The Camera Control Wheel is used for all secondary level controls related to the internal camera. These are controls that you will probably use to setup a shot and therefore need to be accessed regularly but are secondary to consistently used controls such as focus, exposure and zoom. All settings accessible in the Camera Control Wheel can be changed while recording.
Accessing the Camera Control Wheel
The Camera Control Wheel can be accessed in two ways, either via the camera button in the top button bar or by using a tap and hold gesture. When using the tap and hold gesture the Camera Control Wheel appears under the location of the tap.
The Camera Control Wheel can be moved anywhere on the viewfinder giving users the ability to place it in the location that is most comfortable for their hands/phone size.
The Wheel can be be dismissed by by tapping the camera icon in the centre of the wheel or by tapping in some free space in another part of the viewfinder. Alternatively the same camera button (located in the top button bar) used to access the Wheel can also be used to dismiss it.
Segments and menus
The Camera Control Wheel is both a hierarchical menu structure combined with control components. Segments that are part of the menu structure include a small chevron indicating that by tapping on that segment it will navigate to different sub-menu. Tapping on the centre button (showing a chevron in the opposite direction) navigates back to the previous menu.
The top level segments include the following:
- Exposure
- Focus
- White Balance
- Tools
- Full Auto
Exposure, Focus, White Balance and Tools are all navigation segments that will lead to a different sub-menu. Full Auto is a control segment that, when tapped, will reset the camera back to Full Auto mode and guarantee to remove any manual settings related to the camera controls.
Exposure
The exposure menu includes four segments:
- Auto Exposure
- Target Exposure
- Manual Exposure
- Shutter
Auto Exposure, Target Exposure, Manual Exposure are all related and tapping on any of these segments puts the camera into the relevant exposure mode. Only one of these modes can be active at any given time. Tapping on Shutter navigates to a sub-control for setting the Shutter angle/speed. This option is only available if the exposure is in Manual mode. The Shutter control also includes a lock button. This is useful if you want to lock the shutter to a particular value but allow the ISO to be automatically calculated based on the locked shutter value.
Tip: Remember tapping 'Full Auto' from main Camera Control Wheel menu guarantees to remove any manual settings. This means when 'Full Auto' is tapped the exposure will revert to Auto mode and any shutter settings, including the lock, will be removed.
Focus
The focus menu includes three segments:
- Auto Focus
- Target Focus
- Manual Focus
Auto Focus, Target Focus, Manual Focus are all related and tapping on any of these segments puts the camera into the relevant focus mode. Only one of these modes can be active at any given time.
White Balance
The white balance menu includes three segments:
- Auto White Balance
- Set From Scene
- Manual White Balance
Activating Auto White Balance means the camera white balance will be continually adjusted based on the scene and environment. Tapping on the 'Set From Scene' segment places the white balance into manual mode (therefore deactivating Auto) and simultaneously sets the white balance from the current scene/environment. Tapping on Manual White Balance navigates to a sub-control which includes two dials, one for setting the kelvin and another for adjusting the color tint. Use these dials to manually set the camera white balance for your scene/environment.
Tip: Remember, when using 'Set From Scene' you need to point the camera at something white or use a reference card. This ensures the camera doesn't get confused with different colors in the scene.
Tools
The tools menu include various other tools that are related to the camera. These include:
- Light
- Stabilise
- Zoom
- Thumb Rails
Tapping Light navigates to a sub-control for adjusting the intensity of the internal torch / flashlight. It also includes a handy on/off button for quickly adjusting the intensity to 100% or 0%. Tapping Stabilise activates (where possible) optical stabilisation which provide smooth, shake free, video. Tapping Zoom navigates to a sub-control for adjust the level of digital zoom for your selected lens. Tapping on Thumb Rails navigates to a sub-control for selecting the position of the Thumb Rails (Left, Right or Center)
Tip: Remember, you can also use the Zoom gesture or Zoom control to adjust the zoom and to change the optical zoom you can select a different lens from the lens selector (see Digital and Optical Zoom article for more info).