Whats the difference between shutter speed/exposure and the main adjustments on auto/manual digital cameras?

Question

I have a canon dig camera that I always use in auto mode because I cant figure out how to set the manual settings to take any decent shots. Sometimes pics look bad and sometimes they look good in auto mode but I dont know why and would love to figure out where I need to adjust things on my own other than the flash. My instruction manual stinks! Any help is appreciated!

Answer 1

Make a trip to your local book store or library. They have lots of titles on Photography. I know it may sound a little stone age, but reading a book or two on the subject will really get you going in the world of photography. Looking on the internet will only get you confused by a lot of hearsay. There's lots of free advise out here, but thats about what its worth too ....lol

Answer 2

Definitely you should get a book on exposure to understand the relationship between shutter speed and aperture.
Try playing with aperture-priority or shutter-priority modes rather than going straight into the manual modes. With aperture priority, you select the aperture (essentially, how much of the lens you're using), and the camera figures out the shutter speed. The lower the f/ number you select, the wider the aperture and the shorter the exposure time is... but also the less your depth of field. Conversely, the smaller the aperture (higher f/number), the longer the exposure time, but you can get foreground and background in focus at the same time. That's the gist of it, but reading a book will explain this in a lot more detail.

Answer 3

If its an SD series camera, your no going to be able to do a lot of adjusting. The manuel wont teach you much because they expect you not to use manuel mode since you probably do not own a SLR.

The best way to learn how to use aperature and shutter speed correctly is to go to your libaray but I went off and bought the books instead, I like to keep books.

Here are a few tips, in low light, the slowest shutter speed using hand held is probably 1/80 but that is really pushing it since lots of people shake without knowing it. For portrait shots, use the largest aperature you have f/3.5 probably for your camera. (the smaller the f/ or f stop number the larger the aperature) Sport shots use the fastest shutter speed possible and the largest aperature you can get, when I mean possible I mean as fast as you can get it before it gets under exposed and overexposed.

Answer 4

It depends on his photography level. DSLR are more advanced. The lenses can be changed, you can focus manually, and a few other things. It's really great for the amatuer photographer or the professional photographer (more wedding photographers are going digital). It's a great investment if he is really into photography. regular digital cameras are great for those not so camera savvy. Most are point and shoot but offer a few advanced options (but very simplified). There are usually limited buttons and functions. Again, it's a better choice if he's not camera savvy.