Simviation Forums

If anyone has been watching my other thread here in the photo board, I got a new Canon 40D camera today. It is my first DSLR camera, so I have a lot to learn. I'm posting a few photos that I took while messing around with the settings a little.

If anyone has suggestions on how I could improve on these, please let me know. I'm eager to learn as much as I can


My first picture with the camera.... 8-)





Why is it that most of the fuselage is clear, but the tail section on the far right is a little blurry? The same thing with the Humvee. The front is more in focus than the back. Why is this, and how do I get the whole model in focus?







As I was messing around, I noticed the sunset, so I ran outside and took a few photos. When I zoom in, they are more blurry. Besides buying a more expensive telephoto lense, and getting a tri-pod, what could I have done?

By zooming in do you mean zooming with the lense or zooming in on the picture on your computer? For getting the whole model in focus you should try using a low f stop on you camera. This will reduce the depth of field and more objects in the picture will be in focus.

I used the lens to zoom into the sunset

I'll try experimenting with the aperture and see what happens. Thanks

What camera lens are you using?

I'm using the Cannon EF 28-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS USM lens that came with the camera

Very nice sunsets.

.......... This will reduce the depth of field and more objects in the picture will be in focus.

Wrong !....read what you wrote......

Reducing Depth of Field of Focus, will decrease the area in focus, not increase it........to get a deeper area in focus, you need to use a smaller aperture (larger "f" stop)

To help you remember this, just remember that the full term is "Depth of Field of Focus" not just "depth of field"........

Hi Andrew. You have a very nice camera there. My advice would be to approach this slowly, one step at a time. You will soon learn by experience. I suggest you read through the user manual & experiment with some of the basic camera settings (for example; AF, Metering & Drive Modes) as these can make a big difference depending on the subject.

Rather than trying to figure out all those complicated manual settings try the auto presets to start with. There should be a preset to suit most circumstances. The big advantage with digital photography is that you can check the settings used on the photos after they're taken, both on the camera & from the EXIF data on the images in a graphics editor.* (You can even do this in IrfanView.) This will tell you the settings the camera decided on which will give you a good idea of a starting point. You will find the settings can change considerably depending on your focus point. This can give you different effects which you can use to your advantage when composing the shot. (Look up "Evaluative Metering" in your camera users manual.)

*When you have more experience you can use RAW format & change some of these settings after the shots were taken. This obviously takes different skills with image editing software which I don't claim to have any knowledge of.

I suspect that your sunset issue was a case of camera shake, the combination of hand holding a slow shutter where the movement is then magnified by the long lens (focal length).

Have a look at this article about hand holding and shutter speeds:

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/te ... speed.html

Essentially the advice for your camera would be try to achieve a shutter speed equal to the focal length multiplied by the crop factor on your sensor. So to hand hold your lens at the max focal length of 135mm would require a shutter speed of:

135mm x 1.6 crop factor = 1/250th shutter speed

In low light you may have difficulty getting enough light through the camera to allow a shutter speed of 1/250th, so increasing the ISO may help. Ultimately a tripod will make all of this a lot easier.

Your model shots will require a smaller aperture (greater f-stop) to get more of them in focus. Ken took some shots shots demonstrating the effect of closing the aperture on depth of field using a ruler on his desk, do you have them to hand Ken?

Steve

Also, it's Canon, not Cannon .

Your model shots will require a smaller aperture (greater f-stop) to get more of them in focus. Ken took some shots shots demonstrating the effect of closing the aperture on depth of field using a ruler on his desk, do you have them to hand Ken?

Steve

This is the one you're thinking of Steve...........

Why is the ruler more in focus with the aperture set at 22 then at 4.6? Shouldn't it be the other way around...? :-?

Because the lower the number, the larger the aperture. (Just about everything in photography are fractions...and F-Stop number, correct me if I'm wrong, is focal length over the diameter of the aperture, so larger the number, the smaller the aperture.)

...and as far as the aperture/zone of focus thing, that's complicated physics. But think about it, if you have a pin hole camera, and for simplicity sake, you have a candle, a blank wall, and a sheet of card board with a hole in between. The smaller the hole on the cardboard, the sharper the light spot is on the wall.

Do keep in mind that you don't just have a single plane of focus, look on your lens, most of them should tell you what your zone of focus at any given aperture, and keep in mind that your focal point is 2 fifth from the closer point. So you don't have to focus on what you're pointing at, move the focal plane further back to get all of the Humvee in focus.

Oh, and I suggest that you stick with the larger apertures (smaller F-numbers). Smaller apertures means longer shutter speeds, so you better have steady hands....and, in my opinion, too much focus (especially at longer focal lengths) makes the image look "flat" - not "3D" (...not talking about contrast here).

Take it slowly, experiment with it, and eventually develop your technique, and just keep in mind, if it looks good in the view finder, its gonna look good in print. (Given correct exposure settings...)

And as for shutter speeds, it varies from person to person, but the general rule that I have always been taught is that if the camera is hand held, the shutter speed should not be longer than 1 over your focal length. So if you have a 50mm lens, the shutter speed shouldn't be longer than 1/50 sec (or 1/60 sec, as there isn't a 1/50 sec with the vast majority of cameras.). I have fairly steady hands, so I can usually go down to 1/30 sec with a 50mm without motion blur.

As for exposure, (aperture/shutter speed combo) use the light meter...I prefer spot metering and adjusting manually, but its up to you. Also, develop a habit of "bracketing" (take your shot, stop down one and take another, and then open up 2 and take another...so you end up with 3 shots, each a stop apart from the next). Its a digital camera and the shots are free, so there shouldn't be an argument with this...

...and when in doubt, over expose. Its better to burn an image than to dodge it. Its actually more difficult on the digital, most of the cameras get real bitchy when you try to do that (while keeping it at a low ISO), and shaft you with a incredibly long shutter time; but when I shoot film, I always over expose.by one F-stop.

This is the one you're thinking of Steve...........

That's the one Ken, it's a great example of the two main effects of adjusting aperture. The first shows a wide open aperture which gives a very narrow depth of field, and allows a shorter shutter speed (relatively), while the second shows a much greater depth of field with focus extending right back along the ruler but requiring an exposure 4 times longer, and impossible to hand hold with the available light.

f4.6 - widest aperture, most light, shorter shutter speeds, smallest depth of field of focus

f22 - smallest aperture, least light, longer shutter speeds, greatest depth of field of focus

So for your model shots Andrew F22 would be much better to get all of the model sharp, but a tripod or beanbag and timer release of the shutter will be essential to remove camera shake.

Steve

If you use a tripod switch the IS off.