Jump to content

Welcome to NikonForums.com
Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. If you already have an account, login here - otherwise create an account for free today!
Photo

moving from auto to manual

point and shoot manual mode p510

  • Please log in to reply
11 replies to this topic

#1
Barb W

Barb W

    New Member

  • Forum Member
  • Pip
  • 7 posts
  • Country Flag

I own a P510, and shoot mainly in auto mode, unless I switch to manual for continuous shots. I want to know how to use some of the manual mode advantages that auto does not provide, however, I have no clue where to begin. Can someone give me an "assignment" that will allow me to explore an aspect of manual mode, without feeling overwhelmed? Thanks for any "takers"! :D

 



#2
nbanjogal

nbanjogal

    Nikonian

  • Forum Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 2,094 posts
  • Country Flag
  • LocationUT, USA

Site Supporter

Hey there, Barb! I'll be the first to admit I don't know too much about your camera. I took a quick peek at the specs, so I hope I can help a bit. It looks like you have M, A, S, P settings in addition to the auto function, so rather than jumping right into manual, perhaps try a few experiments with A and S modes first so you fully understand what each of those functions controls. (And please let me know if I'm talking down to you! Stop me if you already know all this.) Then once you're comfortable with those, try manual.

 

Perhaps the easiest place to start is with the S setting, where you'd be controlling shutter speed. If you have any kids around, see if you can get one on a bike or a skateboard and experiment with your shutter speed. Keep the speed fast to freeze the motion. Slow it down to get a blur. This can also be a fun exercise to do with running water such as in a creek or a fountain--play around freezing the water with fast shutter speed and then letting blur into that silky smooth effect you get with a slow shutter speed. You'll need a tripod or something to steady your camera for the slow shutter speed (I can't handhold below 1/100). You could just set it on a table or a rock if you don't have a tripod.

 

After you've figured out what S does, try experimenting with the A (aperture) setting for awhile. The A setting helps control how much light hits your sensor, but it also controls how much depth of field you have in your image. Depth of field just means how much of your image is in focus from front to back. Having control of your depth of field gives you a lot more control over how busy your backgrounds and how you help your viewer focus on the subject.

 

For example, here's a photo I took of my daughter this past Christmas:

 

11571811634_97915897f8_c.jpg
 
Do you see how the candy canes are in focus, but the rest of the image is not? I was shooting with a very wide aperture (f 1.8) to get that effect. I think your camera can go as wide as 3.0 when you are shooting wide angle, so perhaps you could try making some images where you change your aperture drastically to see how much your depth of field changes.
 
 
You'll need to understand both of those functions before going manual (though you'll also want to make sure you understand ISO at that point).
 
This is probably oversimplified, and as I said, I hope I'm not telling you things you already know. If I am, I will delete this post so I don't embarrass myself! 
 
P.S. I've made some assumptions that you know what numbers will help you achieve fast or slow shutter speeds or wide or small apertures. Do you need more information about what those numbers look like? 


#3
yauman

yauman

    Active Member

  • Forum Member
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 69 posts
  • Country Flag
  • LocationMartinez, CA

 

I own a P510, and shoot mainly in auto mode, unless I switch to manual for continuous shots. I want to know how to use some of the manual mode advantages that auto does not provide, however, I have no clue where to begin. Can someone give me an "assignment" that will allow me to explore an aspect of manual mode, without feeling overwhelmed? Thanks for any "takers"! :D

 

 

 

My suggestion is to start here and learn the fundamentals of aperture, shutter speed and ISO setting and how i affect the image captured by your camera.  These 3 parameters interact with each other and one you get a grip on what each parameter does, you'll find that shooting manual mode is the way take your photography skill to the next level.  Have fun.



#4
Merco_61

Merco_61

    Nikonian

  • Premium Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 10,587 posts
  • Country Flag
  • LocationUppsala, Sweden

Site Supporter

I think that the easiest way to learn is to isolate each of the three exposure parameters and tackle one at a time while letting the automation in the camera handle the others.

Starting with Shutter priority rather than full manual is a good idea. Playing around with a body of running water as well as stopping human movement is also a very good idea. These are settings that work the same way as on a DSLR.

The problems start when trying to do some isolation with the depth of field. The small sensor in a bridge camera and the short focal lengths coupled with the slow f-stop of the lens give so much depth of field that it is really hard to see how it changes unless you go into the Macro mode of your lens or use a very long focal length. A good exercise is to shoot some bugs and/or flowers in Aperture priority and change aperture settings from photo to photo and then see how things worked.

The next step before going fully manual is to learn how the ISO setting affects your picture quality. You could set up a still life of some kind with both white and dark parts and take a series of photos in any mode except Auto just changing the ISO from shot to shot. As the ISO goes up, some noise will turn up in the picture, first in the dark parts. Evaluate this series and learn how high an ISO setting you can tolerate.

Now you are definitely ready to go manual, since you *know* how each of the three parameters affect the final picture.

 

Good luck!

/Peter



#5
nbanjogal

nbanjogal

    Nikonian

  • Forum Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 2,094 posts
  • Country Flag
  • LocationUT, USA

Site Supporter

 

The problems start when trying to do some isolation with the depth of field. The small sensor in a bridge camera and the short focal lengths coupled with the slow f-stop of the lens give so much depth of field that it is really hard to see how it changes unless you go into the Macro mode of your lens or use a very long focal length. A good exercise is to shoot some bugs and/or flowers in Aperture priority and change aperture settings from photo to photo and then see how things worked.

 

 

I wondered about that on her camera. I haven't used anything but a DSLR for so long that I wasn't sure how depth of field would work on the P510. Glad you addressed it!



#6
dubiousone

dubiousone

    Junior Member

  • Forum Member
  • PipPip
  • 14 posts
  • Country Flag
  • LocationArizona Territory

Sounds like you have a fine camera but I'm not familiar with it, my last point N shoot was a Canon Powershot which is roughly similar except for the specs. (Mine was a dinosaur compared to yours)

 

You have everything you need to take awesome pictures; it is not the camera that takes the shot but the photographer. The camera is simply a tool. You have a pretty good lens, roughly 24mm to (if one can believe the specs on Adorama, to 2000mm) with a aperture of 3.3-5.9. Lets talk about that first.

 

The smaller number is how large the blades open to let more light on to the sensor (or film) Yours is f3.3 when the lens is at its widest or 24mm setting and when zoomed all the way in, is at f5.9. Most 50mm lenses have 2.0, then there's 1.8 and 1.4 and so on. As those numbers get smaller the opening gets larger admitting more light meaning, you need less light to take a photograph. Since your camera is digital and not film with an ISO (light rating lets call it) this is not a big deal for you because your camera will adjust the ISO to match. Not really something to worry about.

 

What you may see is the tendency for the camera to take photos in auto with a slower shutter speed than you need to stop the action and make sharp photos or, with an aperture so small that everything is in focus. This is nice for landscapes but maybe not so for portraits depending on what you want to do with your photo. Note the photo by Nbanjogal; see how the pretty little girl is softly out of focus and the 'heart' is sharp drawing your attention to it? A nice photo! One that is all in focus would still be nice but the depth of field allows you to attract the viewer's eye to the heart.

 

The smaller the F number, the shallower the depth of field and as the number gets larger, so does the depth.

 

The shutter speed is how long the sensor is exposed to the scene; the higher the number the less 'exposure'. (less light AND, if its fast enough 'freezes motion)

 

First exercise; start with people/ things, something with something close and something far. Set your camera on A which is aperture priority. Remember that your camera will auto-focus on whatever is closer OR...it may have a small dot in the middle of the viewfinder that indicates the focus area. Whatever that is on, that's what the camera will focus on. I think your Nikon would work like my Canon did; press the shutter halfway and the focus will adjust and lock. Pressing the rest of the way takes the picture (probably with a delay, something to remember, a full size DSLR doesn't do that BTW) Take some photos using differing points of focus; foreground in focus, background and then, taking shots of the same scene, use different apertures. 3.3 5.6, 11 and so on. What you're looking for is differing depths of field, shallow to deep.

 

Second exercise; pick something that moves. Even traffic can be interesting IE; traffic on a road at night, the cityscape background is sharp and clear (because it isn't moving) but the traffic looks like streaks of red/white light. Use shutter priority this way, I'd suggest people walking or kids playing. Start at say, 100 and work your way up to see what speed 'freezes the motion'. Sometimes, a photo say, with the face sharp but the arms and legs slightly blurry while walking/running can be appealing for instance. The same for a running river. Take a photo of water moving at a fast (1000?) speed and its frozen. Take that same scene with 60 or even 30 or less from a tripod and the water will 'look' like its moving because it has while the shutter was open! Different cool effects.

 

Auto does everything, P does almost everything BUT you should be able to set certain parameters such as ISO (400 needs more light than 1600) and maybe shutter speeds/aperture ranges. Another cool exercise is night/low light photography. Use a high ISO (needs less light) and that keeps the shutter speed/aperture in a useable range. A is aperture priority meaning you set the aperture the camera selects the shutter and S is the other way, you pick the shutter the camera picks the aperture and M is full manual. you pick everything. Exposure is simply how much light a scene needs to be properly exposed. a photo taken at ISO 400 with a shutter speed of 125 and F11 is the same exposure as one taken at 500 and F5.6. They both work together to make sure the darks aren't too dark (underexposed) and the lights aren't too light (Overexposed) Your camera in auto will average, meaning it takes the middle road, because it doesn't know (like a human would) that increasing the F stop from F8 to F5.6 might make that backlit portrait you're taking just a bit better (bright backgrounds dark faces, one is probably going to be over or under) but don't you worry about that just yet. Go have fun with pictures!



#7
Barb W

Barb W

    New Member

  • Forum Member
  • Pip
  • 7 posts
  • Country Flag

 

Hey there, Barb! I'll be the first to admit I don't know too much about your camera. I took a quick peek at the specs, so I hope I can help a bit. It looks like you have M, A, S, P settings in addition to the auto function, so rather than jumping right into manual, perhaps try a few experiments with A and S modes first so you fully understand what each of those functions controls. (And please let me know if I'm talking down to you! Stop me if you already know all this.) Then once you're comfortable with those, try manual.

 

Perhaps the easiest place to start is with the S setting, where you'd be controlling shutter speed. If you have any kids around, see if you can get one on a bike or a skateboard and experiment with your shutter speed. Keep the speed fast to freeze the motion. Slow it down to get a blur. This can also be a fun exercise to do with running water such as in a creek or a fountain--play around freezing the water with fast shutter speed and then letting blur into that silky smooth effect you get with a slow shutter speed. You'll need a tripod or something to steady your camera for the slow shutter speed (I can't handhold below 1/100). You could just set it on a table or a rock if you don't have a tripod.

 

After you've figured out what S does, try experimenting with the A (aperture) setting for awhile. The A setting helps control how much light hits your sensor, but it also controls how much depth of field you have in your image. Depth of field just means how much of your image is in focus from front to back. Having control of your depth of field gives you a lot more control over how busy your backgrounds and how you help your viewer focus on the subject.

 

For example, here's a photo I took of my daughter this past Christmas:

 

11571811634_97915897f8_c.jpg
 
Do you see how the candy canes are in focus, but the rest of the image is not? I was shooting with a very wide aperture (f 1.8) to get that effect. I think your camera can go as wide as 3.0 when you are shooting wide angle, so perhaps you could try making some images where you change your aperture drastically to see how much your depth of field changes.
 
 
You'll need to understand both of those functions before going manual (though you'll also want to make sure you understand ISO at that point).
 
This is probably oversimplified, and as I said, I hope I'm not telling you things you already know. If I am, I will delete this post so I don't embarrass myself! 
 
P.S. I've made some assumptions that you know what numbers will help you achieve fast or slow shutter speeds or wide or small apertures. Do you need more information about what those numbers look like? 

 

Nicole, this is exactly what I am looking for... I guess manual mode was not the term I wanted, but some place to start with shutter, then aperture, etc. to see how to manipulate the photo. No, you were not oversimplifying for me. I need one step at a time and you did that perfectly! Thank you so much for taking the time to check out my camera (wow), and writing such a terrific tutorial for me. I am ready to start experimenting this weekend!  Barb

My suggestion is to start here and learn the fundamentals of aperture, shutter speed and ISO setting and how i affect the image captured by your camera.  These 3 parameters interact with each other and one you get a grip on what each parameter does, you'll find that shooting manual mode is the way take your photography skill to the next level.  Have fun.

Thank you so much yauman, for the great site to start with. Yes, I need to get a grip on the 3 functions one by one! Again, thanks for responding to my post. - Barb

I think that the easiest way to learn is to isolate each of the three exposure parameters and tackle one at a time while letting the automation in the camera handle the others.

Starting with Shutter priority rather than full manual is a good idea. Playing around with a body of running water as well as stopping human movement is also a very good idea. These are settings that work the same way as on a DSLR.

The problems start when trying to do some isolation with the depth of field. The small sensor in a bridge camera and the short focal lengths coupled with the slow f-stop of the lens give so much depth of field that it is really hard to see how it changes unless you go into the Macro mode of your lens or use a very long focal length. A good exercise is to shoot some bugs and/or flowers in Aperture priority and change aperture settings from photo to photo and then see how things worked.

The next step before going fully manual is to learn how the ISO setting affects your picture quality. You could set up a still life of some kind with both white and dark parts and take a series of photos in any mode except Auto just changing the ISO from shot to shot. As the ISO goes up, some noise will turn up in the picture, first in the dark parts. Evaluate this series and learn how high an ISO setting you can tolerate.

Now you are definitely ready to go manual, since you *know* how each of the three parameters affect the final picture.

 

Good luck!

/Peter

Thanks Peter, for the great advice and the exercises. I will play with ISO and when the snow melts (if ever), I will do the bug/aperture. I appreciate you for answering my post and sharing your knowledge! -Barb

Sounds like you have a fine camera but I'm not familiar with it, my last point N shoot was a Canon Powershot which is roughly similar except for the specs. (Mine was a dinosaur compared to yours)

 

You have everything you need to take awesome pictures; it is not the camera that takes the shot but the photographer. The camera is simply a tool. You have a pretty good lens, roughly 24mm to (if one can believe the specs on Adorama, to 2000mm) with a aperture of 3.3-5.9. Lets talk about that first.

 

The smaller number is how large the blades open to let more light on to the sensor (or film) Yours is f3.3 when the lens is at its widest or 24mm setting and when zoomed all the way in, is at f5.9. Most 50mm lenses have 2.0, then there's 1.8 and 1.4 and so on. As those numbers get smaller the opening gets larger admitting more light meaning, you need less light to take a photograph. Since your camera is digital and not film with an ISO (light rating lets call it) this is not a big deal for you because your camera will adjust the ISO to match. Not really something to worry about.

 

What you may see is the tendency for the camera to take photos in auto with a slower shutter speed than you need to stop the action and make sharp photos or, with an aperture so small that everything is in focus. This is nice for landscapes but maybe not so for portraits depending on what you want to do with your photo. Note the photo by Nbanjogal; see how the pretty little girl is softly out of focus and the 'heart' is sharp drawing your attention to it? A nice photo! One that is all in focus would still be nice but the depth of field allows you to attract the viewer's eye to the heart.

 

The smaller the F number, the shallower the depth of field and as the number gets larger, so does the depth.

 

The shutter speed is how long the sensor is exposed to the scene; the higher the number the less 'exposure'. (less light AND, if its fast enough 'freezes motion)

 

First exercise; start with people/ things, something with something close and something far. Set your camera on A which is aperture priority. Remember that your camera will auto-focus on whatever is closer OR...it may have a small dot in the middle of the viewfinder that indicates the focus area. Whatever that is on, that's what the camera will focus on. I think your Nikon would work like my Canon did; press the shutter halfway and the focus will adjust and lock. Pressing the rest of the way takes the picture (probably with a delay, something to remember, a full size DSLR doesn't do that BTW) Take some photos using differing points of focus; foreground in focus, background and then, taking shots of the same scene, use different apertures. 3.3 5.6, 11 and so on. What you're looking for is differing depths of field, shallow to deep.

 

Second exercise; pick something that moves. Even traffic can be interesting IE; traffic on a road at night, the cityscape background is sharp and clear (because it isn't moving) but the traffic looks like streaks of red/white light. Use shutter priority this way, I'd suggest people walking or kids playing. Start at say, 100 and work your way up to see what speed 'freezes the motion'. Sometimes, a photo say, with the face sharp but the arms and legs slightly blurry while walking/running can be appealing for instance. The same for a running river. Take a photo of water moving at a fast (1000?) speed and its frozen. Take that same scene with 60 or even 30 or less from a tripod and the water will 'look' like its moving because it has while the shutter was open! Different cool effects.

 

Auto does everything, P does almost everything BUT you should be able to set certain parameters such as ISO (400 needs more light than 1600) and maybe shutter speeds/aperture ranges. Another cool exercise is night/low light photography. Use a high ISO (needs less light) and that keeps the shutter speed/aperture in a useable range. A is aperture priority meaning you set the aperture the camera selects the shutter and S is the other way, you pick the shutter the camera picks the aperture and M is full manual. you pick everything. Exposure is simply how much light a scene needs to be properly exposed. a photo taken at ISO 400 with a shutter speed of 125 and F11 is the same exposure as one taken at 500 and F5.6. They both work together to make sure the darks aren't too dark (underexposed) and the lights aren't too light (Overexposed) Your camera in auto will average, meaning it takes the middle road, because it doesn't know (like a human would) that increasing the F stop from F8 to F5.6 might make that backlit portrait you're taking just a bit better (bright backgrounds dark faces, one is probably going to be over or under) but don't you worry about that just yet. Go have fun with pictures!

Wow, this is great info! Yes, I love my camera and get wonderful shots in auto. I just want to start branching out in my knowledge and expertise. Thanks for the exercises to try. I will be playing this weekend! I agree, the picture Nicole posted is fantastic! I really appreciate you wonderful, easy to follow advice. - Barb



#8
iNYONi

iNYONi

    Rob

  • Forum Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,112 posts
  • Country Flag
  • LocationLivingston, Scotland

Site Supporter

Hi Barb, it looks like you've been given excellent advice here so I wont go into anything else. All i will say is that I did same when i got my first Digital camera. I played around with it...i took pictures of everything all with different settings. I'm more of a hands on guy and dont really learn from reading manuals or books about photography..although I do use them for certain things when needed. I find that it helps to take a note of what settings I used for certain shots, that way I can always go back and use them again if I liked the look of it.

 

Nicole, thats a great picure and greart advice too.

 

dubiousone - thats also great advice and some very good exercises for beginers to try. It would be great to have this on a notice board on the site for any beginers to go to and try.



#9
TBonz

TBonz

    Sportz Guy

  • Forum Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 3,652 posts
  • Country Flag
  • LocationOn A Field Somewhere...

Site Supporter

There is another forum on a vastly different subject that I follow - not as frequently now, but back when my boys were looking at colleges, it was quite valuable and had great folks with great advice just like this forum. 

 

One thing I always liked about that site is that they had a section called "Golden Threads".  Some threads just end up generating some wonderful advice that folks will benefit from reading over many years.  It might be a good idea to create a similar section on this forum for the basics and other valuable topics or frequently asked questions.



#10
Barb W

Barb W

    New Member

  • Forum Member
  • Pip
  • 7 posts
  • Country Flag

Hi Barb, it looks like you've been given excellent advice here so I wont go into anything else. All i will say is that I did same when i got my first Digital camera. I played around with it...i took pictures of everything all with different settings. I'm more of a hands on guy and dont really learn from reading manuals or books about photography..although I do use them for certain things when needed. I find that it helps to take a note of what settings I used for certain shots, that way I can always go back and use them again if I liked the look of it.

 

Nicole, thats a great picure and greart advice too.

 

dubiousone - thats also great advice and some very good exercises for beginers to try. It would be great to have this on a notice board on the site for any beginers to go to and try.

Thanks for your reply, Rob. Yes, I have been given excellent advice!!! I need both hands on and step by step directions for my best learning experience. I rarely remember what I have done to get a good shot, so taking notes is an excellent idea. Thanks again for your support as I venture off auto! If I get better at this, I may even go out on a limb and purchase a DLSR one day :)



#11
Moester1955

Moester1955

    Junior Member

  • Forum Member
  • PipPip
  • 14 posts
  • Country Flag
  • LocationNova Scotia, Canada

Here is something I came across a while back that you may find helpful :)

Attached Thumbnails

  • post-117-0-27760100-1382396077.jpg


#12
Barb W

Barb W

    New Member

  • Forum Member
  • Pip
  • 7 posts
  • Country Flag

Here is something I came across a while back that you may find helpful :)

Thanks! Looks wonderful.

Barb







Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: point and shoot, manual mode, p510