TIP: If you’re in Superior Auto mode, while also in RAW or RAW+JPG mode, the camera will not create composite images (making it consistent with normal RAW shooting.) Ironically, this also nullifies the differentiating feature between Intelligent Auto and Superior Auto. And so the moral of the story is, if you want the benefits of Superior Auto, don’t set the camera to RAW or RAW+JPG.

 

3.2 P,A,S,M Modes

Figure 3-3: Program exposure mode.

Figure 3-4: The AUTO modes will keep beginners from becoming frustrated by not allowing them to accidentally change some basic settings. Conversely, it makes non-beginners frustrated because they can’t change some basic settings.

Program (“P”) mode is almost identical to the regular Intelligent Auto mode described two sections ago. In Program mode, the camera does the basic decision-making for you -- it decides what combination of shutter speed and f/stop to use based upon the ambient light, the currently set ISO sensitivity, and what the lens is zoomed to. The only difference between Program and the Intelligent Auto mode is that Program mode allows you to change all of the important settings (such as ISO, Autofocus Mode, or white balance), whereas the Auto modes often restrict such tweaks.

For this reason, as you read through the rest of this book, I recommend you keep the camera set to “P”rogram mode as you try out the different features and settings. In Program mode you’ll never get a message saying “This feature is not available in this mode” (Figure 3-4). (Well, almost never. Sometimes if you’re shooting RAW you might hit a similar brick wall when trying to use some advanced features, but I’ll tell you about those where appropriate.)

Figure 3-5: In Manual Exposure mode, the Control Dial (top rectangle) controls the f/stop, while the control wheel (bottom rectangle) controls the shutter speed.

What do the other modes do?

• M(anual) exposure mode lets you choose the f/stop and shutter speed yourself using the Control Dial and the Control Wheel (Figure 3-5).
• A(perture Priority) exposure mode lets you set the f/stop via either control wheel in back and the camera chooses a shutter speed depending upon the ISO and available light.
• S(hutter Priority) exposure mode lets you set the shutter speed via either control wheel in back and the camera chooses a corresponding f/stop depending upon the ISO and available light.

If you’re not familiar with these basic exposure modes, Appendix A provides a Condensed Guide to the Basics.

3.3 Focusing Essentials and Face Detection

There’s more to focusing than you think, and many people have been overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices and permutations. That’s OK; I’m here for you and I’ll explain all of it.

So let’s start slowly, showing what a focus point needs in order to work properly, and then I'll expand to “how does the camera know which one to use” and finally “under what conditions will it track a subject accurately?” and “What do all the various focusing modes do?”.