Basic question :)

mattypayne

Hello, I'm new to photography. and I'm getting to grips with not using the auto button. I'm a member of other Nikon D3200 groups, and often members post their photos with these settings:
D3200
Tamron 70-300mm
ISO 640
1/4000

To enter these settings would I use M?

Many thanks,
Matty

bruto

Not necessarily. You have control over many settings in any of the P, S, A and M modes, so it depends on what you need to control, and how you prefer to do it.

In any of those modes, you can control ISO if you switch to manual ISO, but you won't get ISO 640 from any. The steps are wider. If you see a value that is not among those you can set, it results from Auto ISO.

In Aperture priority mode, you set the lens aperture while the camera sets the shutter speed, and in Shutter priority, you set the shutter speed and the camera sets the aperture. In P mode, the camera sets both, thus being largely automatic, but you retain control over ISO, focus modes, and such.

If you are wanting greater control over the camera, but hesitant to take over completely, P mode is a good place to start, as you still have "point and shoot" metering provided by the camera, but can choose auto focus mode, ISO, and flash.

Every digital photo you take includes the setting information. To access it, you can use a post processing program that reads "EXIF" info, or read it on the camera. If you go to the playback menu, you will find an entry for Playback Display Options. The "overview" option will give you the basic setting info.

If you want absolutely to duplicate a shutter speed and aperture you see in another picture, you will have to use M mode, but unless the light is just the same, Auto ISO will change the ISO (if it can), or, if you use manual ISO, the exposure may be off. Since light varies greatly, it's always a good idea to take someone else's settings as a starting point, and fine tune them according to what your meter recommends.