Digital SLR Camera Shooting SLR – Single Lens Reflex but digital Works in much the same way as analog Lens Mirror Viewfinder Pentaprism v. Pentamirror Some key differences No film More settings Ability to immediately see results Ability to self-correct images Digital output

Point-and-Shoot Modes Auto Canon “Camera adjusts settings automatically to produce optimal results with “point-and-shoot” simplicity. Recommended for first-time users of digital cameras.” Translation: “shoots on stupid” Nikon

Point-and-Shoot Modes Canon Nikon Portrait “Shoots portraits with background in soft focus.” Shallow Depth of Field Wide Aperture

Point-and-Shoot Modes Canon Nikon Landscape “Preserve detail in landscape shots” Deep Depth of Field Small Aperture

Point-and-Shoot Modes Canon Nikon Close Up “Take vivid close ups of flowers, insects and other small objects” Very Shallow Depth of Field Very Wide Aperture

Point-and-Shoot Modes Cannon Nikon Sports “Freeze motion for dynamic sports shots” Fast shutter speed

Point-and-Shoot Modes Nikon Night Landscape “Take landscape shots at night.” Small aperture but not too short a shutter speed Probably uses flash

Point-and-Shoot Modes Canon Nikon Night portrait “Shoots portraits against dimly lit backdrop” Shallow Depth of Field, wide aperture Probably uses flash

Canon Nikon Shutter Priority / Time Variable You control shutter speed, camera automatically adjusts aperture and tells you when you are too fast or too slow. Advanced (Exposure) Modes

Canon Nikon Aperture Priority / Aperture Variable You control aperture, camera automatically adjusts shutter speed and tells you when you are too wide or too narrow. Advanced (Exposure) Modes

Canon Nikon Manual You control shutter speed and aperture, camera tells you when it thinks you are wrong. Advanced (Exposure) Modes

Canon Nikon Programmed Auto Camera chooses the shutter speed and aperture but you have the ability to change / bracket what the camera recommends. Advanced (Exposure) Modes

A note on A-DEP Canon's auto depth of field (A-DEP) feature works by: finding the nearest and furthest of all the autofocus points, setting the camera's focusing distance to optimally position the depth of field between these nearest and furthest points, and setting the aperture so that the edges of the depth of field extend to contain the nearest and furthest point. A-DEP’s biggest problem is that is uses all of the camera’s autofocus pints – which are quite often uncontrollably placed across the subject background. Canon has dropped A-DEP from it’s professional 1-series cameras because of complaints by users.