Camera settings

[clax]

hi there,could any sifus explain to me the basic camera setting details.

1.white balance. which situation should i adjust with or leave it to auto?
2.iso from200 -hi1. which do i select? is it the high for dark scene ,low for bright scene?
3. focus mode. whats the diffrent with af-a,af-s af-c , mf?
4.af area- could someone explain what is closest subject,dynamic area,single area
5. metering-which should i use,matrix, center ,spot ?
6.flash and exposure compensation.
lastly does kit lens have limit with this setting?

thanks

[moz]

Care to share with us the model of the camera? Sounds like D40/D40X?

[andythology]

too much to tell. why dun you read?

[gid]

I think you will have less question after reading the manual.
Infact the settings is more depending on object and surrounding.

[noruazumi]

...the basic camera setting details.
it really surprised me that u know all the terminologies but does not have clue about them. but let me spend a few minutes to explain to u in very basic manner.

1.white balance. which situation should i adjust with or leave it to auto?
since u have no idea about the WB, just leave it auto.. for now.

2.iso from200 -hi1. which do i select? is it the high for dark scene ,low for bright scene?
ISO200 use when it is bright.
ISO1600 (or maybe H1) use when it is dark.
but u really need a flash! trust me.

3. focus mode. whats the diffrent with af-a,af-s af-c , mf?
AF-S - single servo, ok when u shoot slow moving object
AF-C - continuous, ok when u shoot fast subject
Manual - ok when u have good eyes

4.af area- could someone explain what is closest subject,dynamic area,single area
the words already speak for themselves.
closest - focus to nearest subject
dynamic - u can set the focus point anywhere u want
single - just one area

5. metering-which should i use,matrix, center ,spot ?
matrix - use when u want to meter the whole scenery
center - more weight during metering on the center.
spot - meter only that spot

6.flash and exposure compensation.
flash - urmmm... flash la...
compensation - adjust the flash to finer value(?) never use this, just use my speedlight.


seriously, go and read more about them. many sources and to name a few, u got internet and books! spoonfeeding is so not good!

[bimmer]

RTFM........

[ShaolinTiger]

The majority of this stuff can be found in the manual and the rest online at sites like Ken Rockwell:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40/users-guide/index.htm

Assuming you are using D40/x.

Any other small things you can ask us here :)

[noordin]

And most important go out and shoot with what you now know and then study your exif. That way you'll remember what happens when your camera is set in this way and that way. After all it's free. You don't have to buy film and send for processing. That's the only way to learn fast.

[clax]

thank you very much .