dieseldave Loc: Davenport,IA

OK,I know that shutter speed, f-stop and iso together are supposed to combine to give you the perfect exposure (perfect being a relative term) But when shooting in manual mode where do you start? example, if I want a narrow depth of field I should set aperture low like 6.5. To avoid over exposure I suppose shutter speed would have to be pretty fast. Where would iso come in? And where do you start for other situations like portraits?
photo1:iso 6400, ss 1/200, f/16
photo2:iso 6400, ss 1/250, f/25
photo3:iso 2000 ss 1/250, f/25
photo4:iso 6400, ss 1/400, f/8

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

If you want a shallow depth of field you will need an Aperture of f/1.4, or f/1.8---f/2.8 at the most. I don't know why you would be using such a high ISO, An ISO of 100 or 200 would be fine. then adjust your Shutter Speed accordingly.
The book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson is very good at helping with using ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed to achieve a perfect exposure.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Your ISO/speed combinations IMHO, is way to high for interior shots. What you'll trade in detail you'll loose in noise. ISO 800 @ f/2.8 or the widest possible to match your lens would be better

northsidejoe Loc: pittsburgh

It all depends on the lighting you are in. May i suggest take a photo in aperture priority review the photo and see what the settings are and this will give you a basic guide for manual mode. No one can tell you what settings to use for the available light you are in they would have to be there. I believe going to utube and view some videos on basic camera use may be a good place to start. Hope this was some what helpful saying hello from Pittsburgh.

oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA

if you are still using that D5300 you need to keep your lens opened up too at least f 11 and ISO under 800.
If you need a starting point just put the camera in auto, note the settings it chooses,
and then go to manual and work from those values.

dieseldave Loc: Davenport,IA

I suppose that is true, I was just out and took a whole series of shots to see what differences there were. I am not specifically asking about depth of field, I am asking where to start with any shot?

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Well, in your original post you stated... "if I want a narrow depth of field I should set aperture low like 6.5"...So that is why I based my comment on Depth of Field. It seems like you were specifically asking about DoF.

FL Pics

A general starting point is to set the ISO as low as possible in order to get both the f-stop you need for the depth of focus you want, or the f-stop that is sharpest for your camera (usually a couple stops below wide open), AND the shutter speed you want to eliminate camera shake. Many use automated ISO (camera permitting) with a maximum ISO at a level where noise is still acceptable (this varies greatly with the camera and how the image will be used).

BebuLamar

First of all I make some assumption:
1. You do not intend to light the scene with your own lights.
2. You do not intend to use reflectors etc.. to alter the light.

You are going to set the exposure for whatever the light is available without altering it. With that you should first determine how bright the scene is which in another word what EV @ ISO 100 should the scene require for "Perfect" exposure. After that then you would choose the combination of ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Where to start? Stay away from ISO-6400, similar to other's comments.

whitewolfowner

From what you are asking, you not ready to shoot in manual. You need to learn the basic concepts of exposure and what each one does and why. Get a book of view videos on the basics of photography. You are trying to put the cart before the horse.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Depth of field is a function of subject to camera sensor distance (which implies magnification), focal length, and aperture. The image below was taken with a full frame camera, 1/640 sec, F7.1, ISO 800, 600mm. The subject distance is around 20 ft. Total DoF is 1.56" with these camera settings at this distance - with .75" in front and back of the focal plane. I focused on the eye, which is in focus, as is the tip of the beak, but to the rear, it goes out of focus pretty quickly.

Understanding Exposure is a standard recommendation, but the op can save some $$$ if he spend a few minutes testing various settings, with a little guidance.

Dave is correct in stating that a low aperture will give a narrower (shallower) depth of field, but this is relative to distance to subject and focal length. If one is using a zoom with a variable max aperture - like F4 - F6.3, it is reasonable to expect that at F6.5 the DoF is shallower than at F16. Dave is also correct in his understanding that if he opens his lens he will need to change shutter speed and/or ISO. So he seems to understand the relationship between all three exposure settings. He can save the money he'd spend on the book.

(Download)

Gary Truchelut Loc: Coldspring, TX

To start with I set my ISO to 100 and ask myself these questions and the answers determine, to a great extent my camera settings. After some practice you will automatically answer these questions and set your camera without really thinking about it.
1. Setting f-stop: Where is my subject? close to the background or is the background distant?
If it's close, then depth of field is of no concern and set the f-stop to f8-11. If it is distant, do I want the background
blurred or sharp? If blurred set f-stop to low end such as 3.5 or 2.8. If sharp is what I want set f-stop to the high
side at f-16 or above. Now using your light meter set shutter speed to give correct exposure.
2. Setting shutter speed: Is the subject moving or are you moving? In either of these cases you would want to set SS
to approx.1/500th second or above. This will help stop motion blur due to camera movement or subject movement. If
you or the subject is not moving then shutter speed is not much of an issue and I would set it to 125 or 250 to start.
Secondly set your f- stop to give correct exposure.
3. If you cannot accomplish a correct exposure with the settings you have used for f-stop and shutter speed then
increase ISO until you can.
Now take test shots to determine if the settings are giving you what you want in the photo and make minor adjustments as needed. Good luck and enjoy.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Dave,

What I do is normally shoot at the lowest ISO that will let me get a clean, relatively noise-free image, using the aperture that gives me the depth of field I want, and a shutter speed that will keep my image free of blur from movement in the subject or camera.

If shooting a static subject and the camera is on a tripod in daylight and I am using a wide angle lens - ISO 100 is a good starting ISO, with the aperture whatever you need to record the DoF you want. If you are shooting landscapes on a windless day, or city scapes, etc, you can go to around F11 or F16, and let the shutter speed fall where it may to get a good exposure.

If I am shooting portraits in a studio setting, and I have complete control over the lighting, and I am looking for a dramatic effect where the DoF is very shallow, I will choose a short telephoto lens - 85mm up to 200mm. In this case longer lenses generally provide a more flattering "look" by flattening the perspective a bit. While it is true that at the same distance the DoF is exactly the same regardless of focal length, when you move back to frame the image with a longer lens you change the DoF, which is where the flattening comes into play. Again, you are looking for a low noise image so a wide aperture, low ISO and reasonably fast shutter speed, around 1/200 or shorter if hand held, maybe as long as 1/160 if hand held. Here you'd want to freeze any subject movement and also any movement from the camera.

If I am shooting an outdoor sporting event, like a high school soccer game, here the weight on the exposure triangle goes to shutter speed, followed by aperture and finally ISO. Shutter speed should be 1/500 sec or shorter. The closer you are to the action and the longer your focal length, the shorter the shutter speed needs to be to freeze the action. If you are looking to record some blur to provide the perception of movement, which can be very effective if done correctly, you can use a slightly longer shutter speed than you would normally.

So, since I can't see your images, I would likely think that they must be pretty noisy, unless you added an extra zero to your ISO settings as you list them in your post.

Another rule of thumb, with digital cameras, a phenomenon known as diffraction begins to diminish contrast and resolution. The smaller the aperture, the softer your images will end up being. Up to F16, or F11 with Micro 4/3 cameras, you can recover some of that loss of sharpness in post processing.

I think what you are implying here, is a solid way to determine exposure, not what the relationship is between the three parameters particularly when working with manual exposure.

I generally shoot manual, but I have my camera set up to be able to quickly change any one of the three parameters without needing to take my eye off the viewfinder. In fact, I use the information displayed in the viewfinder's informational display to help me arrive at the correct settings. I can see the focus point confirmation, and if my exposure is on the money, high or low, and what my camera exposure settings are.

For the most part, I expose to the right - by this I mean I set my exposure as high as possible, while still avoiding the loss of highlight detail, aka blown highlights. I have a button on the camera set to show me the histogram of the image I just took. Exposing to the right just means that the distribution of data in the image comes very close to the right edge of the graph, but not touching it. There are some exceptions, of course - like specular highlights coming off waves when shooting water scenes with the sun in front of you, or scenes at night, where the lights are also in the picture - in these two cases it is generally considered ok to allow no detail in the highlights, and the histogram will show the data creeping up the right side. As long as the rest of the image is exposed correctly, this is generally ok.

So all of this begs the question - what is the best metering mode to use? I use the spot meter function in my camera - which limits the are read by the meter to 1.5% of the total image frame. This allows me to be very selective with what I meter. To make sure I don't go over and blow important highlights, I have determined that if I read the highlights, then apply a setting that is 1-2/3 stops higher than the straight reading (higher ISO, longer shutter, and/or wider aperture), my highlights will be right at the threshold of overexposure, but only at the lowest ISO. When I push the ISO higher, the lower dynamic range requires that use less of an adjustment, since the dynamic range or the ability of the camera to record highlight and shadows is diminished. All of this is covered under an exposure evaluation system known as the Zone System.

As opposed to the many recommendations to get Understanding Exposure, Peterson's book dances around but never discusses how to arrive at the correct exposure - the actual mechanism, or how the zone system works - which is at the core of how to get a good exposure. So, I will recommend that you go to the library and read his book, but do spend some time looking at the following websites which deal with the zone system in detail.

http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/tips-techniques/nature-landscapes/the-digital-zone-system/

http://clickitupanotch.com/2013/01/zone-system-the-basics/

http://www.normankoren.com/zonesystem.html

http://f164.com/the-zone-system-for-digital/10/2011/

http://www.alanrossphotography.com/category/tech/zonesystemandmetering/

http://laurencekim.com/spot-metering-portrait-photography/

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-use-the-zone-system-to-learn-about-metering-and-exposure-compensation/

This is a lot to digest, but if you take your time you'll get through the material, along with testing how your camera works and how to best set it up for the type of shooting you do - and most important - why it works this way.

Gary's advice is right on the money as is oldtigger's advice to shoot a test shot to see what the camera does, and use it's settings as a starting point.

It does sound like you are ready to explore manual exposure, but I wouldn't use it for a paying job just yet. Take lots of test shots at different settings, it will all begin to make sense soon enough.

Hope this helps.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

As you said, there are three variables, so it can get complicated. First, you have to consider the situation. Do you need a fast shutter speed? If so, then adjust ISO and aperture to allow for that. If you want deep or shallow depth of field, adjust the aperture accordingly and then set the shutter ISO. I always shoot at the lowest ISO possible.