What Settings?

New photographers continue ask on FaceBook for info from posters on which camera, what lens and what settings were used to create a published photo.

The answer is that information is irrelevant to understanding the photo.

I recommend to new photographers that they should take a few lessons in basic photography and then they can answer their own questions.

For example when it comes to what camera if we’re talking about 35mm photography it doesn’t matter. All cameras from basic point-and-shoots to full out pro models they are all just light-tight boxes with more or less features to play with.

Medium format and large format cameras are also just light-tight boxes but the larger format usually is easy to spot as the quality of the actual image and the shallower depth of field are giveaways.

When it comes to lenses it’s easy to determine whether the photographer used a wide-angle lens, a normal lens or a telephoto lens. A wide-angle lens will distort the image by widening it. A normal lens will appear…well normal in perspective. A telephoto lens will compress the background and have a narrow perspective.

When it comes to what settings it’s pretty easy to make an educated guess just by viewing the image but as the position of the photographer and the actual light available at that moment is changing it really doesn’t help to know the actual settings.

A few lessons (often offered for free by local clubs) will help new photographers understand their equipment and the basics of photography.