Some newbie questions

[Ooze]

hi people i just got myself a A80 recently and have some questions.

1) How do u know what aperature size and shuttle speed to use when u using manual mode? I seem to be always guessing them and trail and error i was wondering if there are any way to know what aperature size and shuttle speed to use in different kinds of lightings

2) When taking picutres of animals for example, butterfiles, do u turn on the AF assist beam? or do u just use manual focus cause the AF beam will make them run away

3) when taking picutres at low light areas with flash i realise that when u half press the lcd does not take into consideration of the flash what should i do in this kind of situation?

your help is greatly appreciated...

 

[patch17]

hi people i just got myself a A80 recently and have some questions.

1) How do u know what aperature size and shuttle speed to use when u using manual mode? I seem to be always guessing them and trail and error i was wondering if there are any way to know what aperature size and shuttle speed to use in different kinds of lightings

2) When taking picutres of animals for example, butterfiles, do u turn on the AF assist beam? or do u just use manual focus cause the AF beam will make them run away

3) when taking picutres at low light areas with flash i realise that when u half press the lcd does not take into consideration of the flash what should i do in this kind of situation?

your help is greatly appreciated...

i'm not too familiar with the A80 and it's functions/capabilities, but i'll try to answer your questions as best as i can.

1. you can work out exposure manually using what is called "Sunny f16" rule. In a nut shell it says, on a bright sunny day, set your aperture to f16 and your shutter speed should be the reciprocal of your film speed. i.e. say you're using ISO 200 speed, your exposure setting on a bright sunny day should be f16, 1/200. If you'd like to know more about calculating exposure manually, try this link: http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm

2. If you're taking macro shots of insects and stuff, i take it it conditions should be bright enough so that you won't need the AF assist light. But just to be on the safe side, focus manually and use a flash.

3. Your LCD will never take into consideration the effect of the flash simply because the flash hasn't fired yet. nothing much you could do about that. Since you have a digital camera, take the shot as per normal (flash and all), review it, if you don't like it, take another one without flash. (one of the advantages of digital cameras.)

my suggestion: try, experiment, shoot, shoot and shoot. With digital, you can see the results immediately and make adjustments.

hope this helps.

 

[sk_online]

1) How do u know what aperature size and shuttle speed to use when u using manual mode? I seem to be always guessing them and trail and error i was wondering if there are any way to know what aperature size and shuttle speed to use in different kinds of lightings

- The Bigger the aperture F2.8, the faster shutter speed you can take pix with, minimizing blurry images hand-held, smaller the aperture is (F8), the slower u need the shutter speed to be in order to compensate for a properly exposed image. Normally you will see a + or - sign on the top left of your LCD (at least on my LCD), telling u how far off you are from the correct exposure. To achieve a certain effect, of course you may not always want a perfectly exposed picture.. experimentation is the key


2) When taking picutres of animals for example, butterfiles, do u turn on the AF assist beam? or do u just use manual focus cause the AF beam will make them run away

For macros, zoom in 3x.. manual focus to the shortest range.. and move your cam back and forth to get the best focus, if the sun is good set aperture priority to F8 and shoot away.. AF is no good, too slow for anything imo and operates only within a very short distance..

3) when taking picutres at low light areas with flash i realise that when u half press the lcd does not take into consideration of the flash what should i do in this kind of situation?
Just shoot, it's normal to have the LCD dark in low light conditions. For better results, try shutter priority set to 1/15 and hold the cam very steadily to minimize shake, or have the flash synchro on.. just make sure the shutter is not too slow.. this way, you get more of the background exposed instead of a black patch

just giving advice from my n00b experience..

 

[Ooze]

i'm not too familiar with the A80 and it's functions/capabilities, but i'll try to answer your questions as best as i can.

1. you can work out exposure manually using what is called "Sunny f16" rule. In a nut shell it says, on a bright sunny day, set your aperture to f16 and your shutter speed should be the reciprocal of your film speed. i.e. say you're using ISO 200 speed, your exposure setting on a bright sunny day should be f16, 1/200. If you'd like to know more about calculating exposure manually, try this link: http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm

2. If you're taking macro shots of insects and stuff, i take it it conditions should be bright enough so that you won't need the AF assist light. But just to be on the safe side, focus manually and use a flash.

hope this helps.

ok i read about the sunny 16 rule b4 and the smallest aperature size my cam can go is only F8 so that means i have to lower my shutter speed by 1 step right ? and the part on using flash when taking marco shots of insects won't the flash scare them away?

1) How do u know what aperature size and shuttle speed to use when u using manual mode? I seem to be always guessing them and trail and error i was wondering if there are any way to know what aperature size and shuttle speed to use in different kinds of lightings

- The Bigger the aperture F2.8, the faster shutter speed you can take pix with, minimizing blurry images hand-held, smaller the aperture is (F8), the slower u need the shutter speed to be in order to compensate for a properly exposed image. Normally you will see a + or - sign on the top left of your LCD (at least on my LCD), telling u how far off you are from the correct exposure. To achieve a certain effect, of course you may not always want a perfectly exposed picture.. experimentation is the key

oic the + and - sign on the corner is to tell us how far am i from the correct exposure but i realise it only appears on the manual mode screen on the others it dosen't and i was wondering why when i am using the manual mode there is no option for me the choose my exposure compensation.

What is the light metering modes for ? are they for the auto focus or what?

 

[OzOn3]

oic the + and - sign on the corner is to tell us how far am i from the correct exposure but i realise it only appears on the manual mode screen on the others it dosen't and i was wondering why when i am using the manual mode there is no option for me the choose my exposure compensation.

What is the light metering modes for ? are they for the auto focus or what?

Hmm, if the A80 system is similar to the A70 system, then i believe in all other modes except manual and auto, you can change the exposure compensation. Light metering modes?? :dunno: