Understanding Digital Camera Modes (PSAM and More)

Having a good understanding of the digital camera modes is essential to

control 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 used, under what circumstances.

What are Digital Camera Modes?

Digital Camera Modes allow photographers to control the parameters of an

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

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

Back in the old days, there was no such thing

as a camera mode or a PSAM dial –
everything was 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.

Today, most digital cameras have various types of camera modes that can be
used in different situations. While most point and shoot cameras concentrate
on automatic modes for simplicity’s sake, more advanced cameras feature
modes that allow both automatic and manual exposure control.
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.