Let's talk exposure

[Deedee]

A few people on this site reccommended a book called Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson so i ordered it from amazon it came yesterday and once i started reading it things sort of fell into place i have now started using the M mode on my D50. If like me there are people who can't quite get to grips with an SLR i think it may be very usefull to you. Thanks everyone for the imput

 

[Jeanne B]

I ordered the same book a couple of weeks ago from Amazon when I saw it recommended on another photography board. I haven't had a chance to start reading it yet but I'm glad to hear it's been helpful to you.

 

[mabas9395]

I liked that book so much I just ordered his other book "Learning to See Creatively". It covers more of the non-technical aspects such as design, color and composition. I hope it helps me out as much as the first book did.

 

[Disneyfreak92]

I just read Understanding Exposure too, and I also plan to get other books of his. I loved Understanding Exposure! It also helped me with using the M mode on my Rebel XT. And gave me some great ideas and technical information on getting some more creative shots.

 

[handicap18]

I've read it twice and continue to refer to it all the time. I think he does one of the best jobs of explaining how the whole camera thing works in regards to light and shutter and aperture and such. His examples are great. He has a great way of explaining it so that anyone can understand.

Glad to hear you liked it as well.

 

[Marseeya]

I'm working my way through that book right now too. I love it!

 

[alite]

Maybe there are some CM's or anyone else with experience in this, but my camera emits this green laser light, which(according to the manufacter) is used for auto exposure. There is no way to turn this off, either for video or photos. Will this be a problem on the no flash photography rides? I wouldn't want to bother another guest, but was hoping to get some video of Haunted Mansion and The Great Movie Ride. At distances, this light is barely visible, but at close distances, you can see it very well. I'm also guessing that any security video cameras in the ride will pick up this light. Will this be a problem?

Thanks

 

[PaulD]

Are you sure it's not an auto focus assist? I know that the Sony's use something like this but I thought it was orange or red. I don't know what kind of camera you have but you may want to try to put it in manual focus mode and see if the light goes away. But, then it would be almost impossible to focus in low light situations.

As far as the rides are concerned there are many cameras that have a small light to assist with focus. I doubt you'll have any problems unless it's really bright and obnoxious.

 

[alite]

It's a Kodak V530. I emailed their customer service and was told that it measures light for auto exposure and couldn't be turned off. I'm new to digital cameras, but have tried many different settings and couldn't get rid of the light. Thanks for the reply.

 

[PaulD]

From experience I can tell you that it's very difficult to get video on the Haunted Mansion because it's so dark. You'll probably have trouble with video on most indoor rides especially with a still camera shooting in video mode. They just aren't as good as a camcorder (yet).

When I've shot video on HM I have used my Sony camcorder with the IR nightshot mode. It uses an infrared light to illuminate the scene. Since IR light is invisible to the human eye it doesn't bother anyone. The downside is that the video is black and white (or green) video and you pretty well mess up all the cool lighting effects. If you have a camcorder you'll probably get better results on rides.

 

[ducklite]

Those things are annoying as can be. I took a bunch of photo's a few weeks ago, only to find red dots all over them. The dots were from all those camera's like yours, other people focusing on the same subject.

I'm not blaming you, you didn't know, but please in the future don't buy products from companies that manufacture junk cameras that mess up other peoples shots. Kodak and SONY both have these features, and they are obnoxious as heck.

Anne

 

[MICKEY88]

Those things are annoying as can be. I took a bunch of photo's a few weeks ago, only to find red dots all over them. The dots were from all those camera's like yours, other people focusing on the same subject.

I'm not blaming you, you didn't know, but please in the future don't buy products from companies that manufacture junk cameras that mess up other peoples shots. Kodak and SONY both have these features, and they are obnoxious as heck.

Anne

wow that's kind of harsh, I have 2 400 dollar flash units that use this technology, I guess they are junk...???

 

[ducklite]

wow that's kind of harsh, I have 2 400 dollar flash units that use this technology, I guess they are junk...???

Like I told the poster, I wasn't blaming them. But this is technology that shouldn't be used. It's obtrusive to others and obnoxious as hell when you've got little red dots all over your photo's like a bunch of kids were playing with lazer pointers...

Anne

 

[MICKEY88]

. But this is technology that shouldn't be used. It's obtrusive to others and obnoxious as hell when you've got little red dots all over your photo's like a bunch of kids were playing with lazer pointers...

Anne

last time I checked top of the line flashes from Minolta,Nikon and Canon all use this technology, so you're telling all photographers to not use quality flashes....or as you called them JUNK....

 

[MICKEY88]

Like I told the poster, I wasn't blaming them. But this is technology that shouldn't be used. It's obtrusive to others and obnoxious as hell when you've got little red dots all over your photo's like a bunch of kids were playing with lazer pointers...

Anne

just photoshop the dots

 

[Kelly Grannell]

What they should do is to use higher frequency light so they've become invisible to the human eyes. AFAIK, Canon and Nikon don't use that kind of technology. Sony uses red (or green) laser in a grid-like pattern... now THAT's annoying (you can't even photoshopped all of them).

and why oh why people still buy Kodak? (tongue pressed super-firmly in cheek)

 

[MICKEY88]

What they should do is to use higher frequency light so they've become invisible to the human eyes. AFAIK, Canon and Nikon don't use that kind of technology. Sony uses red (or green) laser in a grid-like pattern... now THAT's annoying (you can't even photoshopped all of them).

and why oh why people still buy Kodak? (tongue pressed super-firmly in cheek)

then what is the red light that shines out of Canon and Nikon flashes for focus assist..

 

[Kelly Grannell]

I can't remember my 580 EX uses red-light but I remember it using bursts of flashes. The Canon body uses white light for focus assist. As far as the red light on some of the Nikon and Canon cameras, they are just that, red light. IIRC only Kodak and Sony actually use laser (Kodak uses green laser dots and Sony uses red laser grid).

Red light doesn't matter because if somebody else is taking a picture while your focus assist light is on, the red hue won't show on others' image. Whereas the laser thingie actually shows on other people's images.

 

[ducklite]

just photoshop the dots

That's unrealistic when you've got dots from 18 cameras all over your subject. And perhaps you didn't know, but many press outlets have very stringent rules on alteration of files to preserve journalistic integrety.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

I can't remember my 580 EX uses red-light but I remember it using bursts of flashes. The Canon body uses white light for focus assist. As far as the red light on some of the Nikon and Canon cameras, they are just that, red light. IIRC only Kodak and Sony actually use laser (Kodak uses green laser dots and Sony uses red laser grid).

Red light doesn't matter because if somebody else is taking a picture while your focus assist light is on, the red hue won't show on others' image. Whereas the laser thingie actually shows on other people's images.

Exactly! (the Nikon body uses the white light for focus assist as well) Thank you for a very good explanation Kelly.

Anne