Understanding Your Digital Camera’s Modes

If you’re at all like me, you have no clue what half the modes on your digital camera do, or what their advantages and disadvantages are. I’m always asking myself if I should have put the camera on a different mode before a certain photo, or if the mode I had the camera on is why the photo didn’t turn out. It’s time to put the wonder behind us! Here’s a brief breakdown of what some of the basic modes on a digital camera are used for. While your camera may vary slightly in the modes it has or the symbols or abbreviations it uses to represent each mode, many will be universal for digital cameras.

Of all the modes on your camera, this is the most user-friendly. Setting your camera to Auto allows you to point and shoot, eliminating the need to adjust the shutter speed or other functions.

(May also be abbreviated with an A) In most cameras, this stands for Aperture Priority, meaning that you select the aperture and the camera will automatically set the shutter speed to match the conditions. Aperture is the size of the opening in the lens, therefore controlling how much light reaches the film or digital sensor in the camera. When you want the camera to select the fastest shutter speed, select the widest aperture.

(May also be abbreviated with an S) This stands for Shutter Priority, which helps you to control motion. You select the shutter speed and the camera chooses the best aperture. For shooting sports and action, a high shutter speed is important so the subjects don’t appear blurry.

This letter stands for Program. Program is an all-purpose, mostly automatic mode. The camera automatically selects the median shutter speed and aperture based on a reading from its light meter, but you can manually adjust them if necessary. Read your manual to learn how.

If you guessed that this M stands for Manual, then you’re correct. When set to this mode, your camera will prompt you to manually select the aperture and shutter speeds.

Some cameras also include additional modes indicated with icons:

An image such as this typically stands for Portrait mode. Your camera will use a large aperture setting to blur out the background while keeping the primary subject in sharp focus.

For great scenery shots, this Landscape mode is key. This mode uses a smaller aperture setting to keep both the background and foreground of your photo in focus.

The Night Scene mode on a camera uses a slower shutter speed and flash to help even out nighttime photos. The slower shutter speed allows more light to be recorded in low-light situations, while the flash freezes a subject.

The icon of this runner indicates that this mode is for action shots, or Fast Shutter speed. The camera increases the shutter speed to help capture action and maintain focus on a quick moving subject.

This icon signifies Slow Shutter speed mode. Your camera will use slower shutter speeds to intentionally blur fast moving subjects such as waterfalls and fountains.

Here are also a few special modes that the Canon PowerShot A75 has:

This particular camera has a Special Scene mode where once you select this mode, you’re prompted to select from special settings for foliage, snow, beach, fireworks, underwater and indoor modes.

For those fantastic panoramic photos, this Stitch-Assist mode allows you take one photo, then view that image in the display screen to the line up the next horizontal or vertical shot. It makes “stitching” images on the computer easy!

See something worth shooting in real-time? This camera will record up to three minutes of moving images with sound at a speed of 15 frames per second in the Movie mode.

Want to take advantage of the useful modes your camera has? Check out your user’s manual for detailed information on your camera. For tips on digital photo taking in general, check out How to Make the Most of Your Digital Camera, reviewed in this month’s Books in Review column.