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Got a new camera? Change these settings before you shoot!

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Got a new camera? Change these settings before you shoot!


There’s nothing like unwrapping a new camera for the first time.

You may have noticed a recent tsunami of new product launches. From camera bodies to lenses, accessories, software and computers, it seems every manufacturer has something new to hawk. With school graduations, Father’s Day, travel season and world events like the Olympic Games, there are plenty of new cameras vying for your attention.

If you’ve just bought a new camera, we have some tips on key settings to adjust so you can get the most out of your new gear. So before you head for the hills, the studio or a far-flung destination, take a look at these important camera settings first. A few tweaks and adjustments up front can mean the difference between fluid work and frustration.

Also, bookmark this guide for the future. We continually update our guides as we gather more knowledge, respond to changes in industry products, and take in questions from our readers on what you need and want. Let us know in the comments if we missed anything. We’re always here to help bring the joy of photography and video to everyone.

How you set up your menu and customize your buttons and dials is a very personal matter. It depends on what you shoot, which features you use and how you like to work. No matter what you’re focused on, there are a few common settings that all photographers need to get set right straight out of the box.

The Great Menu Expansion

Perhaps the most consistent change in cameras in the digital era is the size and complexity of the menu system. As an example of this growth consider Canon’s first mainstream DSLR, the Canon D30 from the year 2000, whose menu featured a total of 31 items on one long scrolling list. Canon’s recent pro-level R3, on the other hand, offers 433 menu items organized into 8 categories or tabs.

Canon and other manufacturers have done a reasonable job (some better than others) at organizing all these features into relatively logical categories like: Image quality, Playback, AF, and Wireless. However, they give you no clue as to which items you should adjust straight out of the box – which ones are better to turn off or keep on most of the time.

Perhaps the most consistent change in cameras in the digital era is the size and complexity of the menu system.

For this reason, many photographers tweak a few items as they need them and leave the rest of the menu for a time when they have nothing better to do than read a camera instruction manual – which is likely never. They then wind up living with discomfort in their shooting experience that would be easy to fix.

This article provides a short list of must-change items for all photographers. The out-of-the-box factory settings (or worse, the previous owner’s settings) may not have these settings adjusted for your needs. While I could go on all day about this, let’s start with a few hot items you’ll want to adjust on your new camera.

Diopter

Yes, the topic of this article is on menu settings and the first item isn’t in the menu. Point noted, now let’s move on. The diopter is the focus adjustment for your camera’s viewfinder. Somewhere near the eyepiece is a small knurled knob, possibly with plus and minus labels. Turning this knob will adjust lens elements in the viewfinder to adapt the clarity of the view for people with different vision needs.

You’ll see clearly once your diopter is correctly adjusted.

When the diopter is adjusted properly, you’ll have a way better time seeing both your subject and the information displayed in the electronic viewfinder of a mirrorless camera or the focusing screen of a DSLR. If the diopter is slightly off you’ll likely still see a sharp image but your eyes will need to strain to keep everything in focus. A properly adjusted diopter will make viewing comfortable and strain-free.

These little knobs can easily be adjusted by accident and it’s not uncommon to look through your viewfinder and be suddenly shocked at how bad your eyesight has gotten. While some knobs have better locks than others, almost every camera I’ve used has needed this adjusted at the start, and again at various intervals. This is a rather unglamorous way to start the personalization of your camera, but without it the whole world could be a blur to you.

File Format

There is perhaps no setting as important as the file type. We’ll sidestep the whole Raw vs JPEG debate here, and we’ll simply state that whatever you decide is right for you is something you need to set up on your camera right away.

A Raw file, for the newbies out there, contains all the original capture information in an image, far more than the efficient subset contained in a JPEG. It allows you greater leeway in post-processing to recover details from shadows or highlights and to change fundamental aspects like white balance or color. The downside is that the file size is a bit on the big side (compared to JPEG) and requires special software to view and work on the image. While your camera manufacturer provides free software to do so, many people prefer to use popular photo-editing software from companies like Adobe or Capture One.

Whether you value the flexibility of Raw files, or the convenience of JPEG, make sure you’ve picked a file format before heading out the door.

The JPEG file is a small convenient file that can be opened and viewed by pretty much any computer or viewing device made in the last 25 years. The downside to the JPEG is that the file is processed and compressed. While convenient for sharing online and fine for printing unaltered, it lacks the information depth of color and tones that a skilled photo editor would appreciate when working in the digital darkroom.

Thankfully, most camera manufacturers know that file type is an important setting, and it’s usually located at or near the top of the menu. You’ll also often find a shortcut to this feature in the Quick or Function menu or Control grid screen.

You can shoot Raw and JPEG at the same time, but this should only be done if you truly need it. If you have a Raw file you can make a JPEG anytime you want, in any quantity, with any adjustment you like, so long as you have a computer, the right software and the time to do it. The best time to simultaneously shoot both Raw and JPEG is when you have an immediate need for the JPEG and a long-term desire for the Raw.

Thankfully, most manufacturers know that file type is important and it’s usually located at or near the top of most menus.

Get this set right first, and if you change your photography workflow from time to time be sure to come back and revisit it. The current file type status is often displayed in the viewfinder or on the rear screen for easy monitoring.

AF beep, AF lock and AF assist lamp

Cameras tend to have AF beep, AF locked to shutter and AF assist lamp set to be active by default.

There are many reasons to keep them active; perhaps they aid people with color blindness, for instance. It often comes down to how you intend to use the camera and your personal preferences.

Knowing the different ways you can control autofocus can help you adjust the camera to your habits, rather than adjusting your habits to the camera.

To fully understand what is right for you, let’s take a look at what each one does.

Autofocus (AF) beep settings allow for an audible confirmation that what you are trying to use AF on is in focus. It is an additional cue to the visual cue you’ll see when a focus box changes colors to confirm focus. Some users may like the sound or may need the sound if they have trouble seeing the visual color change. Others may feel it is a distraction. DPReview editor Richard Butler says, “Turning off the beep and AF illuminator are the first things I do,” because it’s potentially distracting to others while he’s trying to make images.

“To fully understand what is right for you, examine each setting’s function. In the end, it all comes down to your personal preference.”

The AF assist lamp is a feature that shines a light on whatever you’re framing to help the AF focus. The camera uses this light to have enough light to create enough contrast to help it focus. Here again, it comes down to your personal preference. DPReview editor Shaminder Dulai says he hates it and it’s the first thing he turns off, “I feel like the lamp is like shouting ‘Hey look at me, I’m about to take a picture,’ and it completely takes you out of the headspace of making images and is often annoying to others around you. Since I do documentary work, I aim to be a fly on the wall and earn trust to get to more ‘real’ moments and beeps and lights don’t help me get there.”

Most cameras come from the factory set to activate their AF with a half press of the shutter. Many photographers prefer using a dedicated AF button if they have that option, and we encourage you to try that as well to see if it suits you better.

With a little time spent trying it both ways, you may decide you love the shutter half-press or that you hate it, the key is to be aware of both and to try them for yourself.

Dulai says for him, “The focus being tied to the shutter leaves me fighting the camera and not focused on the story. It’s all preference at the end of the day. I sometimes leave my focus point centered and like to focus, meter and then recompose the image with a dedicated button.” On the other hand, DPReview editor Dale Baskin likes the half press, saying, “I’ve tried switching to back button focus many times over the years, and it just doesn’t work for me. I have no problem shooting fast action sports using the half press method and never miss a beat.”

So, opinions vary even among the DPReview editors. The point is to be aware of what your camera is doing, learn how to try all the options across the settings and see what works best for you.

Card Format

Photos from your camera will likely be stored on a removable memory card, and like any storage area (digital or real) it should be cleared of unnecessary clutter before use. Each camera manufacturer has a slightly different way of communicating with the card and storing images on it. To create a clean, reliable line of communication between camera and card it is highly recommended that you ‘format’ a new card inside the camera before heading out to capture photos.

Formatting your digital storage medium with a new camera ensures they’ll become fast friends.

Be advised that formatting a card will delete all the photos on it, along with any folders, seen or unseen, and will set up a new storage structure and path. Formatting is also recommended when heading out on a new shoot, so long as the photos from the last shoot have been downloaded and backed up first. There’s nothing like starting with a clean slate.

Date and Time

Mundane and trivial to some, the capture date and time of every image is stored in its metadata (extra information that can be viewed by software) and having it correct may potentially save headaches in the future. Many cameras now have simple adjustments for traveling to different time zones and adjusting for daylight saving time so that you don’t need to fiddle with the actual time setting. I’ve found that cameras are not particularly accurate in their timekeeping over the long haul, so if you’re fussy about having exactly the right time stamp on your photos you may need to revisit this feature every few months or so.

Having the correct date and time set on your camera can help you remember when you captured photos.

Copyright Info

Another item in the image metadata that may be beneficial at some point in the future is setting your name and any other pertinent personal info. Be advised that this data can be overwritten by anyone with access to your digital file. This setting is for information that may be helpful to you or others, but it is not in the realm of lock-tight security options.

Adding your name in the copyright field provides a very low level of security; think of it simply as a note that it is you who took the photo, or at the very least an image that came from your camera. This can be convenient if your images have been casually mixed with others and you need to identify the owner or creator.

Embedding copyright information can help identify your photos or even recover your camera.

You can also use this setting to put in specific copyright information like ‘All Rights Reserved,’ to let anyone else with access to the file know what your intentions are. Once again, though, be advised that this can easily be overwritten by the laziest of hackers. A potential use for this area is your contact information, usually in email form. Should your camera be lost or stolen it could provide a link back to you. True, the bad guy won’t care about this, but the honest one who does want to do the right thing will have information on how to contact you.

Firmware updates

Like everything else, today’s cameras are packed with powerful electronics, and increasingly, software is advancing faster than hardware to take advantage of improvements. We recommend looking on your manufacturer’s website to check for any new firmware update that has been issued for your camera and reading up on what they does.

Firmware updates aren’t required but they can sometimes address bugs that help you enjoy it longer.

Some updates are minor, fixing things like a typo in a menu, while others can improve camera performance or add new features. Your camera will still work without the firmware update, so it’s up to you to decide when and if you want to update. But, a word of caution from Dulai, “I never jump on new firmware updates, preferring to wait a few months if possible. This gives me time to research the firmware and time to let any potential bugs surface from the wave of early adopters.”

As an alternative to checking manufacturer websites, virtually all cameras released today have accompanying smartphone apps. These apps can be set to alert you when new firmware is released.

Registering your product and document your serial numbers

This one may seem obvious, but it’s important to call out. Registering your product with the manufacturer may grant you a warranty or other support services; just remember to opt out of any promo e-mails if you don’t want them.

More crucial is that you document your serial number, product name, purchase date and price paid. You don’t have to keep this information anywhere fancy: an e-mail, spreadsheet, or paper journal are all great options. The goal is to have everything documented and saved because if you ever are robbed and need to file a police report or an insurance claim, this is the information you’ll need.

“None of these settings will help you create great photos, but they can make the experience of shooting with your new camera a bit easier.”

Set up and head out

None of these settings will help you create great photos, but they can make the experience of shooting with your new camera a bit easier. Paging through the labyrinth of the menu system isn’t the first choice of activity for a photographer, but trust me, there’s a lot of useful stuff in there. Getting your camera set up specifically for your needs is like getting a custom-tailored suit – it will prepare you for whatever may come and give you confidence when you head out into the world.

Did we miss anything? What settings and adjustments do you make straight out of the box? Tell us in the comments.



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Instagram is creating its own video editing app

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Instagram is creating its own video editing app


Instagram announced that it is launching its own free video editing app named Edits. The move makes sense for a platform that’s been pushing video content for quite some time, yet lacked any refined editing tools. The timing, however, is interesting, as it coincided with the ban on a very similar free editing app, CapCut.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri shared the news about Edits in an Instagram post on Sunday, covering some of the features we can expect. The description of the app and its features sounds remarkably similar to CapCut, with a long list of tools for creating videos and finding ideas for new content.

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A post shared by Adam Mosseri (@mosseri)

Instagram built the app with a tab-based approach, with tabs for inspiration, trending audio and for keeping track of ideas. It also provides access to what it says is a “much higher-quality camera.” The app features all the editing tools most people would use in a phone-based editing app, including the ability to edit down to single-frame precision, settings for resolution, framerate and dynamic range, background adjustment tools, fonts, filters and more. It can also generate captions automatically, hopefully with more accuracy than the auto-generated captions in Instagram Stories.

Beyond editing tools, there will also be insights into how your Reels are performing with a live insights dashboard. Plus, you’ll have access to the various metrics available in Instagram, such as a breakdown of engagement, what impacts if your Reel gets recommended and more.

Screenshots: Instagram

Instagram says it supports videos up to 10 minutes long, so this is only a tool for short-form videos. Mosseri stressed in his video announcement that this app is not a replacement for desktop editing tools or a good option for those who rely on templates. Instead, it is very specifically created for creators who edit videos on their phones. Mosseri also stressed that the first version will be incomplete and asked people to be patient as it works on the app.

Screenshot: Abby Ferguson

Many of these features are also currently found in CapCut. It’s not unusual for people to edit their Instagram Reels using CapCut, as it has a reputation for being much more user-friendly than the integrated Instagram Reels editor. CapCut, though, is owned by TikTok parent company ByteDance, which meant that it was also part of the ban that took effect (briefly) on Sunday. While TikTok returned very quickly, as of Monday morning, CapCut users were still unable to access the app unless they were in Airplane mode, though it seems that it has returned to functional as of this afternoon. If you didn’t already have the app downloaded, though, that is still unavailable at the time of writing, as The Verge reports.

The Instagram Edits app is now available for pre-order in the Apple App Store. The App Store listing says it won’t be available for download until March 13, but Mosseri said it will launch in February. The Android app is supposedly “coming soon” with no specific date mentioned as of yet.





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Tamron's adding 120fps compatibility to another lens

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Tamron's adding 120fps compatibility to another lens


When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
Image: Tamron

Tamron has announced a firmware update for its 50-400mm F4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD lens, which will allow users who pair it with a Sony a9 III to shoot at up to 120fps. The company says the update also improves the lens’ autofocus performance while zooming in continuous autofocus mode.

The lens is the latest in Tamron’s lineup to get the capability; the company added it to its 70-180 F2.8 G2 last year. Like with that lens, the ability to shoot at 120fps using the 50-400mm does come with a notable exception: it doesn’t work with continuous autofocus like some of Sony’s first-party lenses. Instead, you’ll only be able to use the blistering shooting rate in single autofocus, manual focus, or direct manual focus modes.

Still, it’s nice to see that Tamron’s continuing to update its lenses to add additional functionality, even to lenses that have been out for a while – the 50-400mm was announced in 2022.

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TAMRON Lens Firmware Update Enhances AF Performance During Zooming and Supports Continuous Shooting with Sony α9 III

Commack, NY, January 20, 2025 – TAMRON announces a new firmware update scheduled for release on January 20, 2025, 11pm ET, for the TAMRON 50-400mm F/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD (Model A067) for Sony E-mount.

With this new firmware update, AF performance during zooming is improved when shooting videos and still images in AF-C mode. Additionally, with the Sony α9 III, when the focus mode is set to AF-S, DMF, or MF, the lens will support continuous shooting at up to approximately 120 frames per second.

Users can update to the latest firmware by visiting the TAMRON Lens Utility Download Page on TAMRON’s global website.



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What's a 'real' Leica and is your brand just a badge?

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What's a 'real' Leica and is your brand just a badge?


As one of the few brands to still make rangerfinder cameras, there’s no question that this is a Leica.

Photo: Barney Britton

The Leica SL3-S is an interesting camera in many respects, including being one of the first mirrorless cameras to make Content Credentials metadata available to the general public. But that’s not the factor that caught a lot of people’s attention.

Instead, the SL3-S ends up putting a spotlight on what it means for a camera to be a Leica. And, by extension, raises interesting questions about what branding means in the modern camera industry.

Just what makes it a Leica?

In the past, Leica made the M-series models itself, then sold badge-engineered versions of Panasonic compacts, with a mark-up. But the distinction has become less clear-cut, with time. The M-series remains distinctively Leica, but the SL series, made from similar components and with ever more feature crossover with Panasonic’s L-mount cameras, blurs the line somewhat.

Leica Q3 43 3qtr
What about this? It’s hard to imagine many other brands building a full-frame fixed lens camera, especially one with a lens that works so nicely in manual focus mode. But its lens was designed by Panasonic. So is it a ‘real’ Leica?

Photo: Richard Butler

The revelation that Panasonic holds the patent to the Q3 43’s lens design caused further doubt, despite it being a model that it’s impossible to imagine Panasonic ever making. After all, Leica had turned to another company with more experience of AF lens design for the Q3’s 28mm lens, but that didn’t prompt many people to question whether it was a ‘real’ Leica.

Finally, we have the D-Lux8, a refresh of the Panasonic LX100 II/Leica D-Lux7. It gains Leica’s fairly radical and rather excellent user interface, which makes it feel like a very different camera as you use it, but it’s hard to ignore the Osaka origins of so much of its underpinnings. Or the significant mark-up of its price tag.

Red dot, full stop

Leica D-Lux8 Panasonic LX100 II
What about the D-Lux8 (left)? It’s clearly developed from the Panasonic LX100 II (right), but Panasonic doesn’t make its own version, and again it has Leica’s distinctive user interface. Also, it says Leica on the top. And any camera that does so is, by definition, a Leica, whether that fits with your perception of the brand or not.

Photo: Richard Butler

To an extent, the answer to “what makes it a ‘real’ Leica” is simply “the presence of the red dot*.” If the company chooses to let that red dot be put on cameras and phones made by and with other companies, then that’s what the brand stands for. It’s just snobbery to decide that only the products you respect or revere are truly representative of the brand.

But, once you start asking these questions, it’s interesting to apply them more broadly.

Commonality is commonplace

If the concern is commonality, then it’s interesting to look across the rest of the market. Every clever feature, from on-sensor phase detection to dynamic range compression (Active D-Lighting, DRO, etc), subject recognition autofocus, pre-capture and eye detection AF get imitated across the different brands.

The specifics differ, whether in terms of the performance of features such as AF or the implementation of more gimmicky add-ons such as multi-shot high res modes, but there are very few fundamental features setting different camera makers apart, at this point.

Nikon Zf with 40mm F2 pancake lens
The Nikon Zf is styled after the company’s cameras from the early ’80s and is built around Nikon’s user interface, right down to its peculiar Auto ISO behavior. Is this somehow less of a Nikon because (like the majority of large-sensor cameras the company has ever made) it uses a sensor from Sony’s semiconductor division? Of course not.

Photo: Richard Butler

And look under the hood and the level of common componentry has always been very high. There are only a couple of suppliers of large camera sensors and only one major one in compacts. It’s bizarre to see comments questioning Nikon’s dependence on Sony Semiconductor for its sensors, when that’s where they, and most of the rest of the industry, have been sourcing the majority of their sensors for much of the history of digital photography. Not just coming before Sony’s (separate) camera division became a major player, but pre-dating Sony making ILCs at all.

Just as the bulk of camera screens are sourced from a single supplier (which used to be part of Sony) and most viewfinder panels come from a single manufacturer (another parts supply division of guess-which electronics maker), most digital cameras ever made have tended to be based on a small number of sensors.

What is the difference between brands?

And yet the cameras aren’t all the same. The things that define what a camera is like to use: from body style and button position to user interface, menu structure and lens choice, still vary significantly. As do the respective lens choices offered by each manufacturer, further differentiating the experience.

And it’s always worth remembering that, in the film era, every camera used essentially the same light-sensing medium. Whether you shot with a Leica or the cheapest Russian knock-off, you had essentially the same sensor and probably less difference in user experience.

The differences in handling, in user interfaces and in what lenses a brand chooses to offer (and allow to be offered) are, ultimately, the main differences between any two camera brands. Nikon vs Sony, just as much as Leica vs Panasonic.

So why the focus on Leica?

The L² technology sharing deal between Leica and Panasonic means that their features behave more similarly than we’d typically see across brands, but that’s perhaps a relatively minor factor, given how different their cameras are to use.

Instead, I suspect what draws most attention to any Leica / Panasonic similarity is the German brand’s luxury pricing model. Much like Swiss watches, Leica’s high prices, as well as promises of high quality engineering, are part of the appeal. The exclusivity that it brings is part of the value proposition of Veblen goods.

This has always been the factor that splits opinion about Leica. The commonality with Panasonic simply brings it into stark relief.


*More precisely I mean “have the Leica name on it,” I haven’t forgotten all the Monochrom and ‘P’ cameras without red dots.



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