Camera Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-20-2025

With the D5200 camera, Nikon proves once again that you don’t have to give an arm and a leg — or strain your back and neck — to enjoy dSLR photography. The D5200 addition to the Nikon family of dSLRs doesn’t skimp on power or performance, offering a great set of features to help you take your photography to the next level. To help you get started using your camera, here’s a handy reference to your camera’s buttons, dials, and exposure modes.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 01-15-2025

One of the great barriers to getting great pictures from a digital camera is figuring out how all the camera's features work. Get to know the external controls and all the functions of the exposure modes on your Canon Rebel T2i/550D digital camera, and you'll be on your way to taking great digital photos!

Cheat Sheet / Updated 06-05-2024

Controls on Your Nikon D5100 Digital CameraWith the D5100 digital camera, Nikon proves once again that you don't have to give an arm and a leg — or strain your back and neck — to enjoy dSLR photography. The D5100 addition to the Nikon family of dSLRs doesn't skimp on power or performance, offering a great set of features to help you take your photography to the next level. To help you get started using your D5100 camera, here's a handy reference to your camera's buttons and dials and automatic and advanced exposure modes.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 10-09-2023

Your T3i/600D is packed with so many features that it can be difficult to remember what each control does, especially if you're new to digital SLR photography. To help you sort everything out, this Cheat Sheet provides a quick-reference guide to the external controls and exposure modes on your camera. Print it out, tuck it in your camera bag, and get a head start on taking great shots!

Cheat Sheet / Updated 09-06-2023

Your Canon EOS R50 has so many features that it can be difficult to remember what each control does. To help you sort things out, this Cheat Sheet offers a handy reference to your camera's external controls and shooting modes. You can print out this guide and tuck it in your camera bag, or you can bookmark this page in the browser of your smartphone. Either way, you're getting a head start on taking great photographs!

Article / Updated 08-14-2023

Getting familiar with the concept of depth of field is one of the biggest steps you can take to taking better shots on your Canon EOS Rebel T8i/850D. Not sure what depth of field means? Here’s a quick overview: Depth of field refers to the distance over which objects in a photograph appear acceptably sharp. With a shallow depth of field, the subject is sharp, but objects in front of and behind it appear blurry. The farther an object is from the subject, the blurrier it looks. With a large depth of field, the zone of sharp focus extends to include objects at a greater distance from your subject. Which arrangement works best depends on your creative vision and your subject. In portraits, for example, a classic technique is to use a shallow depth of field, as in the example shown below. But for landscapes, you might choose to use a large depth of field, as shown in the following image. Because the historical marker, lighthouse, and cottage are all sharp, they have equal visual weight in the scene. Again, though, which part of the scene appears blurry when you use a shallow depth of field depends on the spot at which you establish focus. Consider the lighthouse scene: Suppose you opted for a short depth of field and set focus on the lighthouse. In that case, both the historical marker in the foreground and the cottage in the background might be outside the zone of sharp focus. So how do you manipulate depth of field? You have three points of control: Aperture setting (f‐stop): The aperture is one of three main exposure settings on your Canon camera. Depth of field increases as you stop down the aperture (by choosing a higher f‐stop number). For shallow depth of field, open the aperture (by choosing a lower f‐stop number). This image offers an example. Notice that the tractor in the background is in much sharper focus in the first shot, taken at f/20, than in the second image, shot at f/2.8. Lens focal length: Focal length, which is measured in millimeters, determines what the lens “sees.” As you increase focal length, the angle of view narrows, objects appear larger in the frame, and—the important point in this discussion—depth of field decreases. Additionally, the spatial relationship of objects changes as you adjust focal length. For example, the next image compares the same scene shot at focal lengths of 138mm and 255mm. The aperture was set to f/22 for both examples. Whether you have any focal‐length flexibility depends on your lens. If you have a zoom lens, you can adjust the focal length by zooming in or out. If your lens offers only a single focal length—a prime lens in photo‐speak—scratch this means of manipulating depth of field (unless you want to change to a different prime lens, of course). Camera‐to‐subject distance: When you move the lens closer to your subject, depth of field decreases. This statement assumes that you don’t zoom in or out to reframe the picture, thereby changing the focal length. If you do, depth of field is affected by both the camera position and focal length. Together, these three factors determine the maximum and minimum depth of field that you can achieve, as follows: To produce the shallowest depth of field: Open the aperture as wide as possible (select the lowest f‐stop number), zoom in to the maximum focal length of your lens, and move as close as possible to your subject. To produce maximum depth of field: Stop down the aperture to the highest possible f‐stop setting, zoom out to the shortest focal length your lens offers, and move farther from your subject. Here are a few additional tips and tricks related to depth of field: Aperture‐priority autoexposure mode (Av) enables you to easily control depth of field while enjoying exposure assistance from the camera. In this mode, you rotate the Main dial to set the f‐stop, and the camera selects the appropriate shutter speed to produce a good exposure. The range of available aperture settings depends on your lens. If you’re not up to Av mode, experiment with the Background Blur setting available when you shoot in Scene Intelligent Auto mode. You access it through the Creative Assist option. Just don’t expect miracles: The Background Blur feature doesn’t always deliver as much or as little blurring as you’d like. Some SCN modes also offer the Background Blur option. For greater background blurring, move the subject farther from the background. The extent to which background focus shifts as you adjust depth of field also is affected by the distance between the subject and the background. Depth-of-field preview: When you look through your viewfinder and press the shutter button halfway, you see only a partial indication of the depth of field that your current camera settings will produce. You can see the effect of focal length and the camera‐to‐subject distance, but because the aperture doesn’t actually stop down to your selected f‐stop until you take the picture, the viewfinder doesn’t show you how that setting will affect depth of field. By using the Depth‐of‐Field Preview button on your camera, however, you can do just that when you shoot in the advanced exposure modes. Almost hidden away on the front of your camera, the button is labeled below. To use this feature, press and hold the shutter button halfway and simultaneously press and hold the Depth‐of‐Field Preview button with a finger on your other hand. Depending on the selected f‐stop, the scene in the viewfinder may get darker. In Live View mode, the same thing happens in the monitor preview. Either way, this effect doesn’t mean that your picture will be darker; it’s just a function of how the preview works. Note that the preview doesn’t engage in P, Tv, or Av mode if the aperture and shutter speed aren’t adequate to expose the image properly. You have to solve the exposure issue before you can use the preview. To learn more about your Canon EOS Rebel T8i/850D, check out our Cheat Sheet.

Article / Updated 07-10-2023

It's great to have a map to the buttons and controls on your camera, but it's not a lot of help if you can't remember which button to press when (and why). So here's a quick recap of what you can do with each button. Note: This information concentrates on features available when you shoot in the P, Tv, Av, and M exposure modes. A few features also work in other modes. This Control . . . Performs These Functions Mode dial Sets the exposure mode, which determines how much control you have over picture settings. For the most control, choose P, Tv, Av, or M. Menu button Press to display and hide camera menus; rotate Main dial to cycle through menu pages. Info button During playback, Live View photography, and Movie shooting, changes the data display. During viewfinder photography, toggles between the normal information display and an electronic level. Live View/Movie record button Press to toggle Live View on and off. When the camera is in Movie mode, press to start and stop recording. Exposure Compensation button In P, Tv, and Av modes, press while rotating the Main dial to apply Exposure Compensation (adjusts image brightness). In M mode, press while rotating the Main dial to adjust the aperture setting. Q button Activates Quick Control mode, which provides fast access to shooting and playback settings. Press again to exit Quick Control mode. Set button/cross keys During viewfinder shooting, press to access the following settings: top key, White Balance; right key, AF Operation; bottom key, Picture Style; left key, Drive mode. When choosing options from menus and other screens, use the cross keys to highlight an option and then press Set to select that option. AF Area Selection button Press to display the AF Area Selection setting, which controls which autofocus point or zones the camera uses to set focusing distance. ISO button Press to display a screen where you can adjust the ISO setting, which determines how sensitive the camera is to light. DISP button During viewfinder photography, enables you to manually turn the monitor on and off. AE Lock/FE Lock/Index/Reduce button During shooting, press to lock autoexposure (AE) or to lock flash exposure (FE). During playback, press to cycle from single-image view to index (thumbnails) view. If the displayed image or live preview is magnified, press to reduce the magnification level. AF Point Selection/Magnify button During viewfinder photography, press to display the AF Area Selection screen. (You still must use the AF Area Selection button to change the setting.) In Playback mode, press to magnify the image on the monitor. In Live View or Movie mode, you also can magnify the display under certain circumstances. Wi-Fi button Press to display menu screen containing options for configuring wireless connections to a computer, smartphone, or tablet. Erase button While reviewing pictures, press to erase currently displayed or selected photos. Playback button Toggles picture playback on and off. Flash button Press to raise built-in flash in P, Tv, Av, and M modes. When the flash is up, press again to access flash-related menu settings. Depth-of-Field Preview button Press to temporarily set the aperture to the selected f-stop so you can see an approximation of depth of field in the viewfinder. Lens-release button Press to disengage the lens from the camera's lens mount so you can remove the lens.

Article / Updated 07-10-2023

When you select an Image Quality setting on your Canon EOS Rebel T8i/850D that results in a JPEG image file—that is, any setting other than Raw—also experiment with the Auto Lighting Optimizer feature. Unlike Highlight Tone Priority on your Canon, which concentrates on preserving highlight detail only, Auto Lighting Optimizer tries to improve underexposed, low-contrast, or high-contrast shots by adjusting both shadows and highlights. The adjustment is made as the image is captured by your Canon camera. In the Basic Zone exposure modes, you have no control over how much adjustment is made. But in P, Tv, Av, and M modes, you can decide whether to enable Auto Lighting Optimizer. You also can request a stronger or lighter application of the effect than the default setting, which is Standard. The following image offers an example of the impact of each Auto Lighting Optimizer setting. Given the level of improvement that the Auto Lighting Optimizer correction made to this photo, it may seem crazy to ever disable this feature on your Canon camera. But it’s important to note a few points: The level of shift that occurs between each Auto Lighting Optimizer setting varies depending on the subject. This particular example shows a fairly noticeable difference between the High and Off settings. But you don’t always see this much impact from the filter. Even in this example, it’s difficult to detect much difference between Off and Low. Although the filter improved this particular scene, at times you may not find it beneficial. For example, maybe you’re purposely trying to shoot a backlit subject in silhouette or produce a low‐contrast image. Either way, you don’t want the camera to insert its opinions on the exposure or contrast you’re trying to achieve. Enabling Auto Lighting Optimizer may slow your shooting rate. That slowdown occurs because the filter is applied after you capture the photo, while the camera is writing the data to the memory card. In some lighting conditions, Auto Lighting Optimizer can produce an increase in image noise. Noise becomes more apparent when you enlarge a photo. It also tends to be most visible in areas of flat color. The corrective action taken by Auto Lighting Optimizer can make some other exposure‐adjustment features less effective. So turn it off if you don’t see the results you expect when you’re using the following features: Exposure compensation. Flash compensation. Automatic exposure bracketing. You can’t use this feature while Highlight Tone Priority is enabled. In fact, as soon as you turn on that feature, the camera automatically disables Auto Lighting Optimizer. You can view the current Auto Lighting Optimizer setting in the Quick Control and Live View displays; look for the icon representing the setting in the areas labeled below. Notice the vertical bars in the graphic—the number of bars tells you how much adjustment is being applied. Two bars, as you see above, represent the Standard setting; three bars, High; and one bar, Low. The bars are replaced by the word Off when the feature is disabled. By default, the Auto Lighting Optimizer level is set to Standard for the P, Tv, and Av modes. In M mode, the feature is disabled by default. You can adjust these settings in two ways: Shooting Menu 2: Choose Auto Lighting Optimizer, as shown on the left in the image you see next, to display the settings screen shown on the right below. Here, you can select the level of adjustment you want to apply. Just below the four adjustment-level symbols, notice the check box next to the Info label. This is the option that determines whether Auto Lighting Optimizer is applied in the M exposure mode. By default, the box is checked, as in the image above, telling the camera not to make the adjustment during manual exposure. If you do want to add the adjustment, tap the check box or press the Info button to toggle the check mark off. Tap Set or press the Set button to return to Shooting Menu 2. Quick Control method: You also can adjust the setting using the Quick Control method. After pressing Q or tapping the Q symbol to shift to Quick Control mode, highlight the Auto Lighting Optimizer icon and press Set (or just tap the symbol). You’re presented with the same options screen you see in the image above. If you’re not sure what level of Auto Lighting Optimizer might work best or you’re concerned about the other drawbacks of enabling the filter, consider shooting the picture in the Raw file format. For Raw pictures, the camera applies no post‐capture tweaking, regardless of whether this filter or any other one is enabled. Then, by using Canon Digital Photo Professional, the software provided free with the camera, you can apply the Auto Lighting Optimizer effect when you convert your Raw images to a standard file format. If you want to learn more about your Canon EOS Rebel T8i/850D, check out our Cheat Sheet.

Article / Updated 07-10-2023

Your Canon EOS Rebel T8i/850D is capable of amazing close-ups. For great close-up shots, start with the basic capture settings. Then try the following additional settings and techniques to take great close-ups on your Canon camera: Check your Canon EOS Rebel T8i/850D owner’s manual to find out the minimum close-focusing distance of your lens. How “up close and personal” you can be to your subject depends on your lens, not on the camera body. Take control of depth of field by setting the camera mode to Av (aperture-priority autoexposure) mode. Whether you want a shallow, medium, or extreme depth of field depends on the point of your photo. For the scene shown below, for example, setting the aperture to f/5.6 blurred the background, helping the subjects stand out from the similarly colored background. But if you want the viewer to clearly see all details throughout the frame—for example, if you’re shooting a product shot for your company’s sales catalog—go the other direction, stopping down the aperture as far as possible. Remember that zooming in and getting close to your subject both decrease depth of field. Back to that product shot: If you need depth of field beyond what you can achieve with the aperture setting, back away, zoom out, or both. (You can always crop your image to eliminate excess background.) When shooting flowers and other nature scenes outdoors, pay attention to your Canon’s shutter speed. Even a slight breeze may cause your subject to move, causing blurring at slow shutter speeds. Experiment with adding flash for better outdoor lighting. As with portraits, a bit of flash can improve close-ups when the sun is your primary light source. You may need to reduce the flash output slightly, via your Canon camera’s Flash Exposure Compensation control. Remember that turning on the built-in flash limits the maximum shutter speed to 1/200 second, however, and that mixing sunlight with flash light may affect image colors. When shooting indoors, try not to use flash as your primary light source. Because you’re shooting with your Canon at close range, the light from your flash may be too harsh even at a low Flash Exposure Compensation setting. If flash is inevitable, turn on as many room lights as possible to reduce the flash power that’s needed. To get really close to your subject, invest in a macro lens or a set of diopters. A macro lens enables you to focus at a very short distance so that you can capture even the tiniest of critters or, if you’re not into nature, details of an object. A 90mm macro lens was used to snap an image of the ladybug below just before she got annoyed and flew away home. Notice how shallow the depth of field is. The extreme background blurring is due to the long focal length of the lens and the short distance between the lens and the subject. An f-stop of f/10 was used, which may seem high when you’re going for a shallow depth of field. But because the focal length and subject distance already combined for a very shallow depth of field, a higher f-stop was needed to keep the entire subject in the focus zone. Unfortunately, a good macro lens isn’t cheap, regardless of which Canon camera you’re using; prices range from a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars. If you enjoy capturing the tiny details in life, though, it’s worth the investment. For a less-expensive way to go, you can spend about $40 for a set of diopters, which are like reading glasses that you screw onto your lens. Diopters come in several strengths — +1, +2, +4, and so on — with a higher number indicating a greater magnifying power. With most sets, you can stack one diopter on top of another for increased power. The downside of a diopter is that it typically produces images that are very soft around the edges, a problem that doesn’t occur with a good macro lens. Want to learn more? Check out our Canon EOS Rebel Ti8/850D Cheat Sheet.

Article / Updated 07-07-2023

Your Canon EOS Rebel T8i/850D has the potential for some great dynamic photography. But good intentions don’t always result in what you want to see from your Canon camera. Sometimes, you’ll need some help. When it comes to high-contrast shots, you may want to use your Canon’s Highlight Tone Priority. When should you use Highlight Tone Priority? When a scene contains both very dark and very bright areas, achieving a good exposure can be difficult. If you choose exposure settings that render the shadows properly, the highlights are often overexposed, as in the left image below. Although the dark lamppost in the foreground looks fine in the first shot, the white building behind it became so bright that all detail was lost. The same thing occurred in the highlight areas of the church steeple. To produce a better image in this situation, try enabling Highlight Tone Priority, which helps keep highlight areas intact without darkening shadows. The feature did the trick for the scene above; the results appear in the second image above. The difference is subtle, but the windows in the building are at least visible, the steeple regained some of its color, and the sky, too, has a bit more blue. Highlight Tone Priority is available only in the P, Tv, Av, and M modes. It’s turned off by default, which may seem like an odd choice after looking at the improvement it made to the scene you see above. What gives? The answer is that in order to do its thing, Highlight Tone Priority needs to play with a few other camera settings, as follows: The ISO range is reduced to ISO 200–25600. The camera needs the more limited range in order to favor the image highlights. (If you enable the feature for movie recording, the top end of the ISO range is 12800.) Auto Lighting Optimizer is disabled. This feature, which attempts to improve image contrast, is incompatible with Highlight Tone Priority. You can wind up with more noise in shadow areas of the image. Again, noise is the defect that looks like grains of sand. The only way to enable Highlight Tone Priority is via Shooting Menu 2, shown directly below. Choose D+ for the standard amount of adjustment (this setting was used in the image above) or select D+2 for a stronger effect. Canon says that whether the stronger effect actually produces any greater impact on the highlights depends on the lighting conditions, however. Also, D+2 isn’t available for movie recording. As a reminder that Highlight Tone Priority is enabled, a D+ or D+2 symbol appears near the ISO value in the Quick Control and Live View displays, as shown in the image below. The same symbol appears with the ISO setting in the viewfinder and in the shooting data that appears in Playback mode. Notice that the symbol that represents Auto Lighting Optimizer, also labeled below, is dimmed because that feature is disabled automatically as soon as you turn on Highlight Tone Priority. In case you’re wondering why the letter D is assigned to this feature, it’s related to the term dynamic range, or the range of brightness values, from black to white, that an imaging device can capture. Want to learn more? Check out our Canon EOS Rebel T8i/850D Cheat Sheet.