So you've just bought a DSLR or you're planning to buy one but you don't really know how to use it. Well obviously the different options in a DSLR can be a little overwhelming. Well don't worry we have you covered.
Hey guys, this is Rupesh from bbomb.com and in this video I will show you how you can get started with a DSLR and how you can take that perfect picture. So let's get started. First let's talk about the basics of a DSLR. A DSLR or digital SLR camera captures pictures, that's obvious.
But technically it's the image sensor that captures light and gives us that photo. And a good picture is captured with the perfect blend of the three most important settings, the shutter speed, aperture and ISO. All three of them are responsible for one thing only and that is capturing light. But they all do it in different ways.
Before we get started, many people also have doubts regarding the interface on a DSLR. However, we aren't talking about it in detail because every camera manufacturer offers its very own interface. in the DSLR models.
Don't worry though, once you start using a DSLR, you will get used to the interface in no time. And what's more important is learning the technicalities of shutter speed, aperture and ISO. In this video, we are using the Canon 70D to showcase the different options in a DSLR.
Let's start with shutter speed. Now a shutter is sort of a curtain that resides right in front of the image sensor. It opens up only when you click a picture and allows the light to hit the sensor.
The shutter speed is something that we can control. This means that we can tweak the settings to make the shutter open for a specific amount of time. Now this is important. If the shutter remains open for a longer duration, more amount of light can enter and hit the sensor, hence forming a brighter image. And if the shutter shutter remains open for a shorter duration, less amount of light will be able to hit the sensor thereby forming a darker image.
The shutter speed is usually shown in a fraction like 1 by 30 or 1 by 50 which signifies the time that the shutter will be open for a longer open for. So 1 by 50 means that the shutter will be open for 1 50th of a second. Now if I click a picture with the shutter speed set to 1 by 160, you can see that the shutter opens just for 1 60th of a second and closes back again letting in less light.
Whereas if I click a picture with the shutter speed set to 1 by 4, the shutter remains open for a longer duration letting in more light. Similarly, we can even set the shutter speed to 2 seconds, which would expose the sensor to light for 2 full seconds and make the image super bright. Now this is helpful in scenarios when it's really dark outside and you need to capture a good photo.
But it has its side effects too. For instance, you might have heard people say that images taken at night are a bit blurry or unclear. Well, that happens due to hand movements when the shutter is open for a longer duration of time.
time. Keeping the shutter or curtain open for a longer duration means that if there is movement, the image sensor will capture that as well. For instance, now I have a shutter speed of about 2.5 seconds.
I click a picture and move my subject in that very same second for which the shutter was open. The result is a blurry image. Actually this phenomenon is known as motion blur, which happens due to any change in the position of the subject while the shutter is open.
On a DSLR, I'd recommend you to try out TV mode, where you can set the shutter speed and the camera automatically adjusts the aperture value. Do make sure that the ISO is set to auto. We'll jump to that part soon. Setting a low shutter speed can also help you click pictures like these. The sensor captures the moving light while all the other things in the image remain at same position.
You can also adjust the shutter speed by clicking the shutter button. Make sure to use a tripod though as even small hand movements might ruin the shot. A fast or high shutter speed can capture images such as these where your object is moving and you obviously can't wait for it to freeze.
Well, let's dive into aperture now. The aperture or f-stop value is the amount of light that enters the camera sensor. Wait, wasn't that what shutter speed was?
Well, don't get confused. Aperture is an opening hole or a gap that sits inside a lens. Think of it as an opening and closing circular door. Unlike the shutter, the opening and closing of this door is variable. Bigger the gap, more the amount of light that passes through the lens, obviously.
The aperture value is shown with an F character. Higher the number, the smaller will be the gap. Now this is really important because this is what confused me the most in my early days. A higher aperture value means a lower f-stop number and vice versa. This is because it's a fraction.
It is confusing at first but trust me you'll get used to it. Let's put the camera to AV mode, where you can toggle the aperture value and let the camera decide the shutter speed and ISO settings. Keeping the aperture value at 1.8 will let in more light as circular gap is open to the maximum value that the lens supports. Likewise, if we set the aperture value to 10, the circular gap will be smaller hence letting in limited amount of light.
Now here's everyone's favourite part, the background blur effect or the bokeh effect. This property of a lens is due to the aperture value and is technically known as depth of field. The aperture value determines the focus point or the range within which everything will be in focus.
Here's what I am talking about. Setting a high aperture value would only focus the middle object and blur the foreground as well as the background, creating a shallow depth of field. This helps in those close up shots or portrait shots.
where you want the viewer's attention at one particular point. Whereas a lower aperture value would take a lot of the area in focus, creating the foreground as well as the background sharp. This helps in a lot of landscape photos, where you want the viewer to admire all the scenic beauty in a single picture. Do note that since the aperture is responsible for letting in variable amount of light, it also accounts for the sharpness of a photo or video.
A higher aperture value would let in more light but also create less sharp images as it is capturing almost everything around. Whereas a lower aperture value would let in a specific amount of light and keep everything decently sharp. It's all about finding that sweet spot.
Moving on to the ISO settings. The ISO determines the sensitivity of the light sensor to light. Obviously you can fiddle around with the same.
Higher the ISO value, more sensitive the image sensor and as a result brighter the image will be. Lower the ISO value makes the image sensor less sensitive to light and hence darker the image. However, the side effect of higher ISO is more grain or noise.
And while lower ISO decreases the noise, it results in more darker shots. Higher ISO value does help in taking a brighter image in low light, but also increases the image noise by a lot. over or under exposed image. Obviously you can play around with each of these settings.
I am sure you are a fan of the bokeh effect already, which is an effect of the aperture. Even the motion blur is a great technique to capture those amazing photographs. I recommend you to always carry your camera along with you to get used to those over exposed shots in the start, as it does take time to change settings over and over again. Well, that's how you use a DSLR and the different options that come with it.
Sure, you might not get the hang of it quickly, but the more you use it, the better you get. If you have any questions, do drop us a line in the comment section below. Give this video a thumbs up if you liked it. Subscribe to our channel for more awesome tech videos.
Well, that's me signing off. Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one.