FujiFilm FinePix S1 Background a Brief Guide Focusing and Exposure, Focus and Depth of Field

Background: A Brief Guide Focusing and Exposure

Focusing, exposure and exposure metering are key factors in taking photographs. By understanding these aspects of photography, you can achieve a wider range of photographic effects.

■Focus and Depth of Field

When you focus the camera on a point, an area in front of and behind that point is also in focus. This area is referred to as the depth of field and varies depending on factors such as the distance to the subject, the focal length of the lens and the aperture setting. In particular, narrowing the lens aperture (selecting a higher f-stop) increases the distance over which objects are in focus, giving what is referred to as a large depth of field. Conversely, widening the lens aperture (selecting a lower f-stop) decreases the distance over which objects are in focus, giving a shallow depth of field (☞ P.67).

■Exposure

Exposure refers to the process by which light from the subject (the person or object being photographed) passes through the camera lens, hits the film (CCD) and is recorded. During this process, it is important that the sensitivity of the CCD in the camera is matched to the brightness of the subject and that the shutter speed and aperture are adjusted so that the correct amount of light reaches the CCD (correct exposure).

To ensure optimum exposure, the FinePix S1 Pro is provided with a number of exposure modes. These include the AUTO, programmed auto and image program modes, in which the camera sets both the focus and the aperture setting, the shutter-priority auto mode, in which the photographer sets the shutter speed and the camera sets the exposure, the aperture-priority auto mode, in which the photographer sets the exposure and the camera sets the shutter speed, and manual mode, in which the photographer sets both the shutter speed and the aperture setting by referring to the camera’s exposure meter (☞ P.64).

■Exposure Metering

The action of measuring the brightness of the subject (the person or object being photographed) is referred to as exposure metering. Exposure metering is an important source of information for determining the exposure. This information is used to determine the combination of shutter speed and

aperture settings that will allow the optimum amount of light to hit the CCD. 1 Because the distribution of light in the image that includes the subject is not necessarily uniform, the FinePix S1 Pro divides the image into 6 sections and provides 2 types of exposure metering. These are “multi-pattern metering”, in which the optimum exposure is determined using independently measured

light information for each section, and “center-weighted metering”, in which the exposure metering information for the central part of the image is emphasized in determining the optimum exposure.

If a D-type AF Nikkor lens is mounted on the camera, and additional metering mode called “3D 6-zone multi-pattern metering” is available in which distance information is also considered (☞ P.69).

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