Quick photo tip: Save your camera settings in user mode

David Lee

25.3.2019

Translation: machine translated

With user mode, you can save your current settings and call them up later with just one touch. This is particularly useful when things need to be done quickly.

In addition to the classic camera modes, most cameras also offer a customised operating mode. Depending on the brand, this is called User Settings, User Mode, Custom User Mode or similar. They are also labelled differently on the mode dial:

• Canon, Pentax, Olympus: C1, C2, etc. (the C stands for Custom)
• Nikon: U1, U2 etc. (the U stands for User)
• Sony: 1, 2, etc. (the Nothing stands for nothing) or MR (for Memory Recall)
• Fujifilm: Most Fujifilm cameras do not have a mode dial. The operation is fundamentally different here.

What do you need this for?

User modes are practical if you need a combination of several settings in very specific situations. This can be the case in the studio, for example.

I need the user mode for animal and action shots. I generally like to shoot in A mode, with single image capture and single autofocus. For action, I need to change this to:

• S mode
• Continuous shooting
• Continuous autofocus

Further adjustments may be added, such as automatic ISO or JPEG instead of RAW, if the continuous shooting speed is higher with JPEG. Action sometimes starts very unexpectedly. If I want to take a picture of a bird sitting on the chair on my balcony, everything has to happen quickly. If I have to make all these settings first, I have no chance.

How a user mode works

In the camera menu, there is an entry to save the current camera settings. There you select the memory location (e.g. U2) if there are several. From now on, these settings will be activated when you turn the wheel to U2.

Of course, you can further customise the user-defined settings, just like in any other mode. Normally, these changes are not saved automatically. As long as you do not overwrite the settings in the menu, the old settings will be reactivated each time you select the mode again.

Some Canon cameras offer you the option of saving the settings on an ongoing basis. To do this, activate the "Auto update" setting in the camera menu. The photo shooting configurations or English custom banks from Nikon (e.g. Nikon D500) also update themselves.

All settings are applied

The user mode saves and reactivates most of the settings. For example, the mode itself (P, A, S, M), exposure and focus settings, picture styles or picture quality. However, there are some settings that are not saved. Typically, these are those that are only activated once anyway, such as interval and time-lapse recording or multiple exposure. Settings that have nothing to do with the recording, such as menu language or screen brightness, are of course also not affected.

All settings for which there is a permanently labelled dial are also not applied. On the Nikon D750 pictured below, for example, the dial is used to switch between single-frame and continuous shooting mode. Therefore, the user mode cannot save this.

Tip: Check beforehand whether and which settings are really saved. This way, you know what you need to set manually in an emergency.

David Lee

Senior Editor

David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.ch

My interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.

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