HOw do i work out the aperture and lens speed on my camera?

On a film camera, the internel electronics determine the shutter speed and aperture. The camera computer figures out a higher shutter speed against the aperture speed. You have a lever on your lens that, when mounted on the camera, will keep the aperture open until you fire. That allows viewing in the brightest light. Then that aperture arm is allowed to close to what the exposure setting the camera determines when you click the shutter. You should be able to take off the lens and easily move the aperture arm and have it snap closed. If it takes a few seconds to close.. then the lens has oil on the aperture blades or the grease inside the lens is bad. These days, unless is it a very expensive lens it's replacement time. Canon lenses will fit any Canon (except Fd) film or digital camera.

The aperture and shutter speed setting depends on the amount of light and on the effect you want to achieve. For any given lighting situation there are many possible aperture/shutter speed settings that are all equally valid. However, the aperture also determines the depth of field, and the shutter speed can either freeze action or allow it to blur. Only you as the photographer can decide which of those valid exposure settings best conveys your vision.
As to how to determine the proper exposure, there are several possibilities. One is to use a light meter. If you don't have a separate light meter, you can use another lens and meter through it. It may not give you exactly the same field of view, but it should get you into the ballpark. Then there's the "sunny-16 rule." This says that under a bright sun, the proper exposure is f/16 with a shutter speed equivalent to 1 over the ISO. Of course this is just a starting point, and you can adjust the aperture/shutter speed to achieve the desired result.
I suggest you visit your local library. They should have introductory books on photography which will explain all this in depth.

No. You only need to do that when using any exposure modes where the camera needs to take full control of the aperture setting for you (basically everything except full manual metering and aperture priority metering). The idea is that by setting the lens to the minimum f-number (aperture) the camera can then automatically set the actual aperture required by the exposure meter and exposure program to anything between maximum aperture (lowest f-number) and the f22 set on the lens.

Aperture settings are independent of autofocus on all SLR cameras. If you're new to SLR photography then I highly recommend the latest (2009) edition of John Hedgecoe's New Manual of Photography. The link is just to show you the book and not an endorsement of the featured supplier; I'm sure that you'll want to make your own buying choices.

I hope this has helped, if so please return the favour by taking a moment to rate my answer. If not then please explain your problem in more detail and I'll be happy to offer further assistance.

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Hey matty reps,
Aperture priority is a setting on most SLR cameras where you choose the aperture, which is the size of the opening in the lens that lets light thru, and the camera chooses a shutter speed that provides a correct exposure. The smaller the opening in the lens the less light that gets thru to expose the film so the shutter has to stay open longer to provide a correct exposure, but the smaller the aperture you use the larger the depth of field. Depth of field is how far in front and behind the subject things are in sharp focus. Canon refers to aperture priority as Av mode. With flash photography the camera usually sets the shutter speed to a designated speed called xsync speed, which is probably 1/90th of a second since this is what you said the camera was setting it to, but that speed is irrelevant since the duration of the flash is what determines the exposure time with flash photography which is usually around 1/10000 of a second (easily fast enough to stop almost any action). In aperture priority with a flash the smaller the aperture you use the more that will be in focus but more light will be needed from the flash and the closer you will need to be to your subject. A hotshoe mounted flash will help tremendously. I hope I didn't confuse you more, but as I said before you are attempting something difficult to do in photography. Keep trying and you'll get it!

Sincerely,
Allan
Go Ahead. Use Us.

Hey matty reps,
You are attempting one of the most challenging types of photography there is, because you are combing nighttime photography and action photography. If you want to stop the action you normally would be using the highest shutter speed possible, but since you are trying to take nighttime action photographs I would rely on a flash since the flash duration in essence becomes your shutter speed. I would definitely use a hotshoe mounted flash because the built in flash will most likely not be powerful enough for your needs. I would have the camera set to aperture priority so I could control the depth of field, because the smaller the aperture the larger depth of field you will have and the less likely your subject will be out of focus. If you are attempting natural light nighttime action photography you will definitely need a very fast film speed such as 3200 speed film which will provide significant loss of image quality. You will also need a very fast lens meaning a lens with an aperture of at least f2.8 or larger, and your camera in this scenario should be set to shutter priority so you can set the camera to the fastest shutter speed possible but this will present focusing issues. In both scenarios I would have the AF system set to continuous so the camera doesn't require you to achieve focus to be able to trip the shutter. As in all challenging photography situations more photos are better than less, because you should have more failed photos than successful. I hope this helps!

Sincerely,
Allan
Go Ahead. Use Us.

Yes, on this camera you leave the aperture ring at f22 and use the camera's controls to set your f-stop. It won't work is you change the ring on the lens. You gain the control of the aperture in the 'M' and 'A' modes. The 'P' setting is for the camera to pick both speed and aperture for you. 'S' is shutter priority, etc

There's absolutely nothing wrong with your camera. You simply need to learn about the basics. Read on the web about exposure, shutter speed, aperture, and how they affect each other. If your shots are blurry, the reason is that the shutter speed was too low.

How can you know when the shutter speed is too low?

- Use a tripod (the VR of the lens must be off in this case)
- Or, for hand-held shots, use shutter priority mode and set a speed as fast as the focal length of the lens. - i.e. for focal length of 100mm, a handheld shot must be taken at 1/100 sec or faster. Of course, the light might not be available for such a faster speed. The VR also gives you some latitude, but it's not panacea.

Additionally, DSLR cameras (esp. if you shoot RAW) produce images that are less saturated and contrasty compared to the blown out photos produced by point and shoot cameras.

You have a remarkable camera, just take your time and learn the basics of photography.