🕵️‍♂️ Learning How To Use My Canon SX530 HS 📸 Part 1 | Framing Assist - Lock

justinparke (67)in TOP 👍 or 👎 FLOP • 4 years ago

I've been putting off learning how to use my camera for too long, so I downloaded the user guide and started from page 1.

📷 Baby Steps 🤔

Overwhelmed would be an understatement when it comes to the way I feel when looking at all the buttons and features on my Canon PowerShot SX530 HS.

The motivation for me to learn this actually comes from @Sreypov, who is pushing the limits of her iPhone 8+'s capabilities. She wants to learn how to use our camera, and because I am the English speaker, I need to learn how to use it first so I can explain everything clearly in Khmer to her.

Thanks @Sreypov for lighting a fire under my *ss 🍑🔥.

I've decided baby steps are the best way, and what better place to start than the most mysterious (to me) buttons on the camera, the pair located on the front of the camera near the lens.

The bottom buttom was chosen at random, and I looked it up in the user guide to reveal it's the Framing Assist - Lock button 🤔.

🖼️ Framing Assist - Lock 🔒

The section of the user guide containing this info was very brief, so I decided it would be today's project.

First thing I noticed was the mention of using this feature in combination with manual zooming, a simple feature which even I am comfortable with.

Another important detail I noticed it was that using this feature helps reduce camera shake while zoomed for a shot.

Two steps aren't bad, just press the shutter halfway down to focus the subject while holding framing assist (lock) button, then press the shutter fully down when ready to shoot.

I set the mode dial to AUTO to keep things simple, and then walked outside our apartment to find a subject to test this new feature on.

🐦 A Feathered Friend 📸

After a minute or two, I found a bird resting on a wire in the landlord's garden. I determined it would stick around long enough for a few comparison shots.

The bird is barely visible in the above shot, but I have left these photos unedited in their original 4608px x 3456px size so you can gauge the distance between the bird and myself.

I quickly discovered zooming at any more than 50% made it hard to keep the bird on screen, both due to the distance and my shaky hands.

Grabbing a tripod or resting my arm on something would've defeated the purpose of this experiment, however. I just wanted to compare how my natural shakiness affected these shots, both with and without using the framing assist - lock.

FIRST SHOT DIAL MODE - AUTO 50% MANUAL ZOOM WITHOUT FRAMING ASSIST -LOCK
SECOND SHOT DIAL MODE - AUTO 50% MANUAL ZOOM WITH FRAMING ASSIST (LOCK)
THIRD SHOT DIAL MODE - AUTO 50% MANUAL ZOOM WITHOUT FRAMING ASSIST (LOCK)
FOURTH SHOT DIAL MODE - AUTO 50% MANUAL ZOOM WITH FRAMING ASSIST (LOCK)

👍 A COMPARISON 👎

My pc monitor is only a portable 15", so I had to zoom in a lot to notice the differences in these photos.

I can't remember if the bird was making rapid movements in the first shot, but the beak is clearly not as defined as it is in the third and fourth shots.

Overall the detail is much clearer in the second and fourth shots, which happen to be the ones I used the framing assist - lock to capture.

I will certainly take advantage of this feature going forward with improving my camera operator skills. Notice I didn't say "photographer" yet, still some time before I dare apply that label to myself.