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hey
can any one help me understand the settings on my digital camera, im only starting out and i usually only use the sports mode or the auto mode on mt digital camera.
What does the F1.6" mean on my screen i can change the number but not sure wat it does for the pictures.
and on the dial it has a M S A and a P along with the portrait mode sports mode landscape mode and beech or snow mode.
what is the iso?
im using the konica minolta dynax 5d camera. can anyone help me understand the settings and how to use them.
Thanks
BrenS
Quote: Bren you need to either
etc..
Sounds a bit harsh but it's true...
Quote: can anyone help me understand the settings and how to use them.
That will take a small book to explain..!!
You can find a lot of tutorial/guide stuff by browsing this site's homepage alone...
Was there no user manual with the camera..??
Kevin.
Bren, your question might well be 'how do I do photography?'. Strawman's right, start with a book. Why not the one advertised on the right of this page - The Ephotozine guide to great photography. Or there are plenty of beginners guides in the shops.
Your camera's manual would actually be a good place to learn what the controls do.
Check out the techniques section here on Ephotozine.
The D200's great..... if you know how to use it. If not, it won't make the slightest difference to your photography. Don't run before you can walk.
Quote: The D200's great..... if you know how to use it. If not, it won't make the slightest difference to your photography. Don't run before you can walk
Seconded...and dead right.
The D200 is technically and build-wise a very nice machine, but from the questions you're asking you'd be totally bemused by its controls and buttons and never take a picture.. 
As everybody else has said, All sound advise, I'd stick with the Minolta for the time being, It does at least have some presets & auto options, As well as manual control.
The D200 is a whole different animal, No presets, No Auto, It's a camera that you might want to progress to, But only once you have mastered the basics, A jump to a D200 now would be even more confusing, It's a camera that needs to be driven.....No passengers if you get my drift.
Bren,
Most of the above sounds negative but in all honesty the question you pose encompasses a hell of a lot.
My advice would be to browse the shelves at your local book store and look for the 'beginning in digital photography' books.
Tom Ang is a very reliable author in this field but many others are out there.
Please do not throw a lot of money at Mr. Nikon just yet until you have mastered the basics and are absolutely sure that the D200 (soon to be D300) is what you actually need for your work.
Quote: What does the F1.6" mean on my screen i can change the number but not sure wat it does for the pictures.
and on the dial it has a M S A and a P along with the portrait mode sports mode landscape mode and beech or snow mode.
Think the f1.6 refers to the aperture Brendan. basically the higher the number, the more of your photo will be in focus. Suppose for landscapes using the high numbers are more common as both forground and background need to be in focus. for portrait and street photography I personally like to keep the numbers low. that way you will have a narrow depth of field... your subject will be in focus (sharp) and the background will be out of focus.
It sets out the subject much better from the background and possible distractions in the bg will be more or less eliminated.
but obviously there is a lot more to it, so you really should follow the above mentioned advice regarding techniques, books, user manual. Better wait with the D200.
M means Manual. Basically it means real photography No need to say I hardly ever use it lol.
S refers to the Shutterspeed-priority. you manually set the shutter speed and the camera adjusts the aperture to this... a half automatic mode so to speak. Generally the higher you set your shutter speed, the lower the camera will set the aperture, as you need enough light. If - for example - you set your shutter speed at 1/2000 of a sec, your camera will compensate for the lack of light (the light only comes through for 1/2000 of a sec) by opening the aperture more (lower aperture number), which allows for more light to enter the camera again.
Still, in a situation with little light, this won't be enough, so you will have to up your ISO (but the higher the ISO, the grainier the result).
A is Aperture priority mode. Here you set your Aperture manually and the camera adjusts the shutterspeed to it automatically. So it's another semi automatic mode. and again, light is important... the lower your aperture value, the higher the shutter speed will be.
think P stands for Program mode. The camera is pre-set for certain types of photography. So full automatic if I'm not mistaken.
This is just in short to give you a general idea.
Don't know what you want from your photography. If it's about taking snapshots (nothing wrong with that), than just work on full automatic mode (but in this case I would really not buy the D200, as basically you would be using your camera like a compact).
If you want more from your photography though... start with mastering these few basics as they will improve your results already a great deal
Good luck
Correct, P is Program mode. Although this is different to Full Auto. When using Full Auto you cannot change any settings. When using P Mode you can change settings such as 'fire the flash' change aperture/shutter settings, change exposure settings and the ISO setting.
If as your original request seems to show that you are a beginner, my suggestion is to use Auto, or one of the preselect settings such as Sport/Landscape/Portrait when appropriate. Having done so, assuming you load up to a computer, take a look at the EXIF date which will tell you what settings were used by the camera for a given photo.
Once you start to understand what's going on when the camera takes the photo you can move onto P. I would think this is the most common setting for many photographers.
thanks to every one for the advice given to me i have already order'd the book that is advertised on the right of this page just waiting on it to be delivered. and thank you belgikskenikske for explaining the terms i asked about. things seem a little clearer now. this is such an interesting hobby so much to do and learn i love it. so thanks again for all your sound advice.
P mode is a good place to start as a plank towards exploring the manual aspects of photography. I expect Nikon will be similar to Canon in that the P mode enables you to dial through a number of aperture/shutter speed presets that should all, in theory, give a correct exposure. This gives a novice user (lol - like me) the opportunity to quickly see the effects of different apertures and shutter speeds on the outcome of a shot that should in theory be correctly exposed. Word of advice - there'll come a point when your f number is sufficiently high (small aperture) to make the the preset shutter speed slow enough to cause camera shake, in which case you'll need to alter your iso setting (normally possible in P mode) or get a tripod 
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