Many beginner photographers often wonder that camera settings they should use get the best possible result with their current camera gear. While there is no set rule for camera settings that work well in every shooting environment, I noticed that there are some settings that I personally set on every I use, which are universal across all brands of cameras on the market. These are the "base" settings I set initially once they are done, I rarely ever revisit them. In addition, there are particular camera modes that make the process of capturing image easier or quicker, especially for someone who is just starting out. Let's go through these common camera settings in more details!!!

Camera Setup

First, lets go over some of the camera settings that should apply to any modern digital camera. You should be able to find all the settings specified below, since they are more or less universal across different camera brands and models:

• Image Quality: RAW

• RAW Recording: Lossless Compressed (if available)

• White Balance: Auto

• Picture Control / Picture Style / Creative Style / Film Simulation: Standard

• Color Space: SRGB

• Long Exposure Noise Reduction: On

• High ISO Noise Reduction: Off

• Active D Lighting / DRO / HDR, Lens Corrections and more: Off

The above are the most important camera settings. First, you always start out by selecting the proper file format, which is RAW . If there is a setting for selecting RAW compression, always select Lossless Compressed, as explained here, since it reduces the amount of space your RAW files consume. While things like picture controls. Don't matter for RAW image, it is best to stick with a standard profile without tweaking any other settings like Sharpening, Contrast, Saturation, etc as such settings only matter if you shoot in JPEG format.

The same with color space and white balance - you do not have to worry about them when shooting RAW, since you can change them later. Unless you know what you are doing , I would keep "long exposure noise reduction" turned in, since it does affect your RAW image when shooting long exposures- it works by reducing the amount of noise you will see in your image (although it will also double the amount of time it normally takes to capture an image) and noise reduction options should be turned off as well, since they do nothing to improve your RAW image.

Once you have the above settings set up in your camera, it is time to move on to things that matter when taking pictures.

Best Camera Shooting Mode

While some photographers argue that it is best to always shot in Manual Mode to have full control over your camera , I would strongly disagree with that. Considering how amazing modern cameras have gotten when it comes to properly metering a scene and exposing a subject, these is very little reason to actually shoot Manual Mode, so why not use one of the semi automated camera modes instead?

For example I personally rely on the aperture priority mode of my camera 90% of the this time, because it does a great job and have full control no just over my camera aperture, but also over how bright or dark I want an image to appear. If my camera takes a brighter image then I would like it to be, I simply use the Exposure Compensation Button to adjust my exposure and I am set:

If you are wondering weather it is good to shoot in any of the "Scene" modes of your camera (such as Macro, Sports, Fireworks, etc ) I would discourage the use of these modes for a number of reasons. The main reason is that such modes vary greatly not just between different camera manufacturers, but also different models. So if you learn always rely on a particular scene mode on one camera and decide to upgrade to a new one in the future , you might not be able to find the same scene mode on a different camera model. It is also important to highlight that most higher-end and professional camera models don't even come with scene modes in the first place.

Best Autofocus Mode

You should always make sure that you are shooting in the best autofocus mode depending on what you are photographing. For example, if you photograph a still subject, you might want to use Single Area Focus Mode (also known as "Single Area AF" , "One Shot AF" or simply "AF-S"), whereas if the subject you are photographing is continuously moving, you would want to switch to Continuous / Al Servo Focus Mode, since you would probably want your camera to actively track your subject.

To make it easier for beginners, camera manufactures sometimes include a hybrid mode that automatically switches between Single Area Focus Mode and Continous / Al Servo Focus Mode depending on whether your subject is still or moving. This hybrid mode, which is known as "AF-A" on Nikon and "Al Focus AF" on Canon cameras, can be a great autofocus mode to default to if you find it difficult to constantly switch between AF-S and AF-C camera modes. Some cameras also come with an "Auto AF" mode, which looks at the whole scene and tries to focus on either the nearest subject, or a subject the camera thinks is important. I would recommend to avoid using such modes for most beginners, because it is better to have control over exactly where you camera focuses by moving your focus point to the spot your camera should focus on. you can achieve this by switching to the single-point AF-Area Mode as, explained in the autofocus modes explained article. Once you have a single point to move around in your viewfinder, you can either move that focus point within your frame on your subject / area of interest, or move of your subject to the focus point:

Best Metering Mode

While your camera might have a number different Metering Modes such as Spot Metering, Center-Weighted Metering and Matrix / Evaluative Metering, because it takes the whole scene into account and typically does a better job at exposing your subjects.

"Thank you so much for reading"

"Written by me 19/02/2002"