What are the wrong camera settings? Introduction to wrong camera settings.

What are the wrong camera settings?

Speaking of camera settings, we have to talk about white balance. The basic concept of white balance is to restore white objects to white regardless of the light source, and to compensate for the color cast that occurs when shooting under a specific light source by enhancing the corresponding complementary color.

Now, let’s take a look at the wrong settings that have tricked countless people.

Incorrect setting 1: White balance

The survey found that the white balance of the vast majority of photos was set to automatic white balance when shooting. In most cases, this is indeed an easy choice to get the correct white balance. However, automatic things are often not foolproof. Many systems now tend to automatically correct the color of natural light, so the color of photos taken with automatic white balance will be neutral. In other words, if you shoot with automatic white balance on a warm morning or at sunset, you will find that the tone of the photo looks cooler.

So, when you are shooting outdoors, it is recommended that you adjust the white balance to daylight mode in order to get better photo effects. The camera's shadow or cloudy white balance option can add some warm tones to photos, so in cloudy weather, using it can take photos with richer colors than using automatic white balance. This color change may be a bit over the top in some cases, but it's worth trying. Because through constant experimentation you will find out which white balance mode is more suitable under what circumstances. Finally, you can customize your photos with custom white balance.

The custom white balance settings of different cameras are basically the same. They are to use the camera to take a white card or a neutral gray card at the same brightness as the subject, and set the photo to Manual white balance. After the camera has set the automatic white balance, if you shoot against a white card or a gray card again, you will find that the photo has a neutral color.

Of course, as long as you want, you can adjust the white balance of the camera according to your own ideas to obtain warmer or colder tones, or try to use a non-neutral calibration target to make the photo Be different.

Error Setting 2: Sharpness

When you choose to shoot in JPEG format, you will find that the camera provides different sharpening options for JPEG images. Some people believe that they can only take better images by choosing the highest setting. But this is not the case, because when you shoot against a clean ground plane, you may experience halos due to excessive edge sharpening. Conversely, if you use a lower sharpening setting, you can make the details in your photo look softer, which will look much better than the harsh edges that result from over-sharpening.

Photographers who want better photo quality and more sharpening options should choose to use RAW format to obtain original images.

Mistake 3: Autofocus

Many people set their camera's focus mode to autofocus, and in most shooting situations, this is indeed a way to achieve fast focus. However, most cameras' autofocus is set to automatically focus on the object closest to the lens and closest to the center of the viewfinder. In this case, if you are shooting a subject that is off-center and surrounded by many objects, the camera is prone to focus errors.

We recommend using manual focus instead of autofocus, because you can freely change the focus point through manual focus to choose the subject you want to focus on. The camera's focus modes usually include single-shot autofocus, artificial intelligence autofocus and other modes. The user manual explains each mode. When shooting, you need to choose the correct focusing method according to the scene conditions, and then move the focus to the object you most want to highlight in the viewfinder.

Occasionally, this phenomenon may occur, that is, the subject is not in the camera's selectable focus. In this case, you can use focus reconstruction.

When refocusing, you only need to select the central focus point (because it is usually the most sensitive), then move your camera so that the subject is in focus and half-press the shutter button to focus. After focusing, keep the shutter button half-pressed. Recompose the picture and press the shutter button after completing the composition.

Error setting four: Flash synchronization

By default, the camera's flash is set to fire at the same time as the camera begins to expose. This is fine at extremely fast shutter speeds or when both subject and camera are stationary. But in long exposures or when the subject is moving, flash sync can make the photo look weird.

You may not understand why, with the correct exposure and appropriate sharpening, the photo will have a backward-moving blur effect.

This is actually caused by flash synchronization. This situation should be solved by using rear-curtain flash synchronization. Rear-curtain flash synchronization is when the flash is about to close the shutter, the flash fills the subject, so that the movement of the object is in the The time the shutter is open is recorded, leaving a series of ghost images on the screen, and then the flash fires to freeze the last frame of movement, creating a blurry effect behind the object.

This flash mode can make the image look more natural and emphasize the speed of object movement.

Error setting five: Long exposure noise reduction

The camera's long exposure noise reduction function means that the camera uses an algorithm to reduce photo noise after taking the photo. After the camera takes the photo, it takes another long shot in total darkness (the shutter is not actually open at this time so no light reaches the sensor). Based on the noise of the second shot of the all-black film, the noise of the first photo was deduced and superimposed and subtracted.

Because many photographers think that using the long exposure noise reduction function requires twice as long to wait, and this time sometimes even takes several minutes, they often choose to turn off the long exposure noise reduction of the camera. Function. However, the effect of using long exposure noise reduction is well worth looking forward to. Maybe you can use post-editing software to extract noise to achieve noise reduction, but it is a wise choice to take a completely black film under the same conditions during the shooting process, because the sensor is prone to heat with increased work, thus affecting the quality of the photo. Noise distribution. So the most foolproof way is to use the camera’s system for noise reduction.

Mistake 6: Shutter speed

Many novices tend to overestimate their ability to hold the camera, so they often shoot handheld during longer exposures. In order to take clear photos, the basic rule for handheld cameras is that the camera's shutter speed must be the reciprocal of the focal length, which is what we often call a safety shutter. For example, if you are shooting with a 100mm focal length, the shutter speed needs to be at least 1/100 second to ensure that the camera can take clear photos when handheld.

When this rule is applied to a full-frame camera, the focal length expansion factor of the full-frame camera needs to be taken into account. For example, if you install a 100mm lens on the Canon EOS700D, because it has a focal length magnification of 1.6 times, the safe shutter speed needs to be at least 1/160 seconds.

However, some cameras and lenses now have built-in image stabilization systems, which allows the camera to be shot handheld without too much blur even when the shutter speed is lower than the safety shutter.