Glance at the summary firstThe summary from the end of the lesson, as a road map before you start reading.
Most of the controls on a camera aren't needed in everyday shooting; the shutter button, the mode dial, the command dials, exposure compensation, ISO, choosing the focus point, the playback button and the quick menu do most of the work. When your fingers memorize where these controls are, your eye stays on the subject, and you learn the rest of the menus over time, as you need them.
Learning goal
When you pick up your camera, you will be able to find the controls you will use most, even with your eyes closed: the mode dial, the shutter button, the command dials, exposure compensation, ISO, the focus point, the playback button and the quick menu. You will be able to say in one sentence what each of them is for, show its counterpart on your phone, and start using your camera comfortably, knowing that you don't have to learn the dozens of other menu options today.
The question
Think of the moment you first take a new camera out of its box. Dials on top, buttons on the back, flaps on the side, and pages of menus on the screen. The user manual is as thick as a book. In the first few days, most people either try to learn everything and get overwhelmed, or touch nothing and leave the camera on auto.
What are all these buttons for? The answer is reassuring: most of them, most of the time, are of no use to you. Camera makers try to fit thousands of different users' thousands of different needs into a single body. The number of controls your hand will keep reaching for in your everyday shooting, though, is a little more than the fingers of one hand. In this lesson we will learn that short list, along with where each control sits on the camera.
Context
Remember the first time you drove a car. There were dozens of symbols on the dashboard and several levers around the steering wheel. But to drive, it was enough to know the steering wheel, the pedals, the gears, the indicators and the wipers. You learned the rest over time, as you needed it. A camera is the same. What really matters is that your fingers memorize where the most-used controls are; that way, at the moment of shooting, your eye stays in the viewfinder or on the subject, not in the menus.
This lesson is independent of any brand. Every manufacturer gives the controls different names and puts them in different places on the body, but their jobs are the same. To find each control described below on your own camera, just look at the drawing of the body in the first pages of the user manual. If you use a phone, we will also look at the on-screen counterparts of the same jobs; because a phone actually asks you the same decisions, only by touch instead of with buttons.
Simple explanation
What do your right index finger and thumb touch?
Where your index finger rests is the shutter button. The shutter button has two stages, and this is the detail beginners miss most often. When you half-press it, the camera focuses and measures the light; it usually tells you so with a small beep or a mark lighting up in the viewfinder. When you press it all the way, the photo is taken. Instead of diving onto the shutter button in one go, first half-pressing it and seeing that the sharpness lands in the right place prevents a good share of blurry photos.
Right next to or behind the shutter button, where your thumb reaches, there are one or two command dials. These dials change different settings depending on the mode you have chosen: the aperture in one mode, the shutter speed in another. On top of the body sits the mode dial. On it, beside the auto mode symbol, are letters such as P, A, S and M; some manufacturers write Av instead of A and Tv instead of S. We will see what these letters mean in detail in Lesson 3.9. For now, what you need to know is that the mode dial decides how much of the decision-making is left to the camera and how much to you.
Which buttons set the light and the sharpness?
In the area your thumb reaches there is usually a button or dial marked with plus and minus signs. This is exposure compensation, and it is perhaps the most valuable shortcut. The camera decides for itself how bright a scene should be, but sometimes it gets it wrong. Exposure compensation lets you correct that decision in a single move: turn it toward plus and the photo gets brighter, toward minus and it gets darker.
This button is especially useful when you photograph different skin tones. The camera's metering system tries to pull the scene toward an average brightness. That is why a darker-skinned face in front of a bright background can come out darker than it should; a little plus compensation brings the face to the right brightness. A lighter-skinned face in front of a dark background, on the other hand, can come out brighter than it should; then a little minus compensation is needed. We will open up how the camera measures light separately later on.
Nearby there is also an ISO button or setting; it decides how sensitive the sensor will be to light. For focus, there is usually a directional pad or a small joystick on the back. With it you choose where in the frame the camera will focus. On a phone the counterparts of these jobs are familiar: tapping the screen to choose the focus, sliding your finger up and down to change the brightness.
When do you need the menus?
On the back there is a playback button; it shows the photo you took on the screen, and you can delete it with the button next to it marked with a trash can symbol. Most cameras also have a quick menu button, usually marked with a letter such as Q, i or Fn. When you press this button, the most frequently changed settings appear in a single grid on the screen. In everyday shooting, instead of going into the menus, you take care of most jobs from this grid.
The main menu is needed less often. Settings such as the date and time, the file format and formatting the card are done once and left alone for a long time. So think of the main menu like a library's archive: you go there when you need to, not every day. Rather than reading the user manual from cover to cover, it is more efficient to look at the relevant page when you need to change a setting. Within a few weeks you will have memorized the settings you use often without noticing.
Visual evidence
Imagine two people at a birthday party shooting with the same model of camera. The candles are lit and the child is about to blow them out. One of them notices that the frame is coming out dark and goes into the main menu. They move from page to page, looking for the right setting. When they look up, the candles are out and the applause has started. What they have is a photo of a darkened cake and a blurry hand movement.
The other notices the same problem but doesn't take their eye from the viewfinder. With their thumb they turn exposure compensation one click toward plus, half-press the shutter button and see the focus land on the child's face, and press all the way at the exact moment of blowing. In the photo, the light of the candles lights the child's face with a warm glow, cheeks puffed out, eyes closed. Both people have roughly the same camera and the same knowledge of photography. The difference is that the one who caught the cake has fingers that have memorized where a few controls are.
Common mistakes
Common mistakeTrying to learn all the menus as soon as you get the camera.
This approach overwhelms you and usually ends with the camera staying on auto. The fix: first learn the most-used controls, and discover the rest as you need them.
Common mistakePressing the shutter button in one go.
In photos taken without a half-press, the focus often lands in the wrong place, or the camera doesn't get the chance to focus. The fix: in every frame, first half-press, see the sharpness, then press all the way.
Common mistakeChanging exposure compensation and forgetting to undo it.
Compensation turned toward plus for a dark scene makes the photos pure white in the next bright scene. The fix: at every change of scene, glance at the compensation indicator and set it back to zero if needed.
Summary
Most of the controls on a camera aren't needed in everyday shooting; the shutter button, the mode dial, the command dials, exposure compensation, ISO, choosing the focus point, the playback button and the quick menu do most of the work. When your fingers memorize where these controls are, your eye stays on the subject, and you learn the rest of the menus over time, as you need them.
Mini assignment
In this assignment you teach your fingers the map of your camera.
- Open the drawing of the body in the user manual and find each of the controls mentioned in the lesson on your own camera; if you use a phone, find their on-screen counterparts.
- Close your eyes and, holding the camera in shooting position, touch the shutter button, exposure compensation and the playback button in turn.
- Photograph an object in a dark corner, turn exposure compensation one click toward plus, shoot again and compare the two frames.
- Set the compensation back to zero and write yourself a small shortcut card: which control is where and what it is for.
Check yourself
- Could you find all of the controls mentioned in the lesson on your own camera or phone?
- Could you find the shutter button, the compensation and the playback button with your eyes closed?
- Did you remember to set the compensation back to zero after changing it?
Glossary
| Term | Short definition |
|---|---|
| Mode dial | The dial that chooses how much of the decision-making is left to the camera and how much to the photographer. |
| Half-press | Pressing the shutter button lightly so the camera focuses and measures the light. |
| Command dial | The dial that changes settings such as the aperture or the shutter speed, depending on the chosen mode. |
| Exposure compensation | The setting that corrects the camera's brightness decision toward plus or minus. |
| Quick menu | A shortcut menu that gathers frequently changed settings on a single screen. |
Mini quiz
1. What does half-pressing the shutter button do?
- A) It deletes the photo
- B) It makes the camera focus and measure the light
- C) It turns the camera off
- D) It opens the menu
2. If a darker-skinned face in front of a bright background comes out dark, which setting offers a quick fix?
- A) Changing the file format from the quick menu
- B) Pressing the playback button
- C) Turning exposure compensation a little toward plus
- D) Formatting the card without turning the mode dial
3. Why is the main menu rarely needed in everyday shooting?
- A) Most of the settings in the main menu are done once and not changed for a long time
- B) The main menu exists only on phones
- C) The main menu deletes photos
- D) The main menu is open only to professionals
4. After turning exposure compensation toward plus for a dark scene, what should you do?
- A) Nothing; the setting resets itself
- B) You should turn the camera off and on
- C) You should change the card
- D) When the scene changes, you should look at the indicator and set it back to zero if needed
Answers
- B — With a half-press the camera focuses and measures the light; seeing the sharpness and then pressing all the way reduces blurry frames.
- C — The metering system pulls the scene toward an average brightness; against a bright background the face stays dark, and a little plus compensation brings it to the right brightness.
- A — Settings such as the date, the file format or formatting the card are done once; everyday jobs are handled from the quick menu and the shortcut buttons.
- D — On most cameras the compensation doesn't reset itself; if you forget it, photos come out brighter than they should in the next bright scene.
Summary card
- Shutter button: half-press → focus and metering; press all the way → shot.
- The mode dial shares out the decisions; the command dials change the chosen setting.
- Exposure compensation (+/−): correct the camera's brightness decision in a single move, then reset it.
- ISO, choosing the focus point, playback and the quick menu: the rest of the everyday jobs.
- The main menu is an archive: go there when you need to, not every day.
Bridge to the next lesson
You have learned where the controls are; now it's time to look at how you hold the camera. Pressing the right button isn't much use if the camera is swaying in your hands. The next lesson opens with a question many new photographers ask: why do my photos come out shaky? There you will see how your elbows, your left hand and your breath contribute to a sharp photo.