Basic terms and functions

[Moa]

So I am severely new to photography and I am wondering what all these words being thrown at me mean. What do words like shutter speed, and all the other photography terms mean? Also my camera has a bunch of manual setting that I don't quite understand (I have an oldish sony cybershot DSC-H7) so I need to know what they do there is the ISO____ setting another on that is F____ and another setting with no prefix and is just a number, what are these settings? There is also a number that changes with lighting I believe that says EV after a positive or negative number what does that mean?

 

[tirediron]

Welcome. You'll find that posts asking for an "Explanation of photography" are generally not well received as they are extremely broad in scope, and would books to explain fully. However, here are a couple of references which may help. This photographic dictionary will define just about every term you may need. Your camera's manual is another excellent resource.

 

[Moa]

Thanks for the links.

 

[Jklersy]

instructions for your camera are extremely helpfull also for that info.

 

[Moa]

Ya I know but that is long gone.

 

[mrodgers]

It's a superzoom point and shoot. If the manual for the Sony is anything like the one for my fuji, it is completely useless to someone who wants to learn photography.

Ya I know but that is long gone.

No it's not! Just check the link provided by tirediron

 

[Moa]

Oh just noticed that the one for the H9 and H7 are the same one. So if my current camera is useless what would you recommend that wouldn't burst a budget?

 

[mrodgers]

Your camera isn't useless, just the instruction manual is useless for learning anything photography related (assuming based on mine, I didn't look at the Sony manual.)

You can do a lot with a superzoom like that Sony. I do a lot with my Fuji. My $200 Fuji takes better photos with me behind the lens than my friend's $1500 worth of Canon XTi and accessories with him behind the lens.

Learn about photography. Learn about composition and the 3 bases for exposure (aperture, shutter, and ISO.) Here's a couple of links to get you started out....

Digital Camera Help
ShortCourses

Some more good reading and learning:

Cambridge in Color
Luminous Landscape

What the simple manual of a camera such as ours will help with is, how to adjust the settings after you learn what those settings are for.

Again, your camera is definitely not useless.