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08/09/2002 02:58:29 PM · #1 |
Like to start by saying hi and what a great site!! I'm very new to photography having never taken anything other than 'holiday' type snapshots before. I have no artistic or graphical background so I really am starting from scratch.
I've kind of been lurking on this site for a few months now. I've entered a couple of challenges but mostly suffer from brain lock and can't think of anything to shoot. I've voted on 3 challenges (all entries)and this week started to add a few comments (signed) - I REALLY hope I didn't offend anyone because I'm only commenting on what I see through very amatuer eyes.
I was introduced to this stuff by a friends pictures from a Nikon 995. I was gobsmacked by the quality, I had no idea Digital Photography had come this far and decided to buy a camera. I went for the Nikon 5000 because of its slightly more pocket friendly size which means it's more likely to get taken out and used but I'm still struggling with what all the various settings actaully do, but I'm getting there.
I have an absolute myriad of questions on photography in general and processing (Photoshop Elements) but for now here's a basic one:
The Nikon 5000 has 3 'user settings' available, where you can change things like metering, focus, white balance etc, and save them for quick use.
What do you guys suggest as being the three most useful 'sets of settings' to have available for quick use? i.e. one with spot metering as opposed to matrix etc, etc,
Any advice will be very much appreciated. |
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08/09/2002 03:08:52 PM · #2 |
the most useful set of settings for a novice will be whatever the defaults are... i would recommend sticking with that until you get a feel for what these settings do and how they affect your images :)
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08/09/2002 03:15:29 PM · #3 |
Congrats on your new camera and welcome to the site.
One thing I do a lot of that I always have to set up again whenever I do is - when Im shooting on a tripod - I like to have the camera on a 2 second timer with the flash turned off. Very basic stuff but having that as a selectable default would be very useful. Also if I could set it to manual focus mode that would be cool.
John |
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08/09/2002 03:20:11 PM · #4 |
lamedo: congratulations, and welcome!
I must concur with John.
I too have a Nikon Coolpix (mine's a 990), and the breadth of options can be a bit overwhelming at first-- even more so for a photography novice.
Typically, Nikon's auto mode does a pretty darn good job with just about any shot you take. And if that wasn't good enough, I'm fairly certain that your camera also has a bunch of preset manual settings for particular photo types (fireworks, portraits, sunsets, water shots, speed shots, etc)-- on top of the three user settings you can customize.
Until you start going into manual mode a lot, and start expirementing with different settings you won't really know what other presets you may need on top of those already provided by the Auto Mode and the other manual presets.
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08/09/2002 04:03:28 PM · #5 |
To avoid the brainlock and not knowing what to shoot, start taking your camera with you as much as possible. All of a sudden you will discover lots of interesting things to take pictures of. And since images with a digital camera are all free, you might as well go for it!
To learn the various settings, I suggest making pictures of a nonmoveable object closeby(a shrub in your garden, etc.) and with a notebook record what setting you use, weather conditions, etc. Then look closely on your monitor how those various images of the same object compare. You do that a couple of times, and you will get a much better understanding what to use when. |
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08/09/2002 05:02:21 PM · #6 |
I have often made the mistake of incorrectly using my manual settings or simply forgetting that a particular setting was selected when it should not have been. I've since learned that when I come across a scene I want to photograph I first put the camera in full auto mode and get the photo right off the bat. I make sure that I at least get the shot then I will settle down and experiment with my manual settings and really try to get the photo that I envisioned. If I screw up with the manual mode I have the auto mode picture to use which is usually pretty good in itself.
T
* This message has been edited by the author on 8/9/2002 5:04:25 PM. |
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08/09/2002 05:04:00 PM · #7 |
Oh yeah, welcome to the site, Lamedos. You picked a good one. And usually were even pretty friendly.
T
* This message has been edited by the author on 8/9/2002 5:19:39 PM. |
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08/09/2002 05:06:46 PM · #8 |
One of the most helpful suggestions I've received was also posted inthe dpc forums:
Shoot the same photo repeatedly, each time altering one setting on the camera. (Make a note to yourself what setting was used each time.) Review and learn how each setting has altered the photo from the original, full-auto, shot.
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08/09/2002 07:06:58 PM · #9 |
The setting I miss most is the one that returns the camera to my settings after the kids have used it.
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