Sidebar: Aperture Ratios and f/stops

The size of your camera's iris or aperture is measured as a ratio called an "f/stop." As a ratio, it is obvious that 1/22 (0.045) is much smaller than 1/1.6 (0.625). On a camera's lens barrel or on your camcorder's LCD, the ratio is dropped and only the denominator remains: numerically 22 is larger than 1.6. So, although it is counterintuitive, you open up your iris and make it larger by selecting lower f/stop numbers.

Sidebar: Autofocus Tricks

One trick some folks use to set the focus on their camcorders is to put the camera in autofocus mode, let it focus the shot and then turn off the autofocus, effectively locking it down. Some cameras even have a button you can press and release to focus without switching into autofocus mode. Don't let some snob tell you that this is cheating: if it works for you, it's good enough for us. Whatever you do, in most situations, it is still highly recommended that you get your camera out of autofocus mode while shooting, to avoid those unintentional times when the camera hunts around for something to make sharp.

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