Instruction manual

shutter speed while sand or snow modes compensate for very bright backgrounds

which would otherwise underexpose your image. When used appropriately, these

scene modes work well for what they are designed to do, but aren’t very useful for

CAP missions.

2.4.6 Shutter Delay (Lag) and Shooting Modes

You will notice that, after pressing the shutter release, there is a delay before

you can take another picture (usually denoted by a flashing light next to the

viewfinder). The reason for this delay is that, after each shot, the camera must:

• Set the focus, exposure time and white balance

• Charge the sensor

• Copy the image out of the microprocessor into RAM

• Compress the image after it's been taken

• Write the image to the flash memory

The better (i.e., more expensive) the camera, the shorter is the delay between

pictures. So you must know your camera’s delay and make allowances for it,

particularly since you are shooting from an airplane that travels over the scene at

75 - 80 kts.

Normally, a camera is set for single frame mode, where the camera takes one

picture each time you press the shutter release button.

Most digital cameras have another shooting mode for capturing pictures

called the “continuous” or “burst” mode. If you set the camera for this type of

shooting mode and hold down the shutter button and don’t release it, the camera

will take pictures until you release the shutter or you fill the camera’s memory

buffer (the D200 can take up to 37 JPEG Fine Large photos in this mode). The

time between pictures varies with the camera; the more expensive the camera the

shorter the time between pictures.

Digital compact cameras typically allow 1-3 frames per second (fps) with

bursts of up to about ten photos, while DSLRs have fps of up to seven or more

and can shoot dozens of frames in JPEG and RAW. The D200 has two settings:

Continuous Low, which records at 1-4 fps; and Continuous High which records up

to 5 fps.

Using this feature with Medium and Standard resolution settings can make

the pictures appear less sharp. Also, you can quickly fill up a memory card; how

fast this occurs depends on the resolution and quality settings.

Note: Some cameras have an “auto-bracketing” feature that allows you to

take three pictures in quick succession when you press the shutter release. You

can then pick the best of the three to keep.

2.4.7 Exposure Value (EV) Compensation

A camera’s light meter only measures the luminance of the light reflected by

your subject. Whether it measures the luminance of the entire scene or just a part

of it depends on the type of meter you’re using. Sometimes, you may need to

over- or under-expose an image to get the best shot. By overexposing an image

the colors will become lighter; underexposing will make the colors darker.