Customizing a Digital Camera for Efficiency

Photography Tips

For photographers, the feeling of opening a new camera box has to be one of the best feelings in the world. However, for some—especially new photographers—that same feeling can be overwhelming, possibly because of all the buttons and features that modern cameras come packed with. But the upside is how well they can be customized. Almost every button can be remapped so you have the features you use the most at your fingertips. If you’ve ever wondered how professionals set up their cameras, let’s have a look at how photographer James Popsys does it:

Popsys takes us through his setup for a new Lumix S5 that he plans to use for video and stills. He explains how he uses the custom modes C1 and C2 to get the camera ready to shoot photo and video respectively. The good thing about using custom modes is that you need to invest time in setting up the camera only once. Then, when you’re out in the field, you simply switch the camera dial to the custom mode and you’re ready to shoot.

Watch through the video and you’ll get an idea of all the settings that you can program into the custom modes. Popsys explains in great detail all the settings he uses for both photography and videography. Even if you don’t have the exact camera model, the settings will be more or less similar. You can learn a lot of ways to customize your camera by watching this video, and hopefully afterward you can spend some time with your own camera to make the best of it.