What setting to you use more?

[fiveoboy01]

Aperture priority 80% of the time, Shutter priority and M split 10/10%.

I have found that Aperture priority and the exposure compensation control afford me nearly as much control as Manual without the headaches that come with it, due to myself being relatively inexperienced.

 

[Garbz]

Mostly a split of A/M But really whatever the situation calls for. In photography there's always a certain number of elements to control, and a certain number you may wish to pass back to the camera.

It changes from situation to situation but I find that unless I am aiming for a specific shutter effect A gives a good balance between quick reaction to an awesome photo opportunity and control over the composition.

 

[fokker]

Question for those who insist on all manual all the time - do you not just generally find that you choose an aperture value or shutter speed first, based on the situation, and then get the camera's light meter to 0 by adjusting the other value, meaning that in effect you're just taking the long way to get to Av or Tv modes? I went through a phase of making myself use manual mode to help me learn stuff better, but found it rather pointless in that I would always just use the camera's meter anyway. Now the only time I use manual mode on the camera is with manual strobes.

 

[musicaleCA]

Mostly a split of A/M But really whatever the situation calls for. In photography there's always a certain number of elements to control, and a certain number you may wish to pass back to the camera.

It changes from situation to situation but I find that unless I am aiming for a specific shutter effect A gives a good balance between quick reaction to an awesome photo opportunity and control over the composition.

Ditto. I use Av the most, simply for sheer speed. I'm also doing a lot more photojournalistic work lately, so I need to be quick. Usually if I'm using flash at all, I'll use M, but even then when in the field and I need to work very fast, I use Av, EV comp, and ETTL for my own sanity. Sure I could do everything manually, but people don't tend to wait for you to futz with camera settings while they're crowdsurfing.

Difficult exposure conditions, however, are entirely a manual affair, namely indoor stage lighting, or anytime the scene is inconsistent from frame to frame.

Only time I've used Tv is when panning, since aperture isn't such an issue (the background's gonna be blurred anyway).

 

[Plato]

Question for those who insist on all manual all the time - do you not just generally find that you choose an aperture value or shutter speed first, based on the situation, and then get the camera's light meter to 0 by adjusting the other value, meaning that in effect you're just taking the long way to get to Av or Tv modes? I went through a phase of making myself use manual mode to help me learn stuff better, but found it rather pointless in that I would always just use the camera's meter anyway. Now the only time I use manual mode on the camera is with manual strobes.

No. They don't use meters. They manually determine the appropriate EV.

 

[PhotoXopher]

Just curious, but why does Canon use Av and Tv to designate aperture and shutter priority? What do they stand for?

Aperture Value
Time Value

 

[Dwig]

Just curious, but why does Canon use Av and Tv to designate aperture and shutter priority? What do they stand for?

Understand first that Canon's designers are Japanese and both speak and think in Japanese. How a concept thought of in one language translates to another often varies with the translator.

The generally accepted terms that Canon chose to use long ago in a galaxy far away (read: before there two more than 2 or 3 cameras with such options and absolutely no common convention had been established) are:

Av = Aperture Value, where you choose a fixed aperture, more commonly termed Aperture Priority.

Tv = Time Value, where you choose the shutter open time (aka shutter speed), more commonly termed Shutter Priority.

BTW, this would be a better poll if the list of options was complete. There are two very distinct forms of "Program" out there. One is the PHD (Push Here Dummy) version usually selected by setting some green symbol ("set it on green and go) and which locks out all or most overrides. The second is a variable Program or Program Shift mode most often selected by setting a non-green P and which allows altering the f/stop and shutter speed combo with a simple turn of a control wheel.

Personally, I use the latter Program/Shift mode most of the time. The end result is, for my shooting, a much better choice than either of the more limiting A and S modes. I rarely take more than one shot (often 2-3 actual images in succession) of any one subject. As a result, a chosen f/stop or shutter speed from one shot is not likely to be appropriate for the next. The means there's no advantage to the camera retaining that selection. Every shot requires me to think of the best balance of shutter speed and aperture to fit the new situation, hence P is the most functional choice. I very often shift the chosen settings a bit. When I need to deviate from the meter's opinion of the correct exposure I usually do it by altering the framing and trapping the exposure before restoring the final framing. In other situations I use the EV compensation. I use other modes on occasion when they are better fits to the situation (Panoramas needing fixed f/stop and fixed exposure, HDR needing fixed f/stop and varying exposure, ...).

 

[patrickt]

I use Av most of the time with my back dial setting the aperture and my front dial setting the ISO.

 

[davebmck]

Mostly Av these days as I am shooting wildlife more that anything else. Manual for most other types of photography.

 

[invisible]

Question for those who insist on all manual all the time - do you not just generally find that you choose an aperture value or shutter speed first, based on the situation, and then get the camera's light meter to 0 by adjusting the other value, meaning that in effect you're just taking the long way to get to Av or Tv modes?

Thing is, you don't always want to get the meter to 0. And even if you do, in scenes with high contrast or low light I rather determine the desired aperture and speed myself.

 

[fiveoboy01]

In that case(if you're looking to be on one side or other of the meter) why not just shoot in Aperture Priority and use exposure compensation? Aren't we arriving at the same destination... just through a different route?

Of course if we're talking flash, especially where the subject needs a different exposure than the background, then M is just about mandatory IMO.

 

[invisible]

In that case(if you're looking to be on one side or other of the meter) why not just shoot in Aperture Priority and use exposure compensation? Aren't we arriving at the same destination... just through a different route?

In my particular case, the answer is that I shoot mostly indoors, handheld, with no flash and no stabilized lenses. I can't let the camera choose the shutter speed for me. For most other situations, I could go with aperture priority, but I'm used to manual and I don't see the need to change. To each its own

 

[ToddLange]

manual or shutter priority for me.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Aperture for available light, Manual when the meter doesn't get it right, or working with strobes.

The only time i've used Shutter Priority is at the airshows here, 1/125th for the helo's and prop planes.

I've never used Program on any of my cameras.

 

[FrankLamont]

Manual.

I just don't get AV.