Canon EOS 300D Digital RebelCanon knocks the bottom out of the Digital SLR market, with an amazingly affordable, full-featured model!<<Operation & User Interface :(Previous) | (Next): Image Storage & Interface>> Page 9:Camera Modes & MenusReview First Posted: 09/04/2003 |
Camera Modes and Menus
Flash Off Mode: The first mode in the Image Zone, Flash Off mode disables
both the internal flash unit and any external flash unit connected. Focus is
set to AI Focus mode, drive mode is set to Single, and metering is set to Evaluative.
The camera controls ISO and Auto white balance as well.
Night Scene Mode: This mode is for taking pictures of people at sunset
or at night. The autofocus mode is automatically set to One Shot. Drive mode
is set to Single Shot, and metering mode is set to Evaluative. Since slower
shutter speeds will be used, a tripod is recommended to prevent movement from
the camera. The built-in flash is automatically enabled and synched with the
slower shutter speed, so subjects will need to remain still for a few moments
after the flash fires to avoid ghostlike afterimages. ISO is automatically adjusted
by the camera. (For night exposures without the flash, Canon recommends shooting
in Landscape mode.)
Sports Mode: This mode uses a faster shutter speed to capture fast-moving
subjects. The autofocus mode is automatically set to AI Servo. Drive mode is
set to Continuous Shooting, ISO is set to Auto, and metering mode is set to
Evaluative. The onboard flash isn't available in this mode (since it can't cycle
fast enough to keep up with the continuous exposure mode).
Close-up Mode (Macro Mode): Turning the Mode dial to the macro flower
symbol sets the camera for capturing smaller subjects such as flowers, jewelry,
and other small details. The autofocus mode is automatically adjusted to One
Shot, the drive mode is set to Single Shot, and the metering mode is set to
Evaluative. ISO is set to Auto. Close-up mode takes advantage of the current
lens' minimum focal distance. However, an EOS dedicated macro lens and the Macro
Ring Lite MR-14EX are recommended for better close-up photography. (Unlike the
macro mode on most consumer digicams, Macro mode on the 300D has no effect on
lens focusing range, as that parameter is entirely determined by the lens being
used.)
Landscape Mode: Landscape mode combines slower shutter speeds with smaller
aperture settings to increase the depth of field when shooting broad vistas
and sweeping landscapes. This mode is also good for night scenes without people
in them. The built-in flash is automatically disabled, even if it's already
raised. Because this mode uses slower shutter speeds, a tripod may be needed.
Metering is again set to Evaluative and ISO to Auto.
Portrait Mode: This mode uses a large aperture setting to decrease the
depth of field, which blurs the background to emphasize the subject. ISO is
set to Auto, metering to Evaluative, and AF mode to One Shot.
Full Automatic Mode: The final mode in the Basic Zone, Full Automatic
is indicated on the Mode dial by a green rectangular outline. In this mode,
the camera makes all exposure decisions with the exception of image quality.
Autofocus mode is set to AI Focus. (AI Focus evaluates subject movement, automatically
sets either one-shot AF or AI Servo AF automatically.) Drive mode is set to
Single Shot, and the metering mode is set to Evaluative.
Program AE: This is the first mode in the Creative Zone of the Mode Dial.
Program AE works similarly to the Full Automatic exposure mode, but allows more
control over the exposure variables. Aperture and shutter speed are automatically
selected by the camera, but you can bias the exposure to larger or smaller apertures
by turning the Main dial, which will change the combination of aperture and
shutter speed so as to maintain the same exposure value, but with a different
combination of aperture/shutter speed. (Personally, I find this sort of vari-program
mode more useful when I'm wanting to adjust the aperture or shutter speed to
control depth of field or subject motion blur. The camera won't let you select
a combination of exposure parameters that doesn't work, but you retain all the
flexibility of shutter- or aperture-priority exposure modes.)
Shutter-Priority AE: This mode allows you to manually set the shutter
speed anywhere from 1/4,000 to 30 seconds, while the camera chooses the best
corresponding aperture setting. You have control over all other exposure variables,
including exposure compensation.
Aperture-Priority AE: The opposite of Shutter-Priority mode, Aperture-Priority
AE allows you to set the lens aperture (with available ranges depending on the
lens in use), while the camera selects the most appropriate shutter speed. Again,
you have control over all other exposure variables, including exposure compensation.
Manual Exposure: This mode provides the same range of exposure control
as the other Creative Zone exposure modes (except for exposure compensation),
but lets you control both shutter speed and lens aperture independently. The
shutter speed range is extended to include a Bulb setting, allowing long exposures
from one second to 2.5 hours. A display in the top LCD panel reports whether
the camera thinks your settings will result in under, over, or correctly exposed
photos.
Automatic Depth of Field AE: This is the final mode in the Creative Zone,
and is meant for taking pictures of large groups of people, landscapes with
foreground detail, or any subject with elements of interest at varying distances
from the camera. This mode puts the camera in control of both the shutter speed
and aperture values, but you can adjust the other exposure variables. (This
mode cannot be used if the lens focus mode is set to manual.) When shooting
in Automatic Depth of Field AE, the camera sets both the exposure and focus
distance to achieve a sharp focus over a wide depth of field. It uses the autofocus
system to measure the distance to the subjects covered by each of the three
autofocus zones, and then attempts to set the focusing distance and lens aperture
so as to render all three subject areas in sharp focus.
Playback Mode: This mode is entered by pressing the Play button on the
back panel. Playback mode lets you erase images, protect them, or set them up
for printing on DPOF compatible devices. You can also view images in an index
display, enlarge images to 10x, view a slide show of all captured images, or
rotate an image. The Info button activates an information display, which reports
the exposure settings for the image and graphs the exposure values on a small
histogram.
Operating Menu: This menu is available in all of the camera modes, though
a few of the capture-related options are only available in the Creative Zone.
Pressing the Menu button calls up the Operating menu, made up of four menu tabs:
Camera Menu
Quality:
Sets the image size and the compression ratio. Options are Large/Fine and
Large/Normal (3,072 x 2,048 pixels), Medium/Fine and Medium/Normal (2,048
x 1,360 pixels), Small/Fine and Small/Normal (1,536 x 1,024 pixels), and RAW
(3,072 x 2,048 pixels, with lossless compression).
- Red Eye Reduction: Turns the Red Eye Reduction flash mode on or off (when on, the Red Eye pre-flash fires before every flash exposure).
- Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB): Sets the bracketing range for Auto Exposure Bracketing in increments of 1/3 EV from -2 to +2 EV (Creative Zone only) Note that the bracketing range is centered around whatever amount of exposure compensation you've dialed-in manually.
- White Balance Bracketing: Adjusts the white balance bracketing series, in 5-mired steps from -3 to +3 increments. (That is, the total range extends to +/- 15 mireds from the default value of the chosen white balance setting. The shift in degrees Kelvin varies with the starting point, but 15 mireds corresponds to a range of adjustment of roughly +/- 500K around a normal "daylight" center point of 5500K.)
- Beep: Turns the camera's beep sounds on or off.
- Custom White Balance: Lets you manually establish the white value by referencing a shot of a white card (Creative Zone only). (This mode on the 300D is a little different from the implementation used by most other camera makers, in that it makes use of a previously-shot image of a white card, allowing you to store several white-point references on the camera's memory card and switch between them relatively rapidly. It also allows a white reference to be shared between multiple photographers shooting the same event, simply by putting the same white reference image on each of their memory cards. Very handy!)
- Parameters: Lets you reference any of up to three sets of manually-set image processing parameters, or either of two default sets. These parameters can affect contrast, sharpness, color saturation, and color tone adjustments in the same way that the Canon's RAW Image Converter software does when processing RAW format images. The Parameter 1 option increases contrast (+1), saturation (+1), and sharpening (+2), while Parameter 2 sets the camera up to record images like the 10D's default settings (all controls set to "zero"). Also available is an Adobe RGB setting, for use with color-managed computer environments.
Playback Menu
Protect:
Protects the currently displayed image against accidental deletion, apart
from card formatting.
- Rotate: Rotates the currently displayed image 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise.
- Print Order: Allows you to set up images for printing on any DPOF compatible device. Print options include setting the number of prints, and whether or not the date and/or file number is printed as well.
- Auto Playback: Automatically plays captured images in sequential order as a slide show.
- Review: Determines whether images appear on the LCD monitor immediately after they are taken. Options are On, On (Info), or Off. The On (Info) setting displays the image along with an exposure information readout and histogram.
- Review Time: When the Review function is set to On or On (Info),
this setting controls the amount of time that images are displayed in the
review, with options of two, four, or eight seconds, or Hold (which displays
the image until the Set button is pressed, or the Shutter button is halfway
pressed).
Setup 1
Auto
Power Off: Sets the length of inactivity before the camera shuts itself
off. Options are 1, 2, 4, 8, 15, or 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can disable
the automatic shutoff entirely.
- Auto Rotate: When enabled, records the camera orientation information with the image. This makes portrait-format images appear right-side up on the camera's LCD screen, but doesn't affect the picture data itself in the camera's JPEG or RAW-format files.
- LCD Brightness: Adjusts the LCD brightness.
- Date/Time: Sets the camera's internal date and time.
- File Numbering: Extends consecutive file numbering between media cards (and card-format operations) or resets numbering with each new card.
- Format: Reformats the CompactFlash card, which erases all files (even
protected ones).
Setup 2
Language:
Sets the menu language to one of 12(!) languages. Options are English, German,
French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Simplified
Chinese, and Japanese.
- Video System: Selects either NTSC or PAL video timing formats.
- Communication: Sets the USB mode to Normal or PTP.
- Clear All Camera Settings: Resets all custom settings to their defaults.
- Sensor Clean: Locks up the mirror and opens the shutter, allowing you to clean the sensor of any dust.
- Firmware Version: Reports the camera's current firmware.
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