February 25th, 2015

A quick guide to DSLR settings

When it comes to using a DSLR, I always recommend giving the manual settings a try. After all, if you control your settings, then you also control how your photo turns out. Auto mode may try its best, but it can’t read your mind!

photo_guide_10

As someone who had to go through the same learning curve, I know that it can be confusing and take a while to get used to. However, like anything else, the more you use it, the easier it’ll get. The pay-off is worth it! Trust me!

And fear not! For I am here to help. Well um… I hope this helps at least 🙂 I call this a “quick” guide because I skip over many technical details. Rather than going into why it works, I’ll go into how you can think about it. Let’s get started!


Thinking in terms of light

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Light is extremely important in photography. You can think of the three major manual settings in terms of how much light you are letting in.

Shutter speed

  • Is how long the shutter is open, and it’s measured in seconds. Shorter time = Faster shutter.
    Example: 1/400 second (1/400th of a second) is faster than 1/100 second.
  • It’s often compared to a water faucet. If you leave the faucet on longer, more water comes out, right? This is the same as the shutter. The longer it’s open, the more light comes in.
  • Slow shutter: longer time, more light, but higher chance of blurring your photo.
  • Fast shutter: shorter time, less light, but better for getting clear shots.


Aperture

  • Is the opening in the lens, and it’s measured in f-stops, but it is backwards.
    Lower f-stop = Higher aperture (larger opening). Example: f/2 is a higher aperture than f/4.
  • Using the water faucet example again, think of one with a large opening and one with a small opening. If both are turned on for the same length of time, which one lets out more water? The larger one. This is the same with aperture. The higher aperture (larger opening) lets in more light.
  • The aperture range is dependent on the lens. This is why they say things like 50mm f/1.8 or 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6. They list the maximum aperture for the lens. (For the 18-55mm, it means it’s f/3.5 at 18mm, f/5.6 at 55mm, and somewhere in between for the rest.)
  • High aperture: low f-stop, more light, and a smaller depth of field (covered a bit later).
  • Low aperture: high f-stop, less light, and a larger depth of field.

ISO

  • Is the sensitivity to light. A higher ISO means higher sensitivity and a higher number.
    Example: ISO 800 is higher than ISO 200.
  • High ISO: higher light sensitivity but more likely to cause noise in your photo.
  • Low ISO: lower light sensitivity but less likely to cause noise in your photo.

Thinking in terms of priority

Now that there’s a basic understanding of how the three major settings work, the next step is figuring out how to balance the three and what to actually use. I like to think in terms of prioritizing one of the settings. Then with one setting locked in, you adjust the other two around it.

(Note: I’ll be showing example settings, but remember that what you use will always depend on your situation and current lighting.)

Shutter speed
As mentioned, a slow shutter may blur your photo. Sometimes this is a desirable effect, either as an artistic effect or for techniques like long exposures.

Slower shutter means more light, so try a lower aperture (higher f-stop), lower ISO, or both.

Settings: 15 seconds, f/22, ISO 100

Settings: 15 seconds, f/22, ISO 100

If you don’t want to blur your photo, you’re looking at a faster shutter, especially if there’s a lot of movement. In this photo, I’m trying to catch a pose in mid-air.

Faster shutter means less light, so try a higher aperture (lower f-stop), higher ISO, or both.

Settings: 1/2000 second, f/2.2, ISO 400

Settings: 1/2000 second, f/2.2, ISO 400

Aperture
Depth of field is basically the range of distance of when things in the photo are sharp. A large depth of field means everything is in focus. A small depth of field means one thing is focus while everything else is blurred.

There are a few factors to this and aperture is one of them:

photo_guide_09

When I do portraits or still-life, I frequently shoot with a high aperture (low f-stop) to achieve a small depth of field. When everything else is blurred, it puts even more focus on your subject.

Higher aperture (low f-stop) means more light, so try a faster shutter, lower ISO, or both.

Settings: 1/1000 second, f/1.8, ISO 250

Settings: 1/1000 second, f/1.8, ISO 250

The next photo is from the same shoot and same spot (so same lighting). When there are more subjects, I tend to lower the aperture a little to avoid accidentally blurring someone. You can see that I adjusted by lowering my shutter speed.

Settings:  1/640 second, f/2.8, ISO 250

Settings: 1/640 second, f/2.8, ISO 250

I also shoot landscapes, which are better if everything is in focus. In those cases, I use a low aperture (high f-stop) to get a large depth of field.

Lower aperture (high f-stop) means less light, so try a slower shutter, higher ISO, or both.

Settings: 1/200 second, f/5, ISO 250

Settings: 1/200 second, f/5, ISO 250

ISO
I never prioritize on ISO, but sometimes I set an ISO limit to prevent too much noise. Here’s an example of when I was shooting in very low light, with a large depth of field, but I had no tripod. I couldn’t slow the shutter too much or else it’d blur. Since I wanted a large depth of field, that also meant I was using a low aperture. I bumped up the ISO to help, but it caused a lot of noise in my photo.

Settings: 1/30 second, f/5.6, ISO 2000

Settings: 1/30 second, f/5.6, ISO 2000

Compare that to this other night photo. I was able to set up a tripod, allowing me to use a slow shutter. My aperture was still low, but the slower shutter was enough to let me lower the ISO. You can see that there’s no noise in this one.

Settings: 8 seconds, f/10, ISO 100

Settings: 8 seconds, f/10, ISO 100

Extra note #1: Larger image sensors have less noise on high ISOs. DSLRs are better at higher ISOs than point and shoots. Full frame DSLRs are also better at higher ISOs than cropped sensor DSLRs.

Extra note #2: Image sensor size has nothing to do with MegaPixel (MP). A camera with a higher MP does not mean it’s a better camera. Do not fall into that marketing trap! (I might have another entry on this later.)


And that’s all I wanted to cover for now! There’s more I want to touch on, but I’ll save that for later because I want to keep this to the basics. Hopefully this is helpful, but if there’s anything that’s unclear, please let me know!

14 Responses to “A quick guide to DSLR settings”

  • Jenny says:

    Love this post and the faucet analogy! It took me 2+ years playing around with my DSLR before I finally ventured into manual mode, but it makes a huge difference being able to adjust the different settings!
    Looking forward to your future photography posts – they’re always so helpful 🙂

    • Cat says:

      I’m so glad my photography posts are helpful! I definitely have more planned for later 😀

  • Uglyfish says:

    Oh my gosh, thank you so much! This helped me understand so much about the more technical aspects of the camera! The depth of field was especially helpful, as that’s something I’ve never even thought about. I’ve bookmarked this for future reference =]

  • Holly says:

    I shared this post because I think it is so helpful for newbies, and also a great reminder for the slightly more experienced. I love it!

    In my flat I always end up taking pictures with a high ISO because it’s so dark that without it my shutter speed would be too low and it would just come out blurry. But I find messing about with luminance in Photoshop with the RAW file improves this to some extent.

    • Cat says:

      Thanks again for sharing it! I’m glad DSLRs handle higher ISOs pretty well because it comes in handy for those low light situations. If you don’t have a tripod, I recommend getting one! Even the cheap ones help a lot 🙂

  • Michelle says:

    This is a great guide for sure for newbies and you nailed it. Can’t wait to do our photoshoot :3

  • Olivia says:

    Bookmarked this post, thank you so much! I was a bit stuck on this topic, with the hundreds of confusing pages on iso, aperture and stuff. This is so helpful and I’ll definitely make use of it!

  • Shar says:

    This is sooo helpful! It’s great!! I,myself, am trying to get back into photography again since my husband got me a camera for Christmas. I used to do photography a lot but it’s been years since I have held a DSLR in my hands and it’s been like trying to get back on the horse at this point.

    This is a great topic! Thanks so much for this!

  • Raisa says:

    +1 on the megapixel marketing trick. Some phones nowadays have a 20.1MP camera, and it’s insane! @_@

    This post makes me miss my old DSLR! I don’t plan on getting a new one anytime soon, though I may upgrade my potato camera to a high-end point-and-shoot. I shall refer back to this post when I do. 😀

  • Ongaku says:

    I still struggle with this stuff every time I do photography, and it seems to be even harder for doing video! lol It was a nice refresher reading this though. I may even go back to it for when my brain dies.

    I keep a little cheat sheet, with me on photography shoots so that if I can’t remember small information on getting the shot I want I take a quick look at it. Of course, it can only get me so far.

    I just love learning what I can do with my DSLRs

  • Jizni says:

    I have had my DSLR for 2 years now yet I still struggle with manual sometimes. Thanks for sharing this tho. Very helpful!

  • Nancy says:

    When I first touched a DSLR, I was intimidated by the amount of buttons/features there are!!! To this day, I still am *o*. These are pretty good tips for taking better pictures! I will look into setting the camera to a faster shutter. I didn’t know the term for having a range of focus until now! Thanks for the tips :D. I will definitely look into these specific things the next time I borrow my boyfriend’s DSLR ;P

  • Alice B says:

    this this this! manual and/or the priority settings are the best – i’m referring to Shutter / Aperture priority though because the Program setting is still somewhat auto though not exactly auto, if that even make sense at all.
    90% of the time I always pick Aperture priority since I love and always try to get bokeh and all. shutter priority is superb for long exposures, for light streaks.

    manual setting is good for those who are keen learners. for instance during photo hunting, it’s good to familiar oneself with manual setting. i always suggest beginners (who are serious about photography, of course) to try M setting FIRST before jumping into aperture or shutter priority. M is the basic for everything after all.

    i always keep my ISO around 800. i set my target around ISO800 though not always limited to that. sometimes i go higher but it’s best not to go highest maximum. noise can be good sometimes, depending on what’s the photographer’s style but sometimes it can ugly.

    sometimes, it makes me cringe how people buy expensive DSLRs and call themselves ‘photographers’ just for fancy labels yet they don’t know how to operate it to its fullest function. it piss me off 😛 that’s why the word ‘photographer’ is a sensitive topic for me haha
    i like it when someone appreciates the theory of photography and actually ventures for its technical aspects because seriously, photography is not easy!

    do you try other cameras other than DSLRs? i like DSLR for professional work but for personal hobby, i really love analog more; it’s a lot more complicated but when you get the hang of it, analog produces lovely, breathtaking pictures. this is also where noise on pictures tend to look good 🙂 ah, i miss shooting in film now TAT

    i’ve always wanted to write a post about photography, about some tips and tricks. hm, maybe i should. i don’t know. friends think i should, i think i shouldn’t LOL
    oh well~ nice post! you should talk about white balance and exposure too! haha some people don’t even know they exist and are controllable on DSLRs (shocking -__-)

    • Cat says:

      When I’m doing outdoor shoots with good lighting, I aim for low ISOs (like 200-400), but I try to stay under ISO 2000 in low light situations. I kind of venture to the higher ISOs when I’m on my full frame, haha. I actually printed a high ISO photo recently to 16×24″ and was happy to see that the noise wasn’t that noticeable 🙂

      I’m kind of sensitive to when people use the word “photographer” too. It bothers me when people buy a really nice DSLR but skip out on a quality lens or don’t bother learning how to use it properly.

      I use my DSLR for photoshoots and traveling, but I carry around a high-end compact for everything else 🙂 DSLRs are kind of a hassle to bring all the time, haha.

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