Custom Functions

The custom functions built into your camera are there for your convenience and to save time in establishing camera settings you use frequently. Based on what I see on my photography tours, few people take advantage of them.

Let me give you an example of how they can be used. Most photographers use HDR often for landscapes because, and I’m sure you know, the sky is commonly brighter than the earth-bound landforms. Digital cameras can’t expose correctly for both the very bright areas of the frame --the highlights -- as well as the very dark areas -- the shadows -- in one exposure. So, we take 3, 5 or 7 shots of the same scene, usually from a tripod but not necessarily. Then in Photoshop or a third party software program combine the several bracketed exposures into a single well-exposed image.

In order to do that, several settings have to be chosen on the camera. It is time consuming and somewhat laborious to establish the settings every time you want to create an HDR bracketed sequence, hence the purpose for a custom function command. Once you use them, you’ll find them invaluable.