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So you have your camera and you’ve been happily snapping away. But how much do you REALLY know about your camera’s key functions? Take our quiz and find out!
( The quiz was designed to cover key functions which you may find across a range of most popular DSLR and bridge cameras. In some cameras, some of the functions may be hiding under a different name or variations. Sorry we can’t include them all)
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You’re a Pointer-Shooter. You enjoy snapping the life around you but your camera knowledge could use a little help. The Green Auto function is great, but your camera can do better – having a nice camera and sticking it on auto all the time is the equivalent of having a nice car and oly ever driving it in the second gear – it may get you where you want to go but it won’t be pretty.
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You’re an Amateur Snapper. OK, you know a few things but you still revert back to the Green Auto button on most occasions – are we right? You may have started reading your camera manual, but probably fell asleep 5 pages in ( we don’ blame you – those things can cure insomnia). Your camera can do so much more – maybe we can help?
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You’re an Enthusiastic Amateur. You got past the magic 50% barrier and this tells us you are on good terms with your camera. You have probably practiced quite a bit and enjoy learning new techniques but your knowledge could do with a boost, but there is good foundation on which you can build.
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You’re a Skilful Snapper. Not bad, not bad – only a few bits which tripped you up. You’re probably feeling quite comfortable with your camera? You know how to make it do what you want it to do – most of the time anyway. Keep practicing!
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You’re a Serious Shooter. So, so close – just one more and this would be perfect. You clearly are competent with your camera and your photography shows it. Don’t let it rust – push and challenge yourself to learn more and shoot more!
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You are at one with your camera. Congratulations – you know every nook, button, slider and trick there is to know about your gear. You probably took this quiz to see if you might be able to spot errors in our answers. Well done on your knowledge and keep shooting!
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Question 1 of 10
1. Question
What does DSLR actually mean? Can you decipher the acronym?Correct
Oh, it rolls off the tongue : Digital Single Lens Reflex. The DIGITAL part is easy. The rest is less obvious. If you’re wondering why would we want to draw attention to the fact we have a SINGLE LENS, you need to go back to the time when what we now understand as the modern camera, was first invented and fitted with a mirror mechanism ( the REFLEX part) which allowed us to see exactly what the camera sees through the one lens. Before, you needed two optical light paths: one path through the lens to the film, and another path positioned above.
Incorrect
Oh, it rolls off the tongue : Digital Single Lens Reflex. The DIGITAL part is easy. The rest is less obvious. If you’re wondering why would we want to draw attention to the fact we have a SINGLE LENS, you need to go back to the time when what we now understand as the modern camera, was first invented and fitted with a mirror mechanism ( the REFLEX part) which allowed us to see exactly what the camera sees through the one lens. Before, you needed two optical light paths: one path through the lens to the film, and another path positioned above.
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Question 2 of 10
2. Question
Where in the camera picture here can you find aperture?
Correct
Aperture is a multi blade opening which can be widened or narrowed to regulate the flow of light into the camera and it is located in the lens. When you change your lenses, your aperture may change as well. We regulate aperture to have control over how many elements in the image will be captured in sharp focus and to create those lovely blurry backgrounds.
Incorrect
Aperture is a multi blade opening which can be widened or narrowed to regulate the flow of light into the camera and it is located in the lens. When you change your lenses, your aperture may change as well. We regulate aperture to have control over how many elements in the image will be captured in sharp focus and to create those lovely blurry backgrounds.
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Question 3 of 10
3. Question
Your camera has a number of pre-set and creative modes ( besides full manual) which help you achieve desirable effects in your photography. The pictorial modes are more or less obvious, but what about the creative – letter modes? Do you know what will happen with your settings when you select the P ( Program) Mode?Correct
P mode is the most automatic of the creative modes but it gives us a greater degree of control than the full Auto ( green square). Whilst the camera remains in control of the aperture and shutter speed, you, the photographer can decide whether or not to use flash ( no auto flash pop-up), what metering mode to use, the ISO value or what focusing mode to select.
Incorrect
P mode is the most automatic of the creative modes but it gives us a greater degree of control than the full Auto ( green square). Whilst the camera remains in control of the aperture and shutter speed, you, the photographer can decide whether or not to use flash ( no auto flash pop-up), what metering mode to use, the ISO value or what focusing mode to select.
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Question 4 of 10
4. Question
The term Depth of Field ( abreviated to DOF) is often used by photographers and describes:
Correct
The answer is C – Depth of Field describes the area which will be in sharp focus in our photograph. When you focus on a particular object, a little bit in front of that point of focus and a little bit behind it will be in sharp focus, whereas anything behind and in front of this zones will gradually fade out of focus. The size of the area in sharp focus will depend on the aperture, proximity to the subject and the focal length.
Incorrect
The answer is C – Depth of Field describes the area which will be in sharp focus in our photograph. When you focus on a particular object, a little bit in front of that point of focus and a little bit behind it will be in sharp focus, whereas anything behind and in front of this zones will gradually fade out of focus. The size of the area in sharp focus will depend on the aperture, proximity to the subject and the focal length.
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Question 5 of 10
5. Question
Your child is running towards you – they’re looking radiant and sport a winning smile. You want to catch them SHARP! How will you do that? Which Focus mode will give you the best chance of capturing your child on the move?
Correct
You should always select the right focusing method to the right situation. With subjects moving towards you, you should use AI-Servo focusing mode (sometimes called Continuous Focus). Once your camera locks focus on your subject, and as long as you keep the button half-pressed, it will continue following your subject’s movement, giving you a greater chance of capturing the subject sharp. Bear in mind it’s not foolproof and some cameras handle it better than others.
Incorrect
You should always select the right focusing method to the right situation. With subjects moving towards you, you should use AI-Servo focusing mode (sometimes called Continuous Focus). Once your camera locks focus on your subject, and as long as you keep the button half-pressed, it will continue following your subject’s movement, giving you a greater chance of capturing the subject sharp. Bear in mind it’s not foolproof and some cameras handle it better than others.
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Question 6 of 10
6. Question
In order to take a photo, your camera measures the light reflected from your subject and the scene. To help you do that, it will often have a few different modes to make sure that it takes into account the light from either the whole scene or just one particular spot in the frame. Look at the images below – in which of them, the ‘pink area’ represents the EVALUATIVE or MATRIX metering mode?
Correct
The Matrix ( in Nikon cameras) or Evaluative ( in Canon cameras) metering mode is represented on picture a). The camera will segment the frame into several areas, measure the light in each of them and create an average which should allow for most of the elements in the picture to be well exposed. Great for shooting landscapes or larger scenes, less useful in strong contrasting light.
Incorrect
The Matrix ( in Nikon cameras) or Evaluative ( in Canon cameras) metering mode is represented on picture a). The camera will segment the frame into several areas, measure the light in each of them and create an average which should allow for most of the elements in the picture to be well exposed. Great for shooting landscapes or larger scenes, less useful in strong contrasting light.
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Question 7 of 10
7. Question
You want to capture a lovely silhouette image against the gorgeous sunset. Which setting will come in particularily useful to ensure the sky retains the right colour and vibrancy and your subject is depicted as a silhouette?
Correct
A nifty little setting called Exposure Lock allows you to make sure that the camera reads light from a particular part of the frame and takes it as ‘baseline’ for the overall image. In the example above, we would lock exposure on the sky, then focus on our subject and take the photo. Although some additional tinkering may be needed, in most cases, the sky will be captured in all its glory and the subject will look like a silhouette.
Incorrect
A nifty little setting called Exposure Lock allows you to make sure that the camera reads light from a particular part of the frame and takes it as ‘baseline’ for the overall image. In the example above, we would lock exposure on the sky, then focus on our subject and take the photo. Although some additional tinkering may be needed, in most cases, the sky will be captured in all its glory and the subject will look like a silhouette.
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Question 8 of 10
8. Question
When you look through your viewfinder, you ALWAYS see the world exactly how it’ll look on the image (give or take a few millimetres around the edges where the view may be wider or narrower than in your viewfinder) . True or false?
Correct
False – the viewfinder shows you the view you would get at the widest available aperture. If you’re shooting a photo at a narrower aperture (wanting to preserve details all throughout the image) the level of detail/blur you’ll see through your viewfinder will be different to the outcome in the picture. Some cameras offer a “aperture preview” button which will allow you to view the actual outcome, but as default, you can only see the widest aperture view.
Incorrect
False – the viewfinder shows you the view you would get at the widest available aperture. If you’re shooting a photo at a narrower aperture (wanting to preserve details all throughout the image) the level of detail/blur you’ll see through your viewfinder will be different to the outcome in the picture. Some cameras offer a “aperture preview” button which will allow you to view the actual outcome, but as default, you can only see the widest aperture view.
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Question 9 of 10
9. Question
It’s later afternoon and the light indoors is starting to look a little low. You want to take a photo without necessarily activating your flash because you don’t want to lose the beautiful quality of light and shadows. How do you help your camera to get more sensitive to light?
Correct
You increase the ISO (which is the measure of your camera’s light sensitivity) – by increasing your ISO by a stop ( so from 100 to 200, from 200 to 400 etc) you ask the camera to take the same, well exposed photo, just with half the light. So if you struggled to get a sharp, well exposed photo at 100 ISO, by increasing it to 400 or 800, or even higher, you can still take the picture, even in dim light. Word of warning – the higher the ISO, the more ‘grain’ you’re likely to have in your image.
Incorrect
You increase the ISO (which is the measure of your camera’s light sensitivity) – by increasing your ISO by a stop ( so from 100 to 200, from 200 to 400 etc) you ask the camera to take the same, well exposed photo, just with half the light. So if you struggled to get a sharp, well exposed photo at 100 ISO, by increasing it to 400 or 800, or even higher, you can still take the picture, even in dim light. Word of warning – the higher the ISO, the more ‘grain’ you’re likely to have in your image.
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Question 10 of 10
10. Question
You probably have seen this button on your camera. But do you know what it is for?
Correct
This is an Exposure Compensation button. Under normal circumstances your camera is very good at determining the correct exposure for your image, allowing you to arrive at images that are neither too dark not too bright. But sometimes it gets confused (it doesn’t quite understand the brightness of the snow for instance) and you need to nudge it in the right direction. By applying Exposure compensation you trick your camera into believing that the perfect exposure should actually be brighter ( or darker) – you purposefully over or under expose your photograph.
Incorrect
This is an Exposure Compensation button. Under normal circumstances your camera is very good at determining the correct exposure for your image, allowing you to arrive at images that are neither too dark not too bright. But sometimes it gets confused (it doesn’t quite understand the brightness of the snow for instance) and you need to nudge it in the right direction. By applying Exposure compensation you trick your camera into believing that the perfect exposure should actually be brighter ( or darker) – you purposefully over or under expose your photograph.
How well do you know your camera? Does your camera have no secrets from you or do you know how to make it do exactly what you want it to? Do you know your way around all your buttons and dials, or are the number appearing on your screen filling you with dread? Take our quiz to find out!
