Basic settings

[ILovePlaya]

Recently upgraded to Fuji S2000HD from point & shoot.
My question is are there basic parameters that I can
follow to manually adjust my camera instead of just
selecting one of the scene settings ie; portrait,landscape ect.?
Thank's in advance. Great forum.
Craig.

 

[BTilson]

I don't know anything about your specific camera, but as far as I know, pretty much every camera nowadays has a manual mode, with the three main adjustment options being shutter speed, aperture and ISO value. That's pretty much all there really is to full manual control, that and manual focus

Hope that helps.

 

[Johnboy2978]

You would benefit from buying the book by Bryan Peterson, "Understanding exposure". Once you begin to see the connection between ISO, aperture and shutter speed, it will be the most valuable thing you learn. Do a search in the forum here to get a perfunctory understanding of it and how they relate to each other.

 

[Rachelsne]

You would benefit from buying the book by Bryan Peterson, "Understanding exposure". Once you begin to see the connection between ISO, aperture and shutter speed, it will be the most valuable thing you learn. Do a search in the forum here to get a perfunctory understanding of it and how they relate to each other.

+1

 

[wchua24]

i am not sure about fuji camera. but i am sure that there is a adjustment for that.

 

[rubbertree]

My question is are there basic parameters that I can
follow to manually adjust my camera instead of just
selecting one of the scene settings ie; portrait,landscape ect.?

Yes, follow the rules for aperture, shutter speed and ISO, like mentioned above. I second the Bryan Peterson book.
If you are looking for a basic one size fits all in regards to manual settings then no, there are no basic parameters because the aperture, shutter speed and ISO differ for each and every shot you will take. What works for one won't work for another.

 

[maulrat]

After looking at a photo of your camera, I've noticed that it looks like one of those hybrid-type point&shoot cameras. I couldn't find a good photo of the dial or a pdf of the user manual but you might want to do some reading in your manual for an "aperture priority" mode. In this mode, you would dial in the desired aperature then the camera would automatically adjust the shutter speed to produce a generally good exposed photo. When shooting in this mode, take note of how your camera is reacting to your changes in aperture. Also note how your photos are coming out. Once you get a good idea how iso-aperture-shutte speed affects your photos then try a fully manual mode... if your camera supports it. That's how I learned.

If you are short on cash or don't live close to a bookstore, try doing some reading in the glossary section of www.dpreview.com It helped me a lot. Good luck.

 

[ILovePlaya]

Thank's Maulrat.
That's what I was talking about.
Something that gives me an idea
of what settings apply in certain situatins, knowing
that those setting will change.
Will check it out.
Hope to post a couple pic's Mon. for c&c.
Thank's again to all for their input.
Craig.:thumbup:

 

[mrodgers]

www.digitalcamerahelp.com
www.shortcourses.com

These are the 2 sites I always recommend here. They are the most informative I found as a beginner. Easy to read with lots of information. I found Understanding Exposure a bit advanced if you don't know the basics of what everything is. The book tied it all together after learning what stuff was though and made the connection between aperture, shutter, and ISO for exposure understandable.

I have a similar, but older (last year) Fuji such as yours. You should have the main Aperture (A on dial), Shutter (S on dial) and Manual (M on dial) modes. ISO is changed in the menu system with a button on the back more than likely. Higher ISO isn't as useful on a non-SLR camera due to extreme noise, but you should be fine with up to ISO400 and possibly ISO800 if they have gotten better. ISO800 and above for me is useless on my camera due to extreme noise.