I'm using a Nikon D40. I love it.
Here are some basics that every photographer should know:
Aperture is how wide the lens Iris is open. The wider, the more light gets in. Big apertures have small numbers, like f/4. Small apertures have bigger numbers, like f/16. They are fractions. A smaller aperture like f/16 will tend to have everything in focus. How much is in focus is called depth of field.
Shutter speed is how long the camera stays open to expose itself. It is shown as different speeds. 1/30 of a second is about as natural as water. 1/500 of a second freezes almost everything. For sports, use the fastest speed.
ISO is how sensitive your film or digi camera is to light. Pump up the ISO to get smaller apertures and faster shutter screens. The reason you want slowest ISO is for lack of noise or graininess.
Now for some tips:
White Balance
Auto is usually a good best guess for WB. But sometimes its nice to adjust the WB for effect. More white balance adds cooler (blue) and less is warmer (orange).
Tungsten (hanging light bulb icon) makes the picture very blue. Use this only for deliberate Artic freezing effects.
Fluorescent (glowing tube icon) used to make crappy flourescent light look crappy. This setting rarely works.
Direct sunlight (sun icon) is used in direct front sunlight.
Flash (lightning bolt) is aparantly best used for studio strobes.
Cloudy (cloud) gives warmer (more orange) than the sunlight position. Use in shade too.
Shade (house casting a shadow) gives very warm (orange). Useful for sunset shots and deep shade.
AF- Area Mode
[xxx] Closest Subject sellects the closest by magic. Use this if things are moving too fast for you, such as in sports, or for self portraits, or to a non photographer!
[ x ] Dynamic Area lets the camera automatically sellect which sensor to use. Great for sports, running animals and birds in flight.
[ o ] Single Area is used to still subjects. Manually choose the sensor.
AF Assist is the bright white light that shines in the dark to help you focus. Turn it off if you dont want to disturb people or be identified as photographing.
And heres one I made earlier (thank you Laura May!)
