Olympus E-420 - Manual (Page 31)

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EN
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Shooting guides
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Improving your shooting skills
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Shooting guides k Improving your shooting skills
To familiarize yourself with the camera, you can start off by taking pictures of surrounding
subjects, such as children, flowers and pets. If the pictures taken are not to your liking, try
adjusting some of the settings below. You can take more satisfying pictures simply by
familiarizing yourself with these basic camera functions.
Focus k Operating the shutter button
A picture can become out of focus when the focus in the
picture is on the foreground, background, or other objects in
the picture instead of on the subject. To prevent out-of-
focus pictures, be sure to focus on the subject you are
trying to capture. The shutter button can be pressed
halfway down (half-press) and all the way down (full press).
Once you are able to operate the shutter button effectively,
you can focus accurately even on moving subjects.
g“Shooting” (P. 16), “Focus lock k If correct focus
cannot be obtained” (P. 54)
Even when the subject is in focus, the picture can become
blurred if you move the camera while the shutter button is
being pressed. This is called “camera shake”. Make sure
how to properly hold the camera. The camera is particularly
subject to shaking when using live view to take pictures while viewing the subject on the
monitor.
g“Holding the camera” (P. 17)
In addition to incorrect focusing and camera shake, movement of the subject can also cause
blurring of the picture. In this case, use a shutter speed that matches the motion of the
subject. You can confirm the actual shutter speed and aperture on the displays of the
viewfinder and monitor by pressing the shutter button halfway.
g“Viewfinder” (P. 6), “Super control panel” (P. 7), “LCD monitor (Live view)” (P. 8)
Brightness k Exposure compensation
The camera automatically determines the aperture value
and shutter speed according to the brightness level. This is
called auto exposure. However, you may not be able to
capture the intended picture with auto exposure alone. In
this case, you can increase or decrease the auto exposure
setting. Compensate the exposure toward + to enhance the
brightness of a summer beach or the whiteness of snow.
Compensate the exposure toward – when the area to be
shot is brighter but smaller compared to its surrounding
area. If you are unsure of how much exposure
compensation is required, try taking several pictures at various settings and then compare
the pictures.
g“Exposure compensation” (P. 48), “AE bracketing” (P. 49)
Basic function guides
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