View of XSi dials & buttons

I don’t care for the factory default settings of most digital cameras, either compact or DSLR. I change them as soon as I get a camera. These are the settings I generally use for the Canon XSi.

• Exposure control - Aperture Priority mode
• Metering - Evaluative
• Auto Focus mode - One Shot
• Exposure Compensation - 0
• ISO Speed - Auto
• * button - Focus lock:
  AE lock/AF; custom function 10/#1
• Image quality - JPEG Fine (shoot RAW+JPEG for special events & difficult lighting)
• White balance - Auto
• Auto Lighting Optimizer - OFF
• Highlight tone priority - OFF
• Picture Style Standard
  Sharpness: 3
  Contrast: -1
  Saturation: 0
  Color tone: +1
• Color Space - sRGB
• Live View shooting - Quick mode
• Grid for Live View - ON
• Long Exposure Noise Reduction - OFF
• High ISO Speed Noise Reduction - OFF*
• Review time - OFF
• LCD auto off - Enabled
• Auto power off - Two minutes
• Red-eye - OFF
• Format card - I do a low level format at least once a month

Important: These are my standard settings but I do change them as needed. Some I choose because I prefer to edit images rather than let the camera do it (ie. noise reduction). Changes depend the subject, quality and direction of light and whether photos are taken inside or out.

* When High ISO Speed Noise Reduction is enabled, continuos shooting can not be used.