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All of us want to own a DSLR camera at some point in time, and there are good reasons for that. Of course, it makes you look like a pro, but then at the same time, there are some unwanted effects. For example, you get some attention if you’re at a wedding or function and you have a camera hanging around your neck; you become the de facto photographer. Those are but minor problems. More importantly, the world of photography expands dramatically the moment you upgrade to a DSLR. There’s more power, there’s more performance, more speed, and a ton of possibilities, things no mobile phone or point-and-shoot camera can match. In this article, we are going to help you by showing you quickly, how to get up to speed with a DSLR. Let’s go.

Buy yourself a nice DSLR!

Before we get to the DSLR itself, we need to buy ourselves a model that suits our needs. Buying a good camera is important, and we have a wide collection of them to choose from at Reliance Digital. Prices haven't been this low either. Some good options to kick off your new hobby are the newly launched Canon EOS 1200D or the Nikon D3300, among others. If you're looking to do some professional shooting sometime in the future, models such as the Canon EOS 60D and Nikon D5300 should be on your list. There are many other models for all kinds of budgets and needs that you can find on our DSLR catalogue page here.

A good idea would be drop in at one of our stores. Our store executives will be more than happy to show you the collection, and even give you a tour of the cameras. It's also a good time to experience the camera, hold it in your hand and get a feel of it before you actually purchase it.

What are all these buttons and what do they do?

Before we look at what all these controls mean, understand that every camera make and even models have different button and control layouts but they are all there. In some cases, the controls maybe named or marked slightly differently. You will figure out most of these features when you start using your DSLR.

Using the lens to focus

The lens is the cylindrical object at the front of the camera. It can be removed and replaced, by pressing down a button on the side of the camera and rotating the lens. Be careful while doing and try not to leave the lens or the camera opening exposed for long. Replaceable lenses help improve the performance and capabilities of the camera, letting you take all kinds of shots. This is one of those great things about owning a DSLR and you won't find this on any mobile phone or point-and-shoot camera. The lens on DSLRs doesn’t zoom using buttons like a point-and-shoot; you need to rotate the large ring on it to zoom in and out. There is also a small switch on the side that lets you switch the lens from auto focussing to manual focussing. If you set it to manual focus, you also need to rotate the thinner ring on the lens to focus on the object you’re trying to shoot. While this is more complicated, you can get some really artistic photos with it.

Selecting the mode and shooting

Rotating the dial on the top of your DSLR selects the shooting modes. This is just like you would do with a point-and-shoot camera but there are some other advanced modes which we'll talk about shortly. The most used button on the camera is the one that clicks photos. The technical term for this button is shutter release. When you’re ready and you have the camera pointing at the object you want to click, hold the shutter release button down half-way down, which makes the lens focus on the object. Press it further and it clicks the photo.

Jog dials and navigating through the menus

Depending on the camera you're using, you may find one or two jog dials on it. A jog dial is a small roller that can be used to change settings on the camera. There are also some directional buttons at the back of the camera which let you browse through menus, photos and they’re also used for changing some features of the camera, which we'll explore shortly. These features can be seen marked as icons next to each of the directional buttons.

Finally, you will also find a Playback button and a delete button that you can use for checking the photos you've just shot, and for deleting them. There is a flash button that pops open the flash unit if you need it to click photos in bad lighting and a video shooting button so you can quickly start recording a video without having to fumble.

What mode should I click photos in?

There are many ways of clicking a photo using your DSLR. The easiest one of course is using the Auto mode, which works and behaves like your phone or point-and-shoot. You get a simple, straight-forward, no-nonsense photograph. This is good if you’re handing the camera to someone else to click or if you’re in a hurry and need to just capture a photo quickly. That's not the point of DSLRs though. They are so much interesting because you get manual controls to play around with and the photos you can shoot with these manual controls look creative and better than the ones shot in Auto mode.

The manual controls you should know

The major controls that you get to play around with, are the shutter, the aperture and the ISO. All these controls can be changed once you switch the camera to the Manual mode (marked as ‘M’ on the mode selection dial)

Shutter speed controls

The shutter is a small window that opens and closes when you press the shutter release button. The shorter this window stays open, the darker the photo but the less chances of any blur in images. If you keep the shutter open for too long, then the photos appear brighter but you have to hold the camera and the target objects perfectly still so the photos don’t end up blurry. A tripod is necessary in some cases. The shutter speed is marked in seconds (1/4, 1/30, 1/60, 1/500, etc) and you can change this by rotating the jog dial. You can see the setting change on the screen. It’s a good idea to keep the shutter speed faster than 1/60th second if you’re holding the camera in your hand.

Aperture controls

The aperture is a small opening in the lens that allows light into the camera. The smaller the hole, the sharper the photo and the larger the hole, the brighter the image but it also adds a nice gradual blur that we call depth-of-field. It's what makes photos look professional and classy. The aperture can be changed using the second jog dial, if your camera has it. In cameras that don’t have this, there is an aperture button that needs to be held down while rotating the jog dial. Apertures are denoted as F number (F1.8, F3.5, F8, etc). The larger the number, the sharper the image, the smaller the number, the larger the opening and the more depth of field. If you are clicking a portrait photograph or a macro, you can reduce the F number to get a nice, smooth depth of field. A good portrait photograph consists of a sharp focus on the person’s face, and a blurred out background.

ISO controls

The ISO is the third major control on the camera. It's controlled using a dedicated ISO button on the camera or through a menu on the screen. In short, lower the ISO number, the sharper and crisper the photo but you will need a lot of light for this to work. The larger than number, the easier it will be to click photos in very low light but the photo will have some disturbance, something we call sensor noise. Use ISO levels of between 400 and 800 for most photos, unless you have a lot of day light in which you can set it to 100 or 200. In the case of late evening, or poor indoor lighting, you can set the ISO to 1600 or above. Remember that the photo won’t look as good anymore.

If you are going to be using manual controls instead of Auto, you'll have to learn to play around with these three controls broadly to click photos that are bright (by controlling the aperture and shutter) and sharp (adjusting the ISO, aperture and shutter speed). You can change all of these settings yourself by using the Manual mode, marked as 'M' on the mode selection dial at the top of your camera. The ISO can be changed across all modes on pretty much every camera.

Using semi-automated aperture and shutter priority modes

To help make things easier there are two modes that can help. These are the shutter priority mode and the aperture priority mode. These are denoted by the alphabets 'S' and 'A' in most cameras. In Canon cameras, they may be marked as 'Tv' and 'Av'. 'Tv' mode denoting shutter priority and 'Av' denoting aperture priority. These modes are handy because now, you can force the camera to set a certain shutter speed and the camera will take care of the rest. This happens in the shutter priority mode. Similarly, in the aperture priority mode, you can force a specific aperture and the rest of the settings are handled by the camera. These are useful when you want to click a specific kind of photo but don't have the patience to adjust all of the controls using the manual mode.

Other controls you should know about

Apart from these major controls that we spoke about, there are some other tools that are built into your DSLR that can help you click good photos consistently. One of them is the light metering. The camera needs to adjust the shutter and aperture settings to make sure that the photo that you click isn't too bright or too dark. It measures this by using light metering. It measures the intensity of lighting using a few samples in the view you’re pointing the camera at. You can choose the light metering modes from the menu on the camera.

Similarly, the focus mode lets you choose what the camera focuses on. You can choose a spot, the entire area or a spot that can be moved. This option can be changed using a button on the camera in some cases. In some other cases, you may find it in a menu. If you are using the manual mode, and the camera isn’t gauging the amount of light, watch the EV meter on the screen. It is a small horizontal line that runs between -2 and +2 and tells you how much light there is. Ensure that the marker is pointing at 0 to get evenly lit photographs. If it’s at +2, then the photo is going to be too bright and if it’s closer to -2, it will be dark.

Get yourself additional lenses, widen the possibilities

Now that we’ve spoken all about cameras, you can also consider investing in lenses. Some of these lenses can let you zoom further and farther than the ones that come bundled with the cameras. Some other lenses are better for shooting close-up photos while some others are ideal for clicking portraits.

Practice, more practice and have fun while you practice!

Last but not least, it's important to just take your camera outdoors and go around clicking photos as much as possible. Don’t analyse, don’t be afraid of clicking bad photos. Try out all the modes and settings we've spoken about and those we haven't. Create a free Flickr account, upload your photos to the web and join groups to get feedback on your photos. There are also groups that go on weekly photography outings. Join some, get better and have fun while you’re at it!

Experience DSLRs at Reliance Digital

You can check out all the cameras we have in our camera section on the site. You can also visit one of our Reliance Digital or Digital Xpress stores closest to you and take a look at some of the cameras and lenses we have on offer. Our friendly staff will be more than happy to help you choose a camera that suites your needs. Don’t forget to ask about the ResQ Care Plan. There are some good deals on extending your camera’s warranty for a small price. If you need any help or have any queries, please get in touch with us. All our contact details can be found here. Happy clicking!

dslr howto

Learn how to use a DSLR in 15 minutes

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Buy yourself a nice DSLR!