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Understanding Digital Camera Modes (PSAM and • Landscape Photography

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Having a thorough understanding of camera modes is important to get • Post-Processing
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BY NASIM MANSUROV | 116 COMMENTS
LAST UPDATED ON APRIL 22, 2023

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the exposure in photography. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced
amateur, you should know what each camera mode does and when it should be PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIALS
used, under what circumstances.

Table of Contents
1. What are Digital Camera Modes?
PHOTOGRAPHY LANDSCAPE
2. Types of Camera Modes BASICS PHOTOGRAPHY
2.1. Program Mode
2.2. Shutter-Priority Mode
2.3. Aperture-Priority Mode
2.4. Manual Mode
3. Where Can I Set the Camera Mode? WILDLIFE MACRO
4. What About ISO? PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY

5. What About Other Camera Modes?

What are Digital Camera Modes?

Digital Camera Modes allow photographers to control the parameters of an COMPOSITION & BLACK & WHITE
CREATIVITY PHOTOGRAPHY
exposure, specifically, Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO. While certain modes
can fully automate the camera exposure, there are other modes that let the
photographer manually control some or all parameters of the exposure.

On most cameras these days, there is a dial NIGHT SKY PORTRAIT

called the “PSAM” or “PASM” dial (the order PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY

depends on the camera) where you can change

your camera mode. It is one of the most
important dials/options on your camera. You can
see an illustration of the PSAM dial to the left. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTOGRAPHY VIDEOS
Back in the old days, there was no such thing as
a camera mode or a PSAM dial – everything was UNIQUE GIFT IDEAS

manual. Photographers had to manually set the aperture, shutter speed and
choose the right type of film for their cameras. To evaluate the intensity and the
amount of light, they used to carry special light metering devices that measured
the light and provided the exposure information, which they would then use in
their cameras. In 1938, Kodak introduced a film camera with an integrated light
meter and in 1962, a Japanese company called “Topcon” introduced the first SLR
camera that measured the light coming through the lens into the camera.

What this meant, was that photographers no longer needed to carry special light
meters with them – the camera would do it for them. New “Automatic” camera
modes started appearing on cameras, which would evaluate the amount of light
that passed through the lens and would automatically pick the right exposure
parameters to produce a properly-exposed picture.
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Today, most digital cameras have various types of camera modes that can be If you like our content, you can subscribe to our

used in different situations. While most point and shoot cameras concentrate on newsletter to receive weekly email updates using
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automatic modes for simplicity’s sake, more advanced cameras feature modes
that allow both automatic and manual exposure control.
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Zabriskie Point
NIKON Z 6 + NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.8 S @ 35mm, ISO 100, 1/250, f/5.6

Types of Camera Modes

Here are the four main types of camera modes that can be found in most digital
cameras today:

1. Program (P)
2. Shutter Priority (Tv) or (S)
3. Aperture Priority (Av) or (A)
4. Manual (M)

Program Mode

In “Program” mode, the camera automatically chooses the Aperture and the
Shutter Speed for you, based on the amount of light that passes through the
lens. This is the mode you want to use for “point and shoot” moments, when you
just need to quickly snap a picture. The camera will try to balance between
aperture and shutter speed, increasing and decreasing the two based on the
intensity of light. If you point the camera to a bright area, the aperture will
automatically increase to a bigger number, while keeping the shutter speed
reasonably fast. Pointing the camera to a darker area will decrease the aperture
to a lower number, in order to maintain a reasonably fast shutter speed. If there is
not enough light, the lens aperture will stay at the lowest number (maximum
aperture), while the shutter speed will keep on decreasing until it reaches proper
exposure.

I personally never use this mode, since it does not give me much control over the
exposure. There is a way to override the camera-guessed shutter speed and
aperture by moving the control dial (on Nikon cameras it is the dial on the back of
the camera). If you rotate the control dial towards the left, the camera will
decrease the shutter speed and increase the aperture. If you rotate the dial
towards the right, the camera will increase the shutter speed and decrease the
aperture. Basically, if you needed to get a faster shutter speed for freezing
action, you would rotate the dial to the right, and if you needed to get a large
depth of field, you would rotate the dial to the left.

Shutter-Priority Mode

In “Shutter Priority” mode, you manually set the camera’s shutter speed and the
camera automatically picks the right aperture for you, based on the amount of
light that passes through the lens. This mode is intended to be used when
motion needs to be frozen or intentionally blurred. If there is too much light, the
camera will increase the lens aperture to a higher number, which decreases the
amount of light that passes through the lens. If there is not enough light, the
camera will decrease the aperture to the lowest number, so that more light
passes through the lens. So in Shutter Priority mode, the shutter speed stays the
same (what you set it to), while aperture automatically increases and decreases,
based on the amount of light. In addition, there is no control over subject
isolation, because you are letting the camera control the depth of field.

I try not to use this mode either, because there is a risk of getting an
overexposed or underexposed image. Why? Because if the amount of ambient
light is not sufficient and I set the shutter speed to a really high number, my
exposure will be limited to the aperture/speed of my lens. For example, if the
maximum aperture of my lens is f/4.0, the camera will not be able to use a lower
aperture than f/4.0 and will still shoot at the fast shutter speed that I manually
set. The result will be an underexposed image. At the same time, if I use a very
slow shutter speed when there is plenty of light, the image will be overexposed
and blown out.

Aperture-Priority Mode

In “Aperture Priority” mode, you manually set the lens aperture, while the camera
automatically picks the right shutter speed to properly expose the image. You
have full control over subject isolation and you can play with the depth of field,
because you can increase or decrease the lens aperture and let the camera do
the math on measuring the right shutter speed. If there is too much light, the
camera will automatically increase the shutter speed, while if you are in a low-
light environment, the camera will decrease the shutter speed. There is almost
no risk of having an overexposed or an underexposed image, because the
shutter speed can go as low as 30 seconds and as fast as 1/4000-1/8000th of a
second (depending on the camera), which is more than sufficient for most
lighting situations.

This is the mode that I use 95% of the time, because I have full control over the
depth of field and I know that the image will be properly exposed under normal
circumstances. The metering systems in most modern cameras work very well
and I let the camera calculate and control the shutter speed for me.

Roseate Spoonbills at Sunrise

NIKON D3S + 300mm f/4 @ 300mm, ISO 3200, 1/250, f/8.0

Manual Mode

As the name suggests, “Manual” mode stands for a full manual control of
Aperture and Shutter Speed. In this mode, you can manually set both the
aperture and the shutter speed to any value you want – the camera lets you fully
take over the exposure controls. This mode is generally used in situations, where
the camera has a hard time figuring out the correct exposure in extreme lighting
situations. For example, if you are photographing a scene with a very bright area,
the camera might incorrectly guess the exposure and either overexpose or
underexpose the rest of the image. In those cases, you can set your camera to
manual mode, then evaluate the amount of light in darker and brighter areas and
override the exposure with your own settings. Manual mode is also useful for
consistency, if you need to make sure that both shutter speed and aperture stay
the same across multiple exposures. For example, to properly stitch a panorama,
all shots that you are trying to put together need to have the same shutter speed
and aperture. Otherwise, some images will be darker, while others are lighter.
Once you set the shutter speed and aperture to the values of your choice in
manual mode, your images will all have consistent exposures.

Phases of Total Lunar Eclipse

NIKON Z 7 + 300mm f/4 @ 420mm, ISO 200, 10 sec, f/8.0

I only use this mode in extreme situations, when shooting panoramas or when
using on-camera or off-camera flashes.

Where Can I Set the Camera Mode?

The camera mode dial is typically clearly visible on all entry-level and semi-
professional cameras – it is a large rotatable circle that has the modes listed as
“P”, “S”, “A” and “M” in Nikon DSLRs and “P”, “Tv”, “Av” and “M” in Canon DSLRs.
Here is a picture of the mode dial on the Nikon D5000 DSLR (highlighted in red
circle):

And Canon 50D:

On professional cameras, the mode dial might not look the same. Take a look at
the picture of the Nikon D300s, where it is a small “Mode” button on the top right
hand side of the camera:

What About ISO?

In most DSLR cameras, the ISO does not automatically change in the above
camera modes, so you have to set it manually. If you do not want to manually set
the ISO all the time and have an “Auto ISO” feature in your camera, enable it,
then set the maximum ISO to “800-1600” and your minimum shutter speed to
something like 1/200th of a second. If you notice too much noise, change your
maximum ISO to a lower number. If you do not have an “Auto ISO” feature, then
set your ISO to the lowest ISO number and increase it in low-light situations.

What About Other Camera Modes?

Many of the entry-level and semi-professional cameras have other modes such
as “Portrait”, “Landscape”, “Macro”, “Sports” and “Night”, depending on the
camera (professional cameras do NOT have these modes). I won’t go through
any of these modes for three reasons:

1. They are simply a combination of the above four modes plus some camera-
specific settings
2. Different cameras have different custom modes and you should not get used
to any of them. If you ever switch to a different camera brand or get a
professional camera, you might get lost, just because you relied too much on
a specific custom mode.
3. All of these custom modes are evil :) Stop using them and learn the four main
camera modes explained in this article.

If you have any questions or feedback, please post your comments in the
comments section below.

Take me to Chapter 9: Focusing

1 Photography Basics Introduction

2 What is Photography?

3 Shutter Speed

4 Aperture

5 ISO

6 Composition

7 Metering

8 Camera Modes (You Take

are here)
me to Chapter 9: Focusing
9 Focusing

10 Flash

11 Camera Settings

12 How to Take Sharp Pictures

13 Photography Tips for Beginners

14 Photography Ideas

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FILED UNDER: PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIALS

TAGGED WITH: HOWTO, PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS, TIPS FOR BEGINNERS

About Nasim Mansurov

Nasim Mansurov is the author and founder of Photography Life,
based out of Denver, Colorado. He is recognized as one of the
leading educators in the photography industry, conducting workshops,
producing educational videos and frequently writing content for Photography
Life. You can follow him on Instagram and Facebook. Read more about Nasim
here.

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116 COMMENTS Newest

Chris Davies
March 10, 2024 10:34 pm

I’ve spent a lot of time on the net trying to understand clearly how to use my D810. As an
older digital camera user, I often find that instructions make too many assumptions about
what I know. It doesn’t take more than one missed or misnamed step to confuse the learning
process. I’ve spent most of today with a smile on my face. This set of articles has made
everything clear and in a way that I can make simple notes to remind my untrustworthy
memory of how to quickly change settings. I no longer feel like, ‘Am I missing something
here?’ ‘Is it just old age?’
Thank you so much, Chris Davies.

PS: I noticed that when I was playing with the setting (Focus) and I selected 51 reference
points, that I still only saw the center point in my viewfinder? Of course, 51 dots is not what I
want to see when I’m using the camera, I presume that’s what the camera would be using if
that was my setting.

0 Reply

Amanya
November 2, 2023 9:07 am

Am improving gently

2 Reply

Andy Clemmer
March 18, 2023 8:48 am

Nasim, I have taken a serious interest in photography and your articles have been so helpful
and enlightening for a beginner like myself. I have come across a used Nikon D3000, still in
good condition, but several years old. Would this be suitable for a start-up camera to learn
the basics on? There are 2 lens that come with it, a Nikon 55-200mm, and 18-55mm.

0 Reply

David Bush
December 6, 2022 9:29 pm

Nasim, I love that lunar eclipse photo. Would you be willing to sell a print of it? I’m an avid
amateur astronomer (from your neck of the woods – Parker) and that such a stunning photo.

2 Reply

Jordan
August 16, 2022 9:32 pm

Hey Nasim, thanks for putting this together. As a beginner in photography it’s super helpful
to have all of these resources in one place.

I have a question about the notation used to document the camera, lens, and settings for the
photographs. For example, “NIKON Z 7 + 300mm f/4 @ 420mm, ISO 200, 10 sec, f/8.0”. I
understand that this means a Nikon Z7 camera with a 300mm f/4 lens, using ISO of 200, a 10
second exposure, and a f/8.0 f-stop, but what is @ 420mm? Are you extending the focal
point somehow? I don’t understand how the focal point can exceed the lens focal point.
Another example is “NIKON D3S + 300mm f/2.8 @ 500mm, ISO 1600, 1/800, f/8.0”. How is a
300mm lens zoomed to 500mm?

-1 Reply

Pete A
Reply to Jordan August 17, 2022 7:56 pm

By attaching a teleconverter to the lens:

300 mm × 1.4 = 420 mm
300 mm × 1.7 = 510 mm

photographylife.com/what-…econverter

2 Reply

Roshan
May 4, 2022 8:23 am

Great!

-2 Reply

Ariyo Esther
April 18, 2022 3:20 pm

Can I get pdf for this turtorial

-4 Reply

kiira isima
January 20, 2022 2:03 am

how an apature worka

-2 Reply

Humberto
January 19, 2022 1:48 pm

Hi, I still don’t understand P mode. For example, let’s assume the amount of light in the
scene I want to capture, the camera can choose f/3.2+1/125s or f/4.0+1/250s or f/5.6+1/500
… All these settings are the same exposure (same ISO). Which one will the camera choose?

1 Reply

Pete A
Reply to Humberto January 20, 2022 2:33 pm

“Which one will the camera choose?”

An example graph is provided in the User Manual of every Nikon camera I’ve
encountered. I would expect other makers to provide this information.

Notwithstanding, the best way to discover how your camera behaves is by experimenting
with it.

1 Reply

Rossytha
January 1, 2022 12:43 am

Foto mode malam

-1 Reply

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