[baristababe]

Its an older camera, not one of the fancy digital ones. 35mm Pentax SLR. I opened the manual eager to learn:D, but I was so confused:eek:. I'm used to the simple point and shoot cameras, and I don't know what all these numbers are, or half of the terms they used:confused:. If someone could give me some definitions in english I'd greatly appreciate it, or perhaps lead me to a comprehensible site.

[jcdill]

It sounds like you need some basic instruction in photography. The BEST way to do this is to take a class. Check to see if there are photography courses taught at a nearby community college.

Second, you could use a book on basic photography. I'm afraid I don't have any recommendations as the only books I know for film photography are not "basic" instruction books. They are excellent books but you may be just as confused with those books as with your camera manual. They are The Camera, The Negative, and The Print - by Ansel Adams.

For now, here is a brief description of the 3 most important terms you need to know:

ASA or ISO - this is the film speed. You need to set the film speed setting in your camera (or light meter, if the camera doesn't have a built-in light meter) to match the number on the film. ISO 100 (or lower) is used for landscape and portrait photography. ISO 200 is a "general purpose" film speed. ISO 400 and higher is used for low light or sports. The higher the ISO the lower the image quality due to "increased grain" in the film.

Shutter speed. This determines how long the shutter is open. The faster the shutter speed the less motion blur (subject motion or camera motion), but the more light you need to get a good exposure. If you want to use a shutter speed that is slower than the lens length (i.e. a shutter speed slower than 1/50 when using a 50 mm lens) you need to use a tripod to avoid motion blur.

Aperture aka f-stop. This is the size of the opening in the lens. The widest f-stop is the smallest number, the smallest f-stop opening is the largest number (a bit confusing, at first). The more you "stop down" the lens, the less light you let in. However, the more you "stop down" the lens the more of the scene will be in focus, this is called "depth of field".

All of these things affect each other. Getting a good exposure is a juggling act - one rarely has enough light to use a low ISO film speed with a fast shutter and a small aperture. So you have to determine which is most important for the subject. Sometimes you need to use a higher ISO (e.g. shooting sports) so you can get a fast shutter speed and still have an acceptable DoF (Depth of Field). Sometimes you need to use a tripod so you can shoot with a slow shutter (i.e. landscape photography). Sometimes you need to use a flash to increase the amount of light on the subject.

[baristababe]

It sounds like I'd need a book. I wasn't sure if it was something simple or not, but what you gave me were definitely some words that stuck out to me when reading the manual. Thank you

[Another]

It's not really that difficult, but terms and funny numbers used can be confusing.

Basically you need two things for a good technical photo: focus and exposure. The SLR is easy for focus, just look through the viewfinder and turn the ring around the lens to make it sharp.

For proper exposure you need two things after setting the speed of your film when you load (this is the ASA number on the package of film). Then you set the shutter speed and size of lens opening. Basically you choose one and set the other according to a meter that you can see in the viewfinder, usually off to the side.

That's about all you need to get started. Then you can gradually add new things and learn about the numbers and how you can choose lens opening or shutter speed to get special effects or cope with difficult lighting.

But most important, have fun!

(A lot easier with digital, isn't it.)