What do the scene modes actually do?

Question

I have a Nikon D3300. It has a full-auto mode, various degrees of semi-auto, and a full-manual mode. It also has a box of what you might call "application-specific" modes, for example "landscape", "portrait", "sport", "macro", etc.

Is there any documentation about exactly what these modes do?

Some of them are obvious. "Sport" mode, for example, presumably prioritises a fast shutter speed. The documentation for "portrait" mode talks in vague terms about blurring the background to make the subject stand out — so, reading between the lines, it presumably prioritises a wide aperture. (But who knows? Maybe it also changes the white-balance or something?)

But what about, say, "landscape" mode? The documentation states that it turns the flash off. But what else does it do? Without knowing specifically what it does, it's difficult to know what it might actually be useful for. ("Landscapes" is somewhat vague. And who knows, maybe it's also suitable for tapestries or something?)

The "effects" menu houses a bunch of options like "oil painting" which are clearly post-processing effects. But what about "hi-key" and "lo-key"? Does that just change the exposure metering? Or does it actually post-process the image to alter the brightness curve or something?

Answer 1

Is there any documentation about exactly what these modes do?

These "application-specific" modes are doing exactly what you would expect :

• Portrait : big aperture for shallow depth of field, use of the flash for fill-in if the scene is "dark" (desired effect : making the subject "pop out" the picture)
• Macro : use the shallowest depth of field possible and some help for focusing (same effect as portrait, but more intense)
• Landscape : small aperture for focused image from foreground to background, no flash (you want to see everything in focus)
• Sport : high shutter speed to freeze movement, may use continuous AF and flash (action in "pause").

They are supposed to be better than the "auto" mode because they introduce a kind of technical knowledge than "beginners" lack. After those modes, the "next step" in terms of photographic knowledge would probably be use of the "advanced shooting modes" : aperture priority and shutter priority.

If you are a beginner, it's probably a little better to use those "application-specific" modes than the auto mode, but it's only a small step. If you are looking for a bigger step, using the "advanced shooting modes" (also called PSAM) will make you understand the basics of photography, thus making a better photographer of you.

As for the famous manual mode, I think it best used in a studio, in a controlled environment. Many people consider that being a "pro" is using manual mode all the time. This is wrong for a number of reasons...

Here are some interesting links to good questions/answers :

• What advantages does manual mode have over aperture priority mode?
• Why would I use manual camera controls instead of the automatic modes?
• Help motivate me to use my SLR's manual mode
• What are the benefits of Av vs. Tv vs. Manual exposure modes?
• What is the "exposure triangle"?
• What is "ISO" on a digital camera?

The "effects" menu houses a bunch of options like "oil painting" which are clearly post-processing effects.

Those "effects" are indeed post-processing effects but I'm not familiar with them. The easiest way to know exactly what they are doing would be to test them. I would recommend to not use them and prefer post-processing tools on your computer, such as Lightroom, Darkroom, Photoshop, Gimp... Such effects have a lots of parameters and you probably can't change most (if any) of them on your DSLR. A good example is the conversion to back & white : look at Tips for making black and white conversions in post-processing?.

Answer 2

Landscape probably stops the lens down a bit more, for greater depth of field? And selects a more vivid color profile (uses the profile named Landscape).

Get the free PDF D3300 "Reference Manual" from http://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/21/D3300.html

It is a much larger, much more complete manual than the smaller User Manual.

The big mode difference is this: The Auto mode is fully automatic everything, like a compact camera. About all the user can do is to aim it and and press the shutter button. Specifically, Auto mode includes auto exposure, Auto ISO, Auto White Balance, and a color profile. Auto everything. The scene modes are the same, also full Auto, but with minor tweaks, like faster shutter speeds for action.

The A and S modes are auto exposure, but user selects specific choices of aperture or shutter speed. P mode sets both automatically. Manual mode sets neither. The difference from Auto is that in A, S, P, or M, the user can set Auto ISO or Auto White Balance, but these can also be turned off in these modes. They cannot be turned off in Auto. Also the color profile (like Vivid) can be selected in A, S, P, M.

Also the internal flash does not automatically pop up in A, S, P, M. Open the flash door if you want flash, leave it closed if you do not.

Answer 3

Without knowing specifically what it does, it's difficult to know what it might actually be useful for.

It's for landscapes.

("Landscapes" is somewhat vague. And who knows, maybe it's also suitable for tapestries or something?)

The point of those modes is that they are good for a specific purpose. Asking what other situations this mode is also suitable for defeats the purpose.

The questions you are asking hint at a strong desire to have more control over the camera. Use manual mode, program mode, aperture priority, or shutter speed priority instead.

There's no point in becoming knowledgeable about the application specific automatic modes in terms of "I want these particular settings, so I use the landscape mode, because that would create these settings in this scenario", because the bold modes above allow you to dial in the values you are looking for directly.

As another example, imagine somebody using manual mode all the time. (you know, because that's what the pro's are using) But when all you do in manual mode is dialling in the shutter speed to get a "correct" exposure in terms of what the camera metered while leaving the aperture untouched, you are essentially doing aperture priority by hand.

The application specific modes are great if you don't care or don't know about the internal settings that are associated with them. Knowing the settings can be an obstacle if you have no clue about them and rather abstract them into some category like "landscape". But you do care and do know about the settings, which means that the abstraction of "landscape" becomes the obstacle for you.

Answer 4

Is there any documentation about exactly what these modes do?

Nope. That's why more advanced photographers who want more control over exposure and processing tend to avoid scene modes and to shoot in RAW. Scene modes generally only affect JPEG images.

While there will be documentation in the manual about what the mode was designed to do and how they envision it being used, they aren't going to give you the specifics on exactly what numbers of which settings are being used. They're basically designed for the convenience of more casual shooters who don't want to learn to think through exposure or do post-processing. Sports, landscape, aquarium, beach, etc. Match the scene to what you want.

But what about, say, "landscape" mode? The documentation states that it turns the flash off. But what else does it do?

Chances are good that it's designed for classic landscape shooting--scenery at a distance. Aperture will be stopped down for sharpness and increased depth of field, white balance will probably be set for daylight or cloudy, processing might increase saturation. ISO will try to be as low as possible for the lowest amount of noise, and probably shutter speeds are kept in the handholding-safe range. But who knows?

... what about "hi-key" and "lo-key"? Does that just change the exposure metering? Or does it actually post-process the image to alter the brightness curve or something?

Chances are good it probably does both. Scene modes can control nearly everything in the camera--exposure settings, processing, metering, autofocus modes, etc. But the only way we can figure out what they might be doing is to read the description of what they're supposed to do and then reason backwards.

Answer 5

From program mode P basically this:

Portrait: Drops shutter speed to what camera thinks is lowest setting to handhold, usually 1/60 sec for 55mm lens if 100 mm lens used then somthing like 1/125. It sets the lowest apeture lens is capable of at its used focal lenght, for 2.8 lens 2.8. Sets lowest ISO it can that will balance exposure. Shifts colour to favour skin tones (pinks). Lowers contrast. Processes in camera photo with soft/blur filter. Auto flash if camera thinks its necessary.

An exercise shooting somthing using P record settings and then shoot same with scene modes taking note of each settings change and flash activation or not will show you what the camera does for each of the scene modes.

Cheers