"PRO" mode?

[Thebigbarkhouski]

I'm new to photography and have been only shooting in M mode for the last few months, I feel I'm getting the hang of it.....but what about those other modes? I'm reading more and more of people who use A most of the time and some people who only use P. What do you use? What do the "pros" use? As a newbie what should I use?

 

[Vtec44]

You use whatever mode you need to get the result that you want, either for yourself or your clients.

 

[snowbear]

^This.

Not a pro, but if I don't want to "chase the meter" I'll go with Aperture or Shutter priority, depending on the desired results. I've never used P mode, except as a class exercise.

 

[Derrel]

Most "pros" (whatever that means these days is up for debate!) use Manual mode for all flash photography. When shooting flash pictures, I would say that 99.5% of the time, the best choice is to have the camera in M mode, with a set shutter speed, and a set, pre-determined f/stop. Due to the way flash works, Manual exposure control is normally the most logical,safest,most-predictable mode to shoot in.

I would say that as far as regular work, most pros use manual mode a lot, but a lot of pros use aperture priority automatic, which Canon calls Av, for Aperture value. This mode is very fast, and it's easy to look at the settings in the viewfinder, to keep an eye on things. It also works great with +/- Exposure Compensation (also called EC) dialed in.

There's a segment of new pros who rely on the newer cameras that have superb sensor performance, and who use AUTO ISO exposure setting combined with +/- EC to get the right exposure parameters for BOTH the shutter, and the f/stop, as well as keeping the image well exposed despite rapidly-changing backgrounds; this is becoming a new way to shoot things like wildlife and action.

There are some times when the specific, exact shutter speed is the number one parameter for successful results, and using Tv or Time value (Shutter Priority auto) can be a smart option.

The key is to use the RIGHT mode for the task at hand, and not to be too ignorant or stubborn or dumb to be fixated on one,specific way to accomplish the task.

 

[Designer]

As a newbie what should I use?

I think you should use all of them. One at a time, of course. Learning what each mode does and how your camera does things, and what the results are is very enlightening.

Here's an exercise for you:

Shoot the same scene in each of the modes. Later, look at the images in detail. Look at the histograms, compare aperture settings, shutter speeds, and ISO (if you've had it on "auto ISO".

After that exercise you should begin to have a good feel for what mode you want for any given situation. For instance; if you want to set your camera to auto shutter priority, set the shutter speed to what you think will be optimal, and watch the aperture to monitor your DOF, for instance.

Or if you decide to set it to auto aperture priority, watch the shutter speed so your hand-held shots will not suffer from camera movement.

Or get lots of practice in manual mode.

 

[astroNikon]

I'm using the Manual mode for Shutter & Aperture and most of the time have ISO in AUTO as Derrel mentions above.

I find that I"m peculiar on Shutter speed (for the right motion parameter) and Aperture (for the right subject isolation) for most of what I do. I just let AUTO ISO do the balancing act.

but as long as you get that shot that is what counts. And as long as you are satisfied with the shutter / aperture results.

 

[vfotog]

I've been shooting for over 30 years, so I'm from back in the day when you had to understand what to set because the camera couldn't do it for you. I never use auto ISO and I want control of everything, so I consistently use manual. Especially since I shoot a lot of live music. There are time when it may suit you better to use more automated modes, but it's great that you are shooting in manual. You'll learn more about how things work and won't regret having that knowledge.

 

[runnah]

M mode also stands for "Missed the shot because I was too busy fiddling with dials".

I only shoot M when I know that the light won't change that much and for video.

The rest of the time I live in Av and Tv. Granted I do a lot more "run and gun" style of photo/video so getting the shot is most important.

 

[robbins.photo]

I'm new to photography and have been only shooting in M mode for the last few months, I feel I'm getting the hang of it.....but what about those other modes? I'm reading more and more of people who use A most of the time and some people who only use P. What do you use? What do the "pros" use? As a newbie what should I use?

When I shot the D5100 and later the D5200 I shot in either Shutter priority or aperture priority almost all of the time, depending on which parameter I needed to be able to adjust relatively quickly to get the shot I wanted. The reason for this that both of these camera had only a single control wheel, and as such I had to choose which of these parameters I would be able to adjust just by spinning the dial.

Now that I shoot a D7100, since it has two command dials, I shoot in manual most of the time, because it's easy for me to adjust either the shutter speed or the aperture on the fly as needed. I let the camera select the ISO, if I feel the ISO is too high I can adjust either aperture or shutter speed or both to get the best balance depending on my shooting situation.

 

[ak_]

Manual: Sunny 16 and bracket +/- (usually aperture). Aperture-priority: spot meter off of the middle value of the scene framed in my viewfinder.

 

[Thebigbarkhouski]

Interesting, I wouldn't think to keep ISO on auto I have it in my head to always try and keep it as low as I can for IQ, witch is usually 100-200 for me. I shoot outside in the day alot. I even bought a book about my new camera and the author says first thing take off auto ISO. But I will explore the possibilities of auto ISO and see how it goes. I'm also going to try and shoot the same scean in a all mode and compare more than I have been. I feel like I haf to get M down frist but as a result I delete many photos (all great lessons just not great shots). This forum site is awesome by the way, thanks guys.

 

[ak_]

I'm ok with auto/programme modes if i'm sure of what the camera will decide to do. It frees you up to make the pictures. Would auto ISO drop the ISO to keep aperture wide or instead stop down the lens to raise ISO? This is what's to know. Canon's T70 SLR had a programme mode to try to keep the aperture wide, Nikons N90 etc had a programme to do that (and several others). If you know what decisions the camera will make then you can relax with it.

 

[JacaRanda]

M mode also stands for "Missed the shot because I was too busy fiddling with dials".

I only shoot M when I know that the light won't change that much and for video.

The rest of the time I live in Av and Tv. Granted I do a lot more "run and gun" style of photo/video so getting the shot is most important.

However, M mode = AV & TV mode when auto iso is applied. No missing the shot. Set aperture and shutter speed, no fiddling.

ETA..most often thinking in terms of maintaining a minimum shutter speed of 1250 for birds in flight, minimum shutter speed for focal length of 600mm, and aperture value of f8 or f9 for best sharpness range of the lens I use the most. I can't have my shutter speed drop drastically so subject movement become a blur in AV. I can't have my aperture open beyond f8 in most cases because the lens is not as sharp. M with auto ISO works best for most of my situations. The only fiddling is dialing in EC when I have a stationary subject.

 

[astroNikon]

Interesting, I wouldn't think to keep ISO on auto I have it in my head to always try and keep it as low as I can for IQ, witch is usually 100-200 for me. I shoot outside in the day alot. I even bought a book about my new camera and the author says first thing take off auto ISO. But I will explore the possibilities of auto ISO and see how it goes. I'm also going to try and shoot the same scean in a all mode and compare more than I have been. I feel like I haf to get M down frist but as a result I delete many photos (all great lessons just not great shots). This forum site is awesome by the way, thanks guys.

If you are in Shutter or Aperture priority, if you are in AUTO ISO then who knows what the camera is going to set for Aperture or Shutter (opposite of the Priority Mode).

When YOU set Aperture and YOU set Shutter in Manual, with the camera in AUTO ISO the ISO it just goes along for the ride because you would set the ISO for about the same setting anyways. It just saves yourself a step. Plus, with dual control wheels it's very fast to change Aperture & Shutter.

I also set a MAXimum ISO in the AUTO ISO setting so as not to get to a noisy level.

 

[JustJazzie]

Not a pro here, but 99% of the time I'm in M with auto Iso (capped with an Iso I'm comfortable with) unless shooting flash then I choose to use full M. It's very rare for me to use shutter priority or aperture priority. They never seem to know what I need. ;-)