Canon EOS Rebel T3i Tips – Program Vs Green Zone - By: Stu Eddins

If you have experimented with your Canon digital camera you may have had some fun fiddling with the exposure modes found on the Command Dial. For most photographers just starting out with a new DSLR the Green Zone mode is the easiest to use. Using this setting the camera makes all of the decisions of exposure, metering and subject focus. Basically the Green Zone setting turns your Rebel T3i camera into a great big point and shoot camera.

With a camera set for the Green Zone all that the photographer needs to do is aim the camera at the subject, adjust the zoom lens for magnification and press the shutter button to capture the image. Operation is easy and that is the lure of using the Green Zone mode. In fact when using the Green Zone, outside of the shutter button none of the camera’s other operation buttons work!

For all of its ease in operation there is a very basic problem at the core of the Green Zone mode. The engineers and programmers who created the camera’s Green Zone mode aren’t standing beside you when you take your pictures. The Green Zone wasn’t created to ensure capturing the “best pictures ever”, it was programmed to satisfy the opinions of many thousands of photographers. In other words, the Green zone is programmed to create the least objectionable image possible. That’s hardly a lofty goal.

Thankfully the Rebel T3i offers the photographer a “Program Mode” on the Command Dial (designated as a “P”). Program is just as automatic as the Green Zone; in fact it is almost the same program. However with the camera set to Program the main difference is that all of the camera’s operation buttons work. The camera will set a basic exposure but the photographer can override or shift the exposure in any way they choose.

The most basic function of Program Mode is called exposure shift. After lightly pressing the shutter button to activate the camera’s exposure system, Program mode displays its best exposure value along the bottom of the viewfinder. By rolling the control wheel found just behind the shutter button the photographer will see the exposure values for aperture and shutter changing in tandem. Even though the aperture and shutter speed are changing the exposure value remains the same.

By taking control and shifting the exposure the photographer can choose a faster shutter speed to stop action or a wider aperture to help blur the background. Each combination of exposure settings will yield a well exposed image. Program exposure shift is an easy skill to acquire and by applying it correctly the photographer will get better pictures than the Green Zone could produce.

Go ahead and use the Green Zone when it’s time to take snapshots. But when you expect better pictures set your Canon digital camera to the Program mode every time.

About the Author

Stu Eddins is blogger, instructor, merchandiser, and marketer for Porter's Digital Cameras and Imaging. Visit their site at http://www.porters.com. Years of experience over the counter and in classrooms have turned Stu into an evangelist for image preservation, capturing and sharing memories, and helping people understand digital cameras, digital camera lenses

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