by: Jakob Jelling
The digital camera being a fantastic and
technologically advanced device contains many different
applications of its own. Many users of this fabulous device are
unaware of quite a few of these functions which can actually do
wonders. And it is the duty and right of every person possessing
the digital camera to intervene into the depths of knowledge to
understand their prized possession and their varying qualities
in order to foster the true respect that this device deserves.
This article deals with providing information regarding one
those qualities - Auto focus and auto exposure!
Exploring the information in slight more
details it can be stated that auto exposure cameras are provided
with a fixed focus lens or manual focus lens. These cameras are
the simplest to set exposure. To obtain the correct exposure for
a particular subject of photography, the only thing that needs
to be done is to simply lock the exposure by pressing the
shutter down halfway on the digital cameras upon a reference
object that is about one fifth gray and also illuminated by the
aid of the same source of light as subject of photography. After
locking the exposure, the photographer has to recompose the
frame and shoot the picture. Auto exposure and auto focus
cameras are to some degree harder for setting the exposure,
because they contain the exposure lock that is generally tied to
focus-lock. However, the users or photographers using these auto
exposure and auto focus cameras can still make adjustments for
the correct exposure and correct focus using the digital cameras
and make the photographs perfect! Again, the exposure can be
adjusted by locking on an 18% reference that is illuminated by
the aid of the same source of light as subject of photography.
The users have to only ensure that the distance to this
so-called reference is the same as the distance to the subject
of photography that actually sets the focus.
Now discussing the auto focus and auto
exposure lock (AE/AF) a bit more in detail. The shutter release
button on a digital camera has more function than just snap a
cool picture. The users have to grab a technique where he or she
has to depress this shutter release button half way down thereby
locking both the auto exposure and auto focus. This enables the
users or photographers to have more control on exposure in
difficult lighting situations while using the digital camera.
Moreover, this entire process also helps him or her to determine
where the camera focuses. Like if the photographer intends to
set the exposure before composing the final shot of the
photograph then he or she can move the digital camera slightly
so that only the subject to be photographed is visible
prominently in the auto focus frame in the viewfinder. As a next
step he or she can depress the shutter-release button down half
way to set focus and exposure and then recompose the picture and
finally completely depress the button in order to capture and
freeze the moment of time! It is to be noted here that the auto
focus and auto exposure lock (AE/AF) is available in all
photography modes of the digital cameras that are nowadays
available for the general people.
Not much remains to be discussed about this
particular topic of auto focus/auto exposure and a brief
discussion as above is enough to reveal a bounty of information
regarding this fantastic feature of the digital cameras. At the
end of this discussion it can be expected that both the novice
and expert photographers and user of the digital camera would
benefit from whatever has been revealed and the effort to bring
out the human mind from the dark oblivion about auto focus and
auto exposure lock would be a success in the magic light of the
digital camera! |