Saturday, January 29, 2011

Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO Sensitivity


“ Aperture ”

APERTURE is referred to the lens diaphragm opening inside a photographic lens

  • A “small” aperture means a small hole, but a big number, like f11.
  • Small apertures (small hole, big number) have deep depths of field, meaning more sharpness around the subject.  You can see more examples of this below.
  • A “big” aperture means a big hole, but a small number, like f2.8.
  • Large apertures (big hole, small number) have shallow depths of field, meaning more blurriness around the subject. 

Example of small aperture: F16

     
Example of large aperture: F2.8

         


“ Shutter Speed ”
SHUTTER SPEED  is the amount of time that the shutter is open. It also affects the amount of light that hits the sensor.

  • The faster the shutter speed, the less light that comes into the camera.
  • A fast shutter speed would be something like 1/2000th of a second.
  • The faster the shutter speed the better the camera will freeze the action of an event.

  • Then slower the shutter speed, the more light will enter into the camera.
  • A slow shutter speed would be 1/30th  of a second.
  • In slow shutter speed the subject will be blurred as it passes across the viewfinder and the background will be sharp.
Example of fast shutter speed : 1/1500th


Example of slow shutter speed : 1/30th  


“ ISO Sensitivity ”
ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. It was measured in numbers like 100, 200, 400, 800 etc.

  • The lower the number the lower the sensitivity of the sensor toward light. Like ISO 100 and 200 .
  • Lower ISO numbers require more light to get a good exposure.
  • A lower ISO setting is preferred whenever possible since it helps to reduce this noise or grain.

  • The higher the number the higher the sensitivity of sensor toward light like ISO 800 and 1600.
  • Higher ISO numbers require less light to get the right exposure.
  • The higher the ISO increases the noise level of the image (In film this is often referred to as "grain")

Example of Low ISO : 100


Example of High ISO: 800
Example of finer grain in ISO 100

Example of grain (noise) in ISO 800

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