Understand Your Camera: Manual Photography Made Easy

[@DanFox]

What do you think? Going to focus more on manual mode now or nah? 🤔 Also, if you're going to be using manual mode, you're going to care much more about exposure. Here's a breakdown of a great tool to help you judge your exposure: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYaygIKKndqMhZY

[@zetacrucis681]

Yes please do _focus_ on manual mode. Now that you covered the easy stuff, how about a deep dive into manual focus, which I find damn difficult to achieve routinely, especially on low end DSLRs that don't offer any effective focus assist. On my D3300 all I know for it is digital zoom into live view which is slow and tedious. I have some nice vintage MF lenses that I'd like to use more often, but my hand-held shots with them usually end up out of focus. The view through the viewfinder is just not good enough to be able to tell when the focus is sharp -- miss the big prisms and focus screens of film SLRs.

[@nzlaz]

hi Dan, so great a presentation. I'm a fine artist, and I just bought a Sony A7R 4 primarily to take photos of my paintings to be able to offer prints. I can see going manual is the way( i've only used auto up till now). Ive got a Zeiss 55mm 1.8 lens, plus a Sony 24-105 F4. I'm using continuous lighting at 5500K, with two lights on either side at an angle of 45 degrees. I'm guessing the Zeiss on manual with the shutter speed slow(I've got a remote, and camera on a Benro 3-way geared head). Would i then have the f stop at 2.8 - 4, and the ISO at 100 to get the best image of the painting? Thanks....you can tell I'm a novice, but I want to learn

[@DanFox]

@@zetacrucis681 Just saw this comment. I use focus assists when in manual focusing. Tools like focus peaking, and a feature (at least on Sony cameras) actually called "focus assist" - it automatically zooms in on your scene by a magnification you set when you turn the focus wheel to allow you to visually get sharp focus.

[@DanFox]

@@nzlaz Yeah, in your case, since everything is stationary, shutter speed is going to be your primary exposure control and you can just leave your ISO at 100. So your primary decision here is actually sharpness since you know that you're going to have a lot of wiggle room with the shutter speed. So I'd focus first on aperture - with the Zeiss lens, you're going to want to stop down to around f/4 or f/5.6 to find your lens' sweet spot (the aperture setting where it's most sharp - usually 2 - 3 stops from your maximum aperture). Then, turn to your shutter speed to make sure you're getting enough light into your camera.

[@nzlaz]

@@DanFox Thanks for your quick reply, and like some of the other comments, I concur...you definitely know how to present your subject well. I've watched a lot of tutorials, and you are up there with the best! Plus you made it so digestible(If thats a word!). As we say down under, good on yous!

[@richardcarpenter8899]

Hands down the best KZbin video explaining manual mode photography

[@dougstearns6746]

Your explanation was the most understandable I’ve heard.

[@no_categories]

"Photography is all about making art from science, after all." Very well said. :)

[@seifbuys]

Ya no, this man's an absolute legend. Thank you for this Dan! I've been watching camera settings vids for months now and didn't really understand nothing till after watching this. You're a real testament to the value of KZbin, thank you👏

[@DanFox]

Sure thing, man. Glad it helped!

[@ionescudragos2123]

I just stopped in the middle of the video to congratulate you. Thank you. It is super easy to understand.

[@DanFox]

Glad it helped!

[@tshansen]

I'm amazed how good you are in front of the camera, the way you make us understand in such a easy way. I'm just really impressed by your style and way of doing this. I knew most of this, but still managed to get a couple of great tips out of it. Well done, 👏🏻

[@DanFox]

Thanks so much! I definitely have plenty of bloopers, though 🤣 I just get to cut out the mistakes in the edit and do another take. Sometimes I'll stick the bloopers at the end of a video if the video isn't too long 😉

[@crossalignmedia]

I have been trying to understand this for YEARS and you are the first person to actually make it make sense to me. Thanks!

[@armaansami2804]

Best description I have heard yet!!!!

[@DanFox]

Thanks, Armaan!

[@hektik2200]

Another phenomenal video! Your explanation of ISO again filled in so many gaps.

[@DanFox]

Appreciate it! The lazy explanation of ISO that seems to be the popular explanation is one of my pet peeves 🤣

[@stefandanojlic2991]

Great video, so much knowlage... how come this video doesn't have more views I really don't understand🤔🤔🤔

[@bradmcquillin8379]

I rarely leave comments, but man I sure think you should have more subs. Love your in depth knowledge, effort, and skill. Fantastic job.

[@DanFox]

I appreciate that, Brad!

[@rob_gee]

Thank you for breaking down the 3 settings so easily and clearly! Had been struggling with the exposure triangle but after this video I feel much more confident!

[@DanFox]

Glad it helped, Rob!

[@stefandanojlic2991]

I really do appreciate how much your videos are id depth...guys subscribe and show some love for this channel.

[@DanFox]

I appreciate it!

[@janospantea4473]

Thank you very much for the video, it helps a lot for a beginner photographer

[@DanFox]

Glad to hear it!

[@woo.cash.]

Man, I am buffeled how is it possible that so amazing vido have so few views! You are providing condense information, in dugestible form with pace and wit. Keep up awsom job.

[@DanFox]

I appreciate it!

[@maxkearney114]

New to the photography space and this information is GOLD. The video was super clear and I loved how you laid it out. I can tell you are a master of the craft and put a lot of though into how you wanted to structure the video. Thank you sir! Going to scan your profile now for a video coving the same topics but in relation to video. Subbed and Liked

[@DanFox]

Glad to hear it, Max! And here's the intro to shooting video 😉 kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKDapKCNrclsgqs

[@imaclite]

Subscribed .. A beautiful and full explanation and many of us need it, even the seasoned

[@DanFox]

I appreciate it! 🙏

[@rmgibbs1861]

Thank you Sir!!!! Well explained!

[@Tony-bn6sm]

Well done... one of the most if not the most well explained version of apperture, shutter and ISO I have seen on youtube. Simple explanations with easy to understand illustrations and practical demonstrations...

[@DanFox]

Appreciate the feedback, Tony! 👍

[@PaigeJulianStafford]

All of your content is incredibly invaluable! These videos are so well thought out and executed. Thank you for being a fantastic teacher in this space. Please, never stop creating!

[@DanFox]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@shasharlene]

Just Subbed! This is the kind of teaching i needed! Thank you and more power!

[@DanFox]

Glad it helped!

[@silvershadow4965]

Dan, I have watched dozens of videos on exposure and the “exposure triangle” and you are the first person to articulate the difference in ISO in digital vs film. How you explained that in digital, ISO is the analog amplification of noise already captured makes perfect sense. So, the challenge then becomes using shutter speed and aperture appropriately with the available light to minimize the noise captured making less noise to crank up with higher ISO settings. Now, if I could just capture a decent image!

[@DanFox]

Yup! This is why I tend to encourage people to address ISO last in the chain when they're not sure in the moment about what settings they want to use.

[@calebkx556]

Just bought a a7riv and I’m so grateful for you

[@DanFox]

Appreciate it! Glad it helped!

[@jordansyoutube]

Thanks!

[@DanFox]

Thank YOU!

[@ronniejonsson]

Good job Dan! Your vids are always on point. The major difference between film and digital (other than all the bells and whistles) is that one can change ISO on the fly. It's like being able to change film speed in the middle of a roll. Your explanation on ISO is very helpful in understanding how it relates to the overall process. Thank You.

[@DanFox]

Appreciate it, Ron!

[@inspiresouls2209]

Good explanation for beginners.

[@DanFox]

Appreciate it!

[@OuterEastLLC]

Just found your channel. Great info. subscribed.

[@DanFox]

Awesome, thank you!

[@mcwarrilikeabawzz2692]

Hey bro, thanks for the AHA moment :D

[@DanFox]

Sure thing! Glad it helped!

[@novanoskillz4151]

this was perfect

[@DanFox]

Glad it helped!

[@endstufederdekadenz9946]

Thank you 🎉

[@DanFox]

Sure thing!

[@aracelireyes3986]

This was soo helpful ! I’m from the future and went back to this video just like you said 😂😂

[@DanFox]

Nice! Glad it was helpful!

[@pvandck]

Rather late to this excellent video, I know, but please 🙏 may add a little more technical information for anyone who doesn't know... The aperture f-stop increments are all the product of the square root of 2. That is 1.41421356237. The numbers on the aperture ring (if you have one) or in the viewfinder are conveniently rounded. So if you start with the number 1, multiplying by the square root of 2 will give you an f-stop of 1.4, then f2, then f2.8, then f3.2, then f4, then f5.6, f8, f11 etcetera. Knowing this, and what happens to your exposure every time you change the aperture setting, makes it much easier to understand the inverse square law which says... increasing the distance from a light source by 2 (i.e. doubling it) reduces the light intensity on the subject by 4 - that is equal to 2 f-stops. The same is true when you halve the distance - you can close your aperture by 2 f-stops without changing any other setting 1 f--stop either way would be the equivalent of increasing or reducing the distance by 1.4 (in other words the square root of 2). Understanding this can be quite useful in manual mode when moving lights in a studio, or when moving a subject nearer or further from a light source like a window or room light. 😉 Apologies if I've confused anyone. 🙃

[@drotegu6]

Excellent

[@DanFox]

Thanks!

[@livingwithrob]

Subscribed

[@DanFox]

🤘

[@raytreat6599]

Excellent presentation One thing…you might try slowing down your speaking a bit so viewers have time to better absorb what you’re saying. 😊

[@DanFox]

Noted. Glad you found it helpful!