Knowing how to use the menus on a digital camera is very useful. Although my camera has more presets than anything else is of no consequence. Being able to scroll the menus and quickly get to the settings you want to use makes photographing much faster. I personally did not use any camera settings (even the presets), I literally just pointed and shot. There are presets on my camera or most cameras for distinct reasons. Lighting compensation, indoor/outdoor, day vs night, action or still. Knowing the use for each preset is important. Knowing how to manually adjust the settings for these conditions will make or break the image quality.