An updated version of an earlier post :

~ FOCUS --- how to get a sharp picture.

There are 2 focus modes:
- Manual focus (MF) - user decides what is sharp in the frame
- Auto focus (AF) - camera decides what is sharp

There are 3 AF modes, controlled by the button on the lens (5700):
- Normal - camera AF between 50 cm => infinity
- Infinity - camera AF between 5 meter => infinity
- Macro - camera AF between 3 cm => infinity

There are 3 modes to control were in the frame the camera will try to AF:
AF Area Mode:
- Auto - camera initially tries to AF in the 5 brackets
- Manual - user decides in which of 5 brackets camera will try to AF
- Off - camera initially tries to AF somewhere in the center of the frame
Only in Manual the camera will focus exclusively in the selected bracket. In Auto and Off the camera can focus in almost the entire frame, given enough contrast.

~ METERING --- how to measure the amount of light for the photo

There are 4 ways to measure the amount of light reaching the CCD:
- Matrix
- Spot
- Center Weighted
- Spot AF Area

All these 4 settings only decide WHERE in the frame the camera will measure the amount of light. For details see a Nikon manual. Spot AF area seems to confuse people. It simply means that the camera will measure light in the same bracket in which it is trying to Autofocus.

~ E(XPOSURE) V(ALUE) --- how to control the amount of light (EV) that will reach the CCD by setting aperture/shutterspeed

There are 4 ways to control EV:
- P(rogrammed auto) mode : camera sets ap/sh.sp
- A(perture priority auto) mode : user sets ap, camera sh.sp
- S(hutter priority auto) mode : user sets sh.sp, camera ap
- M(anual) mode : user sets ap/sh.sp


In the auto modes the camera uses the result of the metering proces to set aperture and/or shutterspeed (depending on the mode).

In Manual mode the camera uses this result to give an indication on the bottom of the screen of the metering value.
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ISO setting does not change the exposure, but changes the sensitivity of the CCD.
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EV compensation changes aperture and/or shutterspeed to under- or overexpose in relation to the camera selected EV
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This could be of some help to get a grip on how these settings work together in the Coolpix cameras.
Comments and additions welcome.

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Success

Ben

N i k o n 5 7 0 0 - S u n p a k P Z 5 0 0 0 A F

http://wouters-ba.ath.cx