Camera Modes

MightyLeeMoon · May 31, 2006

I'm going to guess Av is aperture priority? If so...then this is what I use a lot of as well.

If I have time to set up a shot...I will switch it to Manual. But sometimes it will take me 6 or 7 shots to get it to what I want.

Hey...I'm new...and it takes a lot of experimenting! ;-)

Digital Matt · May 31, 2006

Once you learn the relationship between your shutter speed and your aperture, and make it second nature, it's no problem to shoot manual. I don't think you want your depth of field to be changing rapidly from shot to shot, so all you are really changing on the fly usually is your shutter speed, which is just a quick flip of a dial by your finger.

markc · May 31, 2006

Digital Matt said:
Once you learn the relationship between your shutter speed and your aperture, and make it second nature, it's no problem to shoot manual. I don't think you want your depth of field to be changing rapidly from shot to shot, so all you are really changing on the fly usually is your shutter speed, which is just a quick flip of a dial by your finger.

I understand why people like to use manual, but it's just an extra step for me that I don't need. I'm just going to be moving the dial to where the meter says to go anyway. I'll move over to M if I need to override things, but with kids running around, any extra time saver is appreciated. I miss enough shots as it is.

thebeginning · May 31, 2006

If the light varies where i'm shooting I'll use Av because it's just faster for me. I've found that the metering systems on the 20d work quite well (although I usually overexpose by 1/3 or 2/3 stop to get it the way I want). If the light is pretty even I'll shoot Manual just to retain a certain shutter speed without it changing...AE lock does that, but clears between shots. I also use manual for still objects like landscapes and such.

bigfatbadger · Jun 1, 2006

Aperture priority most of the time, manual for landscapes and such

DepthAfield · Jun 2, 2006

Some very good advice in the above posts

The more you learn about manual exposure, the more creative you can become with your camera. Relying on pre-set modes is handy in a pinch, but by using them you are allowing the camera to make exposure decisions for you. What the camera thinks you want is usually not what you had in mind for the photograph at all!

Camera exposure control sounds confusing to many people, but its really not.

AJ Jewell · Jun 2, 2006

thanks for all the great advice...

ok, so here is an example: I see something to shoot, doesnt matter what it is, and I want to use manual. I switch on the camera in 'M' and the settings are 1/60 f/4.5 from the last shot. How do I know where to start?

Digital Matt · Jun 2, 2006

AJ Jewell said:
thanks for all the great advice...

ok, so here is an example: I see something to shoot, doesnt matter what it is, and I want to use manual. I switch on the camera in 'M' and the settings are 1/60 f/4.5 from the last shot. How do I know where to start?

Use your meter. When you half press the shutter, it meters the scene and gives you a read out. You can choose any aperture/shutter combination that will give you the look you want. If you have a center weighted average, or a spot meter on your camera, you can meter different parts of the scene and decide what you want to expose for.

Luke · Jun 3, 2006

you really should learn to judge light with your eyes, trusting the meter leads to the the wrong exposure often on what you want, i used to think it was stupid, but now i often just for practise meter with my eye to see how close i am to the meters view or things. also, it helps to meter off a few things to get an average, say that the sky gives you a shutter of 500, and teh ground one of 125, you shoot 250, trusting that the negs (or RAW for you digital n00bs) will hold the extra info. in terms of metering with the eye i can do it mostly without thinking now, but there is this thing called the 'sunny 16' rule, google it, learning to see the light is v important.

markc · Jun 3, 2006

Luke said:
trusting the meter leads to the the wrong exposure often on what you want

Not for me. I'll override when I know the exposure is going to be a problem, but the times I let the camera decide, which is often, I usually don't have an issue.

I agree that it's important to be able to read the light, that's what photography is all about, but saying that people should always use manual is ignoring other factors.

Luke · Jun 4, 2006

markc said:
Not for me. I'll override when I know the exposure is going to be a problem, but the times I let the camera decide, which is often, I usually don't have an issue.

I agree that it's important to be able to read the light, that's what photography is all about, but saying that people should always use manual is ignoring other factors.

yeah sure, i use aperture priority when i dont have time to think etc., but for landscape and stuff..., anyway, point is that if you're a beginner and learning basics, the best place to start is getting to know light, itlll be better, and allow you to learn how your meter works, of course the meter is usually right, but sometimes subjects become backlit. im not saying you should use manual, i don't, i usually dont need to question the exposure, but sometimes i do, and knowing the light helps, unfortunately im still learning to read it, often im wrong, thats when going up close and metering off a few things helps

spiky_simon · Jun 4, 2006

Just throwing in another vote for Av. I switch to shutter priority sometimes (psorts photography, mainly)

Simon · Jun 4, 2006

I have just moved into manual settings using aperture and shutter priority.
Most of the time I use apeture priority but if something is moving fast like my children, then I use shutter priority.

hobbes28 · Jun 4, 2006

I use manual about 95% of the time. You get used to making adjustments fairly quickly after you've been shooting that way for a while as well as guessing a close setting for what you are wanting out of your DOF or shutter speed. Sometimes the camera will just set itself up based on some tiny light source and over/under expose the image so I try to not let it think too much. (we were shooting a wedding and they had these little spotlights that were throwing off the meter by about five stops either way). But, like most other people, if we're shooting the kids when they're being active, I mostly shoot A or S or even P because I'm getting too old to think that quickly.

markc · Jun 4, 2006

Luke said:
yeah sure, i use aperture priority when i dont have time to think etc., but for landscape and stuff..., anyway, point is that if you're a beginner and learning basics, the best place to start is getting to know light, itlll be better, and allow you to learn how your meter works, of course the meter is usually right, but sometimes subjects become backlit. im not saying you should use manual, i don't, i usually dont need to question the exposure, but sometimes i do, and knowing the light helps, unfortunately im still learning to read it, often im wrong, thats when going up close and metering off a few things helps

Gotchya. And yeah, I totally agree with that.