Whether you just got a new camera or have had yours for a while, you may want to check the following seven settings. These won't affect how your pictures turn out, but they can help you avoid potential problems or keep from annoying your neighbors when shooting.
Because every camera manufacturer calls these settings by slightly different names and places them in different menus, you will need to have your camera and complete manual handy in order to check these settings. The example menus are from a Canon 7D DSLR camera.
1. Shoot Without a Memory Card -- Off
Out of the box your camera lets you take pictures without a memory card inserted to save them. That means you could make a bunch of great shots only to discover they have vanished into thin air! If you don't change any other setting, change this one!
2. Beep -- Off or Low Volume
Cameras with autofocus capabilities (digital and film) sound a beep to confirm when the camera has achieved focus. The beep also counts down the seconds on a self-timer shot. But you don't actually need this sound. A solid dot appears in the viewfinder when the lens achieves focus. And a blinking light on the front of the camera alerts you to the moment the self-timer will fire. There's also a count-down in the viewfinder or on the LCD. So do your neighbors at the concert or play or even out in the field a favor and turn the beep off. (Some newer cameras allow you to turn down the volume without disabling the beep completely.)
3. Grid Lines -- On
Most cameras have the ability to display grid lines in the viewfinder and on the LCD when shooting in Live View. These lines do not appear in your photo, but they can help you keep the camera straight. There are usually choices of the grid line pattern, but all cameras provide a 3-x-3 design that is the same as the Rule of Thirds grid. Turning on the grid lines thus can also help you improve your compositions.
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Canon DSLR menu |
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3-x-3 Grid display in Live View |
4. Image Review Time -- 5-8 seconds
After you take a photo, the camera displays the result on the LCD screen on the back (or in the EVF on mirrorless cameras). Usually the display is set to a short amount of time, such as 2 or 3 seconds, in order to save battery power. But this is seldom sufficient time for you to actually see what the composition and exposure are. I recommend 5 or 8 seconds, depending on the options your camera provides. I find this gives me enough time to check my results. And if I want to return to shooting mode sooner, I just tap the shutter button and I'm ready to go. If you are shooting an action subject such as sports, you may want to turn off image review entirely so it does not interfere with visually tracking your subject.
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Canon DSLR menu |
5. Rotate Vertical Image in Playback -- Off
When you rotate the camera body and take a vertical shot, the camera plays back the picture as a vertical when you are holding the camera in the horizontal position. This results in the picture appearing much smaller than a horizontal photo in playback when the camera is held horizontally. In order to have a vertical shot fill the LCD screen, turn off this rotation. When you play back a vertical picture, you rotate the camera body to see the photo fill the whole screen just as when you shot the image.
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Vertical image rotated with camera held horizontally |
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Vertical image not rotated with camera held vertically |
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Auto Rotate Off for Camera, On for Computer Canon DSLR menu |
6. Auto Power Off Timer -- 3-5 minutes
Another setting designed to save battery power is how quickly your camera goes to "sleep" after a period when you do not press any buttons or access the menus. This is often set to a minute or less. Yes, you can tap the shutter button to wake up the camera and resume shooting, but it would be nice not to have to do this before every shot. I recommend setting the camera to power off every 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the choices on your camera. This gives you time to find and set up your next shot without having to wake the camera. If you are shooting in very cold conditions, you might want to temporarily shorten the time because the cold will sap your battery's strength quicker.
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Canon DSLR menu |
7. Reset Camera to Factory Settings
Last is resetting the camera menus and controls to the way they were when you first pulled the camera from the box. This is variously called resetting to default or factory settings. It helps if you've changed many options and want to get quickly back to normal. Or you loaned your camera to another photographer who may have changed the settings to suit themselves but those settings are not your preferences.
On most cameras there is a main menu setting that takes care of resetting all menus and buttons with one choice. Other cameras separate the reset into two options, one for "regular" settings and one for custom settings. So you might have to find two menu entries. Nikon cameras don't use a menu option for resetting everything. Instead two buttons, usually on top of the camera body and labeled with a green dot, are pressed at the same time and held for 2 or 3 seconds to reset the whole camera.
Making these small changes to how your camera operates can make your shooting experience more convenient and enjoyable. Try them out! You can always reset the camera if you prefer the original settings.