Top of camera controls (left) - Exposure Mode Dial
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Situated on the top of the camera on the left hand side is the exposure mode dial. This controls the manner of exposure operation be it fully automatic, a preprogrammed scene composition, flexible program or a range of manual and semi-automatic options. In the user manual Canon breaks these exposure modes into two groups; Basic Zone and Creative Zone. |
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Basic zone exposure modes
Full Auto and the six scene exposure modes are collectively referred to as the 'Basic Zone'. In all of these modes the following camera options are either disabled or limited:
Flash mode AF mode Drive mode White Balance ISO Sensitivity Metering Mode Flash Compensation Exposure Compensation Focus Point selection Parameters Custom Functions AE Lock AE / WB Bracketing RAW image format |
[ Refer to table below ] [ Refer to table below ] [ Refer to table below ] [ Auto ] [ Auto ] [ Evaluative ] [ 0 EV ] [ 0 EV ] [ Auto ] [ Standard ] [ unavailable ] [ unavailable ] [ unavailable ] [ unavailable ] |
In the basic zone the camera will indicate that blur may occur because of slow shutter speeds, it does so by blinking the shutter speed on the LCD panel and viewfinder status bar.
Icon | Mode | AF mode | Drive mode | Flash mode |
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Fully Automatic Exposure![]() Camera has complete control over exposure, point-and-shoot operation. |
AI Focus | Single Self-Timer |
Auto Red-eye |
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Portrait![]() Apertures are kept as large as possible (small F number) to produce a shallow Depth of Field (blurred background). |
One Shot | Continuous Self-Timer |
Auto Red-eye |
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Landscape![]() Apertures as small as possible (large F numbers) for the largest depth of field. |
One Shot | Single Self-Timer |
Disabled |
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Close-up (Macro)![]() Aperture is kept to a medium setting to ensure the subject DOF is deep enough but the background is blurred. |
One Shot | Single Self-Timer |
Disabled |
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Sports![]() Shutter speed is kept as high as possible to ensure capture of fast moving objects. |
AI Servo | Continuous Self-Timer |
Disabled |
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Night Scene![]() Allows for slow shutter speeds combined with flash to illuminate foreground and background. |
One Shot | Single Self-Timer |
Manual Red-eye |
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Flash off![]() Disables internal and external flash for taking automatic slow exposures. |
AI Focus | Single Self-Timer |
Disabled |
Creative zone exposure modes
The five exposure modes will be more familiar (and preferred) by most prosumer / professionals. All menu functions and camera settings are available in these modes and can be used in any combination.
Icon | Description |
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Program Auto Exposure (Flexible) |
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Shutter Priority Auto Exposure |
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Aperture Priority Auto Exposure |
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Full Manual Exposure![]() In this mode you select the aperture and the shutter speed from any combination of the above (plus BULB for shutter speed, apertures limited by the lens used). Top dial selects shutter speed, rear dial selects aperture. Half-press the shutter release and the meter on the viewfinder status bar and top LCD will reflect the exposure level compared to the calculated ideal exposure, if it's outside of +/- 2EV the indicator bar will blink either + or -. |
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Automatic Depth-Of-Field AE |
Top of camera controls (right)
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Top of the camera on the right side is the status panel LCD, directly above this are four buttons (LCD panel backlight, AF/WB, Drive/ISO, Metering/Flash compen.) In front of these buttons is the main dial and shutter release button. Settings buttons are press once, turn a dial to change setting value and then half-press the shutter release to return to shooting mode (or press another button). |
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The table below shows the relationship between each of the settings buttons and the parameters changed by either turning the main dial (top) or quick control dial (rear).
Button | Main Dial![]() |
Quick Control Dial![]() |
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Auto Focus Mode |
White Balance Mode![]() Auto (3000 - 7000 K) Daylight (~ 5200 K) Shade (~ 7000 K) Cloudy (~ 6000 K) Tungsten (~ 3200 K) Fluorescent (~ 4000 K) Flash (~ 6000 K) Custom (2000 - 10000 K sample) Kelvin temperature (2800 - 10000 K) |
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Metering Mode |
Flash Compensation![]() +/-2 EV 1/3 or 1/2 EV steps (C.Fn 6) |
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Drive Mode![]() Single shot Continuous (5 fps, 23 frames JPEG) Self-Timer ![]() Self-Timer delay is by default 10 seconds, however if you use mirror lockup (C.Fn 12) the delay is reduced to 2 seconds. |
ISO Sensitivity![]() 100 200 400 800 1600 H (3200) (enabled via C.Fn 8) |
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