Questions for Dummies.

[Pedaldog.]

I'm probably going to be the only person posting in here, but I have quite a few Simple questions. Mainly things that I've forgotten, over the years away from any sort of photography.
Anybody is welcome to answer, or post their own questions.

[Pedaldog.]

Film Photography and "Exposure Compensation" setting.
+2, +1, =, -1, -2 etc.
Does the Plus mean More Exposure, or a Faster shutter speed/Higher F-stop?

[rogerzilla]

+ means more exposure (lighter)

[Pedaldog.]

I thought it was that way. What about in "Auto Mode", does it choose aperture or shutter priority, assuming you don't tell it your preferences in order to get a Quick shot?

[hubner]

Auto, aperture and shutter priority are 3 different automatic exposure modes.

Auto; the camera sets both shutter speed and aperture.
Aperture priority; you set the aperture, camera sets shutter speed.
Shutter priority; you set the shutter speed, camera sets aperture.

[Pedaldog.]

@Hubner.

I'm thinking more on the lines of Spotting a shot, but wanting it to be a shorter depth of field and a faster shutter, than the Auto wants. Can you set Auto to use one or the other for fast action but close subject focus?
Example. Fast moving roller skater at 12 feet away to be in focus, a bright, wide open backdrop scenery. you want the skater's speed frozen and the background to be out of focus. Need a fast shutter speed and a wide aperture, but the Auto' is reading the light from the landscape behind, so it compensates to the bright sunshine in the background and wants the scenery in focus.
Am I making sense?

[Lightning Phil]

The light reading is used to set the exposure not what is in focus.  The SLR will have a focus grid which can be changed.   Set it to shutter priority , set the speed, and take a shot. If it’s focusing on the wrong thing then change the focus grid to just cover centre of view / wherever you intend to have the skater.   If it’s a fast shutter speed you’ll have a wide aperture and therefore shallower depth of field anyway. If light is really bright then reduce the iso to reduce the depth of field.

[rogerzilla]

The meaning of Auto depends on the camera.  A Minolta X-300 in Auto is aperture-priority and generally, Auto does mean aperture-priority only.  The usual term for the camera choosing both aperture and shutter speed is Program (sic), because there are many possible combinations to achieve the same EV, and therefore the camera needs an internal programme to decide what to do.   You may have different programmes to prioritise speed or DOF, such as Sport or Landscape.

[Pickled Onion]

The meaning of Auto depends on the camera.

I think you're going to have to tell us what camera you've got Steve.

My camera has auto aperture, auto shutter speed *and* auto ISO. Each one can be manual, eg if I turn the aperture ring away from the "A", the shutter and ISO are auto, with the ISO pushing itself up as soon as the shutter speed gets too low. There's also an exposure meter in the viewfinder in case everything is on manual.

@Hubner.

I'm thinking more on the lines of Spotting a shot, but wanting it to be a shorter depth of field and a faster shutter, than the Auto wants. Can you set Auto to use one or the other for fast action but close subject focus?
Example. Fast moving roller skater at 12 feet away to be in focus, a bright, wide open backdrop scenery. you want the skater's speed frozen and the background to be out of focus. Need a fast shutter speed and a wide aperture, but the Auto' is reading the light from the landscape behind, so it compensates to the bright sunshine in the background and wants the scenery in focus.
Am I making sense?

Most modern cameras will spot meter weighted on the spots its chosen to focus on. There are various modes. You *may* have selected a focus mode that's not picking the skater out (in which case your picture will fail if it focuses on the background), or it may just not be coping with the scene. Assuming you've set the aperture manually, you can "fix" the exposure (shutter speed) by pointing the camera down a bit an half-pressing the shutter release. Then compose the shot and press the rest of the way down. This assumes your camera has a continuous focus mode (otherwise the focus will be frozen too). If not you'll need to manually focus. Or manually set the shutter speed. Or use the exposure compensation. So many options.

[Pedaldog.]

What camera...   I have a MFT of older, mainly 80's, SLR, Rangefinder and so on.
One that I'm playing with just now is a 110 SLR, the Minolta one that you can manually set the aperture.
Another 110 is the Pentax SLR110. On that I just set focus. I don't think the meter on that is clever enough to link the focus to a Spot point. I do the "Point at the setting you want, 1/2 press the shutter and then realign to the Actual Shot you want to take".
I really am relearning from Scratch. I do prefer Fully Manual with a light meter that is a guide, rather than linked.
Since 1996, I can't even remember important "Survival Skills", how to mix batter for a Yorkshire pud', and things like that.

[LEE]

What camera...   I have a MFT of older, mainly 80's, SLR, Rangefinder and so on.
One that I'm playing with just now is a 110 SLR, the Minolta one that you can manually set the aperture.
Another 110 is the Pentax SLR110. On that I just set focus. I don't think the meter on that is clever enough to link the focus to a Spot point. I do the "Point at the setting you want, 1/2 press the shutter and then realign to the Actual Shot you want to take".
I really am relearning from Scratch. I do prefer Fully Manual with a light meter that is a guide, rather than linked.
Since 1996, I can't even remember important "Survival Skills", how to mix batter for a Yorkshire pud', and things like that.

You're fighting a losing battle for quality using 110 film, even using the Pentax (which I had) and the Minolta (which I never had).  It was a truly awful format, just too small (amongst other failings)
I have literally never seen a high quality print from a 110 camera.  I'm happy to be proved wrong on this though.
I'd class them as "fun to own" classics of their time.

As part of our local photo club, here in SW France, we're running a roll or two through a Pentax ME Super (my old camera).
It gives newer photographers a chance to see what Grandad used to take photos with and, in my opinion, why modern digital cameras are the best thing since sliced bread.

My latest camera lets me relive all the things I loved about classic 1950s 35mm rangefinder cameras.  It has an optical viewfinder (If you want), manual dials for aperture, Shutter Speed, Exposure compensation (and ISO ... not that 35mm film allowed you to switch effortlessly between iso160 and 12800).  It lets you select classic film simulations (Such as Kodachrome25, Ilford Pan F ... and lots of others). It has a fixed 35mm equiv focal length (a very common, general purpose, focal length on those 1950-60s cameras)

It's a Fujifilm X100V.  I'd recommend any of the Fuji X100 series to anyone wanting to learn about the art of photography, more so than any similar form factor film camera.

My "Street" setup has the rear LCD turned off completely, the Optical viewfinder on, and usually a Film recipe based on the Fuji ACROS Black and White film of yesteryear.  It's a lovely way to take photos.  You get to see your photos later which frees you up to just walk around snapping images.
For extra retro-fun you can use manual focus (Zone focus around 3m-10m) which makes for instant, silent, snapping)

In many ways it's a poor-man's Leica (though not that poor of a man). I would happily sell any film cameras to own one ... luckily I didn't need to.

Basically it's everything you want in a traditional film camera... in a high-tech digital body.

[MikeFromLFE]

The other issue with 110 film format today is the spectacularly bad / variable quality of new film stock.
The most easily available is Lomography Tiger which when it's good is..... OK, but previous batches have even had pinholes in the backing paper.
There's also a number of sellers of expired film (not always advertised as such) which is seriously carp.

As much as I enjoy playing with strange film formats I've given up completely on 110.

[hubner]

It's a Fujifilm X100V.  I'd recommend any of the Fuji X100 series to anyone wanting to learn about the art of photography, more so than any similar form factor film camera.

My "Street" setup has the rear LCD turned off completely, the Optical viewfinder on, and usually a Film recipe based on the Fuji ACROS Black and White film of yesteryear.  It's a lovely way to take photos.  You get to see your photos later which frees you up to just walk around snapping images.
For extra retro-fun you can use manual focus (Zone focus around 3m-10m) which makes for instant, silent, snapping)

How do you manual focus using the optical viewfinder? I had thought there's a rangefinder but I was mistaken.

[Pedaldog.]

My 110 thing is simply 'cos I like the cameras. I don't expect quality, just fun. i'll be taking the 35mm stuff out on occasion too.

[MikeFromLFE]

My 110 thing is simply 'cos I like the cameras. I don't expect quality, just fun. i'll be taking the 35mm stuff out on occasion too.

For fun, for cameras I like, but not expecting quality - my favourite waste of money are Rapid /SL cartridge cameras. If they're half-frame as well, so much the better!
Or just 35mm half-frame!

[LEE]

It's a Fujifilm X100V.  I'd recommend any of the Fuji X100 series to anyone wanting to learn about the art of photography, more so than any similar form factor film camera.

My "Street" setup has the rear LCD turned off completely, the Optical viewfinder on, and usually a Film recipe based on the Fuji ACROS Black and White film of yesteryear.  It's a lovely way to take photos.  You get to see your photos later which frees you up to just walk around snapping images.
For extra retro-fun you can use manual focus (Zone focus around 3m-10m) which makes for instant, silent, snapping)

How do you manual focus using the optical viewfinder? I had thought there's a rangefinder but I was mistaken.

The optical viewfinder shows a distance scale, with a depth of field bar under it.
It's very clever because the DoF bar changes in length, according to aperture and/or focus distance.
You can also use back-button focusing (I do), even in manual focus mode, to quickly set a distance (for example: Focus on something 3 meters away at f8, and it's likely that the DoF bar will cover 2m-10m, ideal "Street" setup. Once you set it, you can turn off the overlays, for a clean optical viewfinder.
Or ...you can quickly change the viewfinder, from optical, to electronic, and use focus peaking as a rangefinder.
I'm telling you...it's a box of tricks.

[Pickled Onion]

I'm surprised you can even get 110 film even of dubious quality. It was invented mainly for people people who couldn't handle loading a film, and soon after that self-loading/unloading 35 mm instamatics were invented and it was obsolete.

And +1 to everything LEE says about the X100n cameras. They are superb. Everything is adjustable, with proper dials, just like using an old-school camera, but also very good automatic modes for when you don't want to bother. The B/W settings are stunningly close to real film, and don't look like a colour photo you've taken the colour out of.

Not only that but it simultaneously looks like a £5000 Leica to anyone who knows a bit about cameras, and looks like a cheap obsolete Russian film camera off the flea market to anyone who might steal it. Much more acceptable for street photography than a DSLR with a massive lens, or walking round holding your phone in front of you.

[Jaded]

See also the sadly discontinued Pen F, lovely.