A beginners guide to cameras and settings

[Reef bloke]

A beginner’s guide to the basic functions of DSLR and pro sumer compact cameras


So you have a tank, family and maybe a few pets thrown in for good measure ,as you sit staring at the dog you wonder if you will remember how boss eyed and overweight he was once he passes over.
Action must be taken!! , images must be recorded! a new toy must be purchased!!
So off you pop with a spring in your step too you’re local Jessops with a pocket full of disposable income. On the way you quickly make up your excuses for the benefit of your better half. I found it….err no……….I won it in a raffle…..tsk wont fall for that…..there was a sale on, yes a sale and I want to take pics of the kids as I'm so proud of them. A cunning plan indeed, you smile on the inside and goose step into Jessops.
Now this is where it all goes a bit Pete Tong, you want a camera but there’s a whole cabinet of em. You explain to the sales assistant you want to take piccies of fish, boss eyed dogs ,kids and close up shots you think are called Mackerels .The assistant whittles your choices down to a very nice Fuji pro compact or a DSLR with starter kit.
You decide that you want to look the part and plump for the DSLR, max out your credit card and your off home, one eye twitching and you’re sweating like a P.I.G.
Always do you homework before purchase!!

After a heated barny with your financial advisor you pour a drink and crack open your box of tricks. How hard can this be? You mutter under your breath, you grab the manual from the box, your brow furrows and you start to read.
After ten minutes of pawing through gobble de gook and staring at black and white pictures of constipated looking women you decide to take the hands on approach and toss your manufacturers bible behind the sofa.

Camera in hand you notice the auto button, that'll do nicely!’ and you start snapping wildly. The results, well they are interesting to say the least, you think of titles for your new surreal collection destined for the Tate modern. 'Jam smeared up a window’, ‘staring into the sun’,’dark side of the moon’ and your personal favourite ‘Myopia’.

You sit dejected and pack the ‘faulty’ camera away .If this story sounds familiar you may wish to cast your eye over the following guide. It will hopefully give you a little insight on how to eeekk a little more from your new camera and give you a reasonable understanding of what does what and why.
Please bare in mind that this is not a definitive guide and will only be of any benefit to those that have purchased their first DLSR

Before you go on you may wish to read the glossary of technical terms at the end of the article if youre not up to speed with them.

Available cameras

Compact digital camera

These camera’s tend be be point and shoot jobbies that one can slip into ones pocket. Very handy for grabbing a shot when out and about and depending on the model can take a very respectable picture but can struggle in certain areas such as macro, sports and portrait photography. Most also suffer from shutter lag, in this instance there is a delay between the jab at the shutter button and the actual shot being recorded.
This can be quite frustrating when taking action shots and frequently results in pictures of peoples arse ends as they happily jog right out of the shot or the back half of fish.


Pros
Small
Inexpensive
Simple to use

Cons
Settings can be very restrictive for the keen amateur
Picture quality can be poor
Lens quality if often a compromise due to size
Short optical zoom relying on digital cropping on cheaper models
Quite a few rely on digital zooming
Small sensors that can be noisy
Shutter lag




|The Prosumer fixed lens digital camera otherwise known as the Bridge camera

These cameras are for those that have grown out of compacts and require a more flexible camera with settings they can customise to suit the shot. Those at the upper end of the market share many of the functions that true DSLR’s offer such as ISO, shutter speed and aperture control.
The shots are usually of a better quality than compact digital cameras due to better optics and increased image processing power. Although these cameras have fixed lenses they usually have longer optical zooms rather than digital cropping.
For the most part these are the cameras of choice for those that require decent image quality for everyday photography without the bulk and lens options that come with dlsr’s. A jack of all trades and master of none probably best sum's them up.
That said they are still capable of very good photography including macro.

[Reef bloke]

Pros
Easy to carry and relatively compact
SLR style set up (aperture, shutter and ISO control)
Better quality built in lens than the majority of compacts
Longer optical zooms
Some can shoot RAW files

Cons
Fixed lens
Viewfinder is an LCD image so may look dark and what you see isn’t always what you get
Not quite the image quality of a DSLR in most cases.
Sensors not usually as good as DLSR’s
Can be expensive
Shutter delay may be an issue on some models.

DLSR’s

The camera of choice for the serious amateur or professional photographer. This type of camera boasts many improvements over the previous two. For a start the camera body contains a pentaprism. This clever device reflects the image from the lens straight up into the view finder via a mirror. When I picture is taken the mirror flips up and the sensor that sits behind the mirror records the image after the shutter curtains have opened. So what you see really is what you get!!!!
The sensors are also of better quality and todays modern DLSR’s will give you more or less the same resolution as a 35mm film SLR.
Compared to Compacts and prosumer compacts the DLSR also has one major trick up its sleeve and this comes in the form of interchangeable lenses. This option transforms the DLSR’s into a very versatile tool, a Swiss army camera if you will. The kit lenses that come with DLSR’s are usually pretty good and will put a compact cameras fixed lens to shame. The lenses are interchangeable too so as your skill level grows you may want to buy a lens or two.
Lenses can be swapped out to suit the chosen environment be that Close up work(macro lens),portrait shooting(prime fixed focal length lenses i.e. 50mm),nature and sports(Telephoto zooms or long prime lenses) ,city photography(wide angle lenses) or landscape(wide, prime or medium telephoto zooms) to name but a few scenarios.
The quality of glass used in DLSR lenses is usually far better and depending on your budget and requirements lenses can be had from as little as £50 all the way up to a heady £6500 plus for professional lenses.
One thing to keep in mind when buying DLSR’s is the crop factor of the sensor compared to the size of 35mm old school film. Most DLSR’s have a crop factor of between 1.5-2.0 this has the effect of altering a lenses given focal length due to the sensor crop. As an example a 50mm lens would then become effectively an 80mm lens (1.6 * 50) when used on a camera with a 1.6 crop factor.This can actually work to your advantage if you require longer focal lengths.
Lenses have now been produced that partially address this issue such as Canon’s EF-s lenses. When buying a camera always take this crop factor into consideration especially if using lenses designed for film although high end DLSR’s are now being produced with full frame sensors(no crop factor).
A wide selection of accessories are also available depending on the manufacturer. These include tripods, flashes, battery grips, remote shutter release for long exposures etc etc



Pros
Almost instant shutter actuation
Advanced settings such as full manual mode
Through the lens viewfinder
Interchangeable lenses to suit your needs, you can swap out bodies whilst retaining your lens collection.
High quality sensors
High quality optics
Better onboard image processing hardware
Faster buffer times between pictures
Can shoot RAW files (straight from the camera with no onboard processing)

Cons
Dust can enter the camera when changing lenses which may degrade if it settles on the sensor. Many new DLSR’s have dust reduction systems fitted to work around this problem.
Can be bulky
Expensive
Not much else.

Choosing a lens for a DLSR

When choosing a lens you should pick a focal length that suits your particular needs. The focal length of a lens is described in mm and the length will effect how much of the scene you can fit into your shot.
Lenses with small focal lengths are described as short or wide angle lenses (more of the scene in the shot); large focal lengths are described as long or telephoto lenses(less of the scene in the shot).
Zoom lenses include internal glass elements that move away from each other by means of a zoom ring. When the elements are moved apart or together the focal length changes.
When looking to buy a zoom lens you will notice that they have a bunch of numbers included in their product description.
Example: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
The 18-55mm part denotes the focal length i.e. 18mm at the short end and 55mm at the long end. The f3.5 -5.6 part describes the largest aperture available at each focal length i.e. f3.5 at 18mm and f5.6 at 55mm At 55mm the elements will be further apart so less light can enter the lens, this will effect its maximum aperture at that length.
There are zooms lenses that can achieve a set large aperture such as f2.8 over their entire length. These tend to be professional grade lenses that are used when a large aperture is needed for all focal lengths. They are usually very expensive but are invaluable for taking sports shots etc in low light as the more light going into the lens will give the opportunity to set a faster shutter speed.
When buying a lens try not to double up on focal lengths i.e. if you use a 17-70mm standard zoom look to purchase a telephoto in the range of 70-200mm.

1. Standard zooms:
These lenses usually have a focal lengths of between 17-85mm.They are very flexible and can be used for a whole range of subjects. These include anything from portraits, landscapes and in some instances they have reasonable minimum focus distance so can be used for close up shots of flowers etc.
Cheaper zooms such as kit lenses that come with cameras tend to have maximum apertures of between f3.5 and f5.6 so aren’t usually very fast i.e. in low light you have to trade off the shutter speed to expose correctly due to less light being able to reach the sensor. More expensive zooms can have quite wide apertures of around f2.8 making them fast zooms. More light can enter the lens so faster shutter speeds can be set to capture action in lower light.

standard zoom example

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/standard zoom.jpg

2 .Wide angle lens
These lenses are usually used when photographing buildings, landscapes or any subject where you need to get a wide view in a confined area. The focal lengths are usually between 10-24mm. Remember to take into account the crop factor of the camera sensor if using a crop body as this will increase the apparent focal length of the lens. Example: A 10mm wide angle lens will shoot as if it’s a 16mm lens when used on a camera with a 1.6 crop sensor.( 10 multiplied by 1.6) Wide angle zooms are also available

14mm wide angle lens example

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/canon wide angle2.jpg


3. Telephoto lens

Telephoto lenses are great for sports and wildlife where you wish to magnify remote subjects and usually have focal lengths of between 70-600mm.
Telephoto lenses are usually available as zooms but are also available as fixed length ‘prime’ lenses such as 400mm.
They can be very long and as such the available light entering them has to travel up a long lens barrel. With this in mind very long lenses such as 400-600mm tend to have apertures of around f4-f5.6.
Camera shake is also more problematic at long lengths so the use of a tripod or lens with image stabilisation is preferable.
Again it’s important to calculate the crop factor when using telephoto lenses but in this instance the crop factor can work for the photographer by giving a little more reach. Example a 300mm lens would become a 480mm lens using a camera with a 1.6 crop factor. (300 multiplied by 1.6)

70-200mm telephoto lens example

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/telephoto.jpg

4. Macro lens
Primarily used for pictures of flowers and insects and have focal lengths of between 50-150mm. In a way they can be thought of as a Telephoto lens but with a close focusing distance. When taking pictures of shy subjects a macro with a longer focal length may be beneficial, you won’t need to get in as close there is less chance you will spook them.
For general macro work a lens of around 100mm makes for a good all round length.
They also make great portrait lenses due to the fact they usually have wide apertures for a small depth of field which gives a nice smooth out of focus background with a sharp subject. Macro lenses are fixed focal length ‘primes’, again if you use a crop body camera the crop factor will effect the perceived focal length.

100mm macro lens example

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/macro.jpg

5. Prime lens
A prime lens has a fixed focal length; they can be wide, telephoto or standard. Prime lenses don’t include all of the moving parts of a zoom so are usually optically superior and have large apertures. You may have to use your legs to walk in and out of a shot to achieve framing but this can make for a well thought out shot.

50mm prime lens example

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/50mm prime.jpg

[Reef bloke]

Basic Camera settings



So we have discussed the cameras we have to get down n dirty with our settings. Even the most basic cameras share most of the functionality below but if you feel yourself wanting and missing settings you may be at the stage that you have outgrown your current camera.
If this is the case go back and read the above and get yourself to a camera shop or eBay, you can’t beat that new camera smell.

The settings dial

DLSR’s cameras will have one and the majority of Prosumer compacts. In most cases this will be a knob that sits on top of the camera to the right or left of the viewfinder.
Compacts should also include most of the settings but may only be available via buttons and menu driven options.
Depending on the make and model there may be custom set options but in this case I will only concentrate on the most common dial options.

Auto
Here the camera takes control of the ISO, Shutter speed, aperture and flash. Other more complex exposure settings are also controlled but for this guide they will just confuse and I may well touch on them in another more in depth guide in the future.
The camera is looking to adjust itself for best exposure, it’s generally not too bothered about how fast an object is moving or how sharp the background it although it will attempt to bring the whole shot into focus.
Its main aim is to balance the shot so it isn’t too dark or too bright in any one part of the scene. What usually happens is the camera reduces the shutter speed or the ISO to gain enough light to expose the shot. In some instances the resulting shutter speed can lead to a blurred shot or a grainy picture if the ISO is very high.
If the camera decides that the shot is too dark it may pop up the flash. Depending on the shot this may be undesirable leading to washed out subjects that look flat or fish that look like rabbits caught in headlights.
The camera will also change the aperture settings, this may lead to a very shallow depth of field (small f-stop, large aperture e.g. f4) or may bring objects into focus behind the subject that may ruin the shot with distractions (large f-stop, small aperture e.g. f22).
Most modern cameras have motion sensing and will also use the Auto focus to determine the correct exposure but results can be sporadic at best.

Program mode
This mode can be very handy if your not happy using the camera in manual mode. The majority of the camera settings are kept in semi auto but some of the most important settings can be accessed in a clever way.
The built in exposure meter will still be in control of the shot but it will allow you to shift the shutter speed, aperture and ISO to suit your needs. For instance if you want a fast shutter speed you can increase it and the camera will automatically adjust the aperture. If you wish to adjust your depth of field via the aperture setting the camera will adjust the shutter speed to suit.
So we can think of this as you would a see saw, adjust one the aperture side up or down and the shutter will do the opposite. The opposite happens when you adjust the shutter side. You can also increase the ISO sensitivity if you find you cant achieve a decent shutter speed with your desired aperture although this will add some noise. The noise issue can be improved at a later stage on a PC via software, a blurred shot due to slow shutter speed cant so it can be an acceptable trade off.

[Reef bloke]

AV or A mode (Aperture priority mode)

Here your main aim is to control depth of field and the light entering the lens. This can be very handy if you require a shallow depth of field to isolate a subject from a background. (Large aperture size-small f-stop number example 2.8)
Equally you can increase available depth of field to bring all subjects in the shot into focus (small aperture size-large f-stop number example f22)
As you change the Aperture setting the camera will automatically adjust the shutter to achieve correct exposure.
You can also choose a small f-stop number (large physical aperture size) for lower light photography if you need a high shutter speed but again remember that this will limit your depth of field.
You can also manually modify the ISO sensitivity to suit low or bright light conditions. Although increasing ISO to a high setting for low light will result in a noisier picture.
The lens used will also effect depth of field, long lenses such as telephoto lenses with give shallower DOF by design so some experimentation will be needed with your lens of choice.
Flash is usually under manual control.

Depth of field examples

F2.8(large aperture size)
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/aperture f2,8.jpg

F 16 (small aperture size)
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/Aperture f16.jpg



S or Shutter priority

This is the reverse of AV mode, shutter speed; you now have control of the shutter speed whilst the camera will control the aperture to achieve correct exposure.
You may want to choose this mode when taking action shots where shutter speed is crucial ,equally you may want to use a slower shutter speed for low light photography where your subject is static(camera on a tripod).
Fast moving objects will require fast shutter speeds, as an example a person walking across the frame will require a shutter speed of around 1/125 of a second or faster to prevent blur. Obviously when using a fast shutter the light required for correct exposure will be in short supply. To compensate for this the camera will choose a smaller f-stop value (large aperture size) to let more light in. You must keep an eye on this as a small f-stop value will decrease the depth of field available. If you require a large depth of field you may want to choose a higher ISO setting. The cameras sensor will then become more sensitive to light and the camera will choose a larger f-stop number (smaller aperture) to compensate to expose correctly. You will then achieve greater depth of field due to the change in f-stop value. The downside to this is that the higher ISO used the more noise will show in the resulting image so keep this in mind.

Subject taken at a shutter speed of 1/200

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/200 shutter.jpg

Shutter speed too slow 1/60

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/60 shutter.jpg


Flash is usually under manual control

M or Manual mode

With the use of this mode you are in complete control, the camera is expecting you to achieve correct exposure via a balanced use of shutter, aperture and ISO.
Here there is a much greater chance of under or over exposing shots but you are master of the resulting image and can fettle all settings to sculpt the look of the shot.
Example 1: (sports hall, indoors, tank) you want a shot with shallow depth of field, fast shutter but in low light. Use a small f-stop (large aperture) of around f4, shutter speed over 125 sec, an ISO high enough to achieve correct exposure.
The shot may be slightly grainy but a grainy shot is better than a blurred one and can be cleaned up in post production.
Example 2(Landscape) You want good depth of field, slower shutter, and there is good light. Use a large f-stop (small aperture) of around f16, shutter speed under 1/125 sec and as an ISO setting as possible for high quality shots and to achieve a slow shutter as the light sensitivity of the camera sensor will be at it lowest.

Whilst adjusting your settings keep a keen eye on your exposure meter in your viewfinder. This will tell you if you are going to achieve correct exposure with your chosen settings.

Think of ISO, aperture and shutter speed as a three way balance, you adjust one up or down and you will need to adjust one or two of the others to bring the balance back.
Depending on the type of shot you take one will be of primary importance i.e. shutter speed when shooting high speed action, the setting to balance shutter speed will depend on the amount of headroom you have left to achieve the style of shot you require using either aperture (will change the depth of field) and or the ISO setting (may add noise or grain if you use a high setting).

Scene modes

These are the little icons doted around the cameras mode dial. They usually indicate a landscape, a flower, a face and a dodgy chap running for the bus.
These are full auto modes but the settings are biased towards the shot of choice.
The settings are pre programmed by the manufacturer and as such you might just catch them out if you’re shot isn’t quite the norm but they are a pretty good place to start if you are new to photography.

So basically we have:
1 Portrait (face icon). The camera will select a large aperture to give a shallow depth of field so the subject stands out from the blurred out of focus background. The sharpness setting is usually set lower to give softer skin tones too

2 Landscape (mountain or tree icon). The camera will select a small aperture to give a good depth of field, this way the subject, foreground and background will all be in focus. Saturation levels may also be increased.

3 Close up (flower icon). The aperture is set to a mid setting; this will give a reasonable depth of field for detail whilst letting a reasonable amount of light into the lens. Don’t expect the camera to take a macro shot if you haven’t got a macro/close up lens attached.

4 Sports/fast moving objects (dude running from an angry crowd) Here the camera will set the fastest shutter speed for the light available. It may also increase ISO within a tolerance and open the aperture. The camera may also select the fastest frame rate that the camera is capable of to capture a series of moving shots rather than the one shot mode.

Quality settings

Whilst pawing through your cameras menu you should stumble across this. The settings denote the available file quality settings available to you.

These may be

1 Jpeg.
Here the images are compressed via the cameras onboard software. Settings such as saturation, sharpness and contrast are also applied. Fine, medium and low jpeg quality settings are also available and your choice will depend on how the resulting images will be displayed/used.
For general snaps I always use the high setting as I may wish to print them at A4 at a latter stage and want the highest quality. If I'm taking pictures for the web or space on my memory card is limited I may use the medium setting.
If the snaps will be used for low res images for the web I may use the low setting but I generally avoid it.
Nearly all image manipulation software can handle jpeg images.

2 Tiffs.
Tiff’s are usually uncompressed and tend to be large files; they have now been replaced by the RAW format in the main but may still be available on older cameras. They are usually the highest quality setting, when they are available.

3 RAW
These are uncompressed files that arrive on the memory card totally untouched by the camera on board software. They are as the camera sensor recorded them and are in a totally virgin state.
The user can adjust exposure, saturation, sharpness, contrast, colour temperature etc once loaded onto the pc .The onboard camera software can only achieve so much but by using the PC/Mac to manipulate the RAW image you are the ‘Digital Darkroom’.
I could bang on and on about RAW image manipulation but it is an art in itself and exceeds to boundaries of this guide.

A word about image sizes

You may also be given the option of changing the image size under the quality menu. Basically an image is made up of thousands of pixels; if you reduce the number of recorded pixels you reduce the resolution and file size. Great if you want to squeeze more pics onto the memory card but you won’t be able to enlarge the pictures above and beyond the resolution it’s recorded at without seeing the individual pixels.
Keep this in mind if you want to print the pics at A4 or display them at high resolution.
For arguments sake it’s always better to pick the highest image size available as small resolutions can also affect sharpness.
You purchased a high resolution camera so you may as well use it at its highest resolution and purchase a larger memory card rather than trade off quality for image size if that’s an issue.

The Histogram

You may have noticed that there is a funny looking black mountain range type display when you toggle though the viewing modes of your LCD screen when looking back at the pictures you have taken. This my friends is known as a Histogram, it’s basically a bar chart showing the peaks and troughs of the range of tones recorded in the image.
It looks complex but gives you a great indicator as to how well the photograph has been exposed.
The far left of the histogram indicates the shadow/dark tones recorded; the middle indicates the mid tones and the right end the highlights. Ideally you want a peak in the centre that falls away to the very ends of the histogram. By using the Histogram you can tell if the picture is overexposed, (large spike to the right), underexposed (large spike to the left) or is correctly exposed (plenty of mid tones in the middle with fall away at each end).
If you poke your head out of the window and have a look around you will notice that the percentage of light and dark areas in a given well lit area is lower than the mid tonal information than the rest of the scene. This is what we want the histogram to look like. If the histogram is over or under exposed try taking the shot again and adjusting the exposure compenstation, shutter or aperture to expose correctly and to shift the histogram.
If using RAW you can also adjust the exposure and histogram in post processing as long as the highlights aren’t blown i.e no image information just white..
There are exceptions to this rule however; lets say you are taking a picture of a small flower against a black background. The Histogram will spike at the shadow end (left), this is understandable as the percentage of shadows far out weighs the mid tones and will still result in a correctly exposed image. If the flower were against a white background the histogram would spike at the highlight end (right).Again the exposure may well be correct so always take into account the natural tonal range of the shot before relying on the Histogram.

Exposure compensation


Most DLSR’s and a few bridge cameras include a little button known as the Exposure compensation button. If you were to take a picture that is under or over exposed you can press this button and use the settings scroll wheel to reduce or increase exposure and take the shot again, the exposure comp amount is usually displayed on the lcd or in the viewfinder.
The button usually has a little plus and minus sign on it but it does vary from model to model so please check your manual.

Exposure examples

Correct exposure
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/correct exposure.jpg
over exposure
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/overexposed.jpg
under exposure
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/underexposed.jpg



White balance

For the most part the modern DLSR’s automatic white balance does a pretty good job but there are occasions a light source can throw it out.
This will lead to unnatural colours and hues in your pictures.
To get around this you can set the white balance manually. You can do this by choosing preset lighting scenarios from your camera menu, these will usually include florescent, cloudy, sunny day, halogen etc. Although these settings may prove to be effective a much better way would be to set the white balance manually in tricky lighting situations.
Firstly find manual white balance within your camera menu, then place a piece of white or light grey paper under the light source. Try and fill the frame with the sheet of paper then take a picture. The camera will then set the correct white balance for your lighting.

[Reef bloke]

Settings for the reef tank

Those new to DSLR cameras and photography ask this question again and again but to be honest there are no hard or fast rules, ive cobbled together a few tips below to get you started but its not definitive and certainly not the only way.
Settings will be variable from tank to tank; tanks using high powered halides will be easier to photograph than a tank set up on two T5 tubes.
Basically you have two options open to you flash or no flash.
On camera flip up flash is pretty harsh; it washes out colour and makes fish look like rabbits caught in headlights. I would personally only use it as a fill flash to brighten the shadows.
You can do this by sticking the camera in manual,aperture or shutter priority mode and expose for the ambient light of the tank. Keep an eye on the exposure meter and set the aperture between f5.6 -8.0 then set the shutter speed so the exposure meter is showing correct exposure. Keeps the lens pointing in the area of the tank where you wish to take the picture to get the correct readings from the meter. If fish are moving keep the shutter speed above 1/125 of a second. If you cant achieve this up the iso to increase the light sensitivity of the cameras sensor. If the shutter speed is too slow you may get ghosting as the flash with have frozen the action but the camera may continue to record information after the flash has fired due to the slow shutter speed. Be watchful as an ISO above 800 may prove to be quite noisy and grainy. Now pop up the flash ,take the pic and review. You may also find it useful to dial in a few stops of Flash exposure compensation if you want the shadows lifted a little more.
If flash photography appeals to you I would consider purchasing an external flash with bounce head and an off camera cable. This will give your flash photography a much more natural look as your images wont have that stark , flat, head on look that you get with the pop up flash. If using the pop up flash you may find the front of the lens throws a shadow in the picture when using the camera close to the subject.
If taking pictures without a flash I’d advise using the shutter priority mode to start with. Set a shutter speed no slower that 1/125 of a second and let the camera take care of the aperture. You may need to increase the iso if the camera cant expose correctly even with the aperture wide open.
If you wish to get creative with depth of field choose aperture priority mode. I find f8 a good working aperture for fish, if you go any wider to say f4 the depth of field can become really shallow. If a fish is swimming towards you this means you may only get its eye and mouth in focus.
Equally choosing a small aperture such as f16 may give too much depth of field. Objects behind the fish will be in focus and may prove distracting in the shot. All of this coupled with the fact you will have to choose a slower shutter speed and possibly bump the ISO up.
Macro shots can be a little trickier, rule one is to keep the lens square to the glass. If you take a shot with the lens at an angle to the glass you will notice blurred distortions in the shot, not good.
I generally use an aperture setting of between f5.6 –f9,this usually gives a decent depth of field i.e. plenty of the subject in focus without the background sticking out like a sore thumb.
I also find that placing the front of the lens carefully onto the tank glass gives cleaner images , again aperture priority is a good start.
Full tank shots are a little easier, set the camera to auto or aperture priority mode, again around f8,shut the curtains to reduce reflections, clean the glass, set as low as iso as possible, shut down the tank pumps and take shots from various angles. Try and get down low for a couple of shots to catch the reflections of the tank in the water surface. A wide lens is favourable as you can get more of the scene into the shot ,very handy if you haven’t got much room to work in.
Don’t use the flash!!!!

Focusing on fish and coral

DLSR and some bridge cameras have arrays of focus points, these show in the viewfinder as little red squares or crosses. They work by means of detecting the contrast in the scene (contrast detection). The lens will keep trying to focus until the focus point finds the highest contrast between the areas that it’s monitoring.
This is why it can’t focus on a white or black piece of paper, there isn’t much if any contrast there.
When using all of the focus points in auto focus the camera won’t discriminate between the subject that you want in focus and the rest of the scene. It will try and average out what’s in focus though out the whole scene. Not great if you want to isolate a fish from a background. The way to get around this is to adjust the focus points until you only have one active, most cameras give you the choice of which one is active and you can set the active one depending on where in the shot that the subject is going to be. I.e. left, right, top, bottom or centre. I usually use the centre point as it’s the most accurate, it detects contrast in vertical and horizontal planes, the outer points are usually either vertical or horizontal.
When taking the pic get your focus point of choice over the eye of the animal, this way the camera will only focus on the fish and not the turbo snail behind it.
When taking macro shots the depth of field is usually so shallow that manual focusing is the best option. Free hand macro photography isn’t easy so it’s best to use a tripod, can you imagine trying to manual focus whilst wobbling around?
It is possible to grab a macro shot free hand whilst in auto focus but try and take the shot as soon as you hear the focus achieved bleep or by the time you squeeze the shutter button the subject will be out of focus again. Remember though don’t jab at the button and if using a slow shutter speed it’s not even worth trying.

Glossary

Aperture

An iris within the lens that opens and closes to govern the amount of light entering the lens. The Aperture setting is referred to in f-stops, high stop numbers such as f22 will reduce the amount of light(close the iris more) and low numbers like f2.8 will increase the amount of light(open the iris more).The aperture also has an effect on the depth of field ,the more you open the iris the shallower the depth of field will become and visa versa.
A typical scale on a lens would be f2.8, f4, f5.6, f8, f11, f16, f22

Aperture priority

The user has control of the aperture whilst the camera controls the shutter speed to obtain correct exposure

Auto focus AF

The focus system built into the camera. Focus options include selecting different focus points for different areas of the image, single auto focus where the camera locks onto a static object or AF servo where the camera will track a moving object and continually focus on it.

Crop factor

The majority of DSLR cameras have sensors smaller than 35mm film with only a handful of full frame sensor cameras available. When the image from a lens designed for 35mm film hits the smaller sensor of a crop camera it will crop the edges off of the image. This gives the impression that a longer lens is used and must be factored into the lens length.
Depending on your camera you may have a full frame sensor(no crop), 1.3x, 1.5x, 1.6x or a 2.0x crop sensor. If using these cameras with standard film lenses you must times your crop factor by the lens focal length. I.e. a 200mm lens on a 1.6 crop camera would become a 320mm after cropping

DSLR

Digital single lens reflex. Internal mirrors are used to display a through the lens image to the viewfinder. When a picture is taken the mirror flips up and the image is recorded on the sensor behind.

F-Stop

See Aperture

Focal length

The distance between the optical centre of a lens and the point the image if focused(sensor).The focal length is described in millimetres .The shorter the length the wider the view, the longer the length the narrower the view.

ISO

This number indicates the sensitivity of film, in Digital terms it indicates the sensitivity of the cameras sensor to light. A low iso such a 100 would need more light for correct exposure than 400. The higher the ISO the grainier the shot will be.
iso 100
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/100 iso.jpg
iso 3200
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q1/3200 iso.jpg



Macro

A term used to describe close up photography. True macro is deemed as life size i.e. the subject is the same size or larger on the film or sensor as it is in real life. This is also known a 1:1 size or larger such as 1:2.
There are lenses that offer close up photography but if they don’t offer 1:1 reproduction they are not true macro lenses.

Noise

Incorrect information in the final image that shows up as graininess, it can be caused by using high ISO’s, long exposures or under exposure.

Over exposure

Caused by too much light entering the camera making the resulting image look too bright and lacking detail.

Shutter

A thin curtain that sits in front of the sensor, it controls how long the film is exposed to light by flipping open for a set time.

Shutter priority

The user has control of the shutter speed whilst the camera takes control of the other exposure settings

Shutter speed

The period of time that the sensor is exposed to light via the shutter. A short shutter speed of 1/2000sec would freeze movement whilst a slow shutter such as 1/10sec would be used for long exposure in dim light but would record blur from a moving object.

Telephoto lens

These are described as long lenses over 50mm,the view is magnified to bring the subject closer and give a narrow field of view

Under exposure

Not enough light gets to the cameras sensor to expose the image correctly and results in a very dark image that is lacking in information.

Viewfinder

A glass viewing window used to compose your images.

Wide angle lens

These lenses are classed as short and have focal lengths less that 30mm.These have a wide field of views and can capture a wide scene at close range.

White balance

A setting used to the correct colour casts from different forms of lighting.

[Reef bloke]

I'm only a keen amateur so feel free to pm me corrections to this article,just something i knocked up a few months back.
There have been a few posts regarding cameras and settings so thought id post this up.
Cheers all Tony

[garybooth]

Excellent write up Tony, thank you very much.

I have been using my first Dlsr, Nikon D60 and slowly but surely I seem to be getting better shots. This write up has helped me to understand the changes I have made, and why they are helping.

Thanks again.

PS the first bit of the write up, So so true :lol:

Quote "Action must be taken!! , images must be recorded! a new toy must be purchased!!
So off you pop with a spring in your step too you’re local Jessops with a pocket full of disposable income. On the way you quickly make up your excuses for the benefit of your better half. I found it….err no……….I won it in a raffle…..tsk wont fall for that…..there was a sale on, yes a sale and I want to take pics of the kids as I'm so proud of them. A cunning plan indeed, you smile on the inside and goose step into Jessops."

[Red]

i agree an enjoying article to read, many parts in the first section made me crack up

[Reef bloke]

Thanks peeps,hope you like it.As i say im no expert but you may find some bits useful.
All the best Tony

[disco_dave]

Great write up Tony good work, this will help me a lot.

Cheers

[Red]

now i need to knwo how to alter all these setting :/

i'm getting good results, there just a little dark. I then change the AV+/- settings but then the image ends up blurring???

[Paul]

nice write up mate, i haven't read it in-depth, but all looks present and correct from a skim read, nice one

[bubbling-under]

Excellent write-up - I am sure it will help me get some much better pictures in the future ... many thanks :)

[SCOOB]

a stonking read!!!!!

[Lost Boys]

Blimey Tony, well done there, all i need to do now is get you round to take the shots as i think you have covered just about everything there, will print that all off and have it in my camera bag to refer to if i have issues.

:thanks:

[SCOOB]

Blimey Tony, well done there, all i need to do now is get you round to take the shots as i think you have covered just about everything there..........


you idiot! :laugh:

[devils_advocate]

Awesome, a very interesting read.

[jobr]

never thought this would see the light of day Tone.

Great article

[Reef bloke]

Yep its been a while:laugh:,was never totally happy with it but thought what the heck.

never thought this would see the light of day Tone.

Great article

[jobr]

lol, its a good read why were you not happy with it?

[Reef bloke]

In a few areas the terminology is probably not 100% technically correct but it'll hopefully be o.k for those starting out.The settings are also generic and may not be labelled the same for all cameras,should be o.k for the majority though.

[jobr]

Defo a great help

[Grabble]

This reinforces the need for me to get better with my Nikon D80... I really must get a tripod though as it's a bugger trying not to shake the camera even at 1/125th...

[Saboz]

Newbie with bridge fuji s1500:thumbsup: reading this short guide has helped loads, stopped the OH saying "you bought a knew camera to take s#!t pictures???" :laugh:

[Reef bloke]

Nice one mate,enjoy your camera!

[jennybugs]

I've just fallen into this thread and found your info to be of a great amount of interest to me.

I have the 'Jack of all Trades' Fuji FinePix S9600 which has suited me while I've outgrown the pocket compacts I used to have. I get some cracking photos out of it but feel the urge to do more with my photography now and haven't felt confident or informed (or rich) enough to go for a DSLR. Your article has given me a good insight into the workings of a DSLR now so I may have to lay off the coral purchases and start saving up for one now :D

Thankyou :D

[Reef bloke]

Nice one jennybugs,hopefully its been of some use to you.

[Oggy]

Good right up thanks Reef bloke, had my Sony A100 for a few years a never really used it properly. Just charging the battery and then the experimenting will begin, hope to have some nice pics up over the weekend :D

[DannyG!!!]

Thanks Reef bloke.
I've just got a 500D and being new to photography your guide has help me out massively!
There's so much to take in I swear I've had to read it 3 times through! :laugh:
It must have taken you ages to type up? Excellent effort mate! :worship:
Thanks again Dan.:thanks:

[Reef bloke]

Many thanks, its by no means an exhaustive guide but i hope its helped.

[inselaffe]

A good read, now i just gotta hope my new camera turns up before i go on holiday so i can practise some of it.

Thanks

[Franksee]

Have to admit, great thread but being a point and shoot bloke, i got lost!
I just have a compact thingy a Nikon P60 takes great pics, but i just can't get it to focus objects in my tank. It has manual and program settings but what do i set them too?
If this was covered in the thread then I shall apologize and go back and read it again.

[Reef bloke]

Hiya
Its possible the lighting in the tank is tricking the auto focus system or the shutter speed set by the camera in auto mode is too slow causing motion blur.
Equally if you have a bow front tank this can make auto focusing a real pain due to the distortion of the glass.
Keep the camera level with the glass so your not shooting at an angle(causing more distortion) and set the camera to Manual and expose with a shutter speed above 1/125 sec , the aperture on compacts isnt usually that large so shoot wide open(f3.6-4.5 for your camera i think). Up the iso if you need to but avoid going too high as noise might ruin the shot.
Sit down with you camera manual and look for the exposure settings in manual mode to get a better idea of how to set shutter, aperture and ISO. Have a look at how to set you camera up for fill flash as this may help expose tank shots as long as the flash doesnt glare back off of the glass.
Compacts can be tricky for tank shots as you have to rely on the auto focus system plus the smaller sensors can be noisy at higher iso's 400-1600 which is where you will be working unless the tank is very bright.

[Franksee]

Thanks for that, i'll give it a whirl and let you know.
Now to find the Manual:eek:

:cheers:


Paul

[BFurby]

Great write up... Off to hammer the credit card, clearly I need a DSLR :-)

[Reef bloke]

Many thanks, with regards to actually buying a DSLR you may find the other alternatives meet your needs and thats important as there is no point buying a bells n whistles camera if it will always be stuck in auto.
If you find your camera holding you back creatively then look to upgrade, if your quite happy with the snaps save yourself a few quid.
Sorry i have my sensible hat on today, tomorrow ill be talking you into a Canon 1D lol.

[thommax]

Great work- the intro is hillarious :laugh:

[touchingjeans]

Brilliant read reefbloke :) Quick question how should we go about setting the white balance as my shot all turn out to blue :(
Should i use a grey card and if so how do we go about using it when at the tank?
cheers

[Reef bloke]

Hiya crabman

You found the thread then lol. Depending on the camera you could set the white balance manually although this tends to be a bit hit and miss under fluorescent lighting due to the hertz cycling or shoot raw and adjust when you get home. Luckily my Canon's have always been quite accurate.

regards Tony

[Rdav]

just subscribing to the thread guys as I have a dslr and strugle at times to get the best out of it most the time..

[vikky~scott]

Thanks for putting this together,its helped me alot,im pretty clueless when it comes to photography so with a little luck my pics may start to improve..............dont hold your breath though

[touchingjeans]

cheers tony