Digital camera setting
- Thread starter GMFett
- Start date
gregr
New member
There's really no short answer for any of your questions- sorry 
There are a few basic settings you can adjust to get the picture to come out how you want it to; aperture and shutter speed are the most important ones, and the best thing you can do is learn how the two work together to make a proper exposure. This article explains what an aperture is, how it relates to the shutter speed and gives you an overall explanation of how cameras work.
There are a few basic settings you can adjust to get the picture to come out how you want it to; aperture and shutter speed are the most important ones, and the best thing you can do is learn how the two work together to make a proper exposure. This article explains what an aperture is, how it relates to the shutter speed and gives you an overall explanation of how cameras work. To get the short answer you have to be specific as to what kind of shot-- a close-up of something not moving? Close-up of a moving fish? Close-up of polyps on an acro? Full tank shot? The settings will be significantly different for most of these shots... hence the longwinded explanation
Blue Deuce
New member
Like Gregor said there is no universal settings. Each shot is unique unto itself. I would reccomend the Canon 100 2.8 if you are leaning towards the Rebel. Somewhere around $450 or so but it doubles as a very good portrait lens. Learn to shoot in manual mode from the begining. You want control of the camera. Use a aperature of f14 or higher and a shutter speed and ISO that will enable you to do so. A tripod is also necessary because more then likely you will be using a slow shutter speed and it helps with framing.
Look at www.potn.net for more answers. A wealth of info is available there.
Look at www.potn.net for more answers. A wealth of info is available there.
Mr31415
Active member
The solution to your question is to understand how aperture, shutter speed, focal length and ISO work together.
Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO combined determines the exposure. Typically you will want your reef pictures to be properly exposed (not too dark not too light). Shutter and aperture are reciprocal - i.e. the faster the shutter (shorter exposure), the larger the aperture has to be (lens opening) in order to gather the same amount of light.
Aperture furthermore determines DOF (Depth of Field) - what is in focus and what not. Shutter speed determines whether a moving object is frozen in place (fast shutter) or blurry (slow shutter). Obviously for stationary things you can use a slower shutter - the faster the subject moves the faster the shutter to freeze the motion.
ISO defines the sensitivity of the sensor. The lower the ISO, the less noise in the image but the more sensitive i.e. more light is gathered. Doubling the shutter speed halves the exposure unless you either double the aperture or ISO. ISO does not affect DOF.
Focal length implicitly determines your perspective (it does not in itself change perspective, but it usually causes you to move forward /backwards for the composition thus affecting perspective). It also determines the FoV (Field of View) - what is in the picture and what not. Long focal lenghts causes a small area of your subject to fill the frame, and wider focal lengths causes more of the subject to be visible. Note that focal length affects apparent DOF - the longer the focal length the less apparent DOF you'll have, and vice versa. I say "apparent" since it does not truly affect DOF, just our perception of it.
Based on this, you should be ready to understand that taking a photo of a swimming fish will typically require a fast shutter and large aperture and high ISO assuming a side profile so no large DOF is required.
Taking a closeup of a polyp typically requires a slower shutter provided the flow is low, smaller aperture to get more DOF, large ISO to get enough exposure and long focal length to get up close.
Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO combined determines the exposure. Typically you will want your reef pictures to be properly exposed (not too dark not too light). Shutter and aperture are reciprocal - i.e. the faster the shutter (shorter exposure), the larger the aperture has to be (lens opening) in order to gather the same amount of light.
Aperture furthermore determines DOF (Depth of Field) - what is in focus and what not. Shutter speed determines whether a moving object is frozen in place (fast shutter) or blurry (slow shutter). Obviously for stationary things you can use a slower shutter - the faster the subject moves the faster the shutter to freeze the motion.
ISO defines the sensitivity of the sensor. The lower the ISO, the less noise in the image but the more sensitive i.e. more light is gathered. Doubling the shutter speed halves the exposure unless you either double the aperture or ISO. ISO does not affect DOF.
Focal length implicitly determines your perspective (it does not in itself change perspective, but it usually causes you to move forward /backwards for the composition thus affecting perspective). It also determines the FoV (Field of View) - what is in the picture and what not. Long focal lenghts causes a small area of your subject to fill the frame, and wider focal lengths causes more of the subject to be visible. Note that focal length affects apparent DOF - the longer the focal length the less apparent DOF you'll have, and vice versa. I say "apparent" since it does not truly affect DOF, just our perception of it.
Based on this, you should be ready to understand that taking a photo of a swimming fish will typically require a fast shutter and large aperture and high ISO assuming a side profile so no large DOF is required.
Taking a closeup of a polyp typically requires a slower shutter provided the flow is low, smaller aperture to get more DOF, large ISO to get enough exposure and long focal length to get up close.
