Baffling Explanations

[carni 10,094]

Hubbs is just exploring the different "Mode" options on our new Nikon Coolpix S7000 camera." No I'm not showing off, just thought the camera buffs on here might like to know the model". Anyway, not being technically minded at all, I inquired as to what "Mode" means? After he had tied himself in knots and threatened divorce, I replied" +=&<:r off". I decided to Google the word, here is the answer........

The mode is the value that appears most often in a set of data. The mode of a discrete probability distribution is the value x at which its probability mass function takes its maximum value. In other words, it is the value that is most likely to be sampled.

"OK, That's clear then". Not Or is it just Me?

[Enigma. 1,533]

Understanding Digital Camera Modes

https://photographylife.com/understanding-digital-camera-modes

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

#1

You've just ruined my day, Carni!

All this talk about mode, mean and median...took me straight back to old Mrs Davy the Irish barm pot and double maths at the Manning! It was all Greek (Pytagoras Tearoom!) to me then and still is!

Have to duck now...there'll be a board duster heading in my direction!

[Oztalgian 3,296]

Carni, Your description of mode is mathematically correct.

The "Mode" when applied to digital cameras usually means a setting at which the camera automatically selects what it believes are the best settings for the type of photo that you are taking.

Some examples are Manual, Portrait, Landscape, Beach/Ocean, Sports, Night, Sunrise/Sunset Animals, Flowers, etc.etc. Generally the more sophisticated a camera the more modes it has.

Most modern cameras have far more capability than most of us will ever use.

[catfan 14,793]

If not sure carni then IA or A or such will keep you out of trouble !

In the menu system set everything to AUTO.

[MargieH 7,600]

Jill, I loved Maths and still do, because it's predictable. The different kinds of averages fascinate me because you can choose which one can be used to show the statistics you want to promote!

For example, annual income...If nine people get following amounts

£100000, £50000, £25000, £23000, £22000, £21000, £21000, £21000, £15000

The 'average' annual income could be £33110 (the mean - add them all together and divide by the number of people)

£21000 (the mode - the amount which occurs most frequently)

£22000 (the median - the middle amount when they are put in order)

Newspapers etc quote the particular 'average' which suits what they want people to believe...

Not that this explains the mode on your camera, Carni!

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

Can't say I share your fascination with numbers, Margie. They never did anything for me. Words? Now that's a different matter entirely. Even now, I will happily sit and read a dictionary or thesaurus for hours, marvelling at how much I still have to learn and, of course, finding new ways in which to describe Mrs Davy!

[MargieH 7,600]

I'm fascinated by words too, Jill and have also been known to read a dictionary or thesaurus. I start by looking up one word and then getting sidetracked. It's even quicker and easier to do this online, though.

[loppylugs 8,429]

Actually, Jill. I read somewhere that the music of Bach is very mathematical in it's structure. I don't know how to figure that out. I just love it for the uplift it gives.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

#9 Apparently so, which is one of its aspects Gould found so appealing. He was no mean mathematician himself, I understand, as his expertise at playing the stock market proved!

[benjamin1945 16,160]

Margie and Jill, i'm fascinated with words and numbers,love looking at a dictionary,and when it comes to numbers i think i'm a bit barmy,every number not just single digits remind me of somewhere,place,time etc or what iwas doing in relavance to that number,looked at Numerology for a time,but like everything in my life get a 'smattering of knowledge then moved on,suffice to say my life numbers are 1 and 8 and tend to favour these numbers for doing owt,if any of you understand?...............let me know lol.

However my main trivia is looking at maps and Atlases,often spend a couple of hours studying the Geography of any given country,then learning about its language and History.........i'm not really boring,still like to be a Prat sometimes,well mostly really...........lol.

[loppylugs 8,429]

Never made much on the stock market either.

[catfan 14,793]

#1. carni.

Here you go carni.

[carni 10,094]

Thank you catfan, Chris has watched the video and picked up some tips. Hobgoblin coming your way when we meet again.

[MargieH 7,600]

#11. Benjamin. You are not alone..... as well as numbers and words, I also love maps. I particularly like road maps and if anyone says where they come from or where they are going on holiday in this country, I have to find it on a road map and then work out which roads they'll go on to get there, the mileage and time it will take. I know there are websites that do this for you and I do like them as well but I still love my AA Road Map to get a wider picture of where places are! We have to buy a new one every year because they get used so much and then fall apart. I don't THINK I have autistic tendencies but even if I have, I don't care...

[DaveN 1,118]

Margie if you're a lover of words have a look at the link below to a book called Word Play by Gyles Brandreth.

https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/word-play-a-cornucopia-of-puns-anagrams-and-other-contortions-and-curiosities-of-the-english-language/9781473620308

[The Engineer 614]

There are three basic settings that control the taking of a photograph:

Film speed (ISO - higher number = faster but may be more grainy, even in digital cameras).

Aperture (F number - higher number = smaller aperture and greater depth of field).

Shutter speed (several seconds to fractions of a second - faster reduces movement/blur but lets less light in).

Moving upmarket from 'instant' point-and-shoot cameras, manufacturers allowed user control over shutter speed and aperture. Film speed was controlled by film selection (ISO 100, 200 or 400 typically). That gave a fully manual camera.

Along came 'intelligent' cameras with microchips to control shutter speed and aperture. Four 'exposure modes' were introduced:

Manual - user chooses aperture and shutter speed (needs some expertise to get correct exposure!)

Automatic - camera chooses 'best fit' for aperture and shutter speed.

Aperture priority - User sets aperture, camera sets shutter speed (dependent on ISO and ambient light).

Shutter priority - User sets shutter speed, camera sets aperture (dependent on ISO and ambient light).

Additionally, 'flash modes' were introduced, such as off, automatic, fill-in, red-eye reduction, etc.

Then there are 'white balance' settings, e.g. automatic, incandescent, fluorescent, daylight, etc. (your eyes are excellent at masking the variation in colour temperature but cameras see all sorts of variation in tint from red to blue dependent on the light source illuminating the subject).

With digital cameras, many more functions have to be accommodated (display options, saving to media, video, special effects, etc.) Manufacturers needed to simplify modes for the mass market. Instead of giving you access to the underlying aperture and shutter speed, they create modes like:

Portrait (expects subject a few metres away)

Landscape (expects to focus far away)

Sport (expects fast movement)

Night (expects low light)

Indoor (expects incandescent or fluorescent lighting)

Snow (expects bright white)

Sunset (expects red-shift)

Dawn (expects blue-shift)

Close-up (aka 'macro')

Panorama (stitch a few frames together)

Dependent on which mode you select, the camera can sort out appropriate aperture, shutter speed, ISO rating and white balance.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

#11

Ben, you may have a form of synasthaesia. I have always had it...all letters appear to me in a certain colour, as do words. It's an interesting condition and can apply to numbers also. It is apparently caused by simultaneous firing of synapses in the brain.

My sister also has it, to a lesser degree. As children, we were often told off for not going to sleep at night because we were arguing about the "colours" of the days of the week. She insisted that Monday was blue and I insisted that it was brown...which, to me, it is!

Our parents, on the other hand, thought we were both stark raving crackers!

[loppylugs 8,429]

I thought Monday was always blue. ;-)

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

#19

Not in my head, Loppy!

Monday is brown, Tuesday is white, Wednesday is yellow, Thursday is a kind of maroon colour, Friday is green, Saturday is silver and Sunday is pink (ish).

My sister would totally disagree!

I assure you, we're both quite sane!

[loppylugs 8,429]

I was referring to the nature of the day rather than the color of the text. :-)

Remember the Carpenters. 'Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.'

[MargieH 7,600]

Jill, Monday is grey, Tuesday is red, Wednesday is white, Thursday is brown, Friday is yellow, Saturday is black writing on a white background and Sunday is blue. I have a theory that these may have been the colours that they were written in when I first learnt them at school.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

Do you see each individual letter of the alphabet as a colour? I remember being totally confused when I started school because the colours were all wrong. I bad already been taught to read by my grandfather, not using any colours, so this cannot have been the reason in my case.

[freckles 196]

Basically cameras are smarter than us .

[MargieH 7,600]

Jill, I don't see individual letters as particular colours, although when I think of the alphabet I am conscious that the letters are different hues. Never really explored that....