F Archives - Shutter Muse

Fill Factor

What Does Fill Factor Mean When Talking About Photography? Fill factor is the ratio of the light sensitive area of a pixel to the total area of a pixel on a digital imaging sensor. The higher the fill factor, the more sensitive a sensor is to light. Sensitivity directly effects the ability of a camera to capture images in low light situations without having to use either long exposure times, which can lead to loss or sharpness, or high ISO levels which can lead to excess noise. Light sensitivity and performance is one of the most important factors to consider …

Fill Flash

What Does Fill Flash Mean When Talking About Photography? In photography fill flash is light, produced by a flash unit which fills in a darker area of an image. Fill flash is not intended to overpower the main light, but bring out the detail lost in shadows. Fill flash is particularly useful in situations where the image subject is backlit by bright light, for example shooting a subject with the sun behind them. Without fill flash the dynamic range of such a scene would be to high to be captured in a single image, causing the subject detail to be …

Fill Light

What Is the Definition of Fill Light in Photography? Fill light is form of supplementary light mainly used to lighten shadows in an image. Fill light is often used in portrait photography to create a contrast between the image subject and image background giving the scene a sense of depth despite the final product being 2 dimensional. In this situation the use of fill light also reduces the overall dynamic range of the scene allowing for easier selection of the exposure settings required to capture an image. When fill light is correctly applied it does not significantly impact the main light …

Film Plane Indicator

What is a Film Plane Indicator? The Film Plane Indicator is a small symbol on your camera that looks like a circle with a line drawn through it. If you were to cut your camera in half, exactly in line with the line through the circle, you would see that it cuts right through at the front of your camera’s sensor. Obviously the naming is a leftover from the days of film, and sometimes you’ll hear it called the Sensor Plane Indicator these days, or the Focal Plane Indicator. Why do you need to know where the front of your …

Filter Size

What Does Filter Size Mean In Photography? In photography filter size Refers to the inner diameter of the front of the lens, more specifically the threads into which a filter is screwed to attach it to the lens. Knowing the the filter size required for your lenses is extremely important as it will allow you to make sure you purchase the correct equipment, and also insure you can pack correctly for any photography outings you have planned. The filter size of a lens is always printed on the end of the lens barrel so that at a glance you can …

Filter Thread

What Is A Filter Thread? Almost all lenses have a threaded section on the front that allows you to screw on filters to achieve certain effects. When referring to a lens’ specifications, it should tell you the diameter of the filter thread and then you can purchase your filters in the same diameter. Common thread sizes include 52mm, 72mm, 77mm and 82mm. If you have a filter that you would like to use with a lens that has a different filter thread diameter, this can be achieved with a step-down ring that adapts one diameter to another. If you do …

Flash Exposure Compensation

What Is Flash Exposure Compensation When Talking About Photography? In photography flash exposure compensation is a feature that allows the photographer to add exposure compensation to output power of their flash units. Flash Exposure Compensation can be + (plus) or – (minus) in increments of 1/3 EV (exposure value). It is important to note that flash exposure compensation effects the flash output only, the cameras exposure settings remain unaffected. This allows a photographer to reduce dynamic range by brightening dark areas of an image without effecting the exposure or brighter areas. Flash exposure compensation can only be used in auto …

Flash Output Compensation

What Is Flash Output Compensation When Talking About Photography? In photography some cameras offer flash output compensation. Like flash exposure compensation the setting allows you to manually override a flash’s output in situations where automatic or TTL flash metering is not providing the desired results. Flash output compensation is particularly useful in situations where more than one flash unit is being used because it allows the compensation value of each flash to be controlled independently. This allows an experienced photographer to control the lighting level of a scene in multiple directions simultaneously, removing, or moving areas of shadow as required …

Focal Plane Indicator

See Film Plane Indicator

Focus Breathing

What Is Focus Breathing? Focus breathing is term that is used to describe the small change in focal length of a lens that occurs as the focus is adjusted from infinity to MFD, or vice versa. If you look through the viewfinder of your camera and rotate the lens’ focus ring from one extremity to the other, you will see that the lens appears to zoom in or out very slightly. This change is called focus breathing. For still photography, focus breathing won’t make any difference at all. Even the most expensive professional grade lenses exhibit focus breathing, and it …