Camera Modes Explained

Posted: September 12, 2012

Cameras are not created equal. When you pick up your basic Kodak Brownie Box Camera there was nothing to adjust. You had no controls. Kodak made the ultimate simple camera and used the slogan "You push the button, we do the rest."

There were several versions of the Brownie made by Kodak through the years. The first one had no flash and later they would incorporate the flash bulb to help you take photos indoors.

Over time people learned how to get good photos, because they often had photos that didn't come out at all or were very poor. They learned to keep the sun in the subjects face verses having them back lighted by the sun.[caption id="attachment_10517" align="alignright" width="550"]Photo by Capt Kodak[/caption]

To overcome those limitations camera manufacturers started to give control to the photographer.

There are three controls that they put on the cameras: 1) Focus, 2) Aperture and 3) Shutter Speed.

The film manufacturers then created a variety of film that we could put into the camera. The sensitivity of the film allowed you to take photos from outside in bright sunlight to inside without a flash. You would buy Black and White film with ASA ratings of 12 to 3,200.

When color film came out you then could buy daylight and tungsten film in a variety of ASAs. Later the ASA which stood for American Standards Association to now ISO which stands for International Standards Organization.

Before explaining how we got more camera modes we need to first understand in the Manual Mode. Manual mode controls Aperture and Shutter Speed.

Read the entire article Camera Modes Explained.

Biz Tip from Stanley Leary, Leary Visual Storyteller.