7 Camera Settings Every Beginner Should Know

If you’re just snapping pictures with your camera as it came out of the box, you’re missing out on wonderful photography opportunities.

Many beginner photographers often wonder what camera settings they should use to get the best possible results with their current camera gear. While there is no set rule for camera settings that work well in every shooting environment, there are some settings that are universal across all brands of cameras in the market.

1.Shooting mode

Aperture Priority initiates the best exposure. That is not always true for Shutter Priority, the fault of this mode becomes very evident in low light situations. But Aperture Priority offers versatility with camera techniques that are not common in Program mode. And it offers a shooting speed faster than Manual Mode, which is the reason why beginners would get the best value using it as they improve with their photography skills.

READ ALSO: 7 Cybersecurity Projections For 2021

In Aperture Priority, if you want the best exposure with the fastest shutter speed, you need to set your dial to the widest aperture. You can do this even without looking at the settings. Remember, a bigger aperture means more light coming in. If you have a kit lens, it's usually at f/3.5 you have the widest aperture. It may seem that having an f/3.5 aperture is limiting, but this limit is the biggest advantage of Aperture Priority over Shutter Priority.

2.Autofocus mode

Autofocus offers two distinct modes, which you need to set on the camera. These are One-Shot AF (Canon)/Single-Servo AF (Nikon), and AI Servo AF (Canon)/Continuous-Servo AF (Nikon).

The One-Shot/Single-Servo option is the best choice for stationary subjects. Once the autofocus system has achieved focus, it locks that setting in: you can take a picture, knowing that the subject will be sharply focused.

As the name suggests, AI Servo/Continuous-Servo latches onto the object so your lens is focused and you can take continuous shots even with a moving target.

Artificial Intelligence is behind the third mode that many cameras offer as a third AF mode option. In Canon cameras, it is labelled AI Focus AF and in Nikon products, it is labelled Auto AF. This mode automatically detects if the subject is stationary or moving. It adjusts the autofocus setting accordingly.

3.Metering mode

While your camera might have a number of different Metering Modes such as Spot Metering, Center-Weighted Metering and Matrix / Evaluative Metering, for most situations it is best to default to Matrix / Evaluative Metering, because it takes the whole scene into account and typically does a better job at exposing your subjects.

4.Lens aperture

The sharpest aperture of your lens, known as the sweet spot, is located two to three f/stops from the widest aperture.

Therefore, the sharpest aperture on my 16-35mm f/4 is between f/8 and f/11. A faster lens, such as the 14-24mm f/2.8, has a sweet spot between f/5.6 and f/8.

Since the majority of professional lenses have the widest aperture of either f/2.8 or f/4, you’ll often hear that the best aperture is either f/8 or f/11. While they often are the sharpest, I still recommend using the 2-3 stop formula to calculate the sweet spot of your lens and then test it in the field with some comparison shots of a single composition.

5.Shutter speed

Something to keep in mind when choosing your shutter speed is that the longer your shutter is open, the better the chances of camera shake blurring your photos. This is especially true when shooting with a longer lens. As a rule of thumb, your shutter speed should not exceed your lens’ focal length when you are shooting handheld.

For example, if you are shooting with a 200mm lens, your shutter speed should be 1/200th of a second or faster to produce a sharp image. If your shutter speed will be slower than the length of your lens, it may be time to break out the tripod. Image stabilization in your camera or lens may also help negate some of this shake.

6.ISO setting

On a bright and sunny day, there is a lot of light so you can use a lower ISO setting. On a cloudy day, there is less light, so you must increase your ISO. Indoor photos have even less light and if you don’t want to use a flash, you can bump up the ISO to compensate for the low light.

100 or 200 best ISO for outside pictures on a sunny and bright day
400 ISO for cloudy days, or indoors for window light portraits
800 ISO for indoors without a flash
1600+ ISO for really low light situations – that school play your kid is in

7.Image stabilization

Lastly, don’t forget to take advantage of image stabilization (also known as SteadyShot, Vibration Reduction or Vibration Compensation) that is offered either by your camera (in-body image stabilization) or your lens. So if you are not using a tripod, it is important to switch on this function. Also, it is always a good idea to half-press the shutter release for a few seconds and let your camera or lens stabilize first, before taking a picture. This practice would reduce significantly the number of photos that are deleted because they are blurry.