Where to start?
Discussion
Going on from my previous rambling thread in this section, heres another one!
I recently purchased a Sony NEX5n as an upgrade to my old Fuji bridge camera. The bridge camera was mainly used in landscape/ portrait/ auto/ sport modes. Now I have satisfied my desire to buy something new and shiny I am sort of stuck. The 5n seems to be way more technical than I thought. The built in help guides are good but I have no idea where to start in terms of getting to know all the modes etc.
I have looked around for photography courses in the local area but appear to have missed out on the start date for a few of them. Could anyone reccomend an idiots guide to photography or should I return the 5n and stick with a point and shoot?
I recently purchased a Sony NEX5n as an upgrade to my old Fuji bridge camera. The bridge camera was mainly used in landscape/ portrait/ auto/ sport modes. Now I have satisfied my desire to buy something new and shiny I am sort of stuck. The 5n seems to be way more technical than I thought. The built in help guides are good but I have no idea where to start in terms of getting to know all the modes etc.
I have looked around for photography courses in the local area but appear to have missed out on the start date for a few of them. Could anyone reccomend an idiots guide to photography or should I return the 5n and stick with a point and shoot?
Go buy understanding exposure on amazon.
The fundamentals are easy.
Sensor records light, how much is decided by the aperture and the shutter time
Shutter time - longer = more light.
Aperture - lower number = more light.
ISO is amplification applied after you have gathered the light above. ISO 100 = volume level 1, ISO 3200 = volume level 10. like turning your stereo up louder, higher iso = poorer quality ( with noise and dynamic range)
The camera can guess what the right amount of light is - this is called metering and you've beem making use of it with any auto mode.
Best way to shoot (and what most of us on here do most of the time) is use aperture mode , where you pick the aperture, the camera works out the rest.
Why aperture? because it affects the depth of field ( whats in focus, whats blurry) which is mor often than not what we are interested in.
Go from there.
The fundamentals are easy.
Sensor records light, how much is decided by the aperture and the shutter time
Shutter time - longer = more light.
Aperture - lower number = more light.
ISO is amplification applied after you have gathered the light above. ISO 100 = volume level 1, ISO 3200 = volume level 10. like turning your stereo up louder, higher iso = poorer quality ( with noise and dynamic range)
The camera can guess what the right amount of light is - this is called metering and you've beem making use of it with any auto mode.
Best way to shoot (and what most of us on here do most of the time) is use aperture mode , where you pick the aperture, the camera works out the rest.
Why aperture? because it affects the depth of field ( whats in focus, whats blurry) which is mor often than not what we are interested in.
Go from there.
Don't give up. I started about 8-9 months ago and I found it difficult to understand how settings would effect a photo. I read a couple of Scott Kelby books which helped a bit. But I've also benefited from a couple of friends that are pretty handy. Even having a quick look at other peoples exif data can sometimes help. These are things I'm still learning. Spend some time out and about with your camera and it will become more understandable quite quickly.
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