Pro Mode: No Need To Be a Pro

Pro mode, expert mode, expertraw, whatever else you want to call it - it is essentially a manual mode where you get to decide how everything goes. So let's get to it!

What is pro mode?

Pro mode, as I mentioned before, is manual mode. You get access to every single variable that your camera has. On DSLRs, this is on an extreme level, down to microchanges like metering or focus types. The entire point behind pro mode is it is there if you want highly precise control over every variable in photography. This results in vastly improved capability for phones. If you've taken photos in a complex environment, or with a complex subject, such as a bright light source in an otherwise pitch black room, you might have used the tap and drag to control exposure. At its core, it is more or less the same thing, just a little more user friendly and with less control.

So what is it good for? Well, a lot! But more importantly: How does it all work?

How the variables work

There are three main categories of variables: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary.

To acquire the data used to differentiate between these variables, I will be using my Canon EOS 700D and my Xiaomi 13T Pro.

Primary

Shutter speed is a measurement of how long to take the photo for. Traditional DSLRs, which use a mirror to bounce light into a viewfinder, will do this by not only indicating to the sensor that it should sense but by also raising said shutter. Older film cameras do this by simply raising a special curtain of sorts and exposing the film to the light.

Phones, on the other hand, don't have a specialised mechanism used to cover the sensor. When it comes to phones, they simply tell the sensor to sense. It's a drastically simpler mechanism with less moving parts, resulting in less failures with things such as the shutter mechanism, however, it also has issues such as potential burn in due to a permanently exposed sensor.

Shutter speed is measured in seconds and is very confusing. A high shutter speed is a low number (1/8000th), and a low shutter speed is a high number (30"). And most of the time, if you say "Shutter speed at 1/400th", you say "Shutter speed at one four hundredth", but sometimes you can just exclude it and say "Shutter speed four hundred". It's a complicated and terrible mess that can only be understood with practice and experience.

Aperture isn't actually a variable, but rather a mechanism. Outside of high-end phones, no phones have variable apertures. However, how an aperture works is still important. The aperture is a mechanism consisting of n blades that can narrow down to a specific width.

The aperture is generally referred to as F(x), where x is a positive number. If you want to get more technical, there is an awesome article about aperture on Photographylife, one of my favourite websites. Read it here.

A fast/wide aperture is a low number (F1.8, for instance), a slow/narrow aperture is a high number (F36, for instance).

ISO is the metric of how sensitive to light the sensor should be. A high ISO will result in a drastically brigther image at the cost of a drastically higher amount of noise. Think about it like increasing gain on your microphone. Others hear your voice louder but they also hear a lot more static in the background.

Lastly, EV. EV is only used when any of the three primary variables are set to Automatic. It simply tells the camera what kind of exposure you want. A positive EV number will be a brighter than normal image, a negative EV number will mean a darker than normal image.

Secondary

White balance, measured in Kelvin, is a measurement of how warm/cold a photo should be. A higher number will result in a warmer (more orange) photo, whereas a lower number will result in a colder (more blue) photo. Auto White Balance (AWB) is advised as it generally results in the easiest operation of the camera, however, there are certain scenarios where manual WB is needed, such as if the only bright colour in the scene is, say, a face or if the background itself is of a specific colour. Should that be the case, white balancing using a piece of white paper as a reference is advisable.

Shooting mode is generally reserved for DSLR/Mirrorless cameras. It dictates whether or not the camera should use single (Takes one photo per shutter activation), burst (Takes photos as long as shutter is active), Self timer (10s) or remote, Self timer (2s), or Self timer: Continuous (Certain number of photos taken in 10s). Not present on phones.

AF/MF dictates whether or not the focusing should be done manually or automatically. AF is for autofocus, MF for manual. Autofocus is generally best in most situations, however, in lowlight manual focus might be a better candidate as autofocus might be hindered by lighting conditions.

RAW vs JPEG is a hot debate. Both sides vehemently argue that they are correct and that the other side is wrong. However, both sides have a reason to be right. RAW is great for photo editing. It is a completely unprocessed image and as a result you have a lot more data to work with during editing. You can easily fix blown out areas as long as they didn't clip, so editing capability is drastically better. On the other hand, JPEG is better if you don't do any editing. Therefore it's better for beginners or people who take event photos and need to get them out immediately. On phones, choosing to take a photo in RAW also takes a photo in JPEG.

Tetriary

Metering mode is another DSLR-exclusive feature. It tells the camera how to measure light in order to find the best exposure for the scene. Generally, unless you know what you are doing and you know what you need, you shouldn't change this feature. I'm not fully sure what each one does as even I haven't been playing around with them that much since 99.9% of the time you do not leave Evaluative Metering.

Overlays

There are many overlays that you can choose from. However, there are two primary ones. There is the exposure validation, which tells you whether or not a certain area is too bright/dark to be fixed even in RAW, and there is focus verification, which highlights what areas are in focus.

How to use all of this

The best way to use these variables is to simply get enough experience and practice and see what changes with each feature. However, I will include a few scenarios and ideal settings for each.

I hope this helped de-mistify at least some of the confusion regarding Pro mode and how it all works!