How Custom Shooting Modes Can Make Your Life So Much Easier

Navigating through camera menus is notoriously demanding. You often have to go through several levels of settings before you're able to adjust something simple, like shutter speed, ISO, or frame rate, and those precious seconds you spend fumbling through the menu can cost you plenty of opportunities to capture important shots.

But there's a simple way to customize your camera so you can make the switch between your most frequently used shooting modes (like 24 fps to slow motion, for example), which is demonstrated in this video by Teppo Haapoja.

Okay, it's difficult for me to call this a camera hack or trick because clearly, that's what your camera's C modes are used for. However, I think they're worth talking about, because while pros may utilize them all the time (and have for years), beginners may 1.) not realize how effective and useful they are, and 2.) assume they should always shoot in Manual mode, and 3.) not even know they exist.

Configuring C modes is really simple. All you have to do is adjust all of your settings the way you want them and then program the configuration via your camera's custom settings menu option. Once you've done that, switching between your custom shooting modes is as easy as turning the dial at the top of your camera.

This is ideal if you frequently have to switch between slow motion and traditional 24 fps shots, like if you're alternating between principal photography and b-roll for a documentary, music video, or vlog.

What are some other camera "tricks," "hacks," or "whatevers" that could make life easier? Let us know down in the comments.

Source: Teppo Haapoja