Sony DSC-W80/B Sony® Guide to Digital Photography (Spring 2007) - Page 22

Taking your best shot CAMERA CONTROL Note that long shutter speeds exaggerate the effect of camera shake. Clear images require steady hands or some means of camera support, such as a Sony accessory tripod. Camera shake is also exaggerated when you zoom the lens to telephoto. Aperture Priority Auto Exposure An advanced mode for greater creative control. Aperture Priority enables you to select the lens opening or "f number" manually, while the camera automatically selects the appropriate shutter speed. This lets you choose a wide opening (low f number) to blur the background or a narrow opening (high f number) to keep both the subject and the background in sharp focus. AE Lock Enables you to lock in the exposure first, before you frame the shot. Perfect when the subject will be far off-center in the frame. Manual Exposure For total creative control, a wide range of Sony cameras offers Manual Exposure. When you want the ultimate control over your photography, there is no substitute for Manual Exposure mode. Selecting your shutter speed and aperture means exercising sophisticated control over the way you capture motion and the separation between foreground and background. Manual Exposure puts the entire mood and emphasis of each shot into your hands. A narrow aperture (high f number) keeps everything in focus (left) while a wide-open aperture (low f number) tends to blur the background, calling the viewers' attention to the subject. (Sample photos for illustration purposes.) ISO sensitivity adjustment Electronic adjustment for increased sensitivity when you need it. The ability to change ISO sensitivity with a flick of a switch is a big difference between film photography and digital photography. It's like going from low-speed film to highspeed film in an instant. As you select higher ISO sensitivity, you increase the electronic "gain," achieving a brighter image at some sacrifice in picture "noise" or "grain." Because each ISO level is also an EV step, you can creatively trade off ISO settings versus aperture and shutter settings to achieve the effect you want. Auto Bracketing "Exposure insurance" for once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunities. Auto Bracketing takes three consecutive pictures at, above and below the auto exposure level. Depending on camera model, you can adjust the bracketing from +/- 1/3 Exposure Value (EV) to +/- 1 EV. Multi-Pattern Measuring Sony divides the image into 49 points to measure incoming light and intelligently set exposure levels. A crucial factor in any auto exposure system is the method of measuring incoming light. Our Multi-Pattern Measuring examines 49 points across the frame in a seven-byseven grid. In this way, the camera isn't thrown off by a single bright highlight or deep shadow. 49 POINT ANALYSIS Shadow Highlight Our Multi-Pattern Measuring won't get thrown off by a single bright highlight or deep shadow. (Sample photo for illustration purposes.) For additional flexibility, Center-Weighted and Spot metering ensure proper exposure when the subject is far brighter or darker than the background. Auto Bracketing automatically takes shots at, over and under the automatically determined Exposure Value. (Sample photos for illustration purposes.) 40 CAMERA CONTROL Spot metering makes sense in cases like this, when the subject is much brighter than the background. (Sample photo for illustration purposes.) Histogram A quick and easy way to confirm proper exposure; great for getting pictures right the first time. Are you getting the right exposure? Under most situations, just one look at the LCD monitor will reveal the answer. But when difficult viewing conditions make it hard for you to see subtle shading on the LCD monitor, the Sony histogram display has the answers. This LCD monitor display indicates the exact details of your exposure. The histogram is a graph showing how many pixels in the image occur at each light intensity, all the way from full black (at the left) to full white (at the right). In general, you have the correct exposure when the histogram indicates pixels across the full range of light intensity. Dynamic Range Optimizer can help pull detail out of the shadows, especially in difficult backlight conditions. (Sample photos for illustration purposes.) White Balance Get natural-looking colors in every lighting condition, expand your creativity. The brain understands that a white piece of paper is still "white" whether it's seen in sunlight, fluorescent light or incandescent light. But in digital photography, the white paper could end up looking reddish, yellowish or greenish, depending on the main light source. That's why Sony cameras have sophisticated White Balance controls. White Balance establishes the "right" color balance for a wide variety of conditions. You can also adjust white balance to alter color values, for another dimension in photographic creativity. Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO) Why can't a camera capture what the eye sees? Often, the culprit is limited dynamic range. Expose for shadow detail and you end up "blowing out" the highlights. Expose for the highlights and you end up "crushing" the blacks. That's where the Sony Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO) comes in. In selected Cyber-shot cameras, DRO automatically adjusts exposure and contrast to achieve optimal results. Even when there's a huge difference in brightness between your subject and the background (such as family members back-lit by the setting sun), your pictures are beautifully exposed. The a100 Digital SLR offers two distinct modes of DRO. DRO Normal selects from the most appropriate of 400,000 gamma curves to improve shadow detail. DRO Advanced adjusts area-by-area, to maximize detail in both highlight and shadow areas. A BIONZ processor function that delivers better exposure in highlight and shadow areas. Burst mode Catch a rapid sequence of shots, great for sports and unpredictable subjects like kids and pets. INTERPRETING A HISTOGRAM # of Pixels BLACK Brightness WHITE The LCD monitor histogram is a graph of your exposure. This graph shows that while most of the picture is in the deep shadow range, the picture contains the full range of brightness levels. UNDER EXPOSURE CORRECT EXPOSURE OVER EXPOSURE Using the histogram to assist exposure. The underexposed image has no bright values. The overexposed image has no dark values. The correct exposure has a full range of values from black to white. (Sample photos for illustration purposes.) If you can't predict when the perfect shot might occur, Burst mode gives you a range of choices. Burst mode shoots rapidly and repeatedly, with the number of shots depending on image size and memory transfer speed. Also depending on memory transfer speed, the a100 can continue taking pictures at 3 frames per second up to the limit of the memory card. 41