Website lets you practice using SLR Camera controls

[mouser]

I know I'm not alone in struggling to understand the concepts and interactions between SLR camera settings like aperature, ISO, and shutter speed.
This website has a very neat instant simulator of some basic SLR controls, showing how a picture would turn out with the different settings.
Very nice way to come to terms with the relationships between these settings:

http://camerasim.com/camera-simulator.html

from http://www.ilovefreesoftware.com/02/webware/how-to-use-slr-camera.html

[Renegade]

Nice. Thanks for that. I tried it out, and it's pretty good to experiment and learn with. (Which as a new photographer, I need. Still learning...)

[40hz]

Thanks for finding that! My knowledge of SLR settings can be pretty much summed up in a rule of thumb a photographer taught me: Set the aperture two f-stops down from whatever is the maximum on the lens you're using - and hold it steady. 

Works pretty well too. (At least most times.)

[app103]

My daughter got an expensive DSLR for Giftmas and is feeling quite intimidated by it. The manual for it is HUGE and will probably take longer than reading the average novel just to skim the surface of what this camera is capable of. She has yet to figure out how to use it for the most basic of images, and this site could be a big help in helping her understand her new camera. Thanks!   

[KynloStephen66515]

Awesome website! - Just passed the link on to my sister-in-law who is starting a photography course when collage starts in September!

Might pass it onto my father-in-law who is an amature photographer also (even though hes goddamn awesome at this type of thing lol)

[LibertyToad]

"Set the aperture two f-stops down from whatever is the maximum on the lens you're using - and hold it steady."

That's decent advice.  Most SLR's are sharpest at that aperture.

A very good book to get is "Understanding Exposure" (If I recall correctly).

Tom

[tomos]

"Set the aperture two f-stops down from whatever is the maximum on the lens you're using - and hold it steady."

That's decent advice.  Most SLR's are sharpest at that aperture.

I didnt know that
at some point though (especially if you dont like using flash and it's a getting dark...) you're going to have to trade off - either open up the aperature more (reduce the aperature number = softer pic), or raise the iso ('noisier' pic). But if you have an slr, these things really dont matter so much (especially if you're only figuring out know how to use it :p)

[LibertyToad]

Yes, that advice works for a well-lit subject.  Of course if it's a dark subject it isn't going to work.