DSLR Basics Flashcards
What is Aperture?
The mechanism on a camera that controls the amount of light that comes into the camera.
- The openness of aperture is measured using (F-STOP).
- This is one of the most effective ways to just the exposure in the camera.
What is F-STOP?
The measures the openness of aperture.
-F= Fraction. (Of Focal Length)
(Example): F/4= 1/4 the size of the lens. (Focal Length/4)
- 100mm lens @ F/4= 25mm (100/4)
- 100mm lens @ F/8= 12.5mm (100/8)
What are the 3 DSLR Cinematography Fundamentals?
- Aperture
- Shutter Speed
- ISO
- Each of these work together to achieve proper exposure and/or brightness level.
- Learning to balance these 3 attributes is where you become an artist using the DSLR.
What is Focal Length?
-lenses lengths less than 50 mm are referred to as WIDE-ANGLE Lenses.
(Due to their Wider angle of View)
-lenses was focal lengths greater than 50 mm are known as TELEPHOTO Lenses.
(Telephoto lens offer greater magnification thanks to their much narrow angle of view)
What is shutter-speed?
Digitally determines how much light is allowed into each frame.
- DSLR’s measure shutter speed in units of Time. (Fractions of a second)
- For videography, frame rate determines shutter speed. Shutter speed should be double the frames per second (FPS).
- So, 24fps= 1/48th Shutter
What is ISO?
A numerical scale that refers to a cameras Sensitivity to Light.
- Based on the Exposure Index, which rates Film Stock using a numerical value.
- Lowering the ISO makes the camera less sensitive to light.
- Raising the ISO makes the camera more sensitive to light and may add “Noise” to the Image.
- Native ISO is best for most productions
Aperture trade-offs:
- Great way to adjust the exposure because it’s optical, not electronic (shutter speed or ISO)
- optical= using the lens
- opening the aperture causes the depth of field to decrease/plain of focus becomes more narrow.
- all lenses create the sharpest images when the aperture is at least two stops down from wide-open.
Shutter speed trade-offs:
- effects the ‘Motion Blur’ when adjusted.
- speeding up shutter speed would decrease motion and make action more crisp.
- slowing down would allow more light and more blur to action.
- helps boost intensity during action sequences. And shooting hand held will boost this effect.
- Not the best way to adjust exposure.
ISO trade offs:
- increasing ISO increases noise in image.
- Best to avoid noise when shooting.
- Raising also results in color saturation. (Almost impossible to fix in post production)
- NATIVE ISO is best choice for most productions.
DSLR sensor size:
- the larger sensors allow for low light shooting.
- also helps create a shallow depth of field.
Native ISO:
- Camera’s ISO sweet spot.
- Canon cameras ISO are set in multiples of 160. Meaning a setting of 320 is probably getting to have less noise than 200.
White Balancing:
The process by which the camera interprets Pure White when filming.
- Custom white-balancing for each new shot is important.
- placing gray card in Dominate source of light, center framing it and taking a reference photo.
- choose the reference image in the custom white balance section and the DSLR will calibrate itself.
- Never use auto- white balance.
Finding Focus:
- Find focus for each new shot.
- In movie mode, place the white rectangle into the area I want focused.
- Then press the Magnify button twice for 10x magnification.
- Spin the focus till image is perfect, mark the Follow Focus if needed and press the Magnify button once more to return to the normal shot.
- Never use auto focus.
- Manuel focus allows us to find very good SLR lenses at cheaper prices.
Prime Lenses:
A lens of fixed focal length.
- Sharper images
- Faster, allowing for more open aperture.
- Represent colors and contours Better
- Less Vignetting
Zoom Lenses:
Allows for the adjustment of focal length.
