Aperture Q.

AJake · Feb 27, 2010

On my Fujifilm Finepix S1500, I'm trying to shoot in manual mode, and trying to shoot with an aperture of 8, but it won't let me go past 6.4 UNLESS I zoom in completely and I can't do that for this shot. Any ideas?

Chriss · Feb 27, 2010

I believe that in P&S's you cant bump the aperture up that far, but (i remember reading) that a 6.4 aperture on your P&S is equivalent to like a 16 aperture on a DSLR or something. I think.

AJake · Feb 27, 2010

You'd think they would make it so that you had complete control in MANUAL. Ya know?

Chriss · Feb 27, 2010

Haha i agree, i had a sony P&S and was bothered by the same problem. Maybe its so as not to puzzle people that are just using P&S's for snapshots.

Overread · Feb 27, 2010

You probably Do have complete control - however the lens you have on the camera is simply not capable of achiving the settings you want.
What kind of shot are you trying to take?

AJake · Feb 27, 2010

I'm really just practicing manual mode. Maybe I shouldn't used that wording. lol. I was told Manual is the best mode for Noobs and to practice it a lot. What I did was take a picture of my dog in manual mode. It came out black. Completely. You couldn't even see it. The Shutter speed was at 2000 and the aperture was at 5.6. I thought that maybe a Higher setting might help the black to let in more light. I noticed that it would only go up to 6.4 when not at the highest zoom possible.

hower610 · Feb 27, 2010

AJake said:
I'm really just practicing manual mode. Maybe I shouldn't used that wording. lol. I was told Manual is the best mode for Noobs and to practice it a lot. What I did was take a picture of my dog in manual mode. It came out black. Completely. You couldn't even see it. The Shutter speed was at 2000 and the aperture was at 5.6. I thought that maybe a Higher setting might help the black to let in more light. I noticed that it would only go up to 6.4 when not at the highest zoom possible.

If it came out black, slow down your shutter speed or open the aperture (smaller number). Maybe even a little of both.

Overread · Feb 27, 2010

Heh you're going the wrong way - apertures work backwards (kind of) the bigger the number the smaller the hole in the lens and thus the less light that gets through; whilst the smaller the number the larger the hole and thus the more light that gets through.

Also review your camera manual since there should be a diagram which shows you were and how to read the camera meter - you have to read the meter as you set the settings that way you can see how the resulting shot will be exposed with hte settings you have. Otherwise you are shooting totally blind (and only a lot of experience lets you shoot without taking a meter reading)

AJake · Feb 27, 2010

Still comes very dark. Should I be using Flash in manual mode?

AJake · Feb 27, 2010

Thanks overread. I will be rereading it for sure.

Overread · Feb 27, 2010

If the shot is too dark you have 3 choices in camera

slower shutter speed - result is more chance of blur though 1/100sec should be ok for what you describe - if the dog is moving 1/400ish (very rough numbers)
wider aperture - limited of course and the more you open the aperture the less depth you get to the shot - though on a camera like yours it won't be as dramatic as on a dslr
high ISO - higher means more noise on the shot and that means less finer details.

After that you are right you have to boost the local lighting - flash - reflectors and shooting in good lighting are what you need then

AJake · Feb 27, 2010

I don't understand the lighting though. IN Auto it works fine. In manual its crap. I have two lamps and an overhead light on. I don't know what else to add other than flash. ha

Dominantly · Feb 27, 2010

Do you see what he just posted about your settings?

What do you have the camera set to?

Mulewings~ · Feb 27, 2010

AJake said:
On my Fujifilm Finepix S1500, I'm trying to shoot in manual mode, and trying to shoot with an aperture of 8, but it won't let me go past 6.4 UNLESS I zoom in completely and I can't do that for this shot. Any ideas?

I just pulled out my FujiFilm Finepix S1500. I can I can go to F9 down to F2.9 in manual mode.
I can adjust the Shutter speed from 15 seconds to 2000/second.

[ISO was at 100]

This camera really does work well in manual as far as being able to adjust what you are shooting for. It is all about learning how to 'set' it. I did these settings with no zoom and with a full zoom with only a desk light. I was able to get a good shot with the proper settings.

I think you should try and work with it a bit more.
I've used the Manual settings to take many shots with timed exposures.

Also try only zooming in partially?

Don't knock this camera, it really can preform well in all modes and is a great camera for pre DSLR learning.

AJake · Feb 27, 2010

Mulewings, I will learn how to use it. I won't give up, it just gets frustrating.

Dominantly, I have tried LOTS of different settings in manual mode.