Introduction
You have the settings for a digital camera. It’s full of pictures of your cat. You know the settings on a digital camera, but you don’t know what they mean. You try to take pictures in automatic mode, but it doesn’t look right. What are you doing? Well, this guide is meant to help you understand what each digital camera setting does and how it affects your photos.
Digital camera settings with modes
The mode setting tells the camera what kind of photo you want to take. The most common modes are Auto, Portrait, Landscape and Sport.
- Auto mode is great to start with because it does the thinking for you. It automatically detects the scene and adjusts your digital camera settings accordingly, so your photos always look their best, without you having to do a thing (but without completely losing control).
- Portrait mode is used when taking portraits with blurred backgrounds, like this one:
- Landscape mode works well for landscape shots like these:
Shutter speed
Shade speed is the manner by which long the camera screen stays open. It is measured in fractions of a second and can be set to any duration between 1/8000 and 30 seconds. The longer the shutter is open, the lighter passes through to reach your sensor, but the chance of something moving (causing blur) during that time also increases. If you’re photographing a moving subject, like someone walking or running, try using a faster shutter speed so your subject doesn’t look blurry as it moves in the frame.
ISO sensitivity
ISO is a digital camera setting that controls the sensor’s sensitivity to light. In other words, it tells your camera how much light it needs to take a picture. The higher the ISO number, the more sensitive the camera’s sensor will be. This means you can use faster shutter speeds (say 1/30th of a second) in low light without worrying too much about blur or motion blur caused by hand movement.
White balance
White balance is used to correct color casts in your photo. A color (or hue) cast occurs when the colors in an image are not true colors but are tinged with a different hue or hue. The good news is that most cameras have preset modes for common situations like daylight or overcast skies; However, sometimes they don’t work perfectly for all photos and sometimes require manual adjustment of digital camera settings.*
Manual mode
In manual mode, you have full control over all digital camera settings. Set the camera to manual mode and manually select shutter speed, aperture, ISO and white balance. Adjusting your digital camera settings gives you control over how your images look without the need for additional equipment.
To take a photo in manual mode:
Adjust the shutter speed by rotating the dial until it reads 1/60 or faster (this is called “shutter priority mode”). That is, if there is enough light for an exposure of 1/60th of a second or faster (for example, during the day), then you don’t need to adjust anything else; otherwise, adjust the ISO or aperture accordingly.
Adjust aperture by rotating the command dial until f/8 is displayed (this is called “aperture priority mode”). This means that if there aren’t enough lights available at f/8, or whatever value matches your chosen lens aperture, adjusts the ISO until the shutter speed is back in range before taking another shot.
University Degree
I hope this article has helped you understand some fundamentals of digital photography. When you’re just starting out, it can be difficult to get to grips with the different settings on your camera. But don’t worry; we’ve covered most of them here! The most important thing to remember is that there are many ways to control how your image looks. Once you know which ones work best for each situation (and why), all those buttons will make sense too!
