Trying to Step Outside My Box

[chauncey]

Aah...have you read the manual or any of Ken's links? All your answers are found there.

[Digital]

Yes, I got the Nikon 5100. Ok. another question....then what is the difference between P and auto...apparently you rotate the dial until you get a setting that you want...Would this be a learning tool to understand and study?

If I remember correctly the P setting is where the camera sets both the camera,s aperture, and shutter.
There is aperture priority where YOU set the aperture, and the camera sets the shutter speed.
There is shutter priority where YOU set the shutter, and the camera sets the aperture.
There is manual where YOU set BOTH the aperture, and shutter.
Now does your dial say A or AUTO? If it says both I am afraid I can not help you since I am not familiar with the Nikon 5100.
Someone with a Nikon 5100 may want to comment.


Bruce

[terrig]

Aah...have you read the manual or any of Ken's links? All your answers are found there.

Yes! Everything is starting to come together for me.

[terrig]

If I remember correctly the P setting is where the camera sets both the camera,s aperture, and shutter.
There is aperture priority where YOU set the aperture, and the camera sets the shutter speed.
There is shutter priority where YOU set the shutter, and the camera sets the aperture.
There is manual where YOU set BOTH the aperture, and shutter.
Now does your dial say A or AUTO? If it says both I am afraid I can not help you since I am not familiar with the Nikon 5100.
Someone with a Nikon 5100 may want to comment.


Bruce

It says both. According to Ken it does set aperature and shutter speed but it offers you Program shifts by dialing what you want... I did understand the above but thanks again anyway. I appreciate it.

[Daisy Mae]

Terri, you have a great camera and are keen to learn how to use it...plus you are not afraid to ask questions...that all adds up to you being a great photographer down the line.

Coming off 'auto' is like swimming away from the side of the pool...it's scary but rewarding.

When I came off auto I used the AV setting and It's a great first step ..indeed I still use it most of the time. it's so much easier to take control of one aspect and let the camera adjust the other two to fit. There are lots of 'correct exposures' and by adjusting the aperture you will quickly learn how changing the aperture setting alters the look of your shot. Try it out...have fun and don't try to change too many settings at once or you will just be overwhelmed.


Most of all...keep asking questions..!

[MrB]

Yes, I got the Nikon 5100. Ok. another question....then what is the difference between P and auto...apparently you rotate the dial until you get a setting that you want...Would this be a learning tool to understand and study?

Terri, that depends really on how much you already know and understand. You seem to have learned one main difference - Auto sets the shutter speed and aperture, whereas P-Mode sets these but also gives you the option to change them with the control dial. When you adjust this, it is called Program Shift - it changes them in a way that keeps the exposure (amount of light allowed into the camera) the same. So you will see that, for example, if you turn the dial to give a faster speed, the aperture gets wider (smaller f-stop number).

You might want to use a faster shutter speed than the camera initially sets, to freeze the movement of the subject of your photo. Alternatively, you might want to force the camera to use a smaller aperture (bigger f-stop number), to give your photo a greater depth of field - more of it in sharp focus from near to far.

P-Mode usually also gives you the freedom to change the other light parameter, the sensitivity or ISO value - but if you don't know about that, there is something else for you to learn and understand! There are some excellent tutorials here on CiC, and this one is a great place to begin (apologies if you already know all this):
https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...a-exposure.htm

Philip

[Stagecoach]

Terri,

Ken Rockwell is well renowned for including totally incorrect information occasionally in his articles which many attribute to a 'sense of humour'. He does some good stuff, but, for a beginner this can be dangerous at times.

[Digital]

Terri,

Ken Rockwell is well renowned for including totally incorrect information occasionally in his articles which many attribute to a 'sense of humour'. He does some good stuff, but, for a beginner this can be dangerous at times.

Terri, from what little I have read, Ken Rockwell may not be the best source of camera information, as Grahame related.
There are a lot of good sources out there. You may want to Google, YouTube Adorama TV. These videos are sponsored by Adorama camera store out of New York. It is my understanding that B&H Photo - Video, also out of New York has some tutorials you may benefit from.

Bruce

[terrig]

Terri, you have a great camera and are keen to learn how to use it...plus you are not afraid to ask questions...that all adds up to you being a great photographer down the line.

Coming off 'auto' is like swimming away from the side of the pool...it's scary but rewarding.

When I came off auto I used the AV setting and It's a great first step ..indeed I still use it most of the time. it's so much easier to take control of one aspect and let the camera adjust the other two to fit. There are lots of 'correct exposures' and by adjusting the aperture you will quickly learn how changing the aperture setting alters the look of your shot. Try it out...have fun and don't try to change too many settings at once or you will just be overwhelmed.


Most of all...keep asking questions..!

Sharon, thank you so much for the advice. Yes, I am overwhelmed!

[terrig]

Terri,

Ken Rockwell is well renowned for including totally incorrect information occasionally in his articles which many attribute to a 'sense of humour'. He does some good stuff, but, for a beginner this can be dangerous at times.

I have heard this before...Thanks!

[terrig]

Terri, from what little I have read, Ken Rockwell may not be the best source of camera information, as Grahame related.
There are a lot of good sources out there. You may want to Google, YouTube Adorama TV. These videos are sponsored by Adorama camera store out of New York. It is my understanding that B&H Photo - Video, also out of New York has some tutorials you may benefit from.



Bruce

Yes, I've heard some things about Ken Rockwell. I appreciate the advice. Sounds like I need to Play with the aperture and shutter speed more then.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Terri,

Sounds like I need to Play with the aperture and shutter speed more then.

Absolutely, why not try this:

Find a scene with some movement and depth to it; e.g. a garden/yard rock pool with fountain or waterfall, a fence some distance behind, perhaps trees behind that, perhaps add something in the near foreground too, anything will do, a ball maybe.

Focus on the fountain (which should be the near-to-middle of the scene depth).

Set the iso on say, 200 if scene sunlit, 800 if in shade (fixed iso, not auto).

Make sure EC (covered above) is 0 by spinning the wheel while holding down the +/- button.

Don't use flash, if it pops up, push it down, better still, force it off.

Shoot at a fairly wide angle, say between 18 and 28mm (on lens).

Be reasonably careful to shoot the same scene each time (e.g. don't have vastly more sky in some shots), ideally put camera on a tripod if you have one.

With camera in P mode, shoot that same scene at every allowable setting from one end to other of the range, some will use a slow shutter speed and narrow (high f/number) aperture, while others the opposite.

I suggest you take one shot, then spin the wheel all the way left to get to one end of range, then take another shot, one* click right, take another and so on, keep going until the values of shutter speed and aperture stop changing.
* You may want to use two or three clicks to move in whole stop increments - whether there is 2 or 3 clicks between whole stops depends how your camera is set up. (Ask if not sure what "whole stops" means)

Then study the results on your computer:
Which ones freeze the water?
Which ones have the foreground ball and distant trees sharpest?
.. and the subtle variations between.

Post the results if you like
(It certainly helped above, didn't it - thanks)

Apologies if the above reads a bit "detailed", I'm just trying to achieve 'success first time' by eliminating possible variables that could skew the results.

When I started digital photography, I started on Auto (for a few weeks), then P (also for a few weeks), then A mode, which I use a lot of the time if not on M.

I did try to find an on-line "DSLR simulator" (on which we could have tried the above tests), but I didn't think the ones I found would help your specific query on P mode and in an effort not to further overload you with conflicting/irrelevant (at this stage) information, they may be best avoided, besides, doing it for real will benefit you more.

I did find this (after writing all the above - doh); it lists the whole stops and shows animations, sketches and examples of what to expect at the extremes of range.
http://imaging.nikon.com/history/basics/04/05.htm

Good luck,