G6 Golden Oldie Hint

Ive been using my G6 for some time now and it occured to me last night to flick through my manual and see if id missed some vital features in my day to day use. Sure enough it hit me like a brick that there were two important features that at one stage i was well aware of, but that had lapsed in my memory for use. Ive covered them below: They are exposure and flash lock and variations of these features.

Locking exposure setting
It is is possible to lock your exposure settings and focus preferences seperately so that you dont have to half depress the shutter button to expose and focus your shot, recompose and then shoot as one action.

Heres how.

aim your AF box at the subject you would like to lock your exposure setting on, then half press your shutter button and while holding this down (half depress) press the * button. The exposure setting locks and a * will display in the LCD,

now recompose your shot and place the AF box over the item you would like to have in focus, half press so that autofocus kicks in over this subject (the AF box should go green when focussed) and then shoot.

Locking focus as well

If you have a number of shots that are very similiar, lock in exposure settings as above, then aim AF box at subject, half press shutter and while half pressed, also press the MF (manual focus button), now you have a locked in exposure setting, and focus,

CLICK CLICK CLICK away.

You can also incorporate an interim step whereby in AV,TV modes after you have locked in the exposure, you can spin the dial wheel on the top of the camera to adjust the exposure combinations... ie from F8 @ 1/20 of a sec, spin a little and get F2 @ 1/1000 (for example), so you manipulate the depth of field and shutter speed within the constant exposure settings youve metered.

So the above means you can let go of your shutter button between shots, but still retain exposure settings and focus point / distance.. Faster shots / more consistent shots here you come.

Hope this helps you newbies out there.

To ensure you get right skin tones in indoor or outdoor photography where background is not to important, heres the way i do it.

1) Set camera metering to spot metering
2) meter off the subjects skin or as close to the skin as possible by half pressing shutter and then pressing * button. The camera meters and locks exposure based on the skin tone to ensure skin is exposed correctly.

Now place focus AF box point over subject or half shutter press to focus on subject, recompose shot while shutter is half pressed and shoot.

Or as in previous hint, place focus over subject, half press shutter and while half pressed , press MF to lock focus over subject, and then

CLICK CLICK CLICK away.
perfect skin tone every time.

thanks for the good hints, nabil...