Intelligent Auto Mode

As mentioned in the Intelligent Auto Mode is activated by pushing the iA button on the right side of the top of the camera. Once pushed, the button will light up blue and an iA icon will appear in the lower-left corner of the display screen to indicate that Intelligent Auto Mode is activated. The Intelligent Auto Mode will stay in effect as long as the button is activated. Keep this in mind if you wish to change some camera settings. The Intelligent Auto Mode will set many of the camera commands and settings for you automatically. Note that these values cannot be changed unless they are listed in the INTELLIGENT AUTO menu.

While in Intelligent Auto Mode, you can view and maintain the available menu command options. Press the MENU/SET button to enter in the main menu screen. INTELLIGENT AUTO will appear in the screen’s title bar and an iA icon menu option will be at the top of the main menu list on the left side. The displayed screen contains only the available main menu commands, with paths to their associated sub menu commands and values. The list is only a small subset of the total list. Don’t be surprised when you realize many of the commands you might have seen when surfing the menu structure outside of Intelligent Auto Mode are not there. It isn't that most of them are not being used; it is that Intelligent Auto will determine their values automatically for you when presented with a framed image.

Once in Intelligent Auto Mode, find and frame your subject. The camera quickly sets aperture, focusing, color balance, and exposure. You can press the shutter-release button halfway to apply the Intelligent Auto Mode’s decisions and have them posted on the display screen—of course, what you see depends on your chosen data display screen format. This will give you advanced information on how the camera interprets the image.

There may be times when the camera cannot obtain focus for your framed subject. The preset Intelligent Auto command MENU/SET>REC>FOCUS PRIORITY> [ON] will prevent the camera from taking the picture until the subject is in focus. Typically this occurs when there is too little contrast or light in the image.

It can also occur when the subject is too close to the camera. When this happens, re-position your subject so there is greater lighting—or if too close, you need to back away. You cannot alter the contrast of the subject—however, increasing the light intensity helps the sensor, and it can usually find focus if the ambient intensity is raised sufficiently. There are additional solutions once outside of the Intelligent Auto Mode. They will be covered in when we cover taking your camera usage semi-automatic.

Keep an eye out for any icons highlighted in red, as these are your warnings. For example, if the shutter speed is too slow to take a handheld exposure, you will see the “jitter warning” icon in the upper-left side of the display screen. This is your signal to raise the flash so the shutter speed can increase or to mount the camera on the tripod. This warning helps prevent taking pictures when the chances are high that they will be blurred. The Intelligent Auto function generally makes excellent camera setting decisions for your image, and for many people it will be sufficient for recording pictures or videos.