Feedback for new dslr owner

[jamesd1981]

Hi everyone, I am very much enjoying my new Nikon D3300, I am surprised it is not worn done already

I am determined not to use the auto or guide features and while I have quickly taken to using the viewfinder instead of live view, I am lacking consistency in balancing, aperture, shutter and iso settings in various conditions.

So looking for any advice on that & also seeking some feedback on some early shots, everything welcome from better camera settings to things I can do in lightroom to improve the shot in post.

 

[Derrel]

I would say, shoot in RAW + JPEG Fine, small size JPEG. Turn on the auto-vignette correction, set that to high, set sharpening fairly high, shoot in Adobe RGB, turn out automatic dynamic lighting, set that to high, and shoot a lot. If you need the absolutely widest possible dynamic range, the lowest ISO value is the best, and up to 200 ISO is still quite acceptable.

Not sure that avoiding the automated capabilities or the guide mode makes any real sense...it might very well be doing your photos significant harm in fact, since if you are just guessing, you're not likely to out-perform the scene recognition system and the red-green-blue color and luminosity/reflectance analysis stuff that the camera can perform when it is allowed to.

 

[dennybeall]

I agree with Derrell, although I wouldn't bother with the auto-vignette.
For me, I like to take pictures so the camera, with the 18-140 lens mounted, sits in the bag in Auto mode with auto-ISO. I want to be able to just grab it if I see a shot I want. I'll shoot a couple then perhaps go to Manual with Auto-ISO on or set ISO to 400 and go to Manual.
Obviously planned shoots are another story altogether...

 

[soufiej]

Not sure that avoiding the automated capabilities or the guide mode makes any real sense...it might very well be doing your photos significant harm in fact, since if you are just guessing, you're not likely to out-perform the scene recognition system and the red-green-blue color and luminosity/reflectance analysis stuff that the camera can perform when it is allowed to.

Yeah, I'd say this is like buying a car with a manual transmission when you can't drive a manual transmission. If you think the "pros" do this and you ignore your level of skills, you'll likely have a few mishaps along the way. Don't ignore what the camera wants to do. It can take some very nice shots in full Auto mode. Your job, if you are new to photography or new to a camera should be, IMO, to learn when and how to control the camera rather than allowing it to always control you. If you were learning to cook would you ignore the knob that adjusts the heat under the pan? Only for so long. If you wanted to learn to play the guitar, would you ignore the chord shapes laid out in your lesson plan?

You simply can't know everything all at once. Learn to use the aids provided you until you can gradually begin formulating your own ideas.

Looking at the one shot above, you probably would have done better if you'd taken the dynamic range of the image into consideration. Several ways to compensate for this either before or after the shot. There are numerous threads which deal with dynamic range, read a few and see which solution best suits your needs. Placement of the horizon in the middle of the image is generally to be avoided. You can adjust for this in processing but you'll loose a bit of the image. Probably you might want to be more aware of the rule of thirds and exposure compensation.

 

[Calnago]

Been reading the forum for quite while but first post... I often like to test what the camera wants to do automatically, then go from there or, take a shot with settings I choose first and then take a shot letting the camera do what it thinks is best and compare afterwards trying to figure out if one or the other is better and if so, why.
But here's a question I wonder about and perhaps the experts here can chime in. When in say, Program mode, which is basically AUTO mode imo with a few more controls available, how does the camera decide on that first "appropriate" exposure? The choice in combination of aperture and shutter speed? Since there are many combinations possible, does it simply just choose what it believes to be the safest, highest probability of success, combo. I don't know, just wondering if anyone can shed more light on this. Thanks.

 

[soufiej]

Been reading the forum for quite while but first post... I often like to test what the camera wants to do automatically, then go from there or, take a shot with settings I choose first and then take a shot letting the camera do what it thinks is best and compare afterwards trying to figure out if one or the other is better and if so, why.
But here's a question I wonder about and perhaps the experts here can chime in. When in say, Program mode, which is basically AUTO mode imo with a few more controls available, how does the camera decide on that first "appropriate" exposure? The choice in combination of aperture and shutter speed? Since there are many combinations possible, does it simply just choose what it believes to be the safest, highest probability of success, combo. I don't know, just wondering if anyone can shed more light on this. Thanks.

First, what metering mode have you selected in the menu?

Quite a few discussions on this forum, my own included, tend to present the control on the top of the camera as the only issue a student photographer must master. Thirty five years ago and no digital format this was mostly true. Today, once you move the shooting mode off full Auto, you have an entire encyclopedia (do people still know what those are if there's no "wiki" attached to the word?) of choices to make. Many can be disabled. Does anyone really use "blink detection"? Many can be minimized in their effects. However, the basic functions of the camera still reside in the menus.

 

[Calnago]

I generally shoot in Evaluative metering mode, but not sure what that has to do with my question. Was just wondering how the camera chooses which settings to use in its automatic modes which usually means you can't select the metering mode anyway, since the camera essentially decides everything. I suspect the answer may be far too involved, but have always been curious how cameras prioritize their "decisions" when arriving at their auto exposure values.

 

[pgriz]

Here's an idea. Your camera has a spot-meter mode. Use it to "probe" the scene to understand the dynamic range and then decide what exposure you want to have.

The "dynamic range" is the difference in brightness between the brightest and darkest portions of the scene WHERE YOU WANT TO SEE DETAIL. That last bit is important. If you have portions of the scene that will go white (ie, blown) in places where you don't care to see detail, then you don't take those portions into account. Same for the other side, where the dark regions will also show no detail (ie, blocked). What you DO want to measure are the portions where having detail (at least some) is important. So let's call these "Highlights with some detail" and "Shadows with some detail" (abbreviated HWSD and SWSD - just because ). To use your camera's meter as a spot-meter, you'll want to control two variables (iso, aperture) so that only the third (shutter speed) will vary. So, set your ISO to 200, aperture to f/8 (or some other, the actual value is not important for this exercise - only that you don't change it).

Now , point your spot-meter rectangle onto the brightest HWSD that you want to have, and see what shutter speed it gives you. Say it's 1/500 sec.

Point your spot-meter at the darkest SWSD that you want to have and note the shutter speed it gives you. Say it's 1 sec. That's a 9-stop difference in brightness. Most cameras should be able to accomodate that range, IF you set the exposure correctly. A reasonable "good" exposure would be at the half-way point, say 1/30 sec at f/8 and ISO 200 (For this hypothetical scene). Now set your camera to Matrix metering mode, aperture priority exposure mode, and see what the camera gives you. It might tell you something like 1/125 sec. This tells you that probably it's being biased by seeing the bright areas where you don't care about seeing detail, and it's setting the shutter speed to allow those to more-or-less be within range of the camera. If you used this exposure, you'd lose detail in the shadow areas.

Let's look at a scene where the dynamic range is more extreme, say 14 stops, with the HWSD being at 1/2000 sec, and the SWSD being at 8 seconds. That range (for most cameras) cannot be captured in a single exposure. So you have some decisions to make. You either do multiple exposures and then use HDR techniques to compress the brightness range of the final image into something that can be rendered, or you decide what parts of the image are more important, sacrificing the other end to be either blown or blocked.

 

[Calnago]

@pgriz: I understand all that, and appreciate your post as it was very good, but still don't feel it addressed my question at all. Oh well, nevermind. It was more of just a theoretical question wanting to understand the cameras "thought process" as it chooses an exposure in automatic mode. Maybe it's much the same as our own thought process, which you explained above. Thx