Am finding it difficult to use the correct settings. someone pl advise

Madhurjya3

Being new to photography, I need some good tips on the D5100. How do I use it? Which settings should be used and when?

khis5184

First, you need to learn how to use the 3 basic things: ISO, Aperture, and Exposure (shutters peed).

When daylight, try to put ISO at 200-400, aperture around f8, and shutter speed around 1/640.

When night time, I usually increase ISO to 800-1600, then aperture f3.5 and shutter speed 1/20. I have steady hands so it helps. If you can't make a clear shot, use a tri pod.

When shooting a moving subject like waves, try this:
1) Maximize the shutter speed to 1/4000
2) Set aperture around f11-16
3) Set ISO around 200-400

I can't really tell you the exact setting since it really depends on the situation. The settings above are just quick suggestions because I use them in certain situations. Try to play with ISO, aperture and exposure (also known as shutter speed). When you finally understand their relation to each other, I'm sure you will make a great shot.

I'm using the D5100 with 18-55mm VR kit lens. That's all I have and it's making good shots.

aaron886

@khis5184, I found your comment very helpful. I am just getting into photography and the inner workings of it and have been tinkering around with my Nikon D5100 for the past four days or so. I've read the manual (and retained as much as I could) and I'm just playing around with it now to get a better feel for things.

I have a general idea of how ISO, aperture and shutter speed affect the exposure but my question is in regards to the settings you have described. The highest ISO I am able to set my Nikon to in M (manual mode) seems to be 250, but you described ISO's as high as 600-1000+.

Am I overlooking something; a setting or maybe a conversion or something? I'm confused now.

GerardH

You're not scrolling down far enough. Use the down arrow of the multi-selector on the back of your camera to scroll into the next ISO screen (there are a total of 5 screens). You should be able to access ISO settings of 100 - 6400, Hi 0.3, Hi 0.7, Hi 1, Hi 2.