Exposure triangle
What aperture, shutter speed and ISO each control, what each one costs you, and how they trade against each other.
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102 photography cheat sheets
Free reference charts for camera settings: the exposure triangle, the full-stop aperture, shutter and ISO scales, metering modes, histograms, Sunny 16, the reciprocal rule, white balance in Kelvin, depth-of-field and hyperfocal tables, and the right aperture for every subject. Open any sheet full size — nothing is gated.
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The rules, in one table
Every number you came here for
The rules people look up by name, written out. Each one jumps to the sheet that explains it.
| Rule | Formula | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Sunny 16 | f/16 · shutter 1/ISO | Bright sun, distinct hard shadows. At ISO 100 that is f/16 at 1/100 s. |
| Looney 11 | f/11 · shutter 1/ISO | The full moon is a sunlit rock, so it needs daylight settings — not night settings. |
| Reciprocal rule | shutter ≥ 1 / focal length | The slowest handheld shutter speed likely to be sharp. 50mm → 1/50 s, rounded to 1/60 s. |
| Crop-corrected reciprocal | shutter ≥ 1 / (focal length × crop) | ×1.5 Nikon/Sony APS-C, ×1.6 Canon APS-C, ×2 Micro Four Thirds. |
| One stop | ×2 or ÷2 the light | The shared unit behind aperture, shutter and ISO — which is what lets you trade one for another. |
| F-number | focal length ÷ aperture diameter | Why f/2 on a 200mm lens needs a 100mm front element, and f/2 on a 50mm needs 25mm. |
| Hyperfocal focus | everything from H/2 to ∞ is sharp | Focus at the hyperfocal distance H and the far half of that distance onward stays acceptably sharp. |
| Matching depth across formats | f-number × crop factor | Micro Four Thirds f/1.4 gives roughly the depth of field of full-frame f/2.8 at the same framing. |
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All 102 sheets
What one stop means
One stop = double or half the light. It is the shared unit behind aperture, shutter speed and ISO.
Full-stop aperture scale
The full-stop aperture scale. Every step is exactly half the light of the one before it.
Full-stop shutter speed scale
The full-stop shutter speed scale, with what each speed will and will not freeze.
Full-stop ISO scale
The full-stop ISO scale from 100 to 12800, with a realistic note on where noise starts to matter on a modern sensor.
Third-stops and half-stops
The odd numbers on your dial are third-stops. The full third-stop scale for aperture, shutter and ISO.
Equivalent exposures
Same brightness, four completely different photographs. The reciprocity chart showing what you are really choosing between.
Which setting should I change?
A yes/no decision tree for the moment the photo is wrong and you have three dials and five seconds.
What the meter is actually doing
Your meter is not measuring “correct”. It is averaging the scene to a mid-tone. Once you know that, exposure compensation stops being guesswork.
Mid-grey, and why snow comes out dim
Snow, sand and white walls confuse every meter the same way. Why, and the compensation value that corrects it.
Metering modes compared
What each metering mode measures, shown as a coverage diagram, plus the one situation each mode is genuinely best at.
When to use spot metering
Nine scenes where evaluative metering fails and spot metering does not.
Exposure compensation
The +/− dial in one sheet: what it changes in each shooting mode, and why it does nothing in Manual.
Exposure compensation quick card
A lookup table of common scenes and the exposure compensation that usually fixes them.
Exposure lock (AE-L)
Three steps to lock an exposure reading and recompose without the camera re-metering.
Why the meter fails on white and black
One diagram explaining the single most common metering failure, and the compensation that corrects it in both directions.
Metering for backlight
A decision tree for backlight — whether to expose for the face, the sky, or neither, and what each choice gives you.
Compensation in Manual + Auto ISO
Lock aperture and shutter for the look you want, let ISO float, steer with exposure compensation. The modern hybrid explained.
How to read a histogram
The histogram decoded: what the horizontal axis means, what the vertical axis means, and what “correct” actually looks like.
Five histograms
Five histogram shapes with the scene that produced each — underexposed, overexposed, low contrast, high contrast, and correctly exposed high-key.
Clipping — what is recoverable
How much you can pull back from a RAW file at each end, and where recovery stops being possible.
Expose to the right
ETTR explained honestly: the reasoning behind it, and the three situations where it is the wrong call.
RGB against luminance histogram
Why the luminance histogram can look perfect while the red channel is already destroyed.
Zebras and blinkies
The difference between zebra stripes and the flashing highlight warning, and what threshold to set each one to.
Why the rear screen lies
Three reasons the rear LCD misleads you about exposure, and what to trust instead.
Dynamic range
A stops-of-light scale comparing eye, sensor, JPEG and print, showing exactly where detail gets lost.
Mode dial
Every position on the mode dial, showing exactly which settings you control and which the camera controls.
Aperture Priority (A/Av)
Why A/Av is the mode most photographers live in, and the four-step routine for using it well.
Shutter Priority (S/Tv)
The cases where S/Tv beats aperture priority, and the trap that catches people using it in low light.
Manual mode routine
A fixed order of operations for manual mode so you are never fiddling with three dials at once.
Manual + Auto ISO
The single most useful camera setup for unpredictable light: fixed aperture, fixed shutter, floating ISO, steered by exposure compensation.
Auto ISO minimum shutter speed
The three Auto ISO settings that matter, and a table of sensible minimum shutter speeds by subject.
Bulb mode
What Bulb does, the three pieces of kit it needs, and the settings to start from for star trails and light painting.
Custom modes worth saving
Three ready-made configurations to save to your camera's custom mode slots so you can switch setups with one click.
Sunny 16
On a bright sunny day: f/16, shutter speed equal to 1 over your ISO. The oldest exposure rule in photography.
The Sunny 16 family
Sunny 16 extended across six lighting conditions, using the shadow on the ground as your light meter.
The reciprocal rule
The minimum shutter speed for sharp handheld shots at each focal length, rounded to the speeds your camera actually offers.
Reciprocal rule with crop and stabilisation
The 1/focal-length rule corrected for sensor size and image stabilisation, with the crop factors for every common system.
Looney 11 — exposing for the moon
The moon is a sunlit rock, so it needs daylight settings: f/11, 1/ISO. The rule plus a phase correction table.
ND filter stop chart
ND2, 0.9, ND1000, 10-stop — three naming systems for the same filters, translated into one table.
Flash sync speed
What sync speed is, why exceeding it puts a dark band across your photo, and what High Speed Sync actually costs you.
White balance presets
Every white balance icon decoded, with the Kelvin value behind it and the colour shift it applies.
Kelvin scale
A colour-graded Kelvin scale with the real light sources at each point.
Custom white balance
The four-step custom white balance routine, plus what to photograph if you do not own a grey card.
When Auto WB fails
Auto WB is excellent until it isn't. Nine scenes where it reliably fails, and what to set instead.
White balance in RAW against JPEG
White balance is free to change in RAW and permanent in JPEG — but there are still three reasons to set it correctly in camera.
Mixed lighting
A decision tree for rooms lit by two different colours of light, which no single white balance can correct.
Light source colour reference
A lookup table of everyday light sources and their colour temperature, for setting Kelvin manually.
Breaking white balance on purpose
Deliberately mismatching white balance is a colour grade you can apply in camera. Two directions, with the Kelvin values.
RAW against JPEG
An even-handed comparison of RAW and JPEG across eight attributes, with the case for each.
Card capacity
Approximate shot counts per card size at 24MP and 45MP, for RAW and JPEG.
Memory card ratings
Every symbol on an SD card explained, and the minimum rating you need for stills bursts and for video.
Focus modes (AF-S, AF-C, AF-A)
The three autofocus modes, what each one does when you half-press, and which subjects belong in each.
AF area modes
Nine frame diagrams showing what each autofocus area mode covers and when to choose it.
Drive modes
Every drive mode and the situation it exists for, including the two timer settings worth knowing.
Bracketing
What bracketing does, the three kinds your camera offers, and the settings to use for each.
Five-minute camera setup
Twelve settings worth changing the day you unbox a camera, in the order to change them.
Starting settings for 12 situations
A starting-point settings table for twelve everyday scenes. Not rules — a place to begin, then adjust.
Aperture, physically
A cutaway of a lens showing the iris diaphragm, what it does, and where it sits.
Why f-numbers look backwards
The one sentence that makes f-numbers stop being confusing: f/2 means “focal length ÷ 2”.
F-number formula
Physical aperture diameter at each f-stop on three common focal lengths, showing why long fast lenses are so large.
Aperture and light
The full-stop scale with the relative light at each step, showing the doubling.
Aperture and depth of field
Computed total depth of field at each aperture for a 50mm lens focused at 2 metres on full frame.
Diffraction
Why stopping all the way down makes the whole image softer, and where the crossover point sits.
What “fast” means
What maximum aperture gives you beyond blur, and what it costs in money, weight and sharpness.
Variable aperture zooms
Why your kit lens gets darker as you zoom in, and what to do about it.
Aperture blades and bokeh shape
How blade count and shape determine out-of-focus highlights and sunstars.
T-stops
The difference between the geometric f-number and the measured light transmission, and why it matters for video.
What depth of field actually is
The uncomfortable truth about focus: exactly one distance is sharp, and depth of field is a zone of acceptable blur.
The four variables
The four controls over depth of field, ranked by how much leverage each actually gives you.
Subject distance
Computed depth of field for the same lens and aperture at five distances, showing the dominance of distance.
Focal length
Total depth of field at 2 metres for four focal lengths at four apertures. Full frame, computed.
Sensor size
Computed depth of field for three sensor sizes at the same framing and the same f-number.
The one-third rule and its limits
The old rule tested against computed numbers, showing where it holds and where it fails badly.
Circle of confusion
What the CoC is, the standard values per format, and why it means every depth-of-field chart is an opinion.
Hyperfocal distance
What hyperfocal distance means, the formula, and the one thing everyone gets wrong about it.
Hyperfocal table
A computed hyperfocal table for full frame. Focus at the listed distance and everything from half of it to infinity is sharp.
Depth of field quick table
A field lookup table of total depth of field for the two most-used portrait and general focal lengths.
Focus peaking and magnification
How to turn on focus peaking, what the colours mean, and the magnification trick that beats it.
Portrait apertures
Aperture by portrait type, with the computed depth of field so you can see whether both eyes will be sharp.
Group apertures
Aperture by group depth, with the arrangement trick that matters more than the f-stop.
Landscape apertures
Aperture choice for landscape, driven by whether you actually have a near foreground.
Macro apertures
Depth of field at macro distances, showing why macro is a different problem from ordinary photography.
Street apertures
Why f/8 and zone focusing beat autofocus for street, with the computed zone.
Astro apertures
Why astrophotography uses the widest aperture available, and the optical defect that sometimes makes stopping down worth it.
Product apertures
Aperture by product size and depth, with the focus-stacking threshold.
Wildlife apertures
Why wildlife shooters live at maximum aperture, and the one case for stopping down.
Architecture apertures
Why architecture is judged on corner sharpness, and what that means for aperture choice.
Wedding and event apertures
Aperture by moment through a wedding day, weighted toward not missing the shot.
Sharpest aperture
Where the sweet spot usually sits, why it exists, and a test to find yours.
Stop down or raise ISO?
The trade nobody explains: when the extra depth of field is worth the noise.
What bokeh actually means
The distinction between amount of blur and quality of blur, which almost every article conflates.
Good against bad bokeh
Four visual markers that separate pleasing blur from distracting blur.
Maximising background blur
The five controls over background blur, in order of how much difference each makes.
Bokeh balls
The four conditions that produce round out-of-focus highlights, and where to find them.
Cat's eye bokeh
The optical cause of lens-shaped highlights at the frame edges, and how to remove it.
Onion ring bokeh
Why some lenses produce concentric rings inside out-of-focus highlights.
Swirly bokeh
What causes swirling backgrounds, which lenses do it, and how to compose for it.
Foreground bokeh
Using out-of-focus foreground to add depth, and the two ways it goes wrong.
Blur is not separation
The four ways to separate a subject from its background, only one of which is aperture.
How they are organised
Two boards, 13 topics
Sheets are produced in boards. Two are finished; more are in production.
Board 1 · 59 sheets
Exposure & camera settings
The exposure triangle out to autofocus, white balance and the settings to change on a new body.
Board 2 · 43 sheets
Aperture & depth of field
The f-number from first principles, computed depth-of-field tables, and bokeh.
- Exposure basics · 8
- Stops, the three scales, and how they trade against each other.
- Metering · 10
- What the meter measures, where it fails, and the compensation that fixes it.
- Histogram & highlights · 8
- Reading the graph, clipping, and what a RAW file can still recover.
- Shooting modes · 8
- The mode dial, and the routine for each mode worth using.
- Rules & numbers · 7
- Sunny 16, the reciprocal rule, Looney 11, ND stops, flash sync.
- White balance & colour · 8
- Presets, Kelvin values, and the scenes that break Auto WB.
- Files & cards · 3
- RAW against JPEG, card capacity, and what the symbols on an SD card mean.
- Focus & drive · 5
- AF modes, AF areas, back-button focus and the drive modes.
- Setup & starting points · 3
- What to change on a new camera, and where to start in twelve scenes.
- Aperture · 10
- What the f-number is, why it looks backwards, and what it costs.
- Depth of field · 12
- The four variables, computed tables, hyperfocal distance.
- Aperture by subject · 10
- Where to set the aperture for portraits, landscape, macro, weddings.
- Bokeh · 10
- What bokeh actually means, and the shapes lenses make.
Close the loop
A chart tells you what to set. Your photos tell you what you set.
The fastest way to learn from these sheets is to check a shot that worked and one that didn’t. Every photo already stores the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focal length and lens it was taken with. Read one in your browser — free, nothing uploaded — or use EXIF Viewer on iPhone, iPad and Mac to go through a whole shoot at once.
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About the sheets
What this page is
- Free, no sign-up
- Open any sheet full size. No account, no email, no watermark over the numbers.
- Two boards so far
- Exposure and camera settings, then aperture and depth of field. More are in production.
- A starting point
- Reference charts, not specifications. Where a rule has limits, read the sheet's own notes on them — and your camera's manual.
- Third-party material
- The sheets are supplied by a third party. Fluntro publishes them as a free reference and does not verify or endorse their contents.
Disclaimer
The cheat sheets on this page are supplied by a third party. Fluntro publishes them as a free reference and did not author, verify or independently check their contents, and does not endorse them.
They are general information, not advice, and are provided “as is” with no warranty of any kind, express or implied, as to accuracy, completeness, currency, or fitness for any particular purpose. Camera behaviour varies by make, model, firmware and lens; depth-of-field, hyperfocal and capacity figures depend on the sensor format and circle of confusion assumed, and reasonable sources disagree on those. Check your camera’s own manual and verify anything you intend to rely on.
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Questions
Photography settings, answered
What is the exposure triangle?
The exposure triangle is aperture, shutter speed and ISO — the three controls that set how bright a photo is. Aperture controls how much light arrives per instant and costs you depth of field; shutter speed controls how long light is collected and costs you motion blur; ISO amplifies the signal already gathered and costs you noise. Change one and compensate with another and the brightness stays the same, but the photograph does not.
What is the Sunny 16 rule?
On a bright sunny day with hard-edged shadows, set the aperture to f/16 and the shutter speed to 1 over your ISO. At ISO 100 that is f/16 at 1/100 second. It works because direct sunlight is a constant, which is why the rule predates light meters.
What shutter speed do I need to hand-hold a shot?
At least 1 over the focal length: 50mm needs 1/50 second, rounded to the 1/60 your camera offers. On a crop sensor multiply the focal length by the crop factor first (×1.5 Nikon and Sony APS-C, ×1.6 Canon APS-C, ×2 Micro Four Thirds). Image stabilisation buys back two to five stops depending on the system.
What is hyperfocal distance?
Hyperfocal distance is the closest distance you can focus at while keeping infinity acceptably sharp. Focus there and everything from half that distance to infinity is sharp — which is the most depth of field any given aperture can give you. There is a computed table for full frame in these sheets.
What is the difference between blur and bokeh?
Blur is how much of the background is out of focus — a quantity, set by aperture, subject distance and focal length. Bokeh is the character of that blur — a quality, set by lens design. They are separate claims, which is why “more bokeh” is not really a thing.
Are these cheat sheets free to use?
Yes. All 102 sheets are free to view at full size on this page — no account, no email, no watermark. They are supplied by a third party and published here as a free reference; see the disclaimer below for the terms they are offered under.
Are the numbers on these sheets accurate?
Treat them as a starting point, not as specifications. The sheets are supplied by a third party and are not verified by Fluntro. Camera behaviour varies by make, model, firmware and lens, and depth-of-field and hyperfocal figures depend on the circle of confusion and sensor format assumed — reasonable sources disagree on those. Check your camera's own manual before relying on a setting for anything that matters.
How do I check what settings I actually used on a photo?
Every photo stores its settings in its EXIF metadata — aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focal length, lens, and often the GPS location. You can read them on iPhone, iPad or Mac with EXIF Viewer by Fluntro, or in your browser for free with the EXIF viewer tool on this site. Comparing the numbers you used against a sheet is the fastest way to learn why a shot worked.
Every photo has a story in its metadata. Read it, fix it, or erase it.
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