Specialist Shooting Modes

Some digital cameras contain a range of shooting modes designed to take the guesswork out of adjusting camera settings to suit different shooting scenarios. Selecting these modes will automatically change your camera’s functions to the most appropriate setting for the photographic task at hand. The guide below will give you an idea of when best to use which mode.
N.B. Not all modes will be available on all cameras and some modes are digital-only options. Check you manuals for details of what specialist modes your camera contains

Portrait mode
Portrait. Designed for portraits producing a picture where the main subject is sharply focused whilst other details in the background are softened or left unsharp. The degree to which the background is unsharp will depend on the amount of light that is available

Party/Indoor mode
Party/Indoor. This mode is designed for use in low light situations, where detail is required both in the foreground and background. This setting uses a slow shutter speed, so be sure to hold your camera very still or use a tripod

Night Portrait mode.
Night Portrait. You should use this mode if you want to create a good balance of lighting between the foreground subject and the background lights. It is great for photographing portraits against a background of night scenery. With this setting the flash is activated to light the foreground and a long shutter speed is used to capture the night lights. When using this mode be careful of camera shake

Beach/Snow mode
Beach /Snow. Brightly lit, lightly colored subjects often fool your camera, resulting in dark muddy images. This mode rectifies this problem by adjusting the camera so that light tones in beach and snow scenes are recorded correctly

Landscape mode
Landscape. Designed to enhance the color and detail of distant scenes, this mode is great for making landscape pictures. With this setting the flash is turned off automatically and the camera’s focusing system is locked at the most distant setting

Sunset mode
Sunset. Designed to preserve the strong colors often found in sunsets, this mode automatically turns off the flash for the camera. This means that foreground objects appear silhouetted against the sunset sky. Use a tripod or hold your camera very still to stop camera shake when using this mode

Night Landscape mode
Night Landscape. As a slow shutter speed is in this mode to capture the dimly lit tones of a night landscape, a tripod is recommended when shooting with this setting. In addition, the flash is automatically turned off and the focus set to the most distant setting.

Museum mode
Museum. For use indoors when flash is not permitted, this setting is perfect for capturing pictures in museums or art galleries. The flash is turned off automatically and, where available, a function like the Best Shot Selector (BSS) is activated to ensure that only the finest quality photograph is saved

Fireworks Show mode
Fireworks Show. This mode fixes the focus at the most distant setting, turns off the flash and uses a slow shutter speed to capture the expanding burst of light from a firework. For best effect follow the trail of the ascending firework, releasing the button at the start of the burst.

Close Up mode.
Close Up. The camera is set to focus on subjects very near to the lens (10 cm or less). This setting is also called ‘macro’ mode. Be sure to hold the camera steady or use a tripod to reduce camera shake when capturing these close-up photographs.

Copy mode.
Copy. This setting is designed to provide clear photographs of maps, documents or business cards. The mode works best with black and white type or printed documents with high contrast.

Back Light mode.
Back Light. Use this mode when light is coming from behind your subject. The camera’s flash is turned on automatically and fills in the shadows in the foreground of the picture.

Taking Movies with Your Camera

Almost every digital camera nowadays captures video; some do it better than others. Cheaper cameras produce movies that are tiny, low-resolution flicks. These mini-movies have their novelty value, and are better than nothing when your intention is to email your newborn baby's first cry to eager relatives across the globe.

But more expensive cameras these days can capture video at a decent size (320 x 240 pixels, or even full-frame 640 x 480 pixels) and smoothness (15, 30, or even more frames per second), usually complete with soundtrack. Better cameras place no limit on the length of your captured movies (except when you run out of memory card space).

Digital Movies

Movie making probably wasn't what you had in mind when you bought a digital still camera. Even so, most cameras offer this feature, and it can come in handy now and then. Movie mode lets you capture QuickTime or AVI format videos (both kinds play on Windows and Apple computers) with sound included. You save the videos to your memory card right alongside your still pictures. Some cameras permit only 30 seconds of video per attempt; others let you keep recording until the memory card is full.

Most new cameras these days capture video with frame dimensions of 640 x 480big enough to fill a TV screen on playback. Once you've transferred a movie to your computer, you can play it, email it to people, post it on a Web page, or burn it to a DVD. Just keep these pointers in mind:

Know your memory. Digital movies, even these low-quality ones, fill up your memory card in seconds. Remember, you're shooting 15 or 30 little pictures per second, which puts you in 512 MB, 1 GB, or 2GB card territory.

Steady the camera. If you don't have a tripod, put the camera strap around your neck, pull the camera outward so the strap is taut, and only then begin filming. The strap steadies the camera.

Don't try it in the dark. The flash doesn't work for movies, so look for the best lighting possible before composing your shot.

Set up the shot beforehand. Most cameras don't let you zoom or change focus during filming.

Memory Card Types

As the years go by, high-tech manufacturers figure out new and better ways to fit more pictures on smaller cards. If you were the first on your block to buy a digital camera, it probably used CompactFlash or SmartMedia cards, which now look gargantuan compared to, say, the xD-Picture Card. CompactFlash cards, on the other hand, have stayed the same size but greatly increased their capacity.

When comparing memory card formats, look at price per megabyte, availability, and what works with your other digital gear. The following list will help you compare the currently available card types.

CompactFlash cards are rugged, inexpensive, and easy to handle. You can buy them in capacities all the way up to 8 GB (translation: hundreds upon hundreds of pictures). Pro: Readily available; inexpensive; wide selection. Con: They're physically the largest of any memory card format, which dictates a bigger camera. A name brand 512 MB CompactFlash card costs less than $45.

Sony's Memory Stick format is interchangeable among all of its cameras, camcorders, and laptops. Memory Sticks are great if you're already knee-deep in Sony equipment, but few other companies tolerate them. Pro: Works with most Sony digital gadgets. Cons: Works primarily with Sony gear; maximum size is 256 MB. A 128 MB Memory Stick starts at about $35, depending on the brand (Sony's own are the most expensive).

The Memory Stick Pro Sony's newer memory card, is the same size as the traditional Memory Stick but holds much more. Sony's recent digital cameras accept both Pro and older Memory Sticksbut the Pro cards don't work in older cameras. As of this writing, you can buy Pro sticks in capacities like 512 MB ($45), 1 GB (about $65), 2 GB ($115), and 4 GB ($300).

Secure Digital (SD) cards are no bigger than postage stamps, which is why you also find them in Palm organizers and MP3 players. In fact, you can pull this tiny card from your camera and insert it into many palmtops to view your pictures. Pro: Very small, perfect for subcompact cameras. Con: None, really, unless you're prone to losing small objects. 1 GB cards are now around $65 and 2 GB models are in the $100 range.

The xD-Picture Card, tinier still, is a proprietary format for recent Fuji camera and Olympus camera models (see figure). Its dimensions are so inconveniently small that the manual warns that "they can be accidentally swallowed by small children." Pro: Some cool cameras accept them. Con: Relatively expensive compared to other memory cards (256 MB = $35, 512 MB = $55, 1 GB = $75). Incompatible with cameras from other companies. Also incompatible with the memory card slots in most printers, card readers, television front panels, and so on.

The tiny Secure Digital card (middle) is gaining popularity because you can use it in both your digicam and palmtop. The even tinier XD-Picture Card (left) works only with Fuji and Olympus cameras. The larger CompactFlash card is still the most common (especially in larger cameras).

Image Resolution

The first number you see in a digital camera description is its megapixel rating. A pixel (short for picture element) is one tiny colored dot, one of the thousands or millions that compose a single digital photograph. (One megapixel equals one million pixels.) You can't escape learning this term, since pixels are everything in computer graphics. The number of megapixels your camera has determines the quality of your pictures' resolution (the amount of detail that appears). A 5-megapixel camera, for example, has better resolution than a 3-megapixel one. It also costs more. How many of those pixels you actually need depends on how you're going to display the images you shoot.

Resolution for Onscreen Viewing

Many digital photos never get further than a computer screen. After you transfer them to your computer, you can distribute the images by email, post them on a Web page, or use them as desktop pictures or screen savers.

If such activities are the extent of your digital photography ambition, you can get by with very few megapixels. Even a $100, 2-megapixel camera produces a 1600 x 1200-pixel image, which is already too big to fit on the typical 1024 x 768pixel laptop screen (without zooming or scrolling).

Resolution for Printing

If you intend to print your photos, however, your megapixel needs are considerably greater. The typical computer screen is a fairly low-resolution device: most pack in somewhere between 72 and 96 pixels per inch. But for a printed digital photo to look as clear and smooth as a real photograph, the colored dots must be much closer together on the paper150 pixels per inch or more.

Remember the 2-megapixel photo that would spill off the edges of a laptop screen? Its resolution (measured in dots per inch) is only adequate for a 5 x 7 print. Enlarge it any more, and the dots become visible specks. Your family and friends will look like they have some unfortunate skin disorder. If you want to make prints of your photos (as most folks do), keep the following table in mind:

Creating Panoramic Images

Using your digital camera to create panoramic images certainly is a way of expanding your photographic horizons in at least one sense of the word. There are two parts to creating striking panoramic images: the technical challenges and the creative ones. The following sections consider both to these.

Handling the technical challenges

A panoramic image is one whose longer side is usually at least twice its shorter side. Common panoramic print sizes are 3 x 6, 6 x 12, and 12 x 24. More extreme versions are also used. When you get right down to it, the only real limitation on the size of panorama shots is the imagination of the photographer.
Panoramic images can be a striking tool in the photographer’s bag of tricks. Because this format is so seldom seen, images created this way automatically leap out at the viewer. In addition, the panorama’s extreme dimensions can be perfectly suited for subjects that don’t quite fit the normal photographic frame.
The biggest technical challenge to working in panoramic format is that your camera isn’t shooting a panoramic image, although some cameras may offer a panoramic mode. This means that you’re wasting space at the top and bottom (or sides) of the image that you’re only going to crop out. Fortunately, this problem isn’t insurmountable. Ways of dealing with the issue are discussed later in this section.

Handling the creative challenges

You can pick just about any subject for a panorama, but finding subject matter that truly works with the extreme dimensions is a bit more difficult. These are good challenges though. Remember, you’re trying to stretch yourself creatively here, so finding a task that fires your imagination isn’t a bad idea.

Here are some potential subjects for panoramic shots:

1. Lighthouses:
These tall, slender structures cry for panoramic treatment. Just remember you’re creating a vertical panorama
2. City skylines: Instead of including lots of sky and foreground, turn the cityscape into a panorama.
3. Shorelines: Many images made at the shore show an empty sky forced upon the image by the tyranny of the standard photographic image dimensions. Changing to a panoramic format means the photographer can show what’s important and leave the rest out. Beach photos are a
good example of this kind of thinking.
4. Natural wonders: Sometimes the best way to show a grand sweeping vista is by shooting a panoramic image. This format helps isolate the landscape against a small sliver of sky, making the scenery stand out.
5. People events: Events such as the Indy 500 or the Punkin Chunkin contest offer large numbers of people and contraptions. If you can position your camera on an elevated vantage point, you’re in position to create an effective panoramic composition that better shows the event than the normal photographic image.

You can create a panoramic photo with a digital camera in two different ways, and the following sections explain these techniques. These methods also work with film cameras, but they’re easier with a digital camera. The exception, of course, is if you invest in a high-end film camera made specifically to takepanoramas or buy a cheap, disposable panoramic camera.