Page 49 - NyghtVision Boot Camp One Fill Edition
P. 49
So, however counter intuitive what I am about to say is, of 100 would allow very little light in. For most digital
it is one of the most important points we will make in cameras, an F-stop between 8 and 14 produces the best
this book: image quality. This doesn’t mean you should never go
The less sensitive you make your camera to light, the above or below that range. It means that when you do,
better your images will be. you need to be aware of the consequences.
The colors will be richer, the detail more intense, and ISO is the sensor’s sensitivity to light. When you work
the contrast stunning. in automatic or program mode, you allow the camera to
decide which ISO is best. Since the logic of the camera
The first part of the NyghtVision Methodolgy deals with mirrors that of film, it will always use a high ISO and
understanding and managing light. The second part is then adjust shutter speed and F-stop. This often pro-
all about establishing an using a ritual that maximizes duces sub par images.
image quality and emotional impact. Everything you
are about to learn is designed to do just that. Image quality is best when the ISO is between 100 and
200. The lower the ISO, the less sensitive the camera is
Lets talk about each of the three components of a cam- to light.
era - starting with shutter speed. Shutter speed is liter-
ally the speed of the mechanical curtains in the camera
body open and close. There are two curtains - one is
front and the other in the rear. Each make and model The less sensitive to light a
camera has a different range of speeds. Usually, they camera is, the better the qua-
are in the range of 1/1500th of a second to 30 seconds.
lity of the image.
The aperture or F-Stop is the amount of light that en-
ters the camera through the lens. In theory, an F-stop
of Zero would allow all light in unrestricted. An F-stop
Seeing the World Again. For the First Time. 49
