• April 22, 2023, 3:03 p.m.

    Wex (a UK camera shop) has produced a handy beginners guide to terms used by photographers. You may argue that some of the explanations are not 100% correct (APS-C doesn't include Canon's 1.6x crop, for example) - but for beginners, it gives a good start.

    You can find it here www.wexphotovideo.com/blog/features/photography-jargon-buster-an-a-z-of-photographic-terms/

    I hope beginners find it useful. For the rest of you, please, let's not get into pedantic arguments about what is right and what is not in this thread. If you want to argue, please open another one.

    Alan

  • April 24, 2023, 3:28 p.m.

    Unfortunately this, like many such sources, is flawed when it comes to the basics, and probably is something that beginners should steer clear of, if they wand to learn the basics in a way that allows them to develop beyond that. One example:

    So we learn that exposure is 'The amount of light allowed to reach the sensor', which is true (though simplified, it needs to say 'per unit area' to be complete). We're also told that it's a fundamental concept, which is right. Being fundamental, we should get it right, shouldn't we? They clearly don't. Now we are told that 'Exposure in digital photography is governed by three things: shutter speed (how long the camera shutter is permitted to remain open), aperture (how wide the lens diaphragm is permitted to open) and ISO (the camera's sensitivity to light).' This is nonsense. Exposure is governed by shutter speed, f-number and scene luminance. ISO has no effect on exposure. How could it? If exposure is the 'amount of light allowed to reach the sensor' then the only way that ISO could control exposure is by generating more light to hit the sensor - and it doesn't.
    Then we're told that 'Nailing a correctly exposed image involves balancing these three things, the idea being that if you increase one (e.g. slow down the shutter speed to increase light) in a correctly exposed scene, to maintain that correct exposure, you must compensate by decreasing another (e.g. narrowing the aperture to reduce light).' This is one of the most useless pieces of instruction I've ever seen. First, it doesn't give a clue what 'correct exposure' is, it just throws it out there and tells the poor beginner that it must be 'nailed'. Then, apparently, you 'nail' it by balancing three things. Ever tried balancing three things? It's really hard.
    That's not all, I'm afraid it's full of stuff like that.

  • April 24, 2023, 3:46 p.m.

    I would suggest we delete the thread then

  • arrow_forward

    Thread has been moved from Beginners' Questions.

  • April 24, 2023, 4:47 p.m.

    I just moved it to BQD, because it's an interesting test case, as being something not written by someone here, so no-one's invested in it, bit with the typical errors of the Web Beginners' Curriculum.

  • Members 280 posts
    April 30, 2023, 10:35 a.m.

    The exposure is correct if the picture looks good.
    "Looking good" can be determined by getting a couple of dozen viewers to pick their preferred image from a bracketed set.

    Don Cox

  • April 30, 2023, 10:38 a.m.

    Interesting view. But different people may have a different view on what 'looks good'. So, just using the one that the majority chooses may not work for those who chose a different one.

    An alternate view is to accept the one that the author intended. If you like it, fine. If not, move on. [There are some paintings I really like - others, I think "what was he thinking of"].

    Alan

  • Members 694 posts
    April 30, 2023, 11:16 a.m.

    What happens to the f/stop or shutter speed when you change ISO setting on your camera? Scene lighting has not changed. Don't you have to change f/stop or shutter speed by the same amount of stops to bring meter back to 0 basically changing exposure?

  • Members 360 posts
    April 30, 2023, 1:25 p.m.

    That would cause an implication that some correctly exposed images are incorrectly exposed just because some people might find it as not looking good, and it would deny the fact that there might be incorrectly exposed images that people find "nice" or looking good. Can't have it all.