN - You tell the camera what scene you're taking a picture of. It uses optimal settings for that kind of picture.
AUTO - You let the camera work out what sort of scene you're taking a picture of. It uses optimal settings for that kind of picture.

SCN and AUTO get a bad press, but they have their place if you're not an expert. They change more than just the exposure, but also adjust other settings like colour vibrancy and sharpening.

I think somebody suggested that Louise should read the manual, but, as a Pentax user myself, I can confirm that this probably won't help very much, as their explanations are rubbish.:thumbsdown:
 
pentaprison said:
I have stolen Alastair's 4 line summary, and added the modes which should not be named. ;)

M - If you know what you're doing
Tv - If it's moving. (Fast shutter to freeze action, slow shutter to blur action)
Av - If it's not moving. (Wide aperture to blur background. Narrow aperture for near and far in focus)
P - You can't decide between Av and Tv.
SCN - You tell the camera what scene you're taking a picture of. It uses optimal settings for that kind of picture.
AUTO - You let the camera work out what sort of scene you're taking a picture of. It uses optimal settings for that kind of picture.

SCN and AUTO get a bad press, but they have their place if you're not an expert. They change more than just the exposure, but also adjust other settings like colour vibrancy and sharpening.

I think somebody suggested that Louise should read the manual, but, as a Pentax user myself, I can confirm that this probably won't help very much, as their explanations are rubbish.:thumbsdown:
Click to expand...

The thing is, all of these modes (and probably the manual) will be meaningless without understanding what shutter speeds, apertures and iso values actually mean and how they relate. Until then, Av, Tv, whatever will be totally meaningless. This is what I was getting at earlier with 'Understanding Exposure' or other learning resources. Once that stuff has sunk in, the uses of Tv, Av etc becomes fairly self explanatory. Certainly the case in my experience.
 
gad-westy said:
The thing is, all of these modes (and probably the manual) will be meaningless without understanding what shutter speeds, apertures and iso values actually mean and how they relate. Until then, Av, Tv, whatever will be totally meaningless. This is what I was getting at earlier with 'Understanding Exposure' or other learning resources. Once that stuff has sunk in, the uses of Tv, Av etc becomes fairly self explanatory. Certainly the case in my experience.
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Totally agree :thumbs:
 
Donnie said:
I always shoot landscapes at a minimum 3000th sec to freeze any movement:exit:
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Well....... The earth is spinning very fast and flying through space at the same time so it makes sense :nuts:
 
Alastair said:
If you know what you're doing - M
If it's moving - Tv
If it's not moving - Av
If you haven't a clue - P

That's being a bit unfair to P mode really, as it can be handy if you're in a rush. But that's the gist of it.
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Brilliant :D

The only time I ever use P mode is if I'm using flash and need to get a shot quickly and don't have time to set it up in M :)
 
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