Az expozíció helyes, de a képkivágás nem megfelelő.

In Hungarian, the verb to be is usually left out in the present tense, third person when you are saying that something is something.

So:

• Az expozíció helyes. = The exposure is correct.
• A képkivágás nem megfelelő. = The crop/framing is not appropriate.

But in other persons or tenses, van or another form of to be does appear:

• Az expozíció helyes volt. = The exposure was correct.
• Az expozíció helyes lesz. = The exposure will be correct.
• Én fáradt vagyok. = I am tired.

So the missing is is completely normal here.

Yes, both a and az mean the. The choice depends on the sound that follows:

• a before a consonant sound
• az before a vowel sound

So:

• az expozíció because expozíció starts with a vowel sound
• a képkivágás because képkivágás starts with a consonant sound

This is similar to a/an in English, but it applies to the definite article.

Helyes means something like correct, proper, or right.

In this sentence, Az expozíció helyes means the exposure is technically correct or acceptable.

It is not exactly the same as jó (good):

• helyes = correct, proper, accurate
• jó = good, nice, satisfactory in a broader sense

In photography, helyes expozíció sounds more precise and technical than jó expozíció.

Megfelelő usually means appropriate, suitable, or adequate.

So in this sentence:

• helyes describes the exposure as correct
• nem megfelelő says the crop/framing is not suitable or not appropriate

These two adjectives overlap a little, but they are not identical:

• helyes focuses more on correctness
• megfelelő focuses more on suitability for the situation

That is why this pairing sounds natural in a photography context.

Képkivágás is a compound word:

• kép = picture, image
• kivágás = cutting out, crop

Together, képkivágás means image crop, cropping, or sometimes framing/composition, depending on context.

In photography, it often refers to how the image has been cropped or how the subject fits within the frame.

Hungarian often makes compound nouns like this, so this is a very useful pattern to notice.

In Hungarian, nem is the usual word for not, and it normally comes directly before the word it negates.

So:

• megfelelő = appropriate
• nem megfelelő = not appropriate

This is very common:

• jó → nem jó = not good
• helyes → nem helyes = not correct
• érdekes → nem érdekes = not interesting

So a képkivágás nem megfelelő is a straightforward negated adjective phrase.

Yes, Hungarian word order is flexible, but the sentence as given is a very natural, neutral way to say it:

• Az expozíció helyes, de a képkivágás nem megfelelő.

It presents two parallel statements and contrasts them with de (but):

1. the exposure is correct
2. the crop is not appropriate

You could change the word order for emphasis, but that would slightly shift the focus. For example:

• Az expozíció helyes, de nem megfelelő a képkivágás.

This is possible, but less neutral and a bit more marked. The original sentence is the most standard version for a learner to remember.

De means but.

It connects two contrasting parts of the sentence:

• Az expozíció helyes = The exposure is correct
• de = but
• a képkivágás nem megfelelő = the crop/framing is not appropriate

This works much like English but. It typically comes between the two clauses.

No special case endings are being used here on the main nouns.

• az expozíció
• a képkivágás

Both are in the basic dictionary form, because they are the subjects of their clauses.

The adjectives helyes and megfelelő also appear in their basic form.

So this is a good example of a simple Hungarian equational sentence: [subject] + [adjective]

A few helpful points:

• expozíció: the stress is on the first syllable, as in almost all Hungarian words
• képkivágás: also stressed on the first syllable

Important vowel marks:

• é is a long e
• í is a long i
• á is a long a

Very roughly:

• expozíció ≈ EKS-po-zee-tsee-oh
• képkivágás ≈ KAYP-ki-vaa-gaash

Also remember that Hungarian spelling is quite regular, so the accents are important and should not be ignored.

You could, but the meaning would become a bit less precise.

For example:

• Az expozíció jó, de a képkivágás rossz.

This means: The exposure is good, but the crop is bad.

That is understandable, but it sounds more general and less technical.

The original sentence:

• Az expozíció helyes, de a képkivágás nem megfelelő.

sounds more careful and more like the kind of feedback you might hear in photography, design, or formal evaluation.

So jó/rossz are possible, but helyes/nem megfelelő are more nuanced here.