Understanding Digital Camera Modes

This article is written to get digital camera users familiar with mode setting for digital camera to create best quality pictures. Choosing right mode in a specific surrounding can greatly improve photograph quality. Automatic mode selection won't always solve all problems, so you need to now right mode for every single picture taken. Here are most common digital camera mode selections described briefly to help you understand each mode of the digital camera and its unique purpose.

Shutter release button magic

Shutter button have another function as well as taking pictures. By pressing shutter button halfway digital camera locking

focus on the designated area centered in the viewfinder. This makes that locked area sharper and the shape of that area differs from camera to camera.

Choosing correct color balance

To take pictures with natural looking skin color and other colors you need to set white balance. Most digital cameras have an automatic white color control but sometimes those systems select wrong color balance in case of extraneous light. You will notice immediately this after you review photo. That's why it vital ability of digital camera to select manually white balance control for different lights such as halogen lamps, daylight, indoor fluorescence, indoor incandescent, and overcast skies as they all have unique color signatures.

Macro mode for close distance

Most digital cameras have macro mode to take photograph at very close distances less than 3 feet. It means that a magnified image is spread across entire image sensor. The quality of that area remains unchanged and high according to quality the digital camera can produce. Some digital cameras can focus much more less than 3 feet and can take pictures even at the distance under 1 inch.

Movements capture in burst mode

Burst mode in digital camera allows camera take shoots of images in a very short time. Digital camera in burst mode will take about two to five shots per seconds and stores them directly to internal memory. Number of shots taken by digital camera per second depends on several factors such as resolution of pictures, data transfer speed and internal memory size. Obviously taking picture in lower resolution allows camera to make more shots per second as it takes less time to store them into internal memory.

Time-Lapse Mode for slow motion processes

This mode is completely opposite to burst mode. At time-lapse mode digital camera is taking motion sequence shots over the long period of time such as plant grows. Digital camera replays those pictures so it looks like those transformations happening in real life. It makes you notice every change of any process happening at the very slow rate at the extended period of time. Unfortunately, not all digital cameras have this feature so choose the one which have if you are interested in such photography.

Video and audio modes

Video and audio modes designed for digital cameras to take short video recordings and use camera as a voice recorder. Latest cameras equipped with microphone to make it possible. However, quality of that recording is very low as digital camera is taking from 10 to 15 frames per second against standard 30 frames per second.

Victor Smitherman - Digital Cameras, Understanding digital camera modes

Nikon 7216