VCD 151 Manual Camera
VCD 151 Manual Camera
When you use a long shutter speed (also known as a “slow” shutter speed), you end up exposing your sensor for a significant period of time. The
first big effect of it is motion blur. If your shutter speed is long, moving subjects in your photo will appear blurred along the direction of motion. This
effect is used quite often in advertisements of cars and motorbikes, where a sense of speed and motion is communicated to the viewer by
intentionally blurring the moving wheels.
Slow shutter speeds are also used to photograph the Milky Way or other objects at night, or in dim environments with a tripod. Landscape
photographers may intentionally use long shutter speeds to create a sense of motion on rivers and waterfalls while keeping everything else
completely sharp.
https://photographylife.com/what-is-shutter-speed-in-photography
On the other hand, shutter speed can also be used to do just the opposite – freeze motion. If you use an especially fast shutter speed, you can
eliminate motion even from fast-moving objects, like birds in flight, or cars driving past. If you use a fast shutter speed while taking pictures of water,
each droplet will hang in the air completely sharp, which might not even be visible to our own eyes.
SHUTTER SPEED
Shutter speeds are typically measured in fractions of a second when they are under a second. For example, 1/4 means a quarter of a second, while
1/250 means one-two-hundred-and-fiftieth of a second (or four milliseconds).
Most modern DSLRs and mirrorless cameras can handle shutter speeds of 1/4000th of a second at the fastest, while some can handle even quicker
speeds of 1/8000th of a second and faster. On the other hand, the longest available shutter speed on most DSLRs or mirrorless cameras is typically
30 seconds. You can use a longer shutter speed by using external remote triggers, if necessary.
The other important effect of shutter speed is on exposure, which relates to the brightness of an image. If you use a long shutter speed, your camera
sensor gathers a lot of light, and the resulting photo will be quite bright. By using a quick shutter speed, your camera sensor is only exposed to a
small fraction of light, resulting in a darker photo.
On a sunny day, you may need to use a fast shutter speed so that your photo isn’t overexposed. Or, if it is dark out, a long shutter speed may be
necessary to avoid a photo that is too dark (which, in turn, could require a tripod, due to motion blur from handholding the camera). For many people,
this is the main reason to adjust shutter speed: to make sure your photos are the proper brightness. Still, motion blur concerns are also very
important, and should not be overlooked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdJhkRFFvUs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLFpQbRWgJE
APERTURE (diaphragm - iris)
Aperture can be defined as the opening in a lens through which light passes to enter the camera. It is an easy concept to understand if you just think about how
your eyes work. As you move between bright and dark environments, the iris in your eyes either expands or shrinks, controlling the size of your iris. You can
shrink or enlarge the size of the aperture to allow more or less light to reach your camera sensor.
Aperture can add dimension to your photos by controlling depth of field. At one extreme, aperture gives you a blurred background with a beautiful shallow focus
effect. At the other, it will give you sharp photos from the nearby foreground to the distant horizon. On top of that, it also alters the exposure of your images by
making them brighter or darker.
https://photographylife.com/what-is-aperture-in-photography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCNpHDd47p4&t
What is F-Stop?
The f-stop, which is also known as the f-number, is the ratio of the lens focal length to the diameter of the entrance iris. If you did not understand that, don’t
worry, because there is a much easier explanation of it for beginners. In very simple language, f-stop is the number that your camera shows you when you
change the size of the lens aperture. It’s written as a fraction. You can think of an aperture of f/8 as the fraction 1/8 (one-eighth). An aperture of f/2 is equivalent
to 1/2 (one-half). An aperture of f/16 is 1/16 (one-sixteenth). Hopefully, you know how fractions work, so: 1/2 cup of sugar is much more than 1/16 cup of sugar. A
1/4 pound burger is larger than a 1/10 pound slider. By that same logic, an aperture of f/2 is much larger than an aperture of f/16. If someone tells you to use a
large aperture, they’re recommending an f-stop like f/1.4, f/2, or f/2.8. If someone tells you to use a small aperture, they’re recommending an f-stop like f/8, f/11,
or f/16. The “f” stands for “focal length”. When you substitute focal length into the fraction, you’re solving for the diameter of the aperture blades in your lens. (Or,
more accurately, the diameter that the blades appear to be when you look through the front of the lens).
https://photographylife.com/f-stop
ISO
In very basic terms, ISO is simply a camera setting that will brighten or darken a photo. As you increase your ISO number, your photos will grow progressively brighter. For that reason, ISO can
help you capture images in darker environments, or be more flexible about your aperture and shutter speed settings. However, raising your ISO has consequences. A photo taken at too high of
an ISO will show a lot of grain, also known as noise, and might not be usable. So, brightening a photo via ISO is always a trade-off. You should only raise your ISO when you are unable to
brighten the photo via shutter speed or aperture instead (for example, if using a longer shutter speed would cause your subject to be blurry).
The acronym ISO stands for “International Organization for Standardization”. However, camera ISO does not directly refer to the organization that creates various technology and product
standards. Ever since two film standards called ASA and DIN were combined into ISO standards in 1974 (later revised for both film and digital photography), they were referred to as one word
“ISO” from that point on. Although ISO initially defined only film sensitivity, it was later adopted by digital camera manufacturers with the purpose of maintaining similar brightness levels as film.
Every camera has a different range of ISO values (sometimes called ISO speeds) that you can use. A common set is as follows:
ISO 100 (low ISO)
ISO 200
ISO 400
ISO 800
ISO 1600
ISO 3200
ISO 6400 (high ISO)
Quite simply, when you double your ISO speed, you are doubling the brightness of the photo. So, a photo at ISO 400 will be twice brighter than ISO 200, which will be twice brighter than ISO
100. Some older DSLRs and a number of modern cameras, such as the Fuji X-T2 have a base ISO of 200, whereas most modern digital cameras have a base ISO of 100. Optimally, you
should always try to stick to the base ISO to get the highest image quality. However, it is not always possible to do so, especially when working in low-light conditions.
https://photographylife.com/what-is-iso-in-photography
METERING
Metering is how your camera determines what the correct shutter speed and aperture should be, depending on the amount of light that goes into the camera and the ISO. Back in the old days
of photography, cameras were not equipped with a light “meter”, which is a sensor that measures the amount and intensity of light. Photographers had to use hand-held light meters to
determine the optimal exposure. Obviously, because the work was shot on film, they could not preview or see the results immediately, which is why they religiously relied on those light meters.
Today, every DSLR has an integrated light meter that automatically measures the reflected light and determines the optimal exposure. The most common metering modes in digital cameras
today are:
-Matrix Metering (Nikon), also known as Evaluative Metering (Canon)
-Center-weighted Metering
-Spot Metering
You can see the camera meter in action when you shoot in Manual Mode – look inside the viewfinder and you will see bars going left or right, with a zero in the middle. If you point your camera
at a very bright area, the bars will go to “+” side, indicating that there is too much light for the current exposure settings. If you point your camera at a very dark area, the bars will go to the “-”
side, indicating that there is not enough light. You would then need to increase or decrease your shutter speed to get to “0”, which is the optimal exposure, according to your camera meter.
A camera meter is not only useful for just the Manual Mode – when you choose another mode such as Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority or Program Mode, the camera automatically adjusts the
settings based on what it reads from the meter.
Camera meters work great when the scene is lit evenly. However, it gets problematic and challenging for light meters to determine the exposure, when there are objects with different light
levels and intensities. For example, if you are taking a picture of the blue sky with no clouds or sun in the frame, the image will be correctly exposed, because there is just one light level to deal
with. The job gets a little harder if you add a few clouds into the image – the meter now needs to evaluate the brightness of the clouds versus the brightness of the sky and try to determine the
optimal exposure. As a result, the camera meter might brighten up the sky a little bit in order to properly expose the white clouds – otherwise, the clouds would look too white or “overexposed”.
What would happen if you added a big mountain into the scene? Now the camera meter would see that there is a large object that is much darker (relative to the clouds and the sky), and it
would try to come up with something in the middle, so that the mountain is properly exposed as well. By default, the camera meter looks at the light levels in the entire frame and tries to come
up with an exposure that balances the bright and the dark areas of the image.
METERING
Matrix Metering or Evaluative Metering mode is the default metering mode on most DSLRs. It works similarly to the above example by dividing the entire frame into multiple
“zones”, which are then all analyzed on individual basis for light and dark tones. One of the key factors (in addition to color, distance, subjects, highlights, etc) that affects
matrix metering, is where the camera focus point is set to. After reading information from all individual zones, the metering system looks at where you focused within the frame
and marks it more important than all other zones. There are many other variables used in the equation, which differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. Nikon, for example,
also compares image data to a database of thousands of pictures for exposure calculation. You should use this mode for most of your photography, since it will generally do a
pretty good job in determining the correct exposure. I leave my camera metering mode on matrix metering for most of my photography needs, including landscape and portrait
photography.
Center-weighted Metering Using the whole frame for determining the correct exposure is not always desirable. What if you are trying to take a headshot of a person with the
sun behind? This is where center-weighted metering comes in handy. Center-weighted Metering evaluates the light in the middle of the frame and its surroundings and ignores
the corners. Compared to Matrix Metering, Center-weighted Metering does not look at the focus point you select and only evaluates the middle area of the image.
Spot Metering Spot Metering only evaluates the light around your focus point and ignores everything else. It evaluates a single zone/cell and calculates exposure based on
that single area, nothing else. I personally use this mode a lot for my bird photography, because the birds mostly occupy a small area of the frame and I need to make sure that
I expose them properly, whether the background is bright or dark. Because the light is evaluated where I place my focus point, I could get an accurate exposure on the bird
even when the bird is in the corner of the frame. Also, if you were taking a picture of a person with the sun behind but they occupied a small part of the frame, it is best to use
the spot metering mode instead. When your subjects do not take much of the space, using Matrix or Center-weighted metering modes would most likely result in a silhouette, if
the subject was back-lit. Spot metering works great for backlit subjects like that. Another good example of using spot metering is when photographing the Moon. Because the
moon would take up a small portion of the frame and the sky is completely dark around it, it is best to use Spot metering – that way, we are only looking at the light level
coming from the moon and nothing else.
Unfortunately, this varies not only from manufacturer to manufacturer, but also from model to model. On the Nikon D5500, for example, it is done through the menu setting
(Info button). On professional cameras such as the Nikon D810 and Nikon D5, there is a separate button on the top left dial for camera metering. Changing metering on Canon
cameras also varies from model to model, but generally it is done through a key combination (“Set” button), camera menu or a dedicated metering button close to the top LCD.
DIGITAL CAMERA MODES
Back in the old days, there was no such thing as a camera mode – everything was manual. Photographers had to manually set the aperture, shutter speed and choose the right type of film for
their cameras. To evaluate the intensity and the amount of light, they used to carry special light metering devices that measured the light and provided the exposure information, which they
would then use in their cameras. In 1938, Kodak introduced a film camera with an integrated light meter and in 1962, a Japanese company called “Topcon” introduced the first SLR camera that
measured the light coming through the lens into the camera. What this meant, was that photographers no longer needed to carry special light meters with them – the camera would do it for
them. New “Automatic” camera modes started appearing on cameras, which would evaluate the amount of light that passed through the lens and would automatically pick the right exposure
parameters to produce a properly-exposed picture.
Today, most digital cameras have various types of camera modes that can be used in different situations. While most point and shoot cameras concentrate on automatic modes for simplicity’s
sake, more advanced cameras feature modes that allow both automatic and manual exposure control.
Here are the four main types of camera modes that can be found in most digital cameras today:
-Program (P)
-Shutter Priority (Tv) or (S)
-Aperture Priority (Av) or (A)
-Manual (M)
In most DSLR cameras, the ISO does not automatically change in the above camera modes, so you have to set it manually. If you do not want to manually set the ISO all the time and have an
“Auto ISO” feature in your camera, enable it, then set the maximum ISO to “800-1600” and your minimum shutter speed to something like 1/200th of a second. If you notice too much noise,
change your maximum ISO to a lower number. If you do not have an “Auto ISO” feature, then set your ISO to the lowest ISO number and increase it in low-light situations.
Many of the entry-level and semi-professional cameras have other modes such as “Portrait”, “Landscape”, “Macro”, “Sports” and “Night”, depending on the camera (professional cameras do
NOT have these modes). I won’t go through any of these modes for three reasons: 1 - They are simply a combination of the above four modes plus some camera-specific settings. 2 - Different
cameras have different custom modes and you should not get used to any of them. If you ever switch to a different camera brand or get a professional camera, you might get lost, just because
you relied too much on a specific custom mode. 3 - All of these custom modes are evil :) Stop using them and learn the four main camera modes explained in this article.
Program Mode
In “Program” mode, the camera automatically chooses the Aperture and the Shutter Speed for you, based on the amount of light that passes through
the lens. This is the mode you want to use for “point and shoot” moments, when you just need to quickly snap a picture. The camera will try to
balance between aperture and shutter speed, increasing and decreasing the two based on the intensity of light. If you point the camera to a bright
area, the aperture will automatically increase to a bigger number, while keeping the shutter speed reasonably fast. Pointing the camera to a darker
area will decrease the aperture to a lower number, in order to maintain a reasonably fast shutter speed. If there is not enough light, the lens aperture
will stay at the lowest number (maximum aperture), while the shutter speed will keep on decreasing until it reaches proper exposure. There is a way
to override the camera-guessed shutter speed and aperture by moving the control dial (on Nikon cameras it is the dial on the back of the camera). If
you rotate the control dial towards the left, the camera will decrease the shutter speed and increase the aperture. If you rotate the dial towards the
right, the camera will increase the shutter speed and decrease the aperture. Basically, if you needed to get a faster shutter speed for freezing action,
you would rotate the dial to the right, and if you needed to get a large depth of field, you would rotate the dial to the left.
Shutter-Priority Mode
In “Shutter Priority” mode, you manually set the camera’s shutter speed and the camera automatically picks the right aperture for you, based on the
amount of light that passes through the lens. This mode is intended to be used when motion needs to be frozen or intentionally blurred. If there is too
much light, the camera will increase the lens aperture to a higher number, which decreases the amount of light that passes through the lens. If there
is not enough light, the camera will decrease the aperture to the lowest number, so that more light passes through the lens. So in Shutter Priority
mode, the shutter speed stays the same (what you set it to), while aperture automatically increases and decreases, based on the amount of light. In
addition, there is no control over subject isolation, because you are letting the camera control the depth of field.
I try not to use this mode either, because there is a risk of getting an overexposed or underexposed image. Why? Because if the amount of ambient
light is not sufficient and I set the shutter speed to a really high number, my exposure will be limited to the aperture/speed of my lens. For example, if
the maximum aperture of my lens is f/4.0, the camera will not be able to use a lower aperture than f/4.0 and will still shoot at the fast shutter speed
that I manually set. The result will be an underexposed image. At the same time, if I use a very slow shutter speed when there is plenty of light, the
image will be overexposed and blown out.
Aperture-Priority Mode
In “Aperture Priority” mode, you manually set the lens aperture, while the camera automatically picks the right shutter speed to properly expose the
image. You have full control over subject isolation and you can play with the depth of field, because you can increase or decrease the lens aperture
and let the camera do the math on measuring the right shutter speed. If there is too much light, the camera will automatically increase the shutter
speed, while if you are in a low-light environment, the camera will decrease the shutter speed. There is almost no risk of having an overexposed or
an underexposed image, because the shutter speed can go as low as 30 seconds and as fast as 1/4000-1/8000th of a second (depending on the
camera), which is more than sufficient for most lighting situations.
This is the mode that I use 95% of the time, because I have full control over the depth of field and I know that the image will be properly exposed
under normal circumstances. The metering systems in most modern cameras work very well and I let the camera calculate and control the shutter
speed for me.
Manual Mode
As the name suggests, “Manual” mode stands for a full manual control of Aperture and Shutter Speed. In this mode, you can manually set both the
aperture and the shutter speed to any value you want – the camera lets you fully take over the exposure controls. This mode is generally used in
situations, where the camera has a hard time figuring out the correct exposure in extreme lighting situations. For example, if you are photographing a
scene with a very bright area, the camera might incorrectly guess the exposure and either overexpose or underexpose the rest of the image. In
those cases, you can set your camera to manual mode, then evaluate the amount of light in darker and brighter areas and override the exposure
with your own settings. Manual mode is also useful for consistency, if you need to make sure that both shutter speed and aperture stay the same
across multiple exposures. For example, to properly stitch a panorama, all shots that you are trying to put together need to have the same shutter
speed and aperture. Otherwise, some images will be darker, while others are lighter. Once you set the shutter speed and aperture to the values of
your choice in manual mode, your images will all have consistent exposures. I only use this mode in extreme situations, when shooting panoramas
or when using on-camera or off-camera flashes.
FOCUS
One important technique to understand in photography, especially when you’re starting out, is the concept of focus. If you don’t focus properly, you
will end up with blurry photos even when all your other camera settings are correct. Focusing can be easy or difficult depending on your subject, like
a nonmoving landscape versus a fast-moving bird in flight. This guide covers everything you need to know in order to focus properly and capture
sharp images. With modern equipment, focusing typically takes place within your lens, which has glass elements inside that can move forward and
backward to change the optical path of light. Along the same lines, if you physically move your lens farther from the camera, you’ll change where the
plane of focus is positioned. (This is how extension tubes work for macro photography.)
Focusing happens either automatically or manually. Automatic focus, or autofocus, is when the camera system drives a motor to move elements in
your lens to change focus. To focus manually, you need to turn a ring or similar mechanism on the lens instead.
Autofocus systems use a motor in the camera or lens to focus on a subject you’ve selected manually or automatically. So, just press a button on
your camera, and it will focus on your chosen subject – or choose one for you if you prefer. Pretty useful. Most photographers use autofocus more
often than manual focus. The main reason is simply convenience; it’s easier than focusing manually. Autofocus also tends to be faster, and, in many
cases, it’s also more accurate (such as tracking focus on a moving subject). This is why sports and wildlife photographers tend to rely on autofocus
so heavily. Still, manual focus stuck around for a reason. If your camera is having trouble focusing, such as in dark conditions, manual focus lets you
override any issues, or make precise adjustments that the camera may have missed. And if you set your lens to manual focus, you can lock focus for
a series of photos in a row. Although most photographers use autofocus more than manual focus, it’s a good idea to be familiar with both.
https://photographylife.com/understanding-focus-in-photography
Continuous vs Single-Servo Autofocus
Another important decision you must make when using autofocus is to pick your focusing mode. The two most important and common options are
continuous-servo and single-servo autofocus:
-Continuous-servo is also known as AI Servo (Canon) and AF-C (Nikon). Essentially, it means that your camera continuously adjusts focus whenever
you hold down the focusing button. This is ideal when you are photographing a moving subject and trying to track its position.
-Single-servo is also known as One-Shot (Canon) and AF-S (Nikon). In this case, once your camera acquires focus, it doesn’t re-adjust until you let
go of the focusing button and try again. This is ideal when your subject and camera are completely still, and there is no need to keep adjusting from
moment to moment for proper focus.
Some cameras have a third mode – Auto-Servo Autofocus – that analyzes the scene and automatically picks between these two options. Even if
your camera does have this, though, it’s still important to know what each one does, since it’s always possible that the automatic selection will make
a mistake.
If you’re using autofocus, we recommend single-servo for typical landscape and architectural photography, and continuous-servo for most other
images, such as wildlife or sports.
Autofocus Area Modes
A major part of focusing is choosing the right autofocus area mode. This is where you tell your camera which sort of focusing strategy you want to
apply, so that it can make the best decisions on how to track and follow focus on your subject.
We already have an in-depth guide to autofocus modes that covers all this in detail, so check it out if you want a more information on this topic.
However, the important thing is that your autofocus system is made up of focusing points, which correspond to regions that your camera can focus
on. For example, here are two separate maps of focus points on DSLRs today:
Usually, a greater number of focusing points is better. So is a larger spread (overall coverage area). It’s easier to track a moving subject when your
camera has several focusing points covering a large portion of the image. However, you still need to tell your camera how to use those points, or it
won’t be particularly helpful. This is where autofocus area modes come into play:
-Single-Point autofocus: The camera uses one focusing point to autofocus – the focusing point you’ve selected. This is good when your camera
and subject aren’t moving, and you don’t need any tracking capabilities. It can work with continuous autofocus, but it doesn’t track fast-moving
objects across multiple points.
-Dynamic autofocus: You select a single focusing point for the camera to use. In this case, though, it can track your subject if it moves into some of
the surrounding points (you usually can specify how many the camera pays attention to). This area mode is good for wildlife photography.
-3D Tracking autofocus: The camera follows your subject as it moves across focusing points. Unlike the standard Dynamic AF-Area mode, you
aren’t expected to pan your camera around to keep your subject as close as possible to the original point you selected. This is also good for wildlife
photography, although it’s not always as quick or accurate as the simpler Dynamic AF-Area mode.
-Group-Area autofocus: The camera uses multiple autofocus points simultaneously, usually five. It gives all of them equal priority, and focuses on
the nearest object located on any of the five points. This is useful for tricky autofocus situations, such as a fast-moving bird in flight.
-Auto-Area autofocus is when your camera automatically scans the scene and decides on your subject (often the closest object to your camera, or
a face). We don’t recommend this mode, since it gives you less control.
Not all cameras have every one of these options, and some may have additional area modes as well, especially for video autofocus. The specific
names may also be different depending on your individual camera – but this is the general structure of the options you’ll see.
The AF-On Button
By default, most cameras will autofocus when you half-press the shutter button. Although this is a nice feature, there are times when you will want
the two actions – focusing, and taking a photo – to be separate from one another. Most cameras let you do this by assigning focus to a different
button, often called AF-On, and removing it from the shutter release button. This is also called “back button focusing.” AF-On is exactly like
half-pressing the shutter release, but it’s just in a different location. That might not sound like a big deal, but there are plenty of situations where you
won’t want the camera to refocus when you press the shutter release, so AF-On is a crucial feature. We recommend that you use it instead of the
shutter button if at all possible. There are practically no negatives, and several potential positives.
These reasons, among others, are why we strongly recommend switching your camera from shutter-release focus to AF-On focus. If you’ve always
used the shutter button to autofocus, it might be a bit awkward for the first few days after you switch, but it is something you won’t regret in the end.
(Some cameras don’t have an AF-On button, but you’ll almost always be able to customize one of the buttons for the same purpose.)
Camera Simulators
http://www.canonoutsideofauto.ca/play/
http://www.andersenimages.com/tutorials/exposure-simulator/
http://photography-mapped.com/interact.html
https://camerasim.com/camerasim-free-web-app/
https://dofsimulator.net/en/
https://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/simulator/