Time-Series Study
Definition of Time Series: An ordered sequence of values of a variable at equally spaced time intervals. (National Institute of Standards and Technology, Engineering Statistics Handbook). Time-series studies can be applied to economic forecasting, stock market analysis, process and quality control, census analysis, and elsewhere.
I've only begun to explore my Konica-Minolta DiMAGE Z6. I've experimented with shutter speed and aperture on-site, but have been curious about ISO-equivalent, so chose to study that variable here at my desk. One reason it's taken me until now is because while I can change the speed and aperture settings fairly instantly, it takes me at least 7 button pushes for each ISO setting change. My manual ISO-equivalent choices with the Z6 are 50, 100, 200, and 320, in addition to the Auto setting.
I knew that higher ISOs allow for faster shutter speeds in lower light at the cost of making a photo grainier -- and if I'd thought long enough about the former I'd have realized I would get a lighter image at the highest ISO by holding my exposure constant (I really am a beginner here!).
For #1, I set my camera on Auto everything. (Blurriness is likely due my tripod standing on wall-to-wall carpeting; I haven't yet played with the self-timer.) The Auto setting overexposed the image, offsetting the faster shutter speed with a wider aperture and higher/faster ISO.
#2 was really my baseline shot. I manually set my aperture to its minimum, f/8 (the DiMAGE specs give only a maximum aperture, but so far I haven't been able to get past f/8), with a 2-second exposure. Although I'd like to play with a greater range of settings, now that I'm learning about them, one of the things I love about the Z6 is that its viewfinder shows the effects of exposure changes as I fiddle with the manual controls. In the manual-exposure mode, the camera fixes ISO at 100.
#3 used my lowest ISO-equivalent setting (50). The image is darker, but I love the smoothness and saturation of color. In "Time Series Study Appendix" I fiddled with #3 in MS Photo Editor, changing its brightness, contrast, and gamma, to get something in-between #3 and the 100-ISO #4. With those particular setting changes I've got saturation loss, especially in the lower left-hand quadrant, and I prefer the sharpness of shot #4. But this gives me another degree of freedom to play with.
Interestingly enough, there are some slight color differences between #2 and #4, despite the fact that their settings are identical and I've kept the environment as constant as I could. Although the higher ISOs show some overexposure and graininess effects in #5 and #6, I like the effect of the latter on the watchband.
More detail is in the large view (click the magnifying glass). Photo was compressed before posting. My next step will probably be to experiment with different ISOs at faster shutter speeds.
Z6 specs are listed at the bottom of the Steve's Digicams page.
Time-Series Study
Definition of Time Series: An ordered sequence of values of a variable at equally spaced time intervals. (National Institute of Standards and Technology, Engineering Statistics Handbook). Time-series studies can be applied to economic forecasting, stock market analysis, process and quality control, census analysis, and elsewhere.
I've only begun to explore my Konica-Minolta DiMAGE Z6. I've experimented with shutter speed and aperture on-site, but have been curious about ISO-equivalent, so chose to study that variable here at my desk. One reason it's taken me until now is because while I can change the speed and aperture settings fairly instantly, it takes me at least 7 button pushes for each ISO setting change. My manual ISO-equivalent choices with the Z6 are 50, 100, 200, and 320, in addition to the Auto setting.
I knew that higher ISOs allow for faster shutter speeds in lower light at the cost of making a photo grainier -- and if I'd thought long enough about the former I'd have realized I would get a lighter image at the highest ISO by holding my exposure constant (I really am a beginner here!).
For #1, I set my camera on Auto everything. (Blurriness is likely due my tripod standing on wall-to-wall carpeting; I haven't yet played with the self-timer.) The Auto setting overexposed the image, offsetting the faster shutter speed with a wider aperture and higher/faster ISO.
#2 was really my baseline shot. I manually set my aperture to its minimum, f/8 (the DiMAGE specs give only a maximum aperture, but so far I haven't been able to get past f/8), with a 2-second exposure. Although I'd like to play with a greater range of settings, now that I'm learning about them, one of the things I love about the Z6 is that its viewfinder shows the effects of exposure changes as I fiddle with the manual controls. In the manual-exposure mode, the camera fixes ISO at 100.
#3 used my lowest ISO-equivalent setting (50). The image is darker, but I love the smoothness and saturation of color. In "Time Series Study Appendix" I fiddled with #3 in MS Photo Editor, changing its brightness, contrast, and gamma, to get something in-between #3 and the 100-ISO #4. With those particular setting changes I've got saturation loss, especially in the lower left-hand quadrant, and I prefer the sharpness of shot #4. But this gives me another degree of freedom to play with.
Interestingly enough, there are some slight color differences between #2 and #4, despite the fact that their settings are identical and I've kept the environment as constant as I could. Although the higher ISOs show some overexposure and graininess effects in #5 and #6, I like the effect of the latter on the watchband.
More detail is in the large view (click the magnifying glass). Photo was compressed before posting. My next step will probably be to experiment with different ISOs at faster shutter speeds.
Z6 specs are listed at the bottom of the Steve's Digicams page.