Camera modes explained

If you are new to photography and want to learn a little more about your DSLR, this article should help. I still see many beginners using their camera in automatic mode, or relying on the various preset modes built into the body. People often think that buying a DSLR will instantly make them a better photographer, or that it will automatically produce better photos… So let’s talk about the different camera modes in photography, especially semi-automatic and manual modes.

I’ve wanted to write this article for a long time: a simple, basic guide, if I can put it that way, to the main camera modes on your gear. I will deliberately leave aside the fully automatic modes, such as portrait, night, macro mode and so on. You probably recognize them: they are located on the control dial that lets you select the different shooting modes. I will include a few reminders throughout the article, but if you are just starting out, I invite you to read the article on exposure in photography so you can understand how the three exposure parameters work together: ISO, shutter speed and aperture. Here, I will focus only on the four main camera modes: aperture priority, shutter priority, program mode and, finally, manual mode. Here we go!

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A few quick words before we look at the four modes in detail. If you are just starting out, using semi-automatic camera modes (Av, Tv and P) will help you understand the relationship between the three parameters that make up exposure. Remember that you cannot change one parameter without compensating with one of the other two.

Semi-automatic modes help you understand these interactions because the camera automatically calculates the compensation needed to keep your photo “correctly exposed”. In Av or Tv mode, the camera will always adapt to the first choice you make. The trick is simply to understand when one mode is more appropriate than another.

A quick example with numbers

If your settings are f/11 – 1/500 – ISO 400, and you decide to open your aperture to f/8, you let twice as much light reach the sensor. The camera will compensate (or you will, if you are in manual mode) either by taking the picture twice as fast (1/1000), or by halving the ISO value (ISO 200). For now, semi-automatic modes will make these calculations for you, but eventually, you will need to understand how they work!

Known under different names depending on the brand, Av on Canon and A on Nikon, this is the mode I most often recommend when you are starting out. Today, it is also the camera mode I use the most in my everyday photography, including when I travel.

This mode simply lets you choose the aperture you want, along with the ISO value. Based on these first two settings, the camera automatically calculates the shutter speed needed to get a correct exposure for the scene in front of you.

One small detail: you can either leave ISO on Auto or set it yourself depending on the scene. The principle remains the same, because the camera will always try to choose the ideal shutter speed based on your first two choices. If you leave ISO on Auto, the camera will also decide whether it needs to raise the ISO or not.

Here are a few examples shot in Av mode during my travels, across different fields of photography: close-up photography (insects in Madagascar) and focusing on an everyday scene (Burma).

It can be used in a wide range of situations, but in general, it is especially useful when you want to control your depth of field. I find this mode particularly helpful when you want to reduce the depth of field. You can refer to the article above, but as a reminder, depth of field corresponds to the area of sharpness in an image.

In practical terms, as soon as you want to isolate a subject, whether it is a person, an object or a detail in a scene, this is the mode to use. Let’s say your lens opens up to f/2.8 and you want to blur the background behind someone in a portrait. You set your aperture to f/2.8, choose the ISO according to the scene (ISO 100 on a sunny day, for example), and the camera gives you the right shutter speed for a correct exposure.

For scenes where you want a very large depth of field, such as landscape photography, simply set your aperture to f/11 or f/14, keep ISO as low as possible, and the camera will display the appropriate shutter speed. In landscape photography, this shutter speed often matters less because the subject is static, especially if you are using a tripod.

This mode also helps you understand the limits of your gear. Take, for example, an evening scene, a photo in the undergrowth, or a situation where you want to isolate a subject. You open your aperture as wide as possible (let’s say f/4), raise the ISO as much as you reasonably can, and try to recover enough shutter speed, since the two are connected. Despite that, your camera displays a shutter speed of 1/100, even though you are using a 200mm telephoto lens. You have no other option, and that shutter speed will probably not be fast enough to get a sharp photo. At that point, you have reached the limits of your equipment:

• Your lens’s maximum aperture is too small,
• Your camera body does not handle high ISO well enough.

Also called Tv mode on Canon or S mode on Nikon, you can think of this as the opposite of Av mode. I actually use it very little. You set the shutter speed you want, along with the ISO value, and the camera automatically calculates the aperture needed to expose the scene correctly.

I would say that the main reason to use this mode is when you want to shoot quickly enough to freeze a moving subject. I am thinking in particular of photos of airplanes, insects in flight, people running, car races and so on.

You choose a very fast shutter speed (for example 1/4000), set the ISO, and the camera does the rest. Problems can arise when you want to use a very fast shutter speed but the light is not strong enough, say a hare running through the undergrowth… well, why not? In that case, you have chosen your maximum speed (1/4000, for example), and the camera will open the aperture as wide as possible and raise the ISO as high as needed, with the aim of letting in as much light as possible. Still, your gear may limit you, and you may end up with underexposed photos.

Examples of wildlife photos in mid-air where Tv mode can be useful

I don’t use this semi-automatic mode very often, because I don’t find it that useful in most situations. Even during my safari in Tanzania, with wildlife running across the savannah, I preferred to stay in Av mode because choosing my aperture was simply more important to me. I really wanted to isolate my subject, which you can’t fully control in Tv mode, since the camera chooses the aperture itself. To me, it feels easier to tell the camera: I choose f/4 and ISO 800, now show me the shutter speed. If it is not fast enough, I can simply double the ISO to double the shutter speed.

That said, as Alex pointed out, for wildlife you will often be using a telephoto lens, and at those focal lengths, whether you shoot at f/2.8 or f/5.6, the depth of field will already be very shallow. It can therefore also be useful to use shutter priority mode with Auto ISO. You simply set the desired shutter speed (say 1/4000), set ISO to Auto, and very often the camera will use the maximum aperture. If you want to shoot at f/5.6, you can simply raise the ISO and the camera will adjust accordingly.

Known as P mode, it can be seen as a quasi-automatic mode, but it can be genuinely useful for beginners who want to understand how the three exposure parameters work together. I don’t use it at all, to be honest, but it can still be useful. You could almost think of it as a blind test to check whether you have understood the relationship between ISO, aperture and shutter speed.

Unlike the two other modes described above (Av / Tv), you only choose the ISO, and the camera offers several shutter speed / aperture combinations that produce a correctly exposed image.

For example, if you decide to set ISO 200, the camera might offer:

• ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/500
• ISO 200, f/4, 1/1000
• ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/2000

In terms of exposure, the result will be identical in these three examples. You then have to choose the combination that best suits the scene in front of you. Of course, you will need to adapt your choice according to subject movement (shutter speed) and the desired depth of field (aperture).

I don’t think there is really an ideal shooting situation for this mode. I mainly recommend it to beginners, at home, who do not yet fully understand the relationship between the three exposure parameters. You can use it to visualize how the settings interact and influence one another. Once you have more or less understood this mode, move on and switch to Av or Tv mode.

It is a bit like the holy grail: the ultimate goal for many photographers when they start out is to know how to control the camera and shoot in manual mode. As the name suggests, everything here is manual. Depending on the scene in front of you and your photographic choices, you have to choose the ISO, shutter speed and aperture settings yourself, always with the aim of achieving a “correct” exposure.

This may seem quite complicated at first. Honestly, as long as you do not fully understand the three elements of the exposure triangle, their effects and the way they interact, I do not recommend trying it, unless you enjoy pulling your hair out.

Because yes, the ultimate goal is to be able to look at a scene and say: “I think ISO 800, f/2.8 and 1/2000 should be about right.” As you practice, you will gradually learn to handle this mode without too much difficulty.

You still get a little help from the camera. When you select your settings, the camera tells you whether the photo is likely to be underexposed or overexposed using the exposure indicator. This is the small cursor you see in the center of the screen when you look through the viewfinder. If it is centered on the marker, the camera considers that the photo will be properly exposed. If it moves towards the minus side, the photo will be underexposed. If it moves towards the plus side, it will be overexposed.

Examples of real situations with tricky light where M mode can be useful

You probably won’t believe it, but this is not the mode I use the most. I do use it, but I prefer Av mode. You will always find people who argue that manual mode produces better photos. Frankly, that is not true. The camera mode you choose is not what determines whether a photo is good or not…

In the vast majority of cases, I use Av mode. I set my aperture according to the scene in front of me, look at the result and, if needed, adjust the settings or simply apply exposure compensation.

That said, there are some cases where manual mode can be useful. It is hard to give one universal example, but I sometimes use it when Av mode cannot give me the result I want. After a few attempts, I do better in manual mode. It is difficult to explain, but the idea is to use it when you are not satisfied with the automatic settings chosen by Av or Tv mode, for example to force a slightly faster shutter speed (even if that means getting darker photos), or conversely a slower shutter speed (even if that means getting close to motion blur).

Between us, don’t force yourself to use manual mode at all costs just to pretend to be a pro, or because you think it will automatically make your photos better. In most situations, the semi-automatic Av and Tv modes will help you get the result more easily. On the other hand, you are bound to miss some scenes if you insist on manual mode, when simply setting f/2.8 and ISO 800 would have been enough to get a good photo.

That’s it, I’m coming to the end of this article on the different camera modes. I hope it has clarified things and that you now feel ready to use them. And remember one thing, I know I am repeating myself, but your choice of camera mode is not what will determine whether your photo is good or not. Very often, the composition of the photo will have a greater impact on the final result. Speaking of basic composition rules, I invite you to come and understand the famous rule of thirds in photography!

See you soon,

Written by Sylvain PONS

I've been passionate about photography since 2010, learning as I went along. Today, I dedicate myself to guiding others in their choice of camera gear and sharing a variety of tips to improve their photography skills.

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