Camera Settings You Need To Master
Camera settings are important but not in the way you think. You see taking a photo at f8 vs f11 will not make any meaningful difference. While shooting at base ISO over ISO 500 will also not really matter either. Where camera settings and specifically understanding them really comes in, is in the ability to get the photo you want without the camera getting in your way. So in this blog, I will share with you 6 camera settings that once mastered, will open up a world of creative possibilities. When I say mastered, I mean being able to use them subconsciously and make any changes in the moment without looking at the camera while scratching your head
Auto ISO
Although some people like to shoot in manual, most of us shoot in aperture priority for a variety of reasons. By handing over control of the ISO and shutter speed to our camera, we trust that the camera will pick the best settings. However this is not always the case and we can end up frustrated and confused as to why our photos are blurry especially when the light is not great. Every camera will have a menu that let’s you adjust the auto ISO values and set parameters for the camera to operate within. This does not only cover the ISO settings but also for most camera brands, the auto shutter speed values too. When you first get the camera, my bet is that the auto shutter speed value is set to either auto or a very low number. This means that when the light is not great, the camera will prioritise reducing the shutter speed over increasing the ISO.
Because there is no limit set, the shutter speed can get very low to the point where even a slight shake of your hand will result in a blurry photo. So to stop this from happening, we need to make some adjustments. On the Fuji cameras that I use, we can set up to 3 different auto ISO settings. I’m sure other brands have something similar. The first ISO setting is for good light. Base ISO is left at base of 160, max ISO is at 3200 and minimum shutter speed is 1/200. The camera will now remain within those parameters. The second ISO setting is for low light. Base ISO is 500, max is at 6400 and minimum shutter speed is left at 1/200. The choice of shutter speed reflects my run and gun approach. If you are very slow and methodical, or you only use wider lenses, then you can easily reduce that minimum shutter speed down to 1/160 or maybe even less. The final ISO setting is for shutter priority where I need a high shutter speed. Base ISO is at 1000, max at 6400 and minimum shutter speed is 1/500. I have this setting programmed to a button so I can change my auto ISO modes quickly.
Exposure Compensation
Almost every camera has the exposure compensation dial but from my experience many people don’t fully utilise it. The main thing to stress first is that this dial is for a correction to the exposure and not a creative adjustment. For creative adjustments, stay put and we will cover it in a bit. You will use this dial to tell the camera that the baseline exposure needs to move up or down a notch. As always your mileage may vary but this is what works for me. For harsh summer light, I am usually between 0 and -0.6. I underexpose to allow me to preserve the highlights as much as I can. For cloudy overcast days, I am usually between 0 and +0.6. I overexpose as most cameras will underexpose gloomy days. Also there is no detail in the sky anyway so I am happy for it to be very bright. For fog and snow I can overexpose by up to +1 for the same reasons as for the cloudy days. Finally for low light and night time photography I will underexpose by as much as -1.6 as cameras will always overexpose low light scenes to the point where they don’t look realistic.
Photometry
Now that you’ve told your camera what parameters to stay within and whether the overall exposure is correct, the next thing is to tell it how to expose. Different camera brands will have different names for these but ultimately there are 3 main ones and they all do the same job. The multi mode means that your camera is scanning the entire scene and using some clever stuff will figure out the most optimum exposure based on what is in front of you. I find this to be a great all round setting and use it about 70% of the time. You will also notice that changes to the exposure are very subtle and gradual. Next up is centre weighted metering mode and as the name suggests the camera will only meter from the middle area of of the frame. Best example of this is when shooting out of a window, the camera will ignore the window frame and just expose for what is outside… as long as the window is in the middle of the frame. You will notice the changes in exposure becoming more abrupt and extreme as you move the camera around the scene. I use this about 25% of the time. Finally we have spot metering which is a more extreme version of the centre weighted but you can not move it around the screen. This is good for very specific exposure metering however if your camera has an option for highlight metering, I would select that over spot. The changes are very abrupt and extreme therefore I only use it 5% of the time for very specific scenarios.
Exposure Lock
Earlier on I mentioned about creative exposure adjustments and the exposure lock coupled with the photometry settings we already covered, allows you to make creative exposure adjustments in a matter of seconds. Exposure lock does what it says on the tin and locks the exposure at any given value at the time of you pressing the button. As long as you keep holding the AEL button, the exposure is locked and you’re free to move the camera around, recompose and the exposure will not shift. The way I use this in conjunction with the metering modes is by simply pointing the camera at an area of the scene I want to meter from, lock the exposure and then recompose and take the photo. For example if I am in multi metering mode but I want to quickly expose for the highlights, I can quickly point my camera at the sky or the brightest part of the scene, lock the exposure, recompose and take the shot. This process might sound long but in reality only takes a second or so. Much quicker than messing around with buttons, dials and menus. Also if you are finding this blog helpful and you own a Fujifilm XT3, XT4 or X100v, then you will find the camera guide where I go into even more detail, very helpful. If this is something that might interest you, have a look in the link below and thank your or the support if you pick one up.
Focus Mode
With exposure out of the way, we can now focus on the focus. In total there are two sets of focus modes to focus on. The first one let’s you chose between single, continuous and manual. I use single for still life where neither me nor the subject are moving. I use continuous if either me or the subject are moving, so that the camera can track any changes. Finally I use manual for any scenario which can overwhelm the autofocus system such as heavy fog or low contrast scenes. The next mode to chose is either single point or zone. As the name suggests single point is one point in the scene that the camera will focus on. I use this when I am still as it is the most accurate focus system but also the slowest and most prone to miss focus. The second mode is called zone focus. This is small zone within which is a collection of multiple focus points. You simple place the zone in the area of the scene you want to focus on and let the camera do the rest. This is much faster but can sometimes miss focus if the subject is very small. I will typically use this mode when I am moving around, such as walking or in the back of a car.
Focus Lock
Finally we have focus lock which surprise surprise locks the focus. But like exposure lock… but for focus. I use this whenever I want to focus and recompose. For example I want to focus on the background and then have people walk through the scene without the risk of the camera focusing on them. Or focus on the background and then move the camera behind a foreground object. While holding the focus lock, I am sure that whatever happens, the area I focused on remains in focus when I take a photo… unless I physically moved either closer to or further away from what I’ve focus on, then in that case I need to refocus and lock again. Top tip, if you have a spare button and the option to do so, you can assign both the exposure and focus lock to the same button in order to totally lock the camera if you so wish.