Auto mode turns even the most sophisticated and advanced camera into a “one-button camera”. Your task is to simply point the camera at the desired object, set the zoom to the optimal position and press the shutter button. The camera will do everything else automatically – it will focus, calculate the optimal shutter speed, aperture and sensitivity, determine the type of lighting and correct colors, if necessary – turn on the flash. In principle, in this regard, shooting with a camera is not much different from shooting with a smartphone.
The main advantage of auto mode is that it will allow you to get great photos in most cases, even if you are a complete beginner. The pictures will be sharp, bright, with the right colors.
But there is also a drawback – no matter how perfect the algorithm of the camera in auto mode, it allows you to get a good result only in “typical” shooting conditions. For example, during the day on the street or in a room with a flash. But what if you need to shoot against the sun? Or in a semi-dark room where flash photography is prohibited? Here, it is already difficult for automation to guess what result you are counting on, so a discrepancy between expectation and reality is possible. This means it’s time to get acquainted with such a concept as exposure.
Exposure is the total light flux that the camera’s matrix caught during the time the shutter was opened. The higher the exposure level, the brighter the photo.