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I see value in this. I have seen many people frustrated because their camera's automatic functions did not produce the image they wanted, and they have no idea

by japhyr 14y ago

I see value in this. I have seen many people frustrated because their camera's automatic functions did not produce the image they wanted, and they have no idea how to change the settings to get a better image. It almost always boils down to an understanding between shutter speed, aperture, and simple settings such as exposure compensation. For these people, this kind of simulator could be really helpful. It might be a little better if there was more explanatory text after you press the shutter. For example, I saw "overexposed" once; maybe that message could be more along the lines of "Your image is overexposed. Try decreasing your aperture, decreasing your shutterspeed, or adjusting exposure compensation."

Splines 14y ago
It seems like there's a balance between the different settings on a camera that can't really be captured well with independent sliders. I imagine a control that indicates the trade-offs (and when they're ok) as you tweak it would educate users in a better way than experimentation. Stay "inside the envelope" and your picture is probably ok. You can get outside it if you know what you're doing.
- adavies42 14y ago
  i saw a suggestion a few years ago for a mode that would just let you set depth of field directly, picking an aperture and shutter (and possibly iso and comp too) appropriately given the lighting. after all, what most people want most of the time is either a narrow depth to isolate a subject with bokeh or a wide depth to show something in context.
  - Arelius 14y ago
    Isn't that basically what Aperture Priority mode does?
    - japhyr 14y ago
      Yes, for people who understand how aperture relates to depth of field. But there seem to be a good number of people who understand what depth of field is, without understanding how to control for it using aperture.
      - Tloewald 14y ago
        Depth of field is controlled by aperture, focal length, and distance to subject. The degree to which the subject is actually isolated from the background is also very important. This simulator manages to bury one aspect of this information and ignore the rest. All else being equal, to increase subject isolation: * Get closer to the subject * Increase focal length ("zoom in") * Increase aperture operning (smaller aperture number) * Increase separation between subject and background Each of these things is equally important. (But all else is not equal, so if you're determined to stand in one spot and not change your composition, just increasing aperture size is your only option.)
        Arelius 14y ago
        Yes, this is indeed the case! I shoot with a prime, so the ability to change the focal length doesn't really come to me. But I think it's very important that you brought up specifically the fact that the distance spatially between the camera, the subject, and the background are very important!
JonArnold 14y ago
japhyr, the paid iOS and desktop versions of this have much more descriptive feedback (what to fix, etc)

by japhyr 14y ago

Splines 14y ago

It seems like there's a balance between the different settings on a camera that can't really be captured well with independent sliders. I imagine a control that indicates the trade-offs (and when they're ok) as you tweak it would educate users in a better way than experimentation. Stay "inside the envelope" and your picture is probably ok. You can get outside it if you know what you're doing.

adavies42 14y ago
i saw a suggestion a few years ago for a mode that would just let you set depth of field directly, picking an aperture and shutter (and possibly iso and comp too) appropriately given the lighting. after all, what most people want most of the time is either a narrow depth to isolate a subject with bokeh or a wide depth to show something in context.
- Arelius 14y ago
  Isn't that basically what Aperture Priority mode does?
  - japhyr 14y ago
    Yes, for people who understand how aperture relates to depth of field. But there seem to be a good number of people who understand what depth of field is, without understanding how to control for it using aperture.
    - Tloewald 14y ago
      Depth of field is controlled by aperture, focal length, and distance to subject. The degree to which the subject is actually isolated from the background is also very important. This simulator manages to bury one aspect of this information and ignore the rest. All else being equal, to increase subject isolation: * Get closer to the subject * Increase focal length ("zoom in") * Increase aperture operning (smaller aperture number) * Increase separation between subject and background Each of these things is equally important. (But all else is not equal, so if you're determined to stand in one spot and not change your composition, just increasing aperture size is your only option.)
      - Arelius 14y ago
        Yes, this is indeed the case! I shoot with a prime, so the ability to change the focal length doesn't really come to me. But I think it's very important that you brought up specifically the fact that the distance spatially between the camera, the subject, and the background are very important!

JonArnold 14y ago

japhyr, the paid iOS and desktop versions of this have much more descriptive feedback (what to fix, etc)