beginner in need of tutorial

Trig · Oct 27, 2004

I'm a total beginner... technically. So i was wondering if anyone had the knowledge of a great website that gave details of terms and techniques, ones like telephoto, aperature, ISO etc, those words and abreviations I have no clue about and was wondering how people learnt them.

Nice forum by the way.

Artemis · Oct 27, 2004

Ill do better than that matey...ill do my best to explain those terms to you.

By the way...this is the best website for info

everyone here is really nice...so ask away!

Telephoto - This is a type of lens thats zoom range starts alot higher and gets even bigger.

A telephoto generally starts at about...55 - 75
anything below that is known as a wide angel lens

Aparature - this is the size of a little whole in your lens which lets in certain amounts of light.

The aparature can affect the depth of field...

For instance...have you noticed a portrait picture, where only the person is in focus...yet in others, the background is in focus aswell...or near to.
This is because the aparature is set to high, which will make the background blird.
And a small aparature...makes alot more in focus...hope im explaining this ok.

ISO - Not sure for what it stands for...but it is the speed of the film.

IS0 ranges from 100...to about ...3200...and maybe more.
The higher the ISO...the more sensitive the film is to light.
Also...the higher the ISO...the more grainy the picture looks.

So...for a really sunny day...you may use a 200 ISO film...or even maybe a 50....but...for when your in a theature...and dont wanna use your flash...you can use a 3200 ISO...this will be slightly worse quality...but the pictures will come out quicker!

ferny · Oct 27, 2004

You only live up the road from me Trig. We get our pet food at Jollies (what's the betting you have no idea what I'm on about?). :mrgreen:

Artemis is right on those points. But I just thought I'd add to them.

Telephoto - It doesn't mean zoom, it just means a lens which is "longer" than standard (50mm (ish)). It's open to debate as to where the actual range starts. You could say 55mm, 70mm or 90mm... Artemis gave the impression telephotos are zooms. They're not, but they can be. You can buy a telephoto zoom lens (let’s say 90-300mm or 70-150mm) or buy a fixed telephoto (let’s say 70, 90, 150 or 300mm).
What the lens does, is pull objects which are far away, close to you. Just like a telescope brings the moon closer to you. A zoom will allow you to vary the amount it pulls in, a fixed lens won't.

I didn't explain that very well, did I? I hope you got the gist of it though.

And ISO stand for International Organization for Standardization. ISO used to be called ASA and in Germany DIN. Have a nose at this page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_speed

elrick · Oct 27, 2004

www.photoworkshop.com

ferny · Oct 27, 2004

Oh, I just flicked through wikipedia.org (great site everyone) and found this section.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Photography

hobbes28 · Oct 27, 2004

First off, welcome to the forum. You can read here for basic information about some of the basics of photography. As for things to read, I always recommend a bood by John Hedgecoe called the New Manual of Photography. You can learn a ton from this book.

jadin · Oct 27, 2004

Artemis said:
By the way...this is the best website for info everyone here is really nice...so ask away!

Speak for yourself I'm a mean ogre who eats ametuers! :lmao:

Wait... I have meds for this.

Artemis · Oct 27, 2004

SSHhhh I was trying to real him in so we could have a feast.....aww hes running away

thanks alot! LOL

Trig · Oct 28, 2004

Wow, thanks for the response, most forums seem to be harsh to newbies. I'm going to purchase my camera next week, which will be a Fuji S7000, seemed like a good starting point for me.
I'm hoping to learn a lot from this forum. Cheers for the links as well.

ferny said:
You only live up the road from me Trig. We get our pet food at Jollies

Indeed it is up the road, I have a friend who used to work there before she went to Uni.

Hey to everyone! I'm Graham, from Milton Keynes in England, I'm 19 and currently doing a college course in Media... not starting photography until AFTER Xmas :x which is a shame, but gives me time to make a headstart.

...sorry, just thought i'd introduce myself... it seemed appropriate.

Corry · Oct 28, 2004

We're only harsh to inconsiderate jerk-off newbies!

As long as you are civilized we're a great bunch! You love it here! Welcome to the forum!!!!

Artemis · Oct 28, 2004

Welcome matey, always nice to see a new face.

You ever need some help, you can always come to ol Arty

Zoolfoos · Oct 28, 2004

Hey! Welcome fellow newbie! I've enjoyed it here so far and I'm sure you will too.

ksmattfish · Oct 28, 2004

A zoom lens is a lens with a range of focal lengths.

A prime lens has a single fixed focal length.

Focal length is the distance from the len's rear nodal point (when focused on infinity) to the film plane.

For 35mm format a 50mm lens is called "normal" because it is close to how human beings see in terms of angle of view and perspective. For medium format film "normal" focal length is between 75mm and 105mm, depending on frame size. For 4x5 "normal" is 150mm (although this seems a little wide to me). For digital it depends on the sensor size.

Any lens with less focal length than "normal" is short, and gives a wider angle of view; any lens with more focal length than "normal" is long, and gives a narrower angle of view. Long lenses are often called tele-photo, but the term tele-photo actually specifically refers to a lens with a greater effective focal length than the distance between the len's rear nodal point and film plane.