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Module 1 · Meet Your Camera

Find the controls on your camera

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TechniqueLesson 2 of 8 · 20 min · 5 reading, 15 doing
The short version

Most cameras share the same dozen controls. Find each one on yours, in this order, and you will never hunt for a button mid-shoot again.

Brands put things in different places and give them different names, but the jobs are the same. Use this map as a checklist. Hold your camera, find each numbered control, and press or turn it once.

TOP Lens M A S P AUTO 1 2 3 4 11 12 BACK Screen ▶ MENU +/− 5 6 7 8 9 10 TOP Lens M A S P AUTO 1 2 3 4 11 12 BACK Screen ▶ MENU +/− 5 6 7 8 9 10 TOP Lens M A S P AUTO 1 2 3 4 11 12 BACK Screen ▶ MENU +/− 5 6 7 8 9 10
A generic camera. Yours will differ in layout and names, but most of these controls exist on it somewhere.
  • 1Shutter button. Press halfway to focus, all the way to take the photo.
  • 2Mode dial. Auto, P, A (Av on Canon), S (Tv on Canon) and M. Some cameras use a menu or separate dials instead.
  • 3Main dial. The wheel your index finger or thumb turns to change settings.
  • 4On/off switch.
  • 5Viewfinder. The eyepiece. Not every camera has one. If it looks blurry, turn the small dioptre wheel beside it until the numbers inside look sharp.
  • 6Screen. Live view, menus and your photos.
  • 7Playback. Usually a ▶ symbol. Shows the photos you have taken.
  • 8Menu. Where every setting lives.
  • 9Focus point control. A small joystick or the arrow pad, used to move where the camera focuses.
  • 10Exposure compensation. Marked +/− or ±. Makes photos brighter or darker.
  • 11Zoom ring on a zoom lens. Fixed (prime) lenses don't have one.
  • 12Lens release button. Hold it to twist the lens off.

Same job, different names

Brands label a few controls differently. If a lesson says "aperture priority" and your dial says Av, they're the same thing.

The jobCanonNikon, Sony, Panasonic, OM SystemFujifilm
You set aperture, camera sets shutterAvAAperture ring set, shutter dial on A
You set shutter, camera sets apertureTvSShutter dial set, aperture ring on A
Camera sets both, you can shift themPPBoth on A
You set bothMMNeither on A

Many Fujifilm cameras have no mode dial at all. Instead, every dial and ring has an "A" position that hands that setting to the camera. It gives you the same four choices in a different way.

Read the screen

Most cameras show a strip of symbols on the screen or in the viewfinder. You don't need to understand them all yet, but you should know where each one sits. Press the INFO or DISP button to cycle through the views until you find one that looks like this.

live view A 1/250 F5.6 ISO 200 L ◢ [ 812 ] −20+2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
A typical shooting display. The layout varies; the information doesn't.
  • 1Mode you're in (here, A for aperture priority).
  • 2Shutter speed. 1/250 means a 250th of a second.
  • 3Aperture. F5.6 is the same as f/5.6.
  • 4Exposure scale. The marker shows brighter or darker than the camera's idea of normal.
  • 5ISO. How much the camera brightens the light the sensor recorded (Module 8).
  • 6Image quality. Size and file type.
  • 7Battery.
  • 8Shots remaining on the card, roughly.

Numbers 2, 3 and 5 are the three settings that make every exposure. You'll meet each one properly: shutter speed in Module 7, aperture in Module 6 and ISO in Module 8.

Back of a Canon mirrorless camera with the shooting information on screen, numbered12345678
Back of a Canon mirrorless camera. 1 mode (Tv) · 2 shutter speed · 3 exposure scale · 4 ISO · 5 shots remaining · 6 MENU · 7 playback · 8 rear dial.
Top of a Fujifilm X-T5 with its dials numbered1234
Top of a Fujifilm X-T5, which has no mode dial. 1 shutter button · 2 exposure compensation dial · 3 shutter speed dial · 4 ISO dial. The shutter and ISO dials each have an A position that hands that setting to the camera.

On a phone

Your shutter is the on-screen button, and often a volume button too. Tap the screen to set focus. Swipe or tap the lens buttons, such as 0.5x, 1x and 2x, to change lenses; on many phones 2x is a crop from the main camera rather than a separate lens. The standard photo mode hides most settings. Many phones have a Pro or Manual mode that adds shutter speed, ISO and white balance, and on some a live histogram.

Tip

Can't find something? Search your camera's model name plus the control, for example "exposure compensation" with your model. Every manufacturer puts its manual online as a free PDF.

Common mistakes

  • Pressing the shutter in one stab. A half-press first lets the camera focus. Module 3 covers it properly.
  • Changing a setting with the wrong dial and not noticing. Glance at the screen after every change until it's habit.
  • Hunting through menus for something that has its own button. Most cameras put ± and ISO on buttons or dials.
Quick checkYour Canon's dial says Tv. Which setting are you choosing?

Shutter speed. Tv stands for time value. Other brands call the same mode S.

Try it now · 15 minutes

  1. Go down the list from 1 to 12. Find each control on your camera and use it once. Write down any your camera doesn't have; that's normal.
  2. Press INFO or DISP until you find the screen view that matches the diagram. Find items 1 to 8.
  3. Set the mode dial to P. Turn the main dial and watch which numbers change.
  4. Press ±, turn the dial two clicks right, and watch the marker move. Take a photo. Turn it back to 0 and take another. Compare them.
  5. Write your camera's names for each control on the Field Card at the end of this module.