Preset Camera Modes

by photographer

Preset Camera Modes – What Are They?

Most of today’s cameras, whether digital or film, have some presets. These are camera settings that are preprogrammed into the camera so that the photographer only has to turn a dial to change several settings at once. These presets have become widely varied between camera manufacturers with everything from “foliage” to “beach” presets. Some cameras even have “fireworks” presets. However, there are a few presets that are almost standards and appear on a wide variety of cameras. Once you learn about these more common presets you will better understand the idea behind the more specialized presets as well. These common presets come in two types. These types are basic and advanced. The basic presets are meant to do almost all of a photographer’s thinking for the photographer. In these modes the camera figures out the correct exposure and makes all the camera settings within the preset preferences. The advanced presets are geared towards photographers who know a bit more about their cameras and want some level of control while still speeding up the picture taking process. Some of these presets still allow the camera to maintain proper exposure while the photographer makes one or two setting changes. Others leave all of the settings up to the photographer.

Presets

Basic
- Action
- Landscape
- Macro
- Night Portrait
- Portrait
Advanced
- Aperture Priority
- Shutter Priority
- Manual

Action Preset Camera Mode

Almost every camera on the market today has an “action” mode. Many of these cameras use an icon of a running man to designate this preset. The purpose of this mode is to make is to tell the camera to default its settings toward capturing images faster.

This is done by:

Increasing Shutter Speed
Increasing Film Speed

While increasing the shutter speed will help to “freeze” the action (stop moving subjects in mid-motion), it also decreases the amount of light striking the film surface. Increasing the film speed helps to offset this light loss by increasing the sensitivity of the film (making the camera need less light to record an image). However, the increase in film sensitivity is often not enough to make up for the loss of light from the faster shutter speed and this can result in underexposed images. The other control for increasing the light striking the film is aperture. Unfortunately, the aperture may not be able to open wide enough in all situations to avoid a dark image. And even in cases when it does open wide enough, the depth of field is reduced drastically so that only a tiny portion of your image is in focus.

This does not mean that action mode is a bad thing. It simply means that you must understand the limits of your camera before shooting a subject. Most camera action modes are best suited for brightly lit action shots such as daytime ball games or moving animals.

Some cameras also switch to continuous focusing when in action mode. This means that the camera constantly tracks the subject and adjusts focus until the moment the shutter button is pressed. This makes it much easier to keep a moving object in focus while composing an image.

Landscape Preset Camera Mode

Landscape mode is generally designated by a icon representing a mountain. This setting’s primary function is to allow a large depth of field. To accomplish this the camera defaults to a small aperture setting in this mode. While this creates a large depth of field, it also has an alternate effect of creating a need for more light to properly expose an image. This means that the camera may use a slow enough shutter speed to create the need for a tripod.

Still, this preset is very useful for well-lit landscapes when a tripod is not available. Also, this setting is well-used for portraits when you want the background to be in focus.

Macro or Close-Up Preset Camera Mode

Macro (also called Close-Up) mode is almost always represented by an image of a flower of some sort. This mode tells your camera that you want to be very close to your subject in order to fill the frame with the subject. This setting works with your camera lens to allow it to focus from a very short distance. In some cases, only a few inches from the subject. While this setting allows you to get some great shots of small objects, be aware that the depth of field becomes very small in macro photography.

This preset is best used for its original purpose of getting very close to small objects and does not have a lot of alternative uses.

Night Portrait Preset Camera Mode

Night portrait presets can vary widely from camera to camera. Often they are called “night scene” presets. This setting varies from camera to camera but the general preset is to slow down the shutter speed to allow a lot of light into the camera. The flash then fires at some point during the exposure so that both the foreground and background of the image are properly exposed. This setting will often require a tripod but is very useful in taking low-light images where you do not want the background to be pure black.

Portrait Preset Camera Mode

Portrait preset mode is most often represented by a silhouette of a head and is designed for taking “head shots”. This means a head and shoulders portrait of a person. This mode is not well suited for full-length portraits or groups of people.

Portrait mode tells the camera to default to a:

Slow Film Speed

This is supposed to result in a fine film grain and blurred background. On some cameras, however, the default depth of field is so small that part of the subject’s face becomes blurred. Also, the shutter speed can become slow enough to trigger the on-board flash.

Aperture Priority Preset Camera Mode

Aperture priority is marked on camera dials by the letters “AV”, standing for aperture value. In this mode the photographer controls the aperture/F-Stop while the camera then resets shutter speed (and sometimes film speed) to maintain a midrange exposure.

This setting is very useful where the photographer knows that he/she wants either a large or small depth of field but the shutter speed is not important.

Shutter Priority Preset Camera Mode

Shutter priority is marked on camera dials by the letters “TV”, standing for time value. This preset allows the photographer to control the shutter speed while the camera readjusts the aperture (and sometimes film speed) to maintain a midrange exposure.

This setting is very useful in action settings and for night photography when the shutter speed needs to be accurately controlled.

Manual Preset Camera Mode

Manual mode is almost always represented on the camera controls by the letter “M”. Manual mode is not actually a preset mode. Manual mode returns control of all camera functions (except focus) to the photographer. Automatic/manual focus is controlled separately as it pertains to the lens motor. In manual mode the photographer must determine what combination of shutter speed, aperture, and film speed will create the proper exposure. In this mode the photographer also has free reign to underexpose or overexpose images by whatever margin he/she desired.

This mode is most often used by more advanced photographers wishing complete creative control. This mode is often first discovered by photographers when they are frustrated by their very expensive camera’s apparent lack of intelligence when shooting in other preset modes.