Settings for Sun and Clouds

[ferg822]

Im a beginner to SLR and preparing to get a camera. A couple of days ago there was a little bit of sun shining through a half overcast sky and half blue sky. Would the settings just be normal?

["Umm, fish?"]

Depends on what your TTL meter settings tell you and what you're shooting. The TTL is pretty good, so long as you remember that it tries to make everything medium tone. So, if your subject takes up most of the frame and is very dark, you have to underexpose to get it to come out right. And the opposite goes for a really light subject.

[sarahkucera]

If you're going to be shooting stuff like that I definitely recommend using a filter.
If you're going to be using pre-made settings like the Rebel Xti features you could use the landscape setting or you could get fancy with some of the manual settings.

[ferg822]

I mean manual settings like for a DSLR. Like fstop and ISO, ect

[beerguy]

You should always meter the scene that you're trying to shoot.

If for some reason, you're unable to, here are some "rule of thumb settings" that go back to film days. It's referred to as "sunny 16"

Set the shutter speed to 1/(your ISO setting or as close as you can. Example, if you're shooting at ISO 200, your shutter is 1/200th

Set aperture to:
f/16 Sunny
f/11 Slight Overcast
f/8 Overcast
f/5.6 Heavy Overcast
f/4 Sunset

It's not perfect but it'll get you close.

Cheers