My finepix HS20

[[Lyngreen]]

Hi there

Would anyone know where I can find a tutorial on how to use my new finepix Hs20?

[[Geoff Slocock]]

Many of us have had experience of similar cameras and have experience too of how the controls differ from camera to camera.

Frank has a similar camera to yours. I have had similar ones, too. Colin is very experienced with them; Pat has one, also.

Fuji manuals may have improved in recent years; but the ones that I learnt with were terse and strangely Japanese-ified... the sentence structure is not always what we seem to expect. Fuji top of range cameras can be excruciatingly technical, too.

The best thing to do is make sure you have everything on automatic settings and then start exploring and twiddling and and so forth. If you come across technical terms (and you will), we will do our best to explain.

How does that sound?

Just don't be afraid to ask!

---

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfnv9pRUJrU

Also google how to use hs20

And you can quote stuff from videos and stuff and ask us questions, too.

[[Lyngreen]]

That sounds great thanks Geoff x

[[Geoff Slocock]]

Also while you were posting, I added a video and things.

Watching videos can be really great when you've got a new camera.

A lot of this early stage is just about building confidence, too.

That level of Fuji camera is also somewhat more technical than a dslr. I won't explain too much about what I mean. But folk who move onto a dslr often find things suddenly easier.

[[Lyngreen]]

Do you think I've taken on a monster, I really want to learn about 1. Lighting 2. Appetures 3. Focus etc, where can I view the videos cos I'm using my iPhone at the moment as my computer is temperamental where the internet is concerned.

Lyn

[[Geoff Slocock]]

Yes and No! But there are simple exercises that you can start with and build up.

1. Lighting. Some subjects need shadows more than others to bring out your subject to good effect.

2. Learning about apertures is very much about bringing on depth of field, when you want it. But again when you get experience with different types of shot, you will be able to judge when you want a marked depth of field or not.

3. Manual focussing exercises, but not too many, because there are dodges you can use when you are photographing. Yu have a rotatable barrel for focussing, but is still tricky.

Whatever you do, don't try to master one area and then go onto the next. Photography is really about pulling all of the different aspects together, simultaneously. It is a craft subject and the finished result is the end product of absolutely everything that is relevant.

Here's an exercise that will test most of these. Put a ruler on table and photograph it at an angle. You can experiment with Depth of Field by adjusting the aperture and the narrowness of the band of what is in focus will vary. For this one you can use automatic focus and Aperture Priority (which lets you adjust Aperture), the shutter speed will slide up down automatically.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture_priority

[[Geoff Slocock]]

http://photo-dictionary.com/photofiles/l...5ruler.jpg

Have a look at this demo of sharp depth of field.