Home >> Hobbies >> Photography

How to Adjust Camera Settings

One of the earliest cameras was a pinhole camera, which had only one thing to adjust. You took the picture by removing the cover from the pinhole, thus exposing the film and stopped taking the picture by replacing the cover. Today's cameras are far more complex. Digital cameras are as much mini computers as they are cameras. Depending on the type of camera you are using, settings may be changed through dials or switches on the camera or through menu options you view on the cameras LCD screen.

Things You'll Need

Camera owner's manual

Instructions

- 1
  Turn the small control dial by the shutter release on your digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera to adjust the primary setting for the shooting mode your camera is set in. DSLR's have a combination of dials and menus for the settings of the camera. If you turned the exposure mode dial and set the camera to shutter priority, turning this dial will change the shutter speed of the camera. If you have set the camera to aperture priority, then it controls the lens aperture.
- 2
  Press the "Menu" button on the back of most digital cameras -- both point-and-shoot cameras and DSLRs -- to access the menu modes. These screens will allow you to change the settings for a number of different parameters in the camera. From "White Balance" to "Image quality" and many other features. The number of features and how the screens are laid out will depend on the type of camera you are using.
- 3
  Press "OK" to select the menu item you want to change. This will take you to the value that is presently set for this feature. Press the directional buttons on the back of the camera or turn the rear or front dials on the camera to adjust the value, then press "Menu" again to save the changes you have made.

Photography