"I went from point and shoot - I know that the higher the shutter speed the more light and I now know that the SV setting allows me to set it so that it captures more light??"
----- Jo, it's just the opposite: Higher shutter speed means the shutter is open for a shorter period, letting in less light--e.g., 1/500 is conventionally described as a "higher" shutter speed than 1/250. The shutter at 1/500 is open half as long as at 1/250, so it allows in half the light. Here's some things you can do: 1. Just play with the camera. The beauty of digital is that, once you buy the camera, taking pictures is free and the feedback is immediate. So get to know the camera by experimenting and becoming comfortable with it. 2. Consider buying a book on the basics of photography, or enrolling in a photography course to learn the basics. 3. Sign up for a free web site on which you can post your photos. Then you can provide us with a link so we can see what you don't like. And of course you can ask more questions here. Sometimes a few people will give you straight answers. And some of us understand that the manual is not clear in all parts. If you are photographing moving puppies, consider changing the autofocus to only the center point (use the dial on the back of the camera), then learn the technique called "focus and recompose." That one is described pretty well in the manual. Basically, you focus on the point of interest, then recompose. While recomposing you hold the shutter halfway down to hold the focus point. Otherwise the automatic multi-point autofocus will pick the closest object it can focus on, which may not be what you have in mind. When photographing animals or doing portraits of people you want the eyes to be in sharp focus. Good luck, Joe -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
