New Camera

Well, I decided that my old HP Photosmart 215 wasn't going to cut it anymore :(

So I went out and bought the best camera I could for the money, which was the Canon PowerShot A60. I was thinking about the A70, but I won't be printing anything over 8x10, if even that, so this should be fine. So far I am very pleased, I love the manual settings and all the options. I'm not new to photography, but I could use some help on a few things. What is the F#.#? And what exactly does the ISO do? I know it has something to do with light.

Here are a few sample pictures that I took earlier today.

http://www.wrestlingvg.com/uploader/...s/IMG_0195.jpg

http://www.wrestlingvg.com/uploader/...ewatershot.JPG

Is that frozen water coming out of your tap?

Ok, here's some answers. First of all, there's a glossary on this site that you can check any time you have questions like these. It has most photo terms listed although I should probably go through it and see if there are digital terms missing.

Glossary >>

The "f-number" refers to the size of the aperture you're using. The aperture is the hole that light travels through, in the lens, before it reaches the film or sensor. The aperture is one of the two main exposure controls available to you. The other is shutter speed. You can either change the size of the aperture or the shutter speed to control the amount of light that reaches your film or digital sensor. That's what we call exposure. The "f-number" expresses the relative size of your aperture. The larger the number, the smaller the hole. For instance, at f/3.5, your aperture is much larger than it is at f/22. A bigger number means a small hole and less light. Aperture also controls depth-of-field. But that's another lesson...

ISO stands for "International Standards Organization". There are all kinds of ISO ratings for all kinds of things. In photography, ISO refers to the sensitivity of your film, or a sensitivity setting for your digital camera sensor. The larger the number, the more sensitive the film or sensor setting. And the higher the sensitivity, the more noise. With film you choose a film and it has an ISO rating. Digital cameras are more flexible because you can change the ISO setting any time you want. Regardless, ISO refers to the sensitivity of your light-sensitive device, whether that be film or a digital sensor.

Hope that helps. If you've got questions, we've got answers. Stick around and learn!