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• Beginner Photography
Common Camera Settings for Beginners • Landscape Photography
• Wildlife Photography
BY NASIM MANSUROV | 61 COMMENTS
LAST UPDATED ON APRIL 28, 2023 • Portraiture
• Post-Processing
• Advanced Tutorials
Many beginner photographers often wonder what camera settings they should
use to get the best possible results with their current camera gear. While there is
no set rule for camera settings that work well in every shooting environment, I Take Your Photos
noticed that there are some settings that I personally set on every camera I use,
which are universal across all brands of cameras on the market. These are the FARTHER
“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
images easier or quicker, especially for someone who is just starting out. Let’s go
through these common camera settings in more detail!

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Table of Contents
1. Camera Setup PHOTOGRAPHY LANDSCAPE
2. Best Camera Shooting Mode BASICS PHOTOGRAPHY

3. Best Autofocus Mode

4. Best Metering Mode
5. Best Lens Aperture
6. Best Shutter Speed
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7. Best ISO Setting
PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY
8. Auto ISO
9. Image Stabilization

Camera Setup
COMPOSITION & BLACK & WHITE
First, let’s go over some of the camera settings that should apply to any modern CREATIVITY PHOTOGRAPHY

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

NIGHT SKY PORTRAIT
RAW Recording: Lossless Compressed (if available)
PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY
White Balance: Auto
Picture Control / Picture Style / Creative Style / Film Simulation: Standard
Color Space: sRGB
Long Exposure Noise Reduction: On
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
High ISO Noise Reduction: Off
PHOTOGRAPHY VIDEOS
Active D-Lighting / DRO, HDR, Lens Corrections (Vignette Control, Chromatic
Aberration Control, Distortion Control, etc): Off UNIQUE GIFT IDEAS

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 images (they only impact the way the image
appears on your camera’s LCD), 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 on,
since it does affect your RAW images when shooting long exposures – it works SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL
by reducing the amount of noise you will see in your images (although it will also If you like our content, you can subscribe to our
double the amount of time it normally takes to capture an image). All other in- newsletter to receive weekly email updates using

camera lens corrections, dynamic range optimizations and noise reduction the link below:

options should be turned off as well, since they do nothing to improve your RAW
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images.

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 shoot 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, there is very little reason to
actually shoot in 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 time, because it does a great job and I have full control not 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 than 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 whether 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 to 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 /
AI Servo Focus Mode, since you would probably want your camera to actively
track your subject.

To make it easier for beginners, camera manufacturers sometimes include a

hybrid mode that automatically switches between Single Area Focus Mode and
Continous / AI Servo Focus Mode depending on whether your subject is still or
moving. This hybrid mode, which is known as “AF-A” on Nikon and “AI 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 your 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 your subject to the focus
point:

Best Metering Mode

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

Best Lens Aperture

Lens aperture not only affects how your subject is isolated from the foreground
and background, but also impacts how much light actually goes through your
lens, so you have to be careful about what aperture you pick in a given situation.
In addition, aperture can impact things like image sharpness and depth of field,
so it is all about choosing the best aperture for your subject and your shooting
environment. If you are taking pictures in low light and you want to avoid
introducing camera shake to your images when shooting hand-held, it is best to
take pictures with the widest possible aperture your lens can provide, so that
your camera can receive as much light as possible. For example, if you shoot
with a 35mm f/1.8 lens, you might want to keep that aperture at f/1.8 in such
conditions. However, if you are standing at a beautiful overlook and you want to
capture a sharp photograph of the whole landscape, stopping down the aperture
of your lens to something like f/5.6 will be optimal.

Aperture is often associated with how separated your subject appears from the
background, but that’s only one of its many functions. In the example above, you
can see how different an image can appear when photographed at a wide
aperture like f/2.8 versus a small aperture like f/8.0.

It is important to understand the impact of aperture and what it can do to your

photographs, so I highly recommend that you read the linked articles above.

Best Shutter Speed

Just like aperture, the choice of the best shutter speed will highly depend on
what you are trying to capture. For example, if your goal is to capture a dreamy
photograph of a waterfall, you will need to use a slow shutter speed that might
last several seconds to make the running water appear blurry:

Whereas if you want to freeze a subject in your scene, you will need to use very
fast shutter speeds that are a very small fraction of a second:

For most situations, however, you are better off using shutter speeds that are
fast enough to capture images without introducing camera shake. For that
reason, I would recommend that you read our article on reciprocal rule and
enable Auto ISO (more on ISO and Auto ISO below).

Best ISO Setting

When it comes to camera ISO, you are always better off shooting with the lowest
ISO, because it produces the least amount of noise / grain in your images. The
last thing you want is every image looking too noisy because you set your ISO
too high. While using noise reduction techniques might help, it is better to avoid
noise in the first place.

However, shooting at the lowest ISO is not always practical, especially when
photographing in low light environments. In those situations, you will need to
increase your camera ISO in order to keep your shutter speed fast enough to
avoid blur due to unintentional camera shake.

Remember, photography is always a balancing act between Aperture, Shutter

Speed and ISO, also known as the Exposure Triangle. I would recommend to
spend some time to understand how the three work and how they are related to
each other.

Auto ISO
If you have a modern digital camera, it most likely comes with an Auto ISO
feature, which can be a very handy tool for a beginner photographer. Once you
have the Auto ISO enabled, your camera will automatically adjust your camera’s
ISO depending on how bright your subject and the environment are, trying to
keep the shutter speed at the same or higher level than the minimum shutter
speed you set within the Auto ISO menu. Take a look at the sample Auto ISO
menus from a few different cameras that Elizabeth Gray put together for our
readers in her excellent Understanding Auto ISO for Beginners article:

Some cameras from Nikon, Canon and other manufacturers have advanced Auto
ISO menus that can take into account the reciprocal rule and allow for an “Auto”
configuration for minimum shutter speed, which will take into account the focal
length of the lens being used. Such options can be very useful for beginners,
because they take away the pain of constantly adjusting camera settings.

Image Stabilization
Lastly, don’t forget to take advantage of image stabilization (also known as
SteadyShot, Vibration Reduction or Vibration Compensation) that is offered
either by your camera (in-body image stabilization) or your lens. Don’t forget to
turn it on when shooting hand-held and turn it off when shooting from a stable
tripod. Also, it is always a good idea to half-press the shutter release for a few
seconds and let your camera or lens stabilize first, before taking a picture. This
will reduce the potential for having blurry images.

Take me to Chapter 12: How to Take Sharp Pictures

1 Photography Basics Introduction

2 What is Photography?

3 Shutter Speed

4 Aperture

5 ISO

6 Composition

7 Metering

8 Camera Modes
Take me to Chapter 12: How to Take Sharp Pictures
9 Focusing

10 Flash

11 Camera Settings (You are here)

12 How to Take Sharp Pictures

13 Photography Tips for Beginners

14 Photography Ideas

RELATED ARTICLES

Understanding Metering and Understanding Digital Camera What is ISO? The Complete
Metering Modes Modes (PSAM and More) Guide for Beginners

Indoors Flash Photography - Introduction to Shutter Speed Understanding Shutter Speed

Off-Camera Flash in Photography

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FILED UNDER: PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES

TAGGED WITH: APERTURE, AUTOFOCUS, EXPOSURE COMPENSATION, IMAGE STABILIZATION, ISO,
PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS, SHUTTER SPEED, TIPS FOR BEGINNERS

About Nasim Mansurov

Nasim Mansurov is the author and founder of Photography Life,
based out of Denver, Colorado. He is recognized as one of the
leading educators in the photography industry, conducting workshops,
producing educational videos and frequently writing content for Photography
Life. You can follow him on Instagram and Facebook. Read more about Nasim
here.

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61 COMMENTS Newest

Mark Wilcox
September 15, 2023 6:53 am

Hi Nasim,
Thanks for this very useful guide. I bought a canon EOS 2000D in July and your work has
helped me set it up. I’m a returner and grew up in the 60s with my dads light meters etc – so
making the transition from iPhones (sorry)
A couple of quick questions -I’m currently on RAW but the canon offers me RAW+symbol L –
so what’s the benefits. 2nd Q – I got pointed towards the Nifty 50 lens – but not sure of the
the benefits. Help please?
Best
Mark

0 Reply

nish1013
January 15, 2018 2:30 am

Hi , I’m using a bridge camera Fujifilm s7000. I’ve found it difficult to take photos indoors in
low light conditions. The exposure looks right but blurred. I’m trying to take photos of our
baby. aperture priority mode f 2.8. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

0 Reply

Dr. Tridibsantapa Kundu

December 2, 2017 11:07 am

I’m a historian by profession. Presently I’m working on digitization of archival materials with
DSLR. I have Nikon D5300 and a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 G lens. I’m a beginner in handling DSLR.
What should be the ideal camera setting and shooting mode for me?

0 Reply

Diego
September 1, 2017 3:55 pm

Hi Nasim,

I’ve been reading your awesome website, I’m new in the photography world, and I hope I can
learn more here.

Thanks for your posts

0 Reply

Chris Herft
September 1, 2017 7:44 am

Great easy to read article, thanks.

What would be really helpful is details of the camera setting of your various images – e.g. the
field with flowers and the rainbow; what settings were used to capture that?
thanks in advance
Chris

0 Reply

Anpu
Reply to Chris Herft September 1, 2017 8:16 am

Dolphin-
I saved it and Windows 10/Explorer/View/Details Pane gives
F-stop f/5.6
Exposure time 1/1600 sec
ISO 320
Focal Length 420mm

1 Reply

Anpu
September 1, 2017 12:38 am

Thank you Nasim.

Photos on this link are taken mostly with either scene or automatic mode (Nikon D5600/18-
300mm lens)
!AkOUoZj4d5Mmg7JI8J7qAiG4cLPbFA
Would appreciate to get advice to improve my photography

0 Reply

Anpu
Reply to Anpu September 1, 2017 12:50 am

Hi,
I am also thinking of using Light Room(LR) to post process some of these photos. I am a
beginner with LR. My understanding is that with LR presets I can post process them
quickly.

0 Reply

Mik
August 31, 2017 7:21 pm

On matrix Nikon will ALWAYS overexpose.

0 Reply

Pete A
Reply to Mik September 2, 2017 3:17 pm

Then use the exposure compensation dial!

Many Nikon DSLRs have a tendency to overexpose their in-camera JPEGs by 0.3 to 0.7
EV, depending on the model. However, Nikon Matrix metering seems to produce reliable
raw files because, at low ISO values, the raw clipping level is circa 2.5 EV above JPEG
clipping level. The JPEG clipping level is influence by the Picture Control settings
whereas the raw data clipping level is not.

Note also that Active D-Lighting doesn’t affect the raw data per se, but it does change
the calibration of the meter therefore it indirectly changes the exposure.

0 Reply

Matthew Currie