what mode to use..

[hollisterguyo7]

Okay i get confused on what modes to use... say i wanna do a portrait should i go ahead and use the portrait mode... or should i use manual...??? or say i wanna shoot my friend racing motorcross...should i use the sports mode or manual...?? same thing with landscape and stuff...what do you general use??? I have a canon rebel xti thanks!

 

[asfixiate]

I use the P function because it gives me all access to all settings and full control over the camera(at least I think so) I don't learn anything from using the predefined settings.

 

[Big Mike]

I personally don't use the 'picture' modes...they don't do anything that you can't do in the 4 primary modes. P, Av, Tv or M.

Rather than figure out what mode to use...you should learn what they do. Learn how shutter speed and aperture affect photography. Then you will know what settings to use for the results you want, and you can then use any mode.

 

[RyanLilly]

The only modes I ever use are Manual, Aperture priority(Av), and Shutter priority(Tv). For portraits I use Aperture priority so I can control my depth of feild, Actually I use this mode more than any. For racing, and other sports, you probably should use shutter priority, to make sure you have a sufficient shutter speed to freeze motion or control how much motion blur is captures. All the other modes just take too much control away from the photographer.

 

[asfixiate]

am I on the right track using P and manually changing the settings to suit my needs? I thought P was the program mode and you could do all the same stuff that you could do with any.

 

[hollisterguyo7]

ok thanks ill keep playing around only had it 2 days lol practiced with the TV setting taken pictures of some water they came out good.. now to get the background blurry is it better to stand a few feet back and zoom in or better to get as close as u can and zoom in.. like i said im still pretty new to this stuff lol

 

[Big Mike]

am I on the right track using P and manually changing the settings to suit my needs? I thought P was the program mode and you could do all the same stuff that you could do with any.

P is still a full auto mode....it controls both the shutter speed and the aperture. You can use 'Program Shift' to change the settings, so that's a good thing.

I prefer to use Av or Tv, because then I can pick the setting that I want, and the camera will supply the other setting, based on the light it's reading.

With either of those methods, you might still want or need to adjust the EC (exposure compensation) to get an exposure that different from the meter reading.

I do like to use manual mode a lot as well. I like this mode because your settings are not changed or fooled by changing light or something that might otherwise skew the camera's meter.

 

[Dao]

I came across this site about a month ago and it shows you a lot of stuff for beginner (some basic concepts).

It covers the questions you asked.

http://images.photoworkshop.com/rebelxtlessons/interface.html

 

[Stranger]

I almost shoot manual exclusive..

Depending on what i am doing of course though...
Portrait work, i prefer manual or AV

action shots i shoot shutter priority...

 

[WDodd]

I agree with Mike. If you learn the basic settings of any camera (Shutter speed, ISO, Aperture) you will have no problem using any of the 3 manual settings. M, Tv, Av.

I shoot primarily in manual and mix Tv, and Av depending on the situation.

 

[JIP]

The problem with the "picture" modes is the camera decides for you what is the "best settings to use for your scene. While this might sound good for a beginner it might be more dificult to use and more confusing when your lighting situation is not quite ideal or what the camera was expecting. What the camera does is try to give the "ideal settings for a particular scene while this might sound good what if you are using portrait and the light is not quite right? or a scenic or on and on. This might be a good learning tool if you go back and check the exif it is better to eventually go to the modes where you have a little more control once you learn a little more about aperture shutter speed etc....

 

[Double H]

I still think learning the basic fundamental ideas behind photography is the best way. Everything from there makes much more sense.

 

[ChrisP]

Buy a book like Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" - very helpful to understand. I'm like most of above folks and I shoot usually only in manual or aperture priority (sometimes in shutter priority, but not that much)

 

[SBlanca]

i shoot M most of the time, theres a few times here and there where i shoot Av or Tv....

in my opinion, if you're gonna get an SLR you should forget about the normal modes, if you're gonna shoot in the preset modes you might aswell get a P&S....to be honest i believe the best way is to go straight into the P mode, just to learn what each thing do and then after a while move onto the other 3..its what i did

 

[RKW3]

Manual for still subjects, aperture or shutter priority for moving objects.