Shooting mode?

El Kiwi

Hi all,

So I'm relatively (ok, almost totally) new to SLR photography. I've been shooting mostly in manual mode after doing a short course, the professor was pretty old school and really only advocated using manual. I can understand why, but this is occasionally frustrating when either a) I forget to meter correctly and under/over expose, or b) I just spend ages messing around and miss the shot.

I shoot RAW, so I get a fair amount of latitude for correcting mistakes, but I can't help feeling that with a modern digital I might be better off with either Av or Tv. What do you folks use? There will obviously always be cases when the dynamic range of the scene is wider than the sensor can capture and manual allows you to choose your tradeoff, but I'm guessing in the majority of cases the priority modes should be sufficient. Obviously a lot of my bumbling in manual is just lack of practice too, I'm going to keep working at it but often (street photography, for instance) I'm still just too slow.

Finally, when using the priority modes, is it generally better to use evaluative metering? I normally use centre weighted for manual mode to allow me to meter different parts of the scene, no spot metering on the 350D unfortunately.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Colin

BeachBill

Personally, I shoot Av or Tv most of the time, and M only when I can't get want I want in Av or Tv.

Probably as you would expect, I use each mode for the following reasons:
Av = when I want to control DOF and don't care about shutter speed.
Tv = when I want a specific shutter speed and don't care about aperture.
M = long (bulb) exposures and others where I want to control both aperture and shutter.

Metering is another issue and is dependent on what you are shooting, for example evaluative is usually fine for landscapes and center weighted when shooting things like performers on a brightly lit stage in a dark theatre, etc.

Art Scott

For me over 90% of my shooting is either manual or aperature priority (not sure how that translates into canon lingo).....the other is shutter priority when the deer are moving fast...or the boats are flying low.......but for my nature and portraiture type work it is always aperature or manual.....if in studio situation...it is manual as I always meter with an incident meter (Minolta Flash Meter lll )....

Okay now for a little explanation....I shoot manual when I want TOTAL control....I do not want a tiny micro computer telling how to make my shot....but if I am feeling a little lazy the nit is off to aperature, also if I am not concerned about shutter speed but I total DOF control I will go for AP......

The same for SP...if I want to make sure I have the shutter set to capture the movement I am after...speeding model boats or moving wild animals..the nit is SP and do not worry about the DOF (too much) or the aperature......

hope this helps

claudermilk

It really depends on your needs and your experience. Much of my shooting is in theaters or coffe shops of dance. So, I'm usually in Av so I can hold the lens wide open for maximum shutter speed. I also have the metering set to center-weighted (20D). However, I am finding that now that I'm completely comfortable with that setup, with the especially challenging lighting situations (think white-dressed dancer under a spot with a black backdrop. Ugh), I am starting to break out the Sekonic meter, taking a general reading & setting the camera there. Worse yet, I'm starting to switch the lens to MF mode. Gah, a fully-automated best you can get midrange DSLR (IMHO) and I'm turning it all off. huh Shooting RAW gives me enough leeway to adjust shots as needed; I just keep an eye on the meter while shooting & make sure I'm within 2EV of "correct" exposure.

LiquidAir

One of my common strategies with Av (apeture priority) and Tv modes (shutter priority) is this:

Set the Av apeture to the widest that gives acceptable quality on the lens.
Set the TV shutter speed to the slowest I can get away with taking both the subject motion and the focal length (if I am hand holding) into account.

For each shot, I make a judgement call: If shallow DoF is acceptable, I switch to Av mode; if is isn't I switch to Tv mode. It is a simple setup that gives me very quick shot-by-shot creative control.

El Kiwi

Thanks for all the replies guys, looks like I'll be back to priority modes for most of my shooting!

Cheers,
Colin

pathfinder

What I take away from this discussion, is not that Manual, or Av, or TV or, for Heaven's sakes, Program mode is THE BEST, but that understanding each mode, and its uses and limitations is what is really most important.

Find the light, and then let the need for shutter speed and DOF determine the mode you choose.....and the ISO as well.

claudermilk

pathfinder wrote:

What I take away from this discussion, is not that Manual, or Av, or TV or, for Heaven's sakes, Program mode is THE BEST, but that understanding each mode, and its uses and limitations is what is really most important.

Find the light, and then let the need for shutter speed and DOF determine the mode you choose.....and the ISO as well.

YES! lynnma

Know your tools, then you can get the most out of them.

Antonio Correia

pathfinder wrote:

What I take away from this discussion, is not that Manual, or Av, or TV or, for Heaven's sakes, Program mode is THE BEST, but that understanding each mode, and its uses and limitations is what is really most important.

Find the light, and then let the need for shutter speed and DOF determine the mode you choose.....and the ISO as well.

Well, here is a pragmatic statement !
I agree.

1andyw

Great thread.

Not my post, but thanks to all the experienced shooters who make this forum the best.

Andyw

El Kiwi

pathfinder wrote:

What I take away from this discussion, is not that Manual, or Av, or TV or, for Heaven's sakes, Program mode is THE BEST, but that understanding each mode, and its uses and limitations is what is really most important.

Find the light, and then let the need for shutter speed and DOF determine the mode you choose.....and the ISO as well.

Resurrecting my thread - I have to agree with this!

That said, I'm back to manual for most of my shooting. I tried using Av for a couple of days' shooting (for the shooting I've been doing shutter speed is not so important), and found that I liked manual mode better. I found that Av would under/over expose frequently enough that I ended up having to use the exposure compensation, and then I might as well just use manual since it works out to the same thing anyway. Also on my 350d, which dial you use for each setting changes depending on the shooting mode, and that drove me crazy. Well, that's a little dramatic perhaps, but it annoyed me sufficiently to make me go back to manual.

I'll still be practising the other modes, if only to try your fill-flash technique (loved that thread, by the way), but I'll mainly be a manual boy I think.

Thanks again for all the advice!

pathfinder

You're quite welcome. I should shoot manual more often myself.

Glad you liked my suggestions about fill flash also. It is a great technique and so easy to do.

I sneaked a look at your profile and see that you frequent Spain, N Zealand and New York. Lots of great subjects to shoot in those areas.

Be sure and share a few with us here on dgrin.

Carbon Based

When I shoot cyclecross with my telefoto I use program and worry more about keeping an eye on composition and finding my team in the crowd.:D

When I'm more relaxed it's manual.

Each to it's own use I'd say, learn to use them all.

El Kiwi

pathfinder wrote:

I sneaked a look at your profile and see that you frequent Spain, N Zealand and New York. Lots of great subjects to shoot in those areas.

Be sure and share a few with us here on dgrin.

I will do! I don't frequent NZ (my home country) anywhere near as much as I'd like, but it sure is beautiful for photography. I hope to get some posted shortly.