Confused by my camera - help!

[swee'pea99]

Just bought a Sony RX100, largely driven by posts hereabouts, and it's clearly a really lovely bit of kit. Trouble is, it's way cleverer than me, and I'm finding it hard to get to grips with such a bewildering range of options.

I used to be quite a keen photographer back in the day, but more recently I've got lazy and have tended towards just engaging auto & pressing the button. I'd now like to do something a bit more sophisticated (I stress 'a bit'), and actually capitalise on some of this amazing machine's capabilities. Does anyone know of a sort of idiot's guide to digital photography that can give me the top level basics? Things like how to quickly compensate for too much backlight, adjust f numbers to manipulate depth of field, or focus on a small element in the foreground?

At least at this stage I'm really not looking for anything too involved or complex - a 10 min youtube vid would probably be about right. But again, too many options! Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[Cycleops]

I've also got a RX100 and it's a fabulous little camera. You can just set it to automatic and it will do everything for you so I think you just need to look at tips on composition and basic stuff. This is a good video;

View: https://youtu.be/3YWH1ZJwRsE

 

[Seevio]

I believe this was literally what was requested...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Digital-Photography/dp/0028644530

 

[Levo-Lon]

Take a pic ..

 

[fossyant]

Press Auto button, jobs done !

 

[Deleted member 23692]

Plenty here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=stripbooks&field-keywords=Sony+RX100

 

[MontyVeda]

Mine is similar... loads of options but no manual mode. The 'intelligent auto' setting seems to do a good job of switching from portrait to landscape to night-sky or whatever... so i just leave it on that.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

RTFM?

 

[sheddy]

OP may have purchased 2nd hand - without one

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Search for the manual online. The manuals are usually pretty good for cameras.

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks but most of these suggestions aren't quite what I'm after.

I don't need tips on photography as such - I used to be really into it, so I know about f numbers and composition and all that kind of thing. And I certainly don't want to read a manual, much less a book. I was just after something that would offer some basic tips on using a digital, as against a (comparatively speaking very simple) 35mm SLR, in an easy, intuitive format. I was sure such a thing must exist. Maybe it does.

This is something like the kind of thing I had in mind - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk8beQ0VyIA - ie, it doesn't try to cover chapter & verse, cross all the t's & dot all the i's, just offers a simple, easily graspable tip on how & why to use two of the 'top levelest' options available. (In truth I probably only need to access 10% of this machine's functionality to get 98% of its value to me.)

But like I say, thanks - and if you do happen to stumble across a 10 minute digital camera crash course....

 

[classic33]

Any use?

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aDGnzG-Ui6g

 

[Grant Fondo]

I nearly bought the Sony but went with a Canon M3 so i could use it like a DSLR and can use various lenses on it with an adapter. Ok its not that compact and focuses really badly with some lenses - Sigma f1.4 30mm is completely useless - but has all the manual stuff and pics are really good. Never travels with me on the bike which is why the Sony probably trumps it!

 

[Reynard]

Does the camera have a full manual option so you can set f stop, shutter speed and ISO to your liking? Auto modes can be frustrating (I once threw a Pentax compact into a hedge at Brands Hatch, but that's another story...)

To be fair, nothing's better than just going out and having a play. Basic principles are exactly the same as film.

1) The smaller the f-stop, the narrower the depth of field, the bigger the f-stop, the deeper
2) The slower the shutter speed, the more motion blur you will have. fast shutter speed "freezes" the action
3) The bigger the ISO, the more sensitive a camera will be at a given light level
4) The slowest shutter speed you can hand hold a given lens is 1/lens length
5) Fill flash for backlit subjects
6) Use manual mode if the light is consistent
7) In variable light use either Shutter Priority (set a shutter speed and camera will compensate for aperture) or Aperture Priority (set f-stop and camera compensates for shutter speed). Some cameras will have auto ISO which is also kind of useful.

Sorry, I shoot mainly with Canon DSLRs that don't have auto modes.

 

[Reynard]

Also, forgot to add, the shorter the lens length, the greater the depth of field for a given f-stop. For instance, f5.6 on a 20mm lens gives you a big depth of field, while f5.6 on a 400mm will blur out the background.