Camera Icons and Letter Codes

Most digital cameras have pre-defined shooting modes.
These are presets that allow the user to take certain types of pictures.
On some cameras these modes are accessible by a dial at the top
of the camera. On others they are chosen through a menu seen on
the camera's small LCD screen. On some cameras these will be
called shooting modes, on others they are called scene modes or
scene settings. There are probably other names.
There really isn't yet any agreed-upon naming system for them.
Quite often these modes are marked with icons; simple small
graphic images. Each camera maker seems to have their own version
of these icons. To know which icons your camera uses, and how
to get to the functions the bring you, consult your camera manual.

Still, there are some very loose conventions, and the following may
help you figure out your camera's mode or scene icons.

Most popular--and often used--is Auto, usually showing a picture
of a camera. The word AUTO in a box is also used. In this mode
the camera controls everything.

Landscape is the setting you would use to take
outdoor pictures of something in the distance. Usually
a mountain or maybe a tree and the sun is shown.

Close-up is the setting for taking pictures a very short distance
from the subject, things like flowers or birds. Usually the icon
is some sort of flower, or a vase.

Portrait is the mode for taking portrait type pictures of people.
Usually the icon is a face, or maybe an upper body or a face.
This mode works on medium distance pictures.

Night Portrait is used for taking pictures of a fairly close
subject at night, or in low light conditions. It usually shows
a body against black, with a star of crescent moon in the background.

Action mode is for taking pictures of action or moving objects.
The icon is usually someone skiing, running, skating or even
biking.

Museum mode is for taking pictures inside, and where
you don't want any flash. The icon is usually a building,
quite often with columns.

Other modes you might find icons for are Beach/Snow, showing maybe a palm
tree and/or a snowman, and used for taking pictures against a bright background.
 Fireworks, showing something like fireworks.
Copy mode shows a piece of paper with one corner turned down.

As mentioned above, there is an Auto mode, but in most cases that is NOT
what that capital A stands for.

A generally stands for Aperture Preferred, meaning the picture
taker sets the aperture (the amount of light being let into the lens) and the
camera adjusts everything else as best it can to match.
S stands for Shutter Preferred, meaning the picture taker sets the shutter speed
(how long the shutter is open) and the camera adjusts everything else accordingly.
M stands for Manual Exposure. Here you choose both aperture and shutter speed.

A lightning bolt emblem usually stands for flash.

Most cameras that have zoom capability (the ability to zoom in on or magnify
a distant object) have two buttons or a single rocker on the upper right side of
the camera. The two letters there are T and W.
T stands for Telephoto, or telescopically making something appear closer.
W stands for Wide Angle; where telephoto pulls you in on something, Wide Angle pulls you back.

A note. A lot of cameras have two different kinds of zoom: Optical and Digital. In both
cases the amount of zoom is expressed as a number followed by an X, as in 3X Optical Zoom
or 6X Digital Zoom.
Optical zoom means that a lens is changing position to make something appear closer.
That will bring you the best quality zoom.
Digital zoom is a bit of a cheat, all it does is recalculate how the image is spread over the image
sensor. When looked at closely you will see that the image is blurry and blocky. That is because
you are not getting more detail, you are just spreading a detail over a wider area.
Some cameras have both kinds of zoom, and will let you go to your maximum optical
zoom (3X or 5X or whatever it is your camera offers) and after that--and sometimes after a
warning--it will switch over to digital zoom.
For best results stay within the optical zoom range of your camera.

A partly-filled battery shape indicates the condition of your batteries.

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