Best Camera Settings for Beginners Explained Simply

So if I had a beginner with me now who wanted to move on from Auto mode, I would take that same practical approach instead of explaining every setting in detail. And that’s exactly what I’m going to try and do in this article. Let’s see how it goes.

Start in Aperture Priority

Let’s think of this as manual mode with a handrail. It’s a great way to learn one of the most important aspects of a photo, depth, without being overwhelmed. We will control only the aperture, and let the camera take care of the rest.

Aperture determines how much of your scene is in focus, and depending on what you’re shooting, you’ll have different requirements.

Aperture is measured by “f/” followed by a number. To put it simply:

Close subject = f/1.8 – f/2.8
General shooting = f/5.6 – f/8
Landscape photography = f/8 – f/11

I can’t remember ever needing to go beyond f/11, even though my camera goes all the way to f/22.

Let’s take a closer look at each scenario.

Close subject = f/1.8 – f/2.8: You’ve probably seen portrait shots where the subject is crystal clear and the background is beautifully blurred. That’s achieved with a low aperture number. Whether you’re shooting flowers, a great meal, or a family moment, if your subject is close to you, this is the setting you want.

General shooting = f/5.6 – f/8: This applies to situations like street photography, where your subject isn’t right in front of you but you’re also not dealing with a vast landscape. This range gives you enough depth so that more of the scene stays in focus without losing clarity.

Landscape photography = f/8 – f/11: Landscape shots often include a large amount of space leading towards a subject, like a river stretching out towards a mountain. We want that entire scene to appear sharp, which is why we increase the aperture number. Lower values might focus on part of the scene while leaving the rest soft. As a bonus, lenses often have “sweet spots” where they are at their sharpest, and this is usually somewhere within this range.

So, the more you want in focus, the higher the number goes, and for close-up shots, you bring that number down.

One thing to keep in mind is that lowering your aperture number lets in more light. So if you’re shooting in low light, it’s often best not to go much beyond f/5.6, as you’ll need to compensate for the lack of light in other ways that could reduce image quality. But more on that in the next section.

Once you’re comfortable with aperture, we can move on to manual mode.

Getting to Know ISO

Why the sudden jump to manual mode? Because it’s really not as scary as it sounds, and once you’ve got a good understanding of aperture, the other settings become much easier to manage.

I always shoot around aperture. It determines the look of my scene, and then everything else works around that.

ISO is probably the most intimidating setting at first, especially since the acronym doesn’t even seem to make sense: International Organization for Standardization (IOS?). But honestly, don’t worry about what it stands for.

To put it simply, ISO just makes your image brighter. That’s it. But it comes with a trade-off. The higher the ISO, the more grain, known as noise, is introduced into your image. Too much noise can reduce sharpness and cause you to lose detail.

Every camera handles noise differently. My first camera, a Canon 100D, would start to fall apart if I pushed it beyond ISO 500, almost like a badly tuned television channel. My current camera, a Sony A7R IV, handles ISO much better and can comfortably go beyond 1000.

So get to know your camera’s limits, but don’t be afraid to raise the ISO if your scene is looking a little dark. Otherwise, keep it as low as possible, ideally around 100.

The good news is that noise can be cleaned up in editing, as long as it’s not too extreme. For example, Luminar Neo has a dedicated AI tool called Noiseless, which can be paired with Supersharp AI to help recover cleaner, sharper images.

Moving on to Shutter Speed

Another way to let light into your scene is by adjusting your shutter speed, but again, there’s a trade-off. Shutter speed determines how long the shutter stays open before taking the shot. The longer it remains open, the more light enters the camera, which means you may not need to increase the ISO as much.

However, if you are shooting moving subjects, longer shutter speeds will cause motion blur, as the camera is effectively recording everything that happens during that time. Even when shooting a still subject, if you are handholding the camera, it will pick up small tremors and natural hand movements, which can make the entire image look soft or shaky.

Here’s a quick guide:

1/50 sec: risky handheld, best used with a tripod, and moving subjects will start to blur
1/100 – 1/200 sec: very safe and suitable for most situations, with moving subjects staying sharp
1/200+ sec: great for freezing faster-moving subjects such as cars

So based on your scene, you can find a range that works best. I usually aim for a shutter speed that lets in as much light as possible while still ensuring my subject remains sharp.

White Balance: Don’t Use Auto Balance

If you’re shooting in conditions that won’t change much, then you can use auto white balance. But even in those situations, I tend to choose a preset that suits the scene instead.

The issue with auto white balance is that it can be inconsistent. Some images may come out cooler, others warmer, as the camera constantly adjusts. This is especially noticeable when working with multiple light sources, and it can slow down your editing process as you try to correct each shot individually.

If you are shooting portraits, it’s even more important to avoid relying on auto. Those shifts in colour can really affect skin tones. I usually aim for a slightly warmer white balance, as it tends to complement skin tones much better. If auto swings too far into cooler tones, it can make the subject look unnatural, and you’re left trying to fix it later.

So take a moment to run through the presets on your camera and see which one works best for your scene. It’s a small step that can save you a lot of time and effort when it comes to editing.

Focus Mode

So you may have seen a bunch of different focus modes pop up on your camera, and they all sound quite similar. Understanding how they differ and when to use each one can quickly lead you down the rabbit hole of too much theory.

But in all my years of shooting, I’ve really only used two settings… well, three, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

Here they are as simply as possible:

AF-S: still subjects
AF-C: moving subjects

And that’s it. If you’re shooting landscapes, go ahead and use AF-S. If you’re doing street photography, sports, or anything where your subject is moving, then switch to AF-C. It will track your subject and help keep it sharp.

Now, that third option is called Eye AF. Not every camera has it, but if yours does and you shoot portraits, then definitely make use of it. Your camera will detect your subject’s eyes and make sure they stay in focus, which is crucial, as the eyes are the most important part of a portrait. It’s a fantastic feature and well worth using if you have access to it.

Shoot in RAW (non-negotiable)

I’ll get slightly technical here, but only briefly. RAW is a much better file type than JPEG. It offers a wider dynamic range, meaning you can recover more detail from both the shadows and highlights in your images.

To put it simply, when you lift the darker areas during editing, a RAW file will retain much cleaner detail compared to a JPEG. The same applies to highlights, although in general there is more recoverable detail in the shadows than in the brightest parts of the image. That’s why slightly underexposing is usually fine, whereas overexposing is something you want to avoid where possible.

So once again, save yourself a headache during editing and shoot in RAW for much better results.

An Example of Settings I’ve Used

Night Photography: I’m predominantly a night photographer, and to get clean results at night, I did have to upgrade my camera so it could handle higher ISO values without falling apart. Here’s an example of a shot where I pushed the ISO and had no issues.

ISO: 1250 – My camera handles this level comfortably, and most modern cameras are getting much better at this range and beyond.

Aperture: f/4 – My subject was a fair distance away, so this sits around the general shooting range I mentioned earlier (f/5.6 – f/8). However, because it’s a night shot, I’m keeping the aperture slightly wider to let in more light without sacrificing too much depth, which I might do if I dropped to f/2.8.

Shutter Speed: 1/125 – Street scenes involve movement and are unpredictable, so I like to stay within that 1/100 – 1/200 range. 1/125 gives me a good balance, letting in enough light while still keeping moving subjects sharp.

Nature Shot: This one was taken on a bright day, and I had a small subject, a butterfly, that I wanted to draw attention to. Here’s what I used.

ISO: 64 – In bright conditions, I want to avoid overexposure as much as possible, so I used the lowest ISO my camera offers. From there, I control exposure using the other settings.

Aperture: f/2.8 – This lets in a lot of light, but it’s intentional. I don’t want the entire scene in focus, as that would make the subject harder to spot. By using f/2.8, I keep the butterfly sharp while allowing the foreground and background to blur, helping it stand out clearly.

Shutter Speed: 1/800 – To balance the extra light from the wide aperture, I use a fast shutter speed. At 1/800, the camera is only open for a very short moment, which limits the amount of light hitting the sensor. It’s also perfect for freezing movement, which is useful when shooting something like a butterfly on a bright day.

The Bottom Line

You might be wondering how you’re supposed to remember all of this. The truth is, it comes naturally with repetition. I barely think about my settings anymore. It becomes second nature, and I can focus more on framing and capturing the moment.

So start with aperture. Get comfortable with how it controls depth in your shot. You can see the difference in my butterfly example, where parts of the scene are out of focus, compared to the street scene where much more is sharp. Once you understand that, the other settings simply fall into place around it to achieve the right exposure.

I hope this more practical approach has helped, and that you feel ready to take the training wheels off and really get to grips with photography. Most importantly, enjoy it!