Understanding ExposureBROWSE PRO MOBILE BUYERS GUIDE
At the time of publishing this article (Sept 2020) – Your smartphone camera’s auto-exposure settings are a bad balancing act… Although smartphone camera tech has made leaps and bounds from early versions, there is still a long way to go. For now, understanding it’s limitations will allow you to avoid making simple mistakes, making your work look better & production workflow easier overall.
What’s more… Understanding your smartphone cameras’ limitations NOW will give you insight on what technologies will make their debut in the near future.
Above is an “exposure triangle” …It’s very popular in the world of photography. I’ve never been a huge fan BUT I’ll admit, it illustrates ONE thing very well. You can’t change ONE setting without adjusting the other two.
When you’re using a smartphone’s stock camera app- software is constantly & automatically adjusting/optimizing settings to the best of its ability… BUT changing Aperture, ISO, or Shutter Speed to balance exposure can result in some “artifacts.” Below, we’ll review each control individually and learn to determine how your smartphone will auto-adjust to a given environment. The better you understand, the more confident you’ll feel making changes in order to achieve the look you’re going for.
Understanding Aperture, ISO & Shutter Speed
The smaller the f-stop the more light passes through the lens.
SMARTPHONE LENSES TYPICALLY HAVE A “FIXED” APERTURE, MEANING THEY CANNOT BE ADJUSTED.
Fast shutter speed is typically whatever it takes to freeze action while a slow shutter speed might result in visible drag/blur.
SMARTPHONE CAMERAS TYPICALLY DO NOT HAVE MECHANICAL SHUTTERS. THEY RELY ON SOFTWARE TO DIGITALLY CONTROL THE DURATION OF AN EXPOSURE.
The lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain you’ll see in your image. A higher ISO usually means a brighter image but small sensors produce larger grain/artifacts if they’re dialed up too much.
WHILE SMARTPHONE CAMERAS MAKE USE OF SMALLER INCREMENTS FOR BETTER REFINEMENT, THEIR SMALL SENSORS OFTEN CREATE MORE GRAIN OR NOISE WHEN INCREASING ISO.
As you change any of the three exposure settings on a traditional camera — aperture, shutter speed, or ISO — one or both of the others will most likely have to be adjusted in order to maintain your level of exposure. If you want a faster shutter speed, you’ll need to make up for that lost light. In order to compensate you’ll need a larger aperture or a higher ISO setting.
Most smartphone cameras have a fixed aperture to allow the maximum amount of light through the lens. This means compensating exposure to make up for a lack of light usually results in a less sharp image — slower shutter speed— or a noisy image —high ISO.
If you’re not liking the look or feel of your smartphone camera content the quick & simple solution is to ADD MORE LIGHT. Whether that means opening up your sets blinds, moving your subject closer to a light source in your space, or locking off your camera on a tripod to take a longer exposure… that’s up to you.
We’ll go more into depth on controlling your image through lighting in the next lesson.
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