If you’ve used the Canon 1300D Rebel T6 at all you will know that the Dial Mode on the top Right is really very important because that’s the dial that tells the camera the type of picture you want to take and also, in some cases, the circumstances in which you’re taking the picture. This means that the camera can help you take the pictures that you want, without you needing the expert knowledge to set the aperture and shutter speed yourself.
In other words, you can concentrate on the composition and content of the picture and leave the camera to sort out the technical aspects. However the Canon 1300D also allows you partial or full control of the settings, so that you can make these decisions when you feel confident enough. The four options at the top of the dial – M, AV, TV, and P are called the creative or manual modes and the reason they are called the creative modes is because you can actually change many of the settings in the camera so that you can become more creative with your photography and actually have some real impact on the type of picture you want to take. These modes allow you to control the aperture – useful for controlling the depth of field, or the shutter speed – ideal for introducing movement blur into a shot, or freezing the subject in an action picture. Full Manual control (M) allows you to change all the settings and so give you complete control over the exposure of the shot to suit your taste.
The Modes which are from the green square down are called the Basic Modes or the Preset Modes and that’s because these modes actually tell the camera the sort of picture you want to take and control the exposure settings for you. So, you may want to take a portrait or a sports picture or even a night-time picture and by choosing these modes the you tell the camera to change the settings accordingly so that you get the best exposure in those circumstances.
For example the Portrait Mode here will enhance skin tones and also reduce the depth of field which is very good for portraiture as it makes the subject stand out from the background.
The Sports Mode will allow you to take action shots by increasing the shutter speed so that you don’t get any blur. it will also trigger continuous shutter so that you can shoot 3 frames per second.
And the Food Option enhances colors and slows down the shutter speed so that you get a wider and deeper depth of field. It also switches off the built-in flash so that you don’t get glare from the plate.
So you can see, that the Dial Mode really controls the camera, which means it is very important to understand the options you can choose from. Other settings in the camera are very dependent on the Dial Mode choice. For example, you can see all the options in the menu tabs if you have the Dial Mode set to Manual. However, if you are on a Basic Mode, you will only have access to a few of them.