Hello friends, today we have again brought a new article which will be the next topic of our photography series “Learn Basic Photography“. In this series we are covering all the basic topics of photography. In which we have covered many basic but important topics. Like in this series we have covered “What is Photography? and its types“, “What Is Shutter Speed in Photography“, “What Is Aperture & its role in Photography“, “What Is ISO? Complete Tutorial On ISO “, “What is Composition In Photography? Rules Of Composition“, “Understanding Metering In Camera and Metering Modes“, “What Are Digital Camera Modes and its Types” and through today’s article we will elaborate on “Camera Settings That Beginners Need To Know” Will discuss with. In this article we have understood all types of important settings. I hope you will like this topic very much today.
If you find any kind of deficiency or mistake in this article, then you can convey your views to us through the comment section below.
Camera Settings That Beginners Need To Know
Whenever we start photography, this question definitely comes in our mind that what are the camera settings, by setting which we can click a good picture. But there is no such camera setting that will click you sharp images in every situation. You should be aware of each option and change the settings according to your situation.
But still, through this article, I will tell you some such settings which I always set in my camera because these settings mostly give me good results. And I change these settings only occasionally.
And we will also talk about some camera modes in this article which make it easy and fast for us to capture photos, especially for those who have just started photography.
Camera Settings
First of all, we will do some basic camera settings first. Which will give you mostly good results. You can set the option of the settings given below by finding it in your camera.
- Image Quality: RAW
- RAW Recording: Lossless Compressed (if available)
- White Balance: Auto
- Picture Control / Picture Style / Creative Style / Film Simulation: Standard
- Color Space: sRGB
- Long Exposure Noise Reduction: On
- High ISO Noise Reduction: Off
- Active D-Lighting / DRO, HDR, Lens Corrections (Vignette Control, Chromatic Aberration Control, Distortion Control, etc): Off
First of all, you have to select the proper file format for your photo, which is RAW file. If your camera has RAW compression setting then you should always select RAW Lossless Compressed option. since it reduces the amount of space your RAW files consume. When it comes to picture controls, this doesn’t matter for RAW images (they only impact the way the image appears on your camera’s LCD). It is good for you that you stick to the standard profile and do not change any settings like sharpening, contrast because we need all this in jped format.
Similarly, when it comes to colors and white balance, you do not have to worry about all these during RAW shooting, since you can change them later. I would stick to “long exposure noise reduction” unless you know what you are doing. This affects your images when you are shooting RAW images at long exposure. And it reduces the noise of your image.
- While shooting RAW you have to keep camera lens corrections off.
- You have to keep dynamic range optimizations off while shooting RAW.
- You also have to keep the noise reduction options off during RAW shooting.
Because these three do not contribute anything in improving your image.
Best Shooting Modes Of Camera
I recommend you to try in aperture priority mode. But some photographers will not agree with this point of mine because some photographers will advise you to click in “Manual Mode”. Because in this mode the photographer has complete control over the camera.
But I recommend Aperture Priority mode because I also rely on this mode and I do 70 – 80% of my photography with this mode. And believe me it gives good results only.
In this mode, not only do I have control over the aperture, but I also have control over how dark or how bright my image will be. Whenever my camera starts capturing images that are too bright I use the “Exposure Compensation” button and my job is done.
Note :-
Note :- You should avoid using modes like Macro, Sports, Fireworks while shooting. Let us understand below what is the reason for this.
Because these modes are seen in many different ways not only in camera manufacturers but also in camera models.
Which Autofocus Is Best ?
You have to decide that you should always use the best autofocus mode for the photos you shoot. Now the question is that when and which autofocus mode should we use.
As we read above, we decide the best shooting mode according to the situation. We set the autofocus as per the situation.
There are two types of autofocus modes available in our digital cameras.
- Single Area Focus Mode
- Continuous/AI Servo Focus Mode
Single Area Focus Mode: – This mode is known by different names in different cameras. Such as “Single Area AF”, “One Shot AF” or simply “AF-S” etc. We use this type of autofocus when our subject is Motionless, that is, our subject is accurate in one place or one position.
For example, a shoot in which a couple is getting photos clicked at one place in one pose.
Continuous / AI Servo Focus Mode :- You must have understood after hearing the name. We use this autofocus mode when our subject is not stable, that is, the subject is in motion and it is constantly changing its place or any type of motion can be involved. To capture such subjects, we use Continuous / AI Servo Focus Mode.
To make it all easier, some beginner camera manufacturers also include hybrid mode, which automatically switches from Single Area Focus Mode to Continuous / AI Servo Focus Mode, depending on your subject, if your subject If motionless, this mode will remain in the default Single Area Focus Mode, but if the subject is in motion, it will automatically change the autofocus mode to Continuous / AI Servo Focus Mode.
Some cameras also include a mode called “Auto AF”. This mode looks at your entire scene and tries to focus on the subject or things with the subject.
Best Metering Modes that we should use to get nicely espoused image
When it comes to our best metering modes, we have many types of metering modes available such as Spot Metering, Center-Weighted Metering and Matrix / Evaluative Metering. In most of the situations, the best metering mode we find is to shoot on the default mode i.e. Spot Metering. should do. Because it gives importance to our entire scene and it exposes the picture very well.
Because this mode keeps most of the parts of your image sharp and takes care that the image gets good light so that the image can be captured in a better way.
Best Shutter Speed
We keep the setting of shutter speed according to the situation of our shoot/subject. For example, we want to click a picture, like when we see the image of a road at night in films, it seems that the light is running. So we can click all this by keeping the shutter speed slow. Which creates a very beautiful blur effect and gives us.
Secondly, if we want to give a freeze effect to any motion, we need to keep a fast shutter speed. For example, we want to click an image in which a balloon filled with water bursts when pricked with a needle and then capture the water drops. So for this we need high shutter speed.
Best Aperture (Min-Max)
After shutter speed comes aperture in three leg of photography. Understand an introduction to aperture, aperture controls how much light will pass through the camera lens so that our photo is not overexposed or underexposed.
Now, like shutter speed, lens aperture also depends on the subject/situation. When we are clicking a photo in a situation where there is a lot of light, then we want that less light reaches the sensor and our image is not captured overexposed. For this we have to increase the aperture to higher aperture number (Minimum aperture).
On the contrary, if the shoot is in dark or dim light, then in such a situation we have to reach more light to the sensor, then we decrease the aperture and hence the aperture number (maximum aperture) is lower.
Along with this, the aperture also affects the sharpness and depth of field of the image. The aperture setting completely depends on your shooting place and environment.
If you have a complete understanding of aperture, then you can set it yourself according to the environment with your knowledge.
ISO Settings To Capture Noise Free Photographs
Talking about ISO, the lower the ISO value you capture the image, the more clear or sharp your image will be captured. If you capture a photo at high ISO, then you will see digital noise in such a photo, which is not considered a part of good photography, although we can reduce the noise through noise reduction techniques, but we should try. As much as possible, we should click the image at low ISO only.
Like shutter speed and aperture, we also have to set ISO according to the situation, place and environment.
When we have to click the photo in a bright place then we have to click on low ISO. Because in such a situation we need less light.
On the other hand, if we want to click a photo in a dark place, we need maximum light so that maximum light can reach the camera. In this case, more ISO has to be clicked.