Do You Imagine..?
sony 6400 EXPOSURE SETTINGs
EXPOSURE SETTINGS
The MANUAL MODE A, B, Cs:
A) Shutter Speed 1/125
B) Aperture F7.1
C) ISO 100
CAMERA MODES
M MODE - Manual Exposure Mode
All exposure and camera settings are manually selected, as determined by the needs of the photographer.
S MODE - Shutter Priority Mode
Shutter Speed is manually selected. This mode can be used to control the shutter speed for clear images og quick moving subjects or extended exposure photos such as night skies.
A MODE - Aperture Priority Mode
Aperture is manually selected, to allow for adjustments to the depth of focus such as blurring the background for a portrait or broad depth of focus for landscape shots.
P MODE - Program Automatic Mode
This mode automatically adjusts shutter speed and aperture but allows other camera setting to be changed to suit needs.
Auto MODE - Full Automatic Mode
This mode automatically adjusts all exposure and camera settings to allow the photographer to shoot still images of any type under any condition. This mode lets the camera decide how to best capture the photo, given the available conditions.
the Exposure Triangle - A balancing act
Shutter Speed & Aperture
SHUTTER SPEED
Shutter speed is the time the shutter is open to expose light to the image sensor or film. Shutter speeds run from thousandths of a second up to several seconds or even minutes (1/2000, 1/1000, 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60 etc.)
High shutter speeds capture images very quickly and are used for faster moving subjects. As an example, sports photos would use a shutter speed of 1/1000 or higher. For hand held shots, a shutter speed of 1/80 to 1/100 is recommended.
Lower shutter speeds are, for example, used to properly expose night sky photos and slow moving or stationary subjects such as landscapes. Shutter speeds below 1/80 should use a tripod to stabilize the image.
APERTURE
Aperture refers to the size of the opening of the lens, or iris. The aperture is also called an F-Stop, example F7.1. The range of apertures starts at 1 which indicates the lens is fully open. Aperture values go from F1 to to about F16 or more. This F Stop range increases or decreases the amount of light entering the lens during the open shutter.
Higher aperture can increase the light exposure but also directly affects the depth of field in the image. High setting increase the focus range of depth in the image. An example is equally focused landscape images.
Low F-Stops create a narrow range of focus from ahead and behind the subject. An example is a typical portrait shot where only the direct subject is desired to be sharply in focus and accentuated by using a blurred background.
ISO
ISO is a standardized numeric value defining a film or image sensor's light sensitivity or the ability to capture light, as defined by the "International Organization for Standardization".
The base ISO is usually 100 and in the 35mm days, 100 film was the standard go to. Higher ISO film was used for lower light scenarios. The 100 ISO is the base value where the camera's exposure is not increased and reflects the natural sensitivity of the image sensor.
Higher quality digital cameras generally have ISO capabilities from about 100 to 6400. For entry level cameras, an ISO of 1600 or less should be used.
An increasing ISO value incrementally contributes to a brighter and clearer with less lighting but also adds more noise or graininess to the image at higher levels. The ISO increments increase as doubles of the previous values - 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400.
cycle THE EXPOSURE TRIANGLE - 4 STEPS
THE 4 STEP CYCLE
#1 - A typical starting point for setting up the exposure is the ISO set to 100 to start. The ISO is the first setting to select and most often the last setting to adjust after all others have failed to give the right results.
#2 - The Shutter Speed is chosen to control the brightness of the photo but also to capture sharp moving images or extended exposure images. The picture subject will define the priority of how the shutter speed is set and if other means are needed to brighten the image sufficiently.
#3 - Finally the Aperture. setting is adjusted to increase light levels if needed. This may need to be set to achieve a desired depth of field and not strictly to increase brightness. The required depth of focus sets the level of adjustment for this setting..
#4 - When the shutter speed and aperture are appropriately set, we go back to the ISO to brighten the image (if needed) when all other setting are at their useful capacity.
WHEN IT'S NOT ENOUGH
If Exposure setting are made to meet all requirements of the photo and brightness is still lacking a few more options are available.
EXPOSURE COMPENSATION is a setting that incrementally brightens or dims the image. It has a stepped scale of -3 to +3. 3 steps back ( - ) darkens the image, 3 steps up ( + ) brightens the photo. This adjustment is independent of the exposure settings.
LOW LIGHT LENSES have lower aperture capability and the ability to increase the lens's opening to capture more light and brighten the image under lower light levels. Obviously the depth of focus is a factor for consideration.
ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING may be your last resort to meet all exposure and subject requirements when all in-camera settings are at their maximum capacities. The exposure triangle and other exposure options are the same and much more flexible to apply under artificial lighting conditions when available.