Photography

Camera Modes

Most cameras today are equipped with pre-programmed settings that allow users to simply choose the most appropriate one and shoot. Below are examples of typical Mode dials from various Digital Cameras. There may be slight variations but most of them operate in practically the same principles.

TYPICAL CAMERA MODE DIALS

Let us explore the various camera shooting Modes that are common to most cameras and see how they can affect the captured images. These modes usually play around the Aperture and Shutter speed values so if you are not familiar yet with these terms, please read the section about Aperture & Shutter before proceeding with this topic.

Auto (marked as A in some cameras) - In this mode the camera uses its own judgment to completely control the aperture value, shutter speed, ISO, flash and other settings to get the best picture possible. For some cameras a notification appears in the display to turn on or open the built-in flash if it is needed for the occassion.

Program - This mode allows you to control Flash, ISO and maybe some other settings, but the camera automatically chooses the logical Aperture and shutter speed settings. The same as in AUTO mode, you don't have to worry about exposure at all.

Aperture Priority - Usually found in mid to high-end cameras, you essentially set the aperture value manually and the camera selects the proper shutter speed. ISO may also be manually selectable in this mode so the the shutter speed selected by the camera will vary also on the chosen ISO and other settings.

Shutter Priority - Also common in mid to high-end cameras, this mode will allow you to manually select the shutter speed and the camera computes the best aperture value. The value the camera chooses will also depend on the current ISO setting. This mode is mostly useful for sports or wildlife photography where fast shutter speeds are essential.

Manual - If you know exactly what you want, you can use this mode to specifically select the aperture value and shutter speed. This mode is useful in special situations when automatic or semi-automatic modes can not intelligently select a proper exposure for the subject, or simply to produce a certain desired effect.

Movie / Video - This mode turns your digital camera from just capturing still images to capturing moving videos. Most new digital cameras these days come with a movie mode that enables recording both video and sound. The quality may not be as good as a real video camera but it’s a handy mode to have when you come across that perfect subject that still images are just not enough. Note though that since a movie recording is composed of a series of still images along with matching sound, every second occupies a large amount of memory so use this with proper discretion.

Macro / Close-up - If you want to photograph a subject at a very close distance use the macro mode. This will adjust the minimum focusing distance of the camera so that the lens can still focus on your subject even at about 2 to 10 cm. Some cameras come with a Super Macro mode which allows you to come to as close as 0 to 2 cm from your subject. This is useful for close-ups, or shooting flowers, insects and other small objects.

Party / Night - In this mode the camera's shutter is set to a slow speed to allow the sensor to get as much information from your background and fires off the flash to give proper lighting to your subject and the foreground. Without a tripod, the results can be rather interesting as it will tend to give you a blurred background and a sharp subject with occassional "ghosting" effect if the subject moves during the shot.

Portrait - Switching to portrait mode will set your camera aperture to a large opening (low F-value). This helps to make the background blurred (out of focus) by narrowing down the Depth Of Field (DOF) thus, giving more emphasis to the subject in focus. This mode is best used if you want to take a close-up photograph of a single subject and you want the subject to be the center of attention in the picture.

Landscape - This mode provides the opposite effect of Portrait mode. Using Landscape mode will set the camera aperture to a very small opening (large F-Value) which widens the depth of field. This helps give more focus on the background scene that you are shooting. If the lighting is not so good like in the early morning, late afternoon, or on a cloudy day, the camera will often choose a slow shutter speed to allow more detail of the scene to be captured by the sensor. It is very important in this situation to be very still, otherwise, the slightest movement will cause very significant blurring of the image -- a tripod would be ideal.

Sports - Sometimes called "Action mode", this is ideal for taking photographs of moving objects like car races, sports activities, a running horse, or a flying bird. The camera will choose a fast shutter speed to avoid motion blurring and usually a very large aperture opening (low F-value) to provide as much light as possible.

Stitch - This is a fun mode for creating a wide panoramic shot of a scene. This provides you with tools to capture a series of scene images, position and "stitch" together different parts of a scene and turn them into a single seamless image. It make take some practice to perfect but the the results can be very rewarding.

There are other modes available on some cameras that are useful for certain specific conditions, such as "Beach/Snow mode" to compensate for bright scenes with reflective surfaces, "Fireworks mode" for capturing fireworks displays, "Underwater mode" to provide a unique color and exposure corrections usually found in underwater scenes, and "Indoor mode" to provide proper white balance and exposure compensation for indoor environment with artificial lighting.