Veritas

This morning I awoke to find that snow had come to our fair city at last. We had a light dusting on the 19th, but it didn't stay on the ground. This time we're expecting up to 15 centimeters, and the temperature is low enought that it should remain for a while.

I turned on the lights on the balcony railing, still in place from last winter.

I'm also playing around with the f/stop setting in my Nikon. The macro mode is the way I would usually take a photo like this. But this time I took the same photo using manual mode. Actually, it's not entirely manual; it's a mode where one can adjust the f/stop (aperture), and the camera will select an appropriate shutter speed (exposure time) for the chosen f/stop, given the existing lighting conditions. I think this was taken at f/10.5.

I just realized that the f/stop is stored in the image file. This one was taken at f/8.0. As you can tell from these images, a larger f/stop (tighter aperture) leads to a narrower depth of field. I had to do some reading online to refresh my understanding of f/stops.

Ahah. This is neat. The exposure mode is listed in the photo too. The mode I used in these photos is called Aperture Priority mode, again because it's the aperture (f/stop) that one selects, letting the camera do the rest. Neat.

I'm taking the time to reaquaint myself with f/stops because I'm planning to purchase a new digital SLR this winter.

I've been looking at the Nikon D200, released just this month. Digital Photography Review has a thorough review of the D200. I just wish there were a reasonably priced digital SLR with a full frame 35mm sensor. Like most DSLR cameras in the $500-$2500 price range, the D200's sensor is only 23mm wide, meaning that it does not capture all of the light coming through a standard lens. Image from dpreview.com.