5 Actually Useful Camera Features
When we go to buy a new camera we are bombarded with extensive feature lists including the following to name a few:
Megapixels
Focus points
Frames per second
Creative filters
However a lot of these headline grabbing features are not necessarily the most useful. So in this blog I want to share 5 camera features that have added the most value to me and my photography.
Silent Shutter
This feature is very underrated and although not the most used on this list, it really can make the difference between being able to use your camera or not in certain situations. In a normal camera there is a shutter mechanism that physically moves when you take a photo. This makes an audible sound. On some cameras like a Fuji XT4, the shutter is fairly quiet. However on some cameras it can be quite loud. Silent shutter essentially turns you camera into an iPhone and takes a photo without using this shutter mechanism. For the lack of a better technical explanation it’s like a screenshot of what the sensor sees. This now means that you can take photos in even the most silent places like inside a church, quiet room or anywhere where you don’t want to disturb others or attract attention. There are some downsides though. You can get rolling shutter and weird colour casts with certain light source, however this is rare. I have this feature programmed to the closest function button available to the shutter. That way if I need to shut this thing up in a hurry, it is right there.
Custom Auto ISO Modes
If you’re shooting in any priority mode or in automatic, your camera will have auto ISO settings. However some cameras like the Fujifilm ones have multiple custom ISO modes. First of all, custom ISO is just a way for you to tell the camera, this is the minimum ISO, this is the maximum ISO and this is the lowest shutter speed to use. So then when your camera decided on the parameters, it has to work within those constraints. By having multiple ISO modes, it means you can have one set of parameters for daytime, one for nighttime and one for something else. Honestly this is such a useful feature that when I used a camera without it, I found the experience frustrating. This can be present in multiple ways too, so on the Fuji camera it’s a dedicated menu and maybe on a different brand it will be dedicated memory banks on the top dial. Either way this feature is so useful and makes shooting in Aperture priority a breeze.
Although I covered it before, let me share my ISO settings here again:
ISO 1 is for daytime or when the light is good
Base is 160
Max is 3200
Min Shutter Speed is 1/200ISO 2 is for nighttime or when the light is bad
Base is 500
Max is 6400
Min Shutter Speed is 1/200ISO 3 is for high shutter speed priority
Base is 1000
Max is 6400
Min Shutter Speed is 1/500
Finally I have the auto iso menu saved to one of the buttons on the back for quick access.
AEL AFL AEAFL
The next feature that I find invaluable is the ability to lock focus, exposure or both at the same time. Let’s start with exposure and to be honest almost every good camera has this feature. Basically as long you press and hold the exposure lock button, the exposure will not change so you can expose and recompose. Great for locking exposure in one part of the scene and changing the composition after. Next we have focus lock which is the exact same but for focusing. I personally use this in conjunction with continuous autofocus. This effectively allows me to lock the camera and stop it from adjusting the focus. This means I can focus on one thing, recompose and take the photo without the focus messing up. Again this is something that many cameras have.However one feature which only a few seem to have is the ability to combine both of these locks on one button. This has proved to be so useful because now I can expose, focus and then lock the entire camera and wait for the right moment. This gives me full confidence that once the right moment comes along, everything will be already set so all I gotta do is take the shot. On my XT4 I have the AEL set to exposure lock. The front button to focus lock. The AF ON button to AEL and AFL lock combined.
Highlight priority mode
Unfortunately this one I can’t show you because for some absurd reason, fuji cameras don’t have this very simple yet useful feature. If you however shoot with a Sony of Ricoh, then you should have this mode. There are different metering modes you can use. From multi that scans the entire scene to spot which only meters from a tiny point of your choice. Highlight metering mode does what it says on the tin and meters just for the highlights in the scene. So if you’re like me and you love to shoot on bright sunny days and incorporate harsh light and shadow in your photos, this mode is an absolute godsend. It takes so much hassle out of the process and lets you focus on your composition instead of also worrying about not blowing your highlights. So if you’re looking to buy a camera and it has this mode, it’s a green flag in my opinion. How do I get around this issue? I just use the centre weighted metering mode along with auto exposure lock as mentioned earlier to expose from the highlighted part of the scene, recompose and shoot.
Aperture Dial
Ok this one isn’t strictly the camera body and is more the lens however certain camera systems are known for having this on their lenses while others don’t. This is one of those features that until you used it, you will wonder what the fuss is about. However once you’ve shot with an aperture dial, going back to a conventional thumb or index finger wheel is not gonna be as pleasant. Of course this applies if you shoot manual or aperture priority. If you leave aperture in auto, then this feature would be useless to you. For most us, aperture is the main creative control over how our photos look, what’s in focus and where the viewer should look. By having the aperture on the lens as a physical dial with clear stops, means less time checking what aperture value you have, less time faffing with small thumb dials and generally a more pleasant shooting experience. Also it is much quicker to quickly flick the aperture open or close it if you spot an opportunity and are in a rush. Last but not least, you can set the aperture with your camera switched off. This is great if you’re walking into a darker environment and prior to even switching the camera on, you open up the aperture to compensate for the lower light. This means you’re being proactive and reducing the risk of missing shots. So if the camera system you’re getting has lenses with dedicated aperture ring, it’s a huge bonus in my opinion.