Advice please for a dim beginner!

[Pommier]

I've just bought a new camera. It's a Nikon Coolpix P530 which is a bridge camera. So far, it works great on 'auto' setting, but I'd like to work out how to get a photo that's only focussed on the subject. The camera has got aperture control, but although I set it to the lowest f number which is 3 (it goes to 5.9) I must be doing something wrong because everything seems to be equally in focus.

Can anyone suggest what settings I should use please?

[woolybanana]

Make a cardboard square, put it in front of the lens so that it only sees the bit you want!

[alittlebitfrench]

Your zoom is 24mm-1000mm

You will only have a max aperture of f/3 available from 24mm. When you zoom into your subject your aperture will get smaller to the minimum of F5.9 at 1000mm.

Only a fixed fixed lens or very very very expensive zooms will you have the ability have faster apertures across the whole focal range of the lens.

There is always a trade off in photography. It looks a nice camera mind you.

You need to stand closer to your subject so that you can use a smaller focal length & faster aperture. Try the lens at 50-70mm which is your typical focal length in digital for portrait.

I think I got that right ???

[Pommier]

Thanks for your reply ALBF. I'm only experimenting at the moment, but even though I set the aperture to F3 and didn't zoom, everything seemed equally focused (and I made sure that there were objects close, middle and far. At present I'm finding that there are too many settings and I don't know which to apply!

[alittlebitfrench]

Are you setting the camera to 'A' on the command dial so that you can control the aperture ?

What are you trying to photograph ?

Cameras have loads of functions these days and most are personal, i.e, they are only relevant to the person that needs it. So a lot you can ignore.

What you need to do is to tailor/set up the camera for what you want it to do for you.

[Pommier]

I've set the camera on the 'A' (aperture control) setting, then turned the aperture to F3 , but it doesn't seem to make any difference to the result however the aperture is set. Am I missing something else I ought to be doing?

[DerekJ]

What focus control do you have?  Can you select what object you want to focus on and then lock on that object focus if you recompose the shot?

[Pommier]

As far as I can work out the focus is automatic. I get a green box on the object when it's in focus with the shutter half depressed. I'd have thought I could then move the camera and still keep that thing only in focus, but it seems that everything is in focus whatever I do!

[DerekJ]

I don't know your particular camera but after you have focused on your chosen object by half depressing the shutter do you then have to keep the shutter button half depressed to keep that chosen object in focus as you recompose?

[Pommier]

That,s what the instructions say, but it seems hard to get anything out of focus! I have managed to

get some progress by zooming a bit as then I am getting some in focus and some parts out of focus -don't know why!

[NickP]

Can you override the automatic focus? Focus is all about depth of field, the tighter the lens and the more wide open the aperture, the smaller the depth of field will be, so if you then focus manually you can pick the object you want to be sharp and the background and foreground will be soft.

[Pommier]

I've found how to go to manual focus and I have managed to take photos with parts in or out of focus. The instructions for this camera are on-line and I think I'll be studying them for a long time!

I used to have an SLR camera years ago and I'm sure that was easier - or maybe it's just that I'm older!

[NickP]

[quote user="Pommier"]I've found how to go to manual focus and I have managed to take photos with parts in or out of focus. The instructions for this camera are on-line and I think I'll be studying them for a long time!

I used to have an SLR camera years ago and I'm sure that was easier - or maybe it's just that I'm older![/quote]

Sadly I think your right, manual control was far simpler.  The downside was you didn't know you got it wrong till you'd paid for the prints.[:)]

[Pommier]

Yes, I well remember excitedly going to collect prints and finding they were all rubbish! Worse than that, the photographic shop where we took film for processing used to go through all the prints saying what was wrong with them.

[sid]

The term is "depth of field". When everything seems to be in focus, that's a deep depth of field; when only the subject, a person in a portrait for example, is in focus but the background is blurred, that's a shallow depth of field. The depth is controlled by the aperture, a large aperture (that's a SMALL f-stop number) gives a shallow depth of field, and vice-versa.

Modern cameras usually have a setting for portraits and this setting will normally set the largest aperture and correct shutter speed for the prevailing lighting conditions.

There's lots of info on the internet.

 

[Kong]

It is much harder to create a shallow depth of field with modern digital cameras. Think of 'phones and tablets - they don't have focus controls - they have such a deep depth of field they don't need them. My old 6x6 rollie had an f1.8 lens which could stop down to f32. That gave you easy control over depth of field. With most modern cameras it's difficult to narrow the depth of field.