Couple of camera questions :) (AF and metering)

[lepierce3]

Hi! I have two (simple) camera questions that I'm sure many of you will be able to answer. I feel kinda dumb for not really getting this, but hopefully you guys can clear this up for me

1. Ok, well first is a question about AF. What I usually do is point the camera where I want it to focus, press the shutter halfway to lock it in, and then move my camera to recompose the shot but for some reason, even though I have the shutter held halfway down the entire time, it still ends up refocusing, to the parts I want focused aren’t anymore.

2. My second question is about metering. From what I understand you can do this with the camera by looking through the viewfinder? I notice there are number there, and they change as I move the camera around. My question is how exactly do I use these to do my settings? do I just change my settings to the numbers I see through the viewfinder? Also, does this mean that I change my settings every time I take a new shot? I'm doing natural light photography, indoors and outdoors if any of that helps.

Thank you so much for any insight you can give me!

 

[tirediron]

Both of these questions will already be answered in your camera's user manual. The answers also depend on what camera you own. My guess for #1, lacking necessary information is that you have some form of active focus selected, OR your AF lock button has been programmed to do something else (some cameras allow user reconfiguration of certain controls). #2, In order to use these "numbers" (which are aperture and shutter-speed readings I assume) you need to understand the exposure triangle (Google is your friend).

Read your manual, use a search-engine, re-read your manual and if you're still stumped, come back with specific questions. As-is, it would take paragraphs to answer your questions, even if we did know the make/model of camera.

 

[MTVision]

You can also read the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.

You aren't shooting manual are you?

I just ask because someone else on here has been shooting manual and they never even knew where the meter was or what it did!

 

[MLeeK]

Throw your camera's manual back in the box and store it away somewhere.
Order the Magic Lantern Guide for your camera.
Your first question-your camera is in AI-servo or AF-c focus mode. It continually focuses You need to be in Single sHOT or AF-s.

Your second question-is the entire essence of photography. There are some fantastic tutorials on Digital-photography-school.com to get you started. In order to make your camera do what it needs to do you will need to first understand what Aperture, ISO and Shutter speed are. You will also need to understand how they work to control exposure or light coming into the camera AND how they control the image creatively.
That is a LOT more than we can begin to help you with in a forum question and answer space. Volumes and volumes of books have been written on the subject for a reason: it's complicated.
So... get a cup of coffee and start reading. order the Magic Lantern Guide and maybe a few other basic photography books and enjoy your new addiction!

 

[lepierce3]

I have done some googling on the subject (metering and settings at least). I just have such a hard time wrapping my find around it. From what I understand about the exposure is that you have to balance out the f-stop and the ISO to get the correct exposure right? (but then I get confused because I feel like I've heard Aperture used to explain ISO and f-stop has something to do with shutter speed? Or maybe I'm backwards?) But you can see what I mean, I just have such a hard time keeping it all straight. So far the articles I've seen posted on here by other users are far better than anything I've found googling. Do you have any suggestions for websites you know of with great articles on these types of subjects?

 

[lepierce3]

You can also read the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.

You aren't shooting manual are you?

I just ask because someone else on here has been shooting manual and they never even knew where the meter was or what it did!

I am shooting on manual, and sometimes one of the few priority modes. I just play around with the settings with my slim understanding until I get something that looks ok. I'm mainly just practicing right now, so I have time to do that, but actually knowing what I'm doing would be so much better haha.

 

[lepierce3]

Throw your camera's manual back in the box and store it away somewhere.
Order the Magic Lantern Guide for your camera.
Your first question-your camera is in AI-servo or AF-c focus mode. It continually focuses You need to be in Single sHOT or AF-s.

Your second question-is the entire essence of photography. There are some fantastic tutorials on Digital-photography-school.com to get you started. In order to make your camera do what it needs to do you will need to first understand what Aperture, ISO and Shutter speed are. You will also need to understand how they work to control exposure or light coming into the camera AND how they control the image creatively.
That is a LOT more than we can begin to help you with in a forum question and answer space. Volumes and volumes of books have been written on the subject for a reason: it's complicated.
So... get a cup of coffee and start reading. order the Magic Lantern Guide and maybe a few other basic photography books and enjoy your new addiction!

Ah ok! So I should look for AF-s then and change it to that. I know I've seen that somewhere on the camera but I wasnt really sure what it did. Thanks!

I have a very (VERY) basic understanding of what ISO, Aperture, shutter speed are on their own, but I really have a hard time figureing out how they actually work togeather...I'll deff look for the Magic Lantern Guide and check it out. Thanks!

 

[MTVision]

Ah ok! So I should look for AF-s then and change it to that. I know I've seen that somewhere on the camera but I wasnt really sure what it did. Thanks!

I have a very (VERY) basic understanding of what ISO, Aperture, shutter speed are on their own, but I really have a hard time figureing out how they actually work togeather...I'll deff look for the Magic Lantern Guide and check it out. Thanks!

ISO - how sensitive the cameras sensor is to light - low light = higher ISO bright light= low ISO. High ISO can cause grain in the photo if it's underexposed or if the camera doesn't handle high ISO's good

Aperture - opening in lens that determines how much light gets in. Small f stop (1.8) is wide open and let's in a lot of light. Large f stop (22) is a small opening and lets in very little light. Small f stop creates shallow depth of field (blurred background). Large aperture has a lot in sharp focus.

Shutter speed determines how long the lights gets in. Fast SS - open a short amount time, little light. Slow SS - open longer, more light

Basically they all work together.

 

[tirediron]

Throw your camera's manual back in the box and store it away somewhere.
Order the Magic Lantern Guide for your camera.

Okay, that's just silly. While I can't claim familiarity with Canon manuals, but I will state categorically that Nikon's manuals are excellent. They're well-written, contain excellent diagrams, and clearly explain every facet of the camera in exhaustive detail, as well as providing explanations of basic photographic theory. I would think that Canon must be somewhat similar...

Edited to add: Way back when, I did order the ML guide for my D70 - it was nothing more than a reprint of the Nikon manual with marginally better illustrations. NOT worth the money. Not even a little bit.