An Insight to Diverse Digital Camera Modes

In a survey conducted by me few days back on digital camera modes, I got amazing responses. And one of the most overwhelming responses to the finest shooting mode was Automatic mode. Novices as well as adept users of digital cameras suggested this mode the best which was a little surprising to me. But with this, I got an idea to put various camera modes in the picture for your knowledge.

I hope this article would be helpful for everyone who desires to access various modes in a digital camera. Three types of modes are at hand which are further subdivided into categories. Take a sneak-peak:

Automatic Modes

·         Automatic Mode: Auto mode doesn’t need any preface as it is clear from its name. This mode itself fiddles with the camera shutter, aperture, focus, ISO, white balance and flash and gives you the exceptional shots. Some digital cams equip you to countermand the option of flash and convert it to red eye reduction. It occasionally doesn’t come up to scratch to deliver right clicks due to the low light situations. But under this mode, you can hit upon some more apt modes to make it your preeminent shot.

·         Portrait Mode: When you toggle to portrait mode, the spotlight gets adjusted to the object only, keeping the background out of focus. The aperture gets larger and the object is the main centre of attraction in the shot. This mode works well when you yearn to get close to any object so as to take only the upper body in the shot.

·         Macro Mode: This mode is great to take close-up pictures and especially used to take flowers, insects or tiny things in the click. It’s recommended that you don’t elicit flash while clicking pictures in macro mode as it will not take the object properly in focus. Usually, digital cameras have the focussing distance ranging from 2 cm to 10 cm. 

·         Landscape Mode: It is exactly opposite to portrait mode wherein this mode sets a small aperture. The photography technique behind this mode is that when you click a picture, all the erstwhile things behind the object come in focus. The whole lot behind the object gets captured giving you a large depth of field. But make sure to take the shot with two hands (Here you can link the previous article where I have mentioned to hold the camera with two hands) to get flawless image without any hitch.

·         Sports Mode: Crafted to capture moving objects is what we call sports mode. Triggering to this mode can lend you a hand to capture people playing sports, wildlife, pets, cars and anything in motion. Pre-focussing a camera on scrupulous spot where you think the object will be, assists you to shot fast moving objects. 

·         Night Mode: Designed to click interesting and experimental shots is the idea behind night mode. Colourful and funny images can be captured with switching onto this mode. It works perfect for night parties where light is stumpy as it focuses more on surroundings rather than foreground. To get blur images for fun element, this mode is just what you want.

·         Movie Mode: Capturing videos is not everyone’s cup of tea and it needs photography technique if you want to shoot perfect videos. Extending a camera from still pictures to mobile ones is what we call as movie mode. It records sound as well as video and works great when you boast something wonderful to capture which will otherwise lose its charm in still picture. Furthermore, videos sit with more space if evaluated with still images. 

Semi Automatic Modes

·         Aperture Priority Mode (A or AV): It is semi-automatic mode wherein you are supposed to choose the aperture and rest of the settings are elected by the camera. Controlling the depth of field in a single shot is well achieved with this mode as you don’t need to bother yourself to control the shutter speed. Just focus on the stationary object and take the shot.

·         Shutter Priority Mode (S or TV): Opposite of Aperture Priority mode is Shutter priority. You choose the shutter speed and rest of the settings are selected by the camera. It works well with moving objects where you need to have power over the shutter speed to congeal the motion.

·         Program Mode (P): In some DSLRs, this option is additionally given with auto mode. It may be confusing to understand as there is a slight difference in both modes. Program mode makes you control more features like ISO, white balance, flash etc. which is not there in auto mode. 

Fully Manual Mode

·        Manual Mode: Now set up your shots and clicks as everything is under your control. All the settings like shutter speed, flash, ISO, white balance, aperture etc. are bendy and you can savour full control over your camera.

     I jotted down these digital camera modes to bring them to your sphere of your knowledge. Enjoy reading the article and I will be back with some more digital camera tips.