Photography 101: Film Speeds and How to Use Them
By norman | March 11, 2010
Cameras have lots of little knobs, dials and meters. If you look long enough on a camera, you can find more ways to change how your photo look than you can count, and for most of us, more than we can process all at once. But did you know that one of the most important decisions you can make when taking pictures happens before you even load your film?
The speed of your film is one of the unchangeable qualities of a picture. There are lots of ways to play with aperture, focus and exposure. However, once film is in a camera, there is absolutely no way to change the way that film reacts to light. In every picture you take with film, you’re adapting to the film speed. Film doesn’t automatically change to suit your needs, so it’s important to choose the right film before you start taking pictures.
What is ISO?
The film speed measures how sensitive the film is to light. Low film speeds mean that the film is less sensitive and needs a longer exposure while high speeds are very sensitive and need shorter exposures. The speed of a film is commonly known as its ISO. Any film you buy will have its ISO marked on the box, and common speeds are 400, 800, and 1000, with 400 being the closest to the “standard.”
The ISO of your film affects every aspect of the way your camera works. Your light sensor (if you have one) has to be set correctly for the film you’re using, your aperture will be more or less limited depending, and your shutter speed will likely have to decrease or increase to accommodate the film. Even digital cameras have a simulated (and adjustable) film speed that they base their calculations on.
Selecting the Right Speed
The ISO of your film decides what you are capable of photographing, and how. Because high-speed film (ISO 800 or above is a good general rule) requires less time to expose, you can shoot images with much higher shutter speeds than with a slower film. The result will be a photo with crystal clear action; fast film is great for taking sports or anything with movement. When you see a picture of a basketball player suspended in mid air, you know that the image was probably taken with high speed film. With a slower ISO, the player in question would likely be a huge blur. Faster film also requires less light and can be very useful in an indoor situation where a flash is not appropriate.
Lower speed film captures more detail because it has more time to absorb light. It’s important to keep the words “detail” and “blurry” separate- more “detail” in a picture is similar to a high definition TV having more “detail” than a regular television- more of what was originally there will be seen in a photo. The longer film can “see” a scene, the better the scene will be represented. Lower speed films are great for images like portraits where you want to show great depth of field.
Film Speed Experiments
To get a good handle on how ISO works and what it does to your images, here are a couple of things to try out the next time you’re planning a shooting day:
- Get rid of your flash (if you have one) and take some fast film into a low light environment
- Swing by a local high school, college, or little league game and try shooting (with permission) two rolls of film – one very slow (ISO 100) and one very fast (ISO 1000) – then have a look at how different the images turned out
Film speed is one of those great things to play with when you’re pretty comfortable with your camera and you’re looking for new ways to challenge your perceptions. Each speed has strengths and weaknesses, and it’s up to you to decide which one works for you. Now it’s time to take some pictures you’ll be proud to display in wall picture frames And don’t forget that pictures make great gifts especially when given in pictures frames that complement the existing decor like natural wood picture frames and classic silver picture frames.
Topics: Digital Video Tips | No Comments »
Explore The Marvellous Qualities Of Digital SLR Cameras
By norman | March 11, 2010
The induction of the digital camera has wholly changed our world by clicking our finest and significant moments. You cannot envisage going out without them now. These are ideal while travelling, outing, partying or any such gathering and has been added as a tourist kit without which your trip cannot be completed. This ubiquitous device rotates around our daily routine nowadays. You can click pictures, make movies, and can show images quickly once it gets clicked.
Digital SLR- The attributes
The versatility and plentiful functions in such digital cameras have facilitated our world in identifying those treasured moments. But what exactly are these devices and in what type can we attain them? Let’s learn more about such ambidextrous characteristics of this device.
You can get a variety of kinds of digital cameras which differ from their convention and capabilities. Digital SLR is one of such digital camera which is based on single lens reflexive film. The name is set due to their distinctive viewing system where a mirror reflects light from the lens through a separate optical viewfinder. So when you capture a picture, the mirror is flipped out of the way letting the light to fall on the imager. Auto focus can be carried out with the support of specific sensors in the mirror box as no light reaches the imager during framing.
And the best part is that you can also acquire its line of lenses particularly considered to be used on these camera. The new variety of digital SLR cameras has much larger sensor ranges from 18 mm to 36 mm. This helps in providing superior low- light performance with less depth of field accompanied by larger size. You can easily exchange its lenses for numerous applications like wide angle, telephoto, low light etc. Such different options with particular technology give you massive benefits if you are deciding to purchase one of these cameras. You can get these cameras according to your requirement which are now available in market.
In order to know more functions and features, you can simply log onto their websites and ascertain more knowledge about their rates and accessibility. So fetch some mind- blowing digital SLR cameras and feel its astonishing effects and qualities that can overpower anyone.
Topics: Digital Video Tips | No Comments »