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Camera Functions

Skill One: ISO

The ISO is the number on the film. You may have noticed when you pick up film there are different numbers IE. 100, 200, 400, 800 etc. This tells you its sensitivity to light. This helps you figure out which film is best suited to your needs. If you were taking pictures of you family at a picnic on a bright and sunny day, you would probably only need a 200 ISO film. But if you were shooting inside in a fairly well lit area you would want the 800 to get as much light as possible so your pictures will turn out.

Skill Two: Shutter

The shutter spead indicates how long your film is exposed to light. This is important because if you have the wrong speed your pictures will either turn out white or black. Not what you want.
The brighter the day/area, the faster you want your speed. The lower the light, the slower the speed.
The shutter usual comes in 1,2,15,30,60,120,250,500,1600. Now each of these numbers is a fraction of a second, ie 30 = 1/30 of a second. Thats how long the shutter remains open.
Now once you start using shutter speeds lower then 60, you need to use a tripod to insure your pictures wont come out blurry.

Skill Three: F Stop

The F stop refers to how wide the the lens opening is, which mean how much light is coming in. F stops usual range from 2.0,5.6,8,11,16. In this case the higher the number the smaller the opening.
When you are taking a picture in low light you want a wider opening to gather as much light as possible.
The F stop also regulates your depth of feild, depending on the number you pick will effect how clear and how close your subject appears.

Skill Four: Lens

Lens are very important to a camera. There are many different kinds.


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