Canon® PowerShot® Digital Field Guide

Chapter 3. Getting the Most Out of Your PowerShot Camera

In This Chapter

• Auto Exposure lock

• Flash Exposure lock

• Auto Focus lock

• Function settings

• Shooting modes

• Memory cards

If you are a reader who jumps to the last page to see how the story ends, this is not the chapter to skip. Yes, you could leave the camera in Automatic mode and have a good time capturing images, but you might not have much fun looking at the results. This chapter takes a detailed look at using more advanced features to give you additional control over your camera and at adjusting settings to gain greater control over your photography.

I have grouped similar adjustments by topic rather than by the order in which they appear on the camera because the order and placement varies from PowerShot model to PowerShot model. It makes sense to keep all exposure controls and settings together.

Auto Exposure Lock

If you ever struggle with how your PowerShot determines exposure, AEL (Auto Exposure lock) can help. Take the situation where you capture images of someone and there is a bright window in the background. The camera's meter will key in on the bright window, setting an exposure that might cause your subject to become a silhouette. While you could use the flash to light your main subject, there might be enough light in the room so you don't have to. The problem is not that there isn't enough light; it is a metering problem.

Note

AEL is available on many, but not all, PowerShots.

AEL to the rescue. You recompose the shot — temporarily ...