Take Control Over Your Compact Digital Camera
Many point & shoot digital cameras do not have a manual mode, which is frustratingly limiting for many photographers. This article outlines some basic ways to get around this lack of control for shutter speed and aperture.
Many of you want to be able to have more control over your shutter speed and aperture, on your basic point & shoot cameras. There are ways to control your point & shoot camera by using many of the settings available on your camera.
To get ready to use this article, get out your camera's manual. I know they can be hard to read, but the index is very helpful, and a key to your success. Many point & shoot digital cameras do, in fact, allow some manual control, but it is often buried under menus and options.
Learn the different modes of your camera (see article on Shooting modes)
After you've established the nonexistence of a manual mode, your first step to control the exposure of your digital camera is to look at the camera modes. Though they vary by camera, most of the modes have set preferences as to shutter speed and aperture. This isn't much of a step, but it's better than straight “auto” mode and gives you some level of control. Become familiar with your camera, it's the key to knowing how to find the right settings.
The most commonly used modes are aperture or shutter speed priority modes. If you do not find any reference to either of these in your camera manual, you still have some options, though these are the most straightforward ways to manipulate these controls short of having actual manual control.
If you don't have these, browsing through the available scene modes on your camera may result in useful results.
- If you’re looking for Shallow Depth of Field (ie your foreground and background blurry) shoot in Portrait mode as this will trigger your camera to choose a wider aperture.
- If you’re looking for a wider depth of field (ie. everything in focus) shoot in Landscape mode where the camera selects small apertures in this mode.
- For fast shutter speeds, you'll want modes designed for fast movement, typically a “sports” mode.
- For slow shutter speeds you'll want a mode designed for low lighting conditions, typically “indoor” or “night”. However, be careful, as often this will also trigger a flash, which may not result in the desired effect. Turn it off if at all possible, though that may not be an option.
Another trick is to use your exposure lock! (The What?)....
You can lock your photo on a subject that allows for more light or less.
To have the camera adjust its settings on a different object than the one you actually take a picture of, ----usually holding down the shutter button halfway and locks your exposure. (look in your camera manual for exposure lock--right now).The camera's automatic mode will think that it needs to set to something either lighter or darker than it actually needs to, and will change the aperture size and shutter speeds to compensate. This will take considerable experimentation and familiarity with your camera's quirks, but it is very useful.