What should a compact manual-exposure cheat sheet include?
Asked 10/22/2010
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2 answers
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I’m learning to shoot more in full manual mode, including manual flash. I understand the basics, but changing settings still slows me down. I’d like to keep a small cheat sheet in my camera bag for quick reference.
What information is most useful to include on a compact manual-photography cheat sheet? So far I’m thinking of:
- a full-stop f-number list
- basic flash guide number information
Are there standard exposure references or tables that are especially helpful for manual shooting?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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Since there are 3 important variables here: aperture, shutter speed and ISO, I would Google for Exposure Triangle Cheat Sheet for example. Here are a few:
- Manual Mode Cheat Sheet (Muddyboots Photography Blog)
- Exposure Chart Cheat Sheet (Flickr)
- My Exposure Triangle Cheat Sheet (glark.org)
My Exposure Triangle Cheat Sheet (glark.org) link has been broken, image attached below instead:
Other broken links have been removed. Unfortunately, they were not able to be recovered from archive.org
Originally by user1273. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1273
15y ago
0
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A useful manual-exposure cheat sheet should be very simple. The most important thing to memorize is the full-stop f-number sequence:
f/1, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, 45, 64, 90
From there, build the sheet around the exposure triangle:
- aperture
- shutter speed
- ISO
The key rule is that a one-stop change in any one of these must be balanced by a one-stop change in another to keep exposure the same. For example, opening the aperture by one stop means doubling shutter speed or halving ISO.
For flash, adding basic guide number notes can be helpful.
That said, several photographers find that a cheat sheet is less useful than practice: use the camera LCD to judge results, make adjustments, and you’ll quickly develop a feel for what settings work in common situations. If you want a printable reference, searching for an “exposure triangle cheat sheet” is a good starting point.
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