A complete guide to using a DSLR camera

If you have recently bought yourself a DSLR camera (or mirrorless camera) and after opening the camera box, you have noticed how thick the manual is, or If the high number of buttons on the camera was confusing for you, we give you the right! Before you start learning how to use a DSLR camera, it might be best to set the camera to Auto mode and start shooting. Of course, the results of your photos are probably good and acceptable. But after a while, you probably want to get more creative with your photography. At this moment, you realize that the Auto mode no longer meets your needs and you need to have more control over the camera. If you consider yourself a beginner in photography and don't really know how to get the most out of your DSLR camera, this article is for you. This article will help you get your camera out of automatic mode and get the most out of its features. This article should not be considered a substitute for your camera's manual, as we do not intend to describe all the tools and options in detail. Rather, we only introduce the most important and efficient tools and settings to you so that you can find enough control over your photography. Mini 11 2,650,000 Tomans Canon EOS 4000D digital camera with 18-55mm DC III lens 15,000,000 Tomans Buy a DSLR camera from SafirSoft View all

Stages of learning to work with a DSLR or mirrorless camera

To understand Better this article, at the beginning it is better to review together the headings that we are going to examine. Mastering DSLR cameras can be complicated and there are a lot of concepts involved, but it's a good idea to go over these topics to get you started:

. Learning photography modes

. Understanding ISO

Learning the exposure triangle

. Importance of photometry

. Focus learning

. Learning the types of files and their sizes

. Learning White Balance

Getting to know DSLR camera shooting modes

The best place to start learning how to work with a DSLR camera is to learn the different modes of these cameras. These modes in most cameras include Auto - AV - Tv - P - M options, but in some cameras they may have more variety. Choosing these modes means how your camera behaves when you press the shutter button. For example, when the camera is in Auto mode, it calculates all exposure variables (including aperture and shutter speed) by itself. Other modes, namely Av - Tv - P - M, each have a specific use.

In the article on the full introduction of camera modes, we have introduced and reviewed all these photography modes. But here we explain each of these modes more briefly. To understand and explain more about these modes, we recommend reading the above article.

Aperture priority (Av or A mode)

In this mode, also called semi-automatic We say, the photographer can choose the aperture value himself and the camera automatically adjusts the shutter speed. Aperture value refers to the opening size of the lens entrance. The wider the lens is open, the more light enters it.

A lower aperture size, represented by larger f-stop numbers, means that all elements in the image are clearly included. On the other hand, Anda A large aperture stop, represented by smaller f-stop numbers, means focusing on foreground elements and blurring background elements.

Shutter priority (Tv or S mode)

Unlike the previous mode, in this mode the photographer chooses the shutter speed manually and the camera chooses the aperture size automatically. so that the photo has proper exposure. This mode can also be called semi-automatic.

Shutter speed is the amount of time that the lens shutter opens and closes to record the photo. The shorter this time, the less light enters the lens, but the shooting speed increases.

In summary, keep in mind that a high shutter speed means less light (slightly darker image) but faster capture of components. Is. This mode is suitable for photographing moving objects (for example, a flying bird). On the other hand, a slower shutter speed allows the camera to capture more light, so the image can be brighter, but the movement of objects or the camera in this mode can lead to blurring and stretching.

• Everything you need to know about shutter speed in photography

Program mode (P)

This mode is somewhere between fully automatic and the previous semi-automatic modes. In Program mode, the photographer can set either the aperture size or the shutter speed. Then the camera will automatically and based on the same, choose another variable value so that your image has a proper exposure. For example, you choose an aperture size, and the camera then automatically adjusts the shutter speed accordingly to give your shot the correct exposure.

Canon Eos 80D Body digital camera

Manual mode (M )

In this case, as the name suggests, everything will be the responsibility of the photographer. In other words, the photographer will have complete control over all the settings and variables of photography. Choosing the wrong settings in this mode can ruin your photo.

Understanding ISO

ISO determines how sensitive your camera sensors are to light. This term entered photography from the world of filmmaking. At that time, film and negatives with different degrees of sensitivity were used in different conditions. Of course, ISO works in almost the same way in digital cameras, with the difference that everything is digitized. ISO sensitivity starts at 100 (low ISO) and goes up to higher values of ISO 6400 (high) and even more. ISO actually determines the amount of light that the sensor needs to achieve the desired exposure.

• What is ISO in a camera? (Complete guide for beginners)

When we choose low ISO values, the camera will expose with a small amount of light. But when we choose a higher value, more light is needed to achieve the same amount of exposure. To better understand how ISO works, let's take a look at 2 different situations:

Low ISO values

If you want to shoot outdoors on a sunny day, naturally you should You will have access to enough light for photography. Therefore, your camera sensors don't need to be very sensitive to achieve correct exposure. In such a case, you can use low ISO values. That is, something like 100 or 200 can be suitable for you. Low ISO in a camera gives the best quality of photos and the least amount of noise.

- High ISO values

If If you are shooting in a situation where the amount of ambient light is not enough and you do not have access to natural light, you will have no choice but to increase the sensitivity of the camera's light sensors. The lower the ambient light, the higher and higher the ISO value you should choose. But a number close to 3000 can be enough in many closed and dimly lit environments. The use of high ISO brings a side effect and problem, which is reducing the quality of the image and adding noise to it.

Practical tip:

Try to keep the ISO value as low as possible. The lower the ISO value, the higher the quality of your photos and the lower the noise density. If you are shooting outdoors on sunny days, ISO 200 and even lower can be very suitable. If the weather is cloudy, values between 400 and 800 can be a good choice for you. If you're shooting indoors and indoors, the minimum ISO you'll probably need is around 1600.

However, almost all DSLRs come with an automatic ISO setting. In this case, the camera sensors determine and adjust the appropriate ISO value for photography based on the available light. camera sensors in this mode will try to select the lowest possible ISO value for you.

Check The concept of "exposure triangle"

One of the most important points of learning to work with a DSLR camera is to learn and understand the concept of the exposure triangle. Aperture, shutter speed and ISO form the three sides of the exposure triangle. These 3 variables can adjust the amount of light entering the camera (aperture and shutter speed) or the amount of light needed to achieve the desired exposure (ISO).

Therefore, these 3 sides are related to each other. And understanding the relationship between them is absolutely essential to learning how to shoot with DSLR cameras. Making any changes in any of these variables will affect other parts as well.

• What is the exposure triangle and why is it important in photography and videography?

To better understand the concept of the exposure triangle, consider this example. Assume an exposure at ISO 400, an aperture of f/8.0, and a shutter speed of one tenth of a second. Now, if we want to reduce the depth of the image, we must choose a larger aperture number (choose a smaller number). So, we decide to set the aperture to f/4.0. In other words, we increased the size of the aperture by approximately 4 times (we increased the aperture by 2 degrees, each degree equals 2x). Therefore, the amount of light entering the lens increases. In such situations, to balance the exposure, we can do several things:

First mode: reduce the shutter speed by the same amount. That is, choose the value of 1/40th of a second.

Second mode: Reduce the ISO value by 4 times. That is, set the ISO to 100.

Third mode: Choose a combination of the previous two modes. It means to reduce the shutter speed by 2 times (one-twentieth of a second) and to reduce the ISO value by 2 times, that is, to choose ISO 200.

Mastering the discussion of light metering

In the previous sections of the tutorial on working with a DSLR camera, we talked about how your DSLR or mirrorless camera, based on the amount of available light, Selects exposure settings. But how does the camera do this?

When you shoot with your camera, it doesn't matter which of the shooting modes you have chosen (aperture priority, shutter priority, automatic, etc.), the camera always tries to to calculate average and average exposure. The camera tries to evaluate the whole image; It means both bright spots and dark spots. The camera then estimates the amount of exposure needed to average the entire image to 18% gray.

This process is known as metering. This is why when you point your camera at a bright scene, such as a snowy scene, the image always appears darker than it actually is. Similarly, if you point your camera at a very dark scene and shoot, your photo will never be as dark and black.

Canon EOS 4000D digital camera with 18-55 mm DC III lens

So, in most favor of the camera It selects the average exposure of the landscape and the subject for photography. However, you can also manipulate the metering settings yourself and choose the method you want. For example, you can select the part of the image that you want the exposure to be based on. In general, there are 3 modes for metering when taking photos:

Average mode: The camera measures the amount of light in the entire image and evaluates the exposure on an average of 18% of the total gray.

Center weighting: The camera performs lighting based on measuring the amount of light in the middle of the image (the middle of the viewfinder frame). In this case, the camera does not care about the lights in the side and corners of the image. Actually, metering is done based on about 80% of the frame.

Regional metering: In this mode, the camera uses only one small point for metering. This point can only be 5% of your entire image. The camera then adjusts the overall exposure of the photo based on the 18% gray scale of this evaluation. Or choose center weighting to start with. Both of these methods are more stable and efficient.

Focus learning

Empty Depending on which camera mode you use or what your exposure settings are, you may want to focus more on a certain part of the image. Sometimes, focusing alone can convey the main message of a photo.

Focus Modes

DSLR cameras have different focus modes. However, to simplify the discussion, we only need to learn the 2 main modes AF-S and AF-C.

AF-S mode: Single AF: This The best way to photograph Fixed subjects are portraits of people, landscapes, buildings, etc. In this mode, by half-pressing the shutter button, the autofocus is set and locked on the desired area.

AF-C mode: Continuous AF: This method for shooting It is suitable for moving subjects, such as sports and wildlife photography. In this mode, the focus is locked on the subject when you press the shutter button halfway. Now even if the subject moves, the camera's focus will follow until you take the picture.

camera Coolpix B500

Getting to know the types and sizes of files

Learning to work with a DSLR camera including learning different formats supported by cameras It can also be a DSLR. Cameras generally provide you with various options in the field of photo storage type and size. Most of the time, you will have several options for the size of the photos. Larger files naturally have higher quality and smaller options have lower quality. Our advice is to save your photos in the highest quality possible.

DSLR cameras also allow you to choose between JPEG and RAW files. JPEG files are the usual photos that we use. But RAW files are raw photo files and contain all the raw photo information. These files are not compressed and therefore have a larger volume. The advantage of using the RAW file is that in the future, using computer image editing software, you can have much more control over the photo and manipulate and process everything much better and easier.

White balance get to know

As the last part of DSLR camera training, we recommend always before shooting Pay attention to your camera's White Balance. You have probably come across photos that you feel have different colors. That is, everything in them may have a halo of blue or orange or any other color. The reason for this is that the white balance of your camera is wrong and the camera cannot detect white light well.

Different light sources (sun, solar lamps, moonlight, cloudy weather, etc.) all have different light. . We say that their color temperature is different. For example, the light of a candle or the light of the sun at the moment of sunrise or sunset is very warm, because it contains large amounts of red and orange colors. These colors are reflected on the surfaces and they may also be colored like this. But our brain is very intelligent and sees and imagines the color of objects and objects in the form of their original color. But cameras are not so smart and they may make mistakes.

Canon Eos 80D Body

For this reason, it is necessary to set the White Balance manually. Of course, the camera checks and adjusts the lighting conditions automatically, but since there is a possibility of mistakes, it is better to do it yourself. Most cameras offer several different default modes for adjusting white balance, which can be very simple for you to choose from. These modes usually include:

Natural Daylight: Natural and Normal.

Cloudy Weather: Some camera Warm tones add to the light of the images.

Shadow: These photos are generally cold and blue, so they need to be warmed up a bit.

Light Tungsten: The camera tries to slightly reduce the amount of yellowness of the light.

Fluorescent: The camera tries to compensate for the high green and blue colors of the fluorescent light.

Flash light: Flash light is very blue, white and cold. So the camera tries to give it some heat.

Source: Digital Photography School