Modes

gubbs

I can't remember which thread I read but I think it was Andy that said he shot around 80-90% of the time in manual and the remaining in aperture priority.
Why is that and what do others do?

This also prompts me to ask about favoured Focus and light sensing modes.
At the moment I spend most of my time in aperture priority with spot focus and esp(??) sensing, then tend to use the focus lock and AEL a LOT.

Sorry, if this all basic stuff, but camera manuals don't tell you enough! A good general photography book would be helpful if anyone could recommend (sp??) one.

Thanks
Jon

gus

I dont think my camera has been off bracket since i have had it. 5 shots for the price of one.

gubbs

I've done a lot of that too

cletus

AP for me
I leave my camera in Aperture priority about 90% of the time. I pick the aperture based on how much depth of field I want and let the camera pick the shutter speed.

mercphoto

Av usually, Tv sometimes
I shoot Av mode most of the time, setting it to choose the depth of field that I want. When shooting sports though I go to Tv, to control how much stop-action or how much motion-blur I want. I rarely go to a full programmed mode.

GREAPER

I have a D100.


I shoot in manual exposure mode 95 percent of the time. I use spot metering, metering the actual subject, and let the rest of the frame fall where it falls.

The other 5 percent I use aperature priority, ussually when I am using fllash so that the camera adjusts for the flash and I dont have to think that hard.

I have never shot a frame in program, ever, just because I dont know what the camera will decide is best. I would rather decide that myself.


I use auto focus in brighter light for simple scenes. For birds and such I use manual focus. I find it to difficult to get the camera to focus where I want and lock the focus and recompose before my subject moves. I also find that very complicated scenes like a bird in a tree give the camera to many options of what to focus on, and I miss the shot trying to get it.

I find that in dim light my camera hunts for focus too much and I get better results if I do it my self.

pathfinder

GREAPER wrote:

I have a D100.
I use auto focus in brighter light for simple scenes. For birds and such I use manual focus. I find it to difficult to get the camera to focus where I want and lock the focus and recompose before my subject moves. I also find that very complicated scenes like a bird in a tree give the camera to many options of what to focus on, and I miss the shot trying to get it.

I find that in dim light my camera hunts for focus too much and I get better results if I do it my self.

I use a 10D from the dark side of course. I find that the 10D does better with autofocus if I only use the very center AF point and then hold the shutter halfway down and recompose after achieving autofocus on the point I choose with the center AF point. If I allow the camera to choose the AF point it does not always agree with me and I am right and it is wrong as I am the owner!

I shoot 90% in Av - aperature preferred - mode. For birds and wildlife I may switch to Tv - shutter preferred - I do use program mode for flash sometimes - but I always check what the camera has chosen in AV or Tv or Program mode so I can change it if I want. Changing the ISO REAL TIME also gives you more moment to moment choices regarding shutter and aperature speeds.

jimf

gubbs wrote:

I can't remember which thread I read but I think it was Andy that said he shot around 80-90% of the time in manual and the remaining in aperture priority.
Why is that and what do others do?

Depends on what I'm shooting. In a studio setting I shoot 100% manual. In random outdoor shooting I prefer Av mode, although I'll make a lot of use of exposure compensation, and for particularly tough shots I'll switch to manual -- but that's rare. For flash photography I have pretty much had to use P (program) mode with the EOS-300D because of a quirk in the way the EOS cameras treat flash in Av mode: They presume you want it for fill. Gah!

This also prompts me to ask about favoured Focus and light sensing modes.
At the moment I spend most of my time in aperture priority with spot focus and esp(??) sensing, then tend to use the focus lock and AEL a LOT.

I set the focus on the center point and just leave it there, using focus lock to allow reframing. I found this to be far easier than trying to select the right focus point. The more automatic focus modes suck on the 300D, at least in my opinion.

Sorry, if this all basic stuff, but camera manuals don't tell you enough! A good general photography book would be helpful if anyone could recommend (sp??) one.

I picked up a general one from Kodak years and years ago that was pretty good, a little pocket manual. I bet you can still find them. I have two or three others but can't really recommend them.

If you want to get good (or at least better) fast, consider finding a local photography group or take a class. A forum like this is nice but it's going to be a lot easier to discuss things with someone real-time.

jimf

gubbs wrote:

I can't remember which thread I read but I think it was Andy that said he shot around 80-90% of the time in manual and the remaining in aperture priority.
Why is that and what do others do?

Depends on what I'm shooting. In a studio setting I shoot 100% manual. In random outdoor shooting I prefer Av mode, although I'll make a lot of use of exposure compensation, and for particularly tough shots I'll switch to manual -- but that's rare. For flash photography I have pretty much had to use P (program) mode with the EOS-300D because of a quirk in the way the EOS cameras treat flash in Av mode: They presume you want it for fill. Gah!

This also prompts me to ask about favoured Focus and light sensing modes.
At the moment I spend most of my time in aperture priority with spot focus and esp(??) sensing, then tend to use the focus lock and AEL a LOT.

I set the focus on the center point and just leave it there, using focus lock to allow reframing. I found this to be far easier than trying to select the right focus point. The more automatic focus modes suck on the 300D, at least in my opinion.

Sorry, if this all basic stuff, but camera manuals don't tell you enough! A good general photography book would be helpful if anyone could recommend (sp??) one.

I picked up a general one from Kodak years and years ago that was pretty good, a little pocket manual. I bet you can still find them. I have two or three others but can't really recommend them.

If you want to get good (or at least better) fast, consider finding a local photography group or take a class. A forum like this is nice but it's going to be a lot easier to discuss things with someone real-time.

wxwax

With the G3 I was usually in Manual, occasionally P if i was shooting on the move. But the camera was too slow to shoot well on the move, so mostly set shots on Manual. Lots of manual bracketing. Time consuming.

With the used 1D, I walk and shoot a lot more, because the camera's faster. I've been on Ap, but am not entirely pleased with the lack of control. Not sure why two shots in a burst would have different exposures (I do not have the bracket function turned on.) Some extrewme differences in exposures. But walking and shooting in Manual is a little much for me right now, although that may be where I end up.

Shay Stephens

I shoot in manual mode all the time. The reason is because I want to control the exposure for the look and also for the consistency of exposure from shot to shot. I can nearly always get a better exposure than the camera because I know what I am looking at and what I want to meter off of, and what it should meter at. The camera has no clue, and the results of auto exposure or semi auto exposure are usually too random for my taste. The only time I would use a semi auto mode is if I am in a lighing situation where the light intensity is changing every few seconds or at a rate I can't or don't want to keep up with.

The metering mode, depending on the camera, is either spot or partial metering. I use the zone system to determine exposure and these modes give me the best results. I also use an incident/flash light meter. I would say I bounce between the light meter and spot metering 50/50. Spot metering is pretty useless though if you don't know what to meter off of and or what it should meter at, so don't think just switching to spot will solve any exposure issues

Favored focus depends on the camera used and the light levels I am in, so it can vary from multi-point to center-focus points.

All the choices are based on having control over the camera and trying to reduce random effects.

ginger_55

Modes used? Based on Type of Photography??
I have been following this a bit. I have that 300D, and I just use the auto modes. I got this camera in Feb, I figure I will get to the manual sooner or later. And whichever metering I have switched to, except when I was doing black and white with Nikons, years ago, different all together.........With these digital cameras I have tried the different metering that has been available to me.
I have discovered that for me, they are all bad, or all good, depending on the elves, I think. Before this camera, for at least 3 yrs I had a digital Elph, loved it. I finally started using the manual in the last year, and I think that was so I could turn the flash off. With this camera, I can turn the flash off without going to manual. I feel like I have a gazillion photo "should dos" bouncing around in my head. Good gosh, now I am afraid to leave home, might run into a neighbor and have to ask to take a picture. All this pressure.

I do have a question, a thought, seriously. I wonder if the modes people use have any correlation between the type shooting they do. Motorcycles have to be different from a wedding. I think that would be an interesting survey.

I might do baptisms for my church, but my main love is my dogs. And they move............. sometimes fast. I often have it on sports mode for the dogs. Then just switch to portrait for the baptisms.

Could we have a kind of survey, or is it obvious to you who shoot one way, as in manual, that that is the only good way to shoot. I find what I do in photography, as in most things in my life, what I do is based on need. And hanging around in this forum has bumped up my need a lot, and is filling my hard drive completely up. But I still have not found the need to use the manual settings. With the Elph, I did bump up the ISO, but I got even more grain than I like, and that is difficult to do, as I like grain, but not everywhere.

ginger

pathfinder

Shay Stephens wrote:

I shoot in manual mode all the time. The reason is because I want to control the exposure for the look and also for the consistency of exposure from shot to shot. I can nearly always get a better exposure than the camera because I know what I am looking at and what I want to meter off of, and what it should meter at. The camera has no clue, and the results of auto exposure or semi auto exposure are usually too random for my taste. The only time I would use a semi auto mode is if I am in a lighing situation where the light intensity is changing every few seconds or at a rate I can't or don't want to keep up with.

I shoot in AV most of the time but feel free to change to manual or Tv as required by the speed of the situation. Instead of manual, I use Av and alter the exposure by the exposure compensation wheel on the back of the 10D a lot. I suspect we are actually exposing similarly by slightly different means.

Also, inspection of histograms can be quite helpful. If I were shooting sports or weddings I would use an incident meter a lot more also.

When you are shooting subjects and cannot afford to miss a look or a facial gesture, manual with an incident meter works well - kind of like street photgraphy or even program mode. I tend to shoot scenics and stationary stuff a lot and have the luxury of reviewing and reshooting as necessary.