Camera Functions

What Are All Those Camera Icons?

The tiny symbols on your digital camera's dial represent a wealth of features and functions.

Dave Johnson writes the Digital Focus online newsletter for PCWorld.com.

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A Key to Camera Icons: Making Sense of the Symbols

Auto Mode: When you want to take snapshots without worrying about the 
mechanics of photography, leave this setting on Auto. This mode sets all 
exposure levels automatically, and it usually locks you out of making any 
minor adjustments manually.

Manual Mode: This mode gives you total control. You use buttons 
on the camera's body to set both shutter speed and aperture size. 
Remember, though, that you're working without a safety net--the 
camera won't protect you from under- or overexposure.

Aperture Mode: When you set the size of the aperture, your camera 
automatically provides the right shutter speed to deliver a correct exposure. 
Rely on this mode to blur the background or to keep the entire image in sharp focus.

Shutter Mode: This setting is your best option for taking action photography. Shutter priority allows 
you to freeze the scene or artistically blur the picture. All the while, the camera keeps the exposure matched 
to the aperture.

Program Mode: Like Auto mode on steroids, this mode automatically sets aperture size and shutter speed 
for a perfect exposure--but it also lets you tweak settings, giving you more creative control. You can change 
white balance and exposure compensation, for instance, and even nudge shutter speed up or down a bit.

Movie Mode: Many cameras let you record MPEG or QuickTime videos to the same memory card storing your photos. 
The videos aren't sharp enough for DVD, but they're great for e-mail.

Macro Mode: To focus on extremely close subjects--say, within a few inches of the lens--choose the tulip. 
You can take life-size pictures of insects, flowers, and other small subjects in this mode, but the focus range 
at such distances is very narrow.

       

Landscape Mode: In this mode, your camera picks the best aperture and shutter settings for the depth of field 
that you want when taking pictures of landscapes and other outdoor tableaux.

  

Sand and Snow: Brightly colored or glaring backgrounds can trick the camera into 
underexposing the subject. This mode overexposes the scene to gain details that would 
otherwise be lost.

Action: The Action (sometimes called Sports) mode sets the camera to the highest possible shutter speed, 
increasing your odds of getting a clear shot of squirming kids, for example.

Night: This mode lets you capture nighttime scenes by combining a flash, which freezes people in the 
foreground, with a slow shutter speed, which allows lights from buildings, cars, and other elements to 
show in the background.

SHUTTER SPEED

When taking a photo of a moving subject, changing the shutter speed can change the look of an image. If a slow shutter speed is selected, movement is captured. Using a fast shutter speed will freeze the action.

Here are suggested shutter speeds for photographing a variety of subjects.

SUGGESTED SHUTTER SPEEDS
TO FREEZE ACTION*	TO CAPTURE MOTION**
Children – 1/250 – 1/1000 seconds	Amusement park rides: +/- one second
Moving water/waterfalls: 1/1000 seconds or more	Moving water/waterfalls: 4 or more seconds
Sporting event: 1/500 – 1/2000 seconds	Fireworks: 1/2 – 4 seconds
Birds in flight: 1/1000th a second and above	Moving cars at night: 8-10 seconds
	Night photography – one or more seconds

* The closer action is to your digital camera, the faster the shutter speed is needed.

To help prevent images from becoming blurred, set the shutter speed faster than the focal length. For example, a zoom lens set at 200mm (35mm equivalent) requires a shutter speed of at least 1/200 second to avoid a blurred image. Adjust shutter speeds even faster for DSLRs with a focal length multiplier .

** Tripod or other camera support is recommended whenever using slow shutter speeds. Also use the self-timer or remote to trigger the shutter to prevent camera movement.