Depending on how naughty or nice you were this year could mean you were lucky enough to get your hands on one of the best mirrorless cameras from your loved ones to play with over the holidays. However, to get the best results you’ll want to take a few moments to configure it properly and get to grips with the key settings. In this article I run through how you can set up your new camera like a pro.
The first thing I do with any piece of new tech that has an LCD is to use a screen protector. These cost only a few bucks on Amazon and will help keep your camera screen in tip-top condition – they’re also infinitely easier to put on when the screen is immaculate and free from dust when opening up your brand-new camera too, so make sure you do this straightaway if you can.
In the settings I’ll also switch off the camera beep which makes a sound to tell you when the camera has locked focus. This can be reassuring when you’re first starting out, but I find it annoying and at events like weddings it can really distract from the proceedings, so I dive into the menu and switch it off.
Next up, we’ll go into the camera settings and put in the correct Time & Date to make sure your images are labelled correctly. It’s also worth going into the settings and setting up your name under the Copyright Info. I also like to enable the Auto Rotate Images option which automatically rotates my images taken in the portrait format when I bring them onto editing software on my computer.
The digital sensors on modern mirrorless cameras are exposed when the lens is removed, unlike on DSLRs, which have a large mirror in the way of dust and debris getting to them. Your mirrorless camera should have a setting called Shutter at Shutdown (or similar,) which forces the camera to close its shutter curtains when the camera is switched off. This makes changing lenses a bit safer and will save you cloning out dust spots in your images, too.
Go into your camera’s image quality settings and enable RAW to capture the most exposure data from your camera. If you’re still unsure about editing RAW files you can shoot in both RAW+JPEG so you’ll still have the RAWs later on if you want to revisit them when you’re more confident editing later on.
The best DSLRs and mirrorless cameras will have a few customizable buttons. On my Canon RF lenses, they even have a customizable ring around the lens barrel. These can be set up in the menu, usually under a heading such as ‘Customize buttons and dials’ and you can set them to give you fast access to the settings you need most. I like setting up the custom button next to my shutter button for ISO so I can change it quickly without having to take my eye away from the viewfinder.
It’s worth going into the autofocus options and choosing whether you want to use a group of AF points, or a more accurate single point that you can move by tapping the screen or moving the joystick. If it’s a modern camera it will likely have Face Detection AF modes too, useful for acquiring focus of people, pets and wildlife.
Lastly, you’ll want to get to grips with the core exposure settings – aperture, shutter priority and ISO. I suggest using the festivities to master your settings in Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual modes (usually MASP on the mode dial), which allow you to take more control over your new camera’s settings.
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