Getting to Know Your Camera

1. SHUTTER SPEED

The shutter is a curtain-like device between the aperture and sensor. It can be made to open at different speeds so that light falls on the sensor for more or less time. Where is your camera’s shutter control?

2. APERTURE

Aperture is a diaphragm-like device inside the camera lens. It can be opened or closed to let more or less light fall on the camera sensor. Where is the aperture control on your camera?

3. ISO

ISO refers to how sensitive the camera sensor is to light. The sensor records the scene being photographed. It is located behind the shutter and can be adjusted to be more or less reactive to light. A high ISO means the sensor is very reactive and needs less light to achieve proper exposure. How do you adjust ISO?

This is the control where you will find auto, scene, and manual modes. The symbols and names of these settings vary from camera to camera. On Canon cameras, aperture and shutter priority modes are called [TV] and [AV]. On most other cameras, they are called [S] and [A] respectively. Locate the shooting mode control on your camera.

The EV control allows for camera exposure overrides when shooting in aperture priority, shutter priority or program modes. It can be used to easily increase or decrease exposure.  Note: there may be two on your camera. Built-in flashes usually have their own EV setting to control flash output. Locate EV on your camera.

A camera light meter measures overall light reflected from the subject back to the meter, and then calculates exposure based on the reading. By default, it’s set to matrix mode. This means the meter measures light from a wide area of the frame. There are other options that can help pinpoint a specific area in the picture for correct exposure, including zone, center, spot and partial metering. Read your manual to see what metering modes are available on your camera model and locate them.

Focus can be optimized to for certain subjects. AF-S [One-shot on Canon] locks focus on a stationary subject. AF-C [Al-servo on Canon] locks focus on a moving subject and tracks it through the frame until the shutter is deployed. Find focus modes on your camera.

This controls the point where the scene will be sharpest. There are many different types of focus point selectors. Consult your manual to find the focus point options.

Drive mode controls the number of frames shot with one shutter click. You may choose from single shot, continues low [multiple shots at a slow rate], or continuous high [multiple shots at a high rate]. Drive mode is also where the timer is usually found. Locate drive mode on your camera.

The meter is a tool to help determine proper exposure. It displays in manual mode. A good exposure is calculated to be at 0. Overexposure occurs on the + side, and under exposure on the -. The meter also displays in aperture and shutter priority modes when the EV button is activated. Activate the meter on your camera by partially pressing the shutter button while in manual mode, or the EV button while in aperture priority or shutter priority.

Histograms are another useful tool to help you calculate good exposure. Metering systems can be fooled in certain light conditions, and it’s sometimes hard to judge exposure just from viewing a photo on the playback screen. You can choose to have the histogram appear in the photo review mode by going into your camera playback settings and making the selection to display. Consult your camera manual to locate and display this feature.

Light can have a color temperature and tint. Some light sources are close to neutral, but most are either on the warm or cool side of the scale. Modern cameras are fairly good at balancing white balance automatically and therefore their default setting is Automatic White Balance (AWB). However, there are other presets available in your settings, and often a way to set white balance manually. Find the White Balance setting on your camera.