camera settings

archangel

archangel

Suspended / Banned
Messages
5,024
Name
Mike
Edit My Images
No
I was just wondering how everyone else uses the settings on their camera. i know it differ with each situation but in general day to day shooting do you prefer using shutter, apeture or manual ?

thoughts are welcome as usual.:cool:


by the way i prefer av mode.:D
 
When I was first learning I used the Auto quite a lot then looked back to see what setting the camera had chosen for each kind of shot.

I then moved on to fully manual and tried to recreate the same results but it was very hit and miss.

Now I am on Aperture Priorty 95% of the time and only move to Shutter Priority when shooting fast moving objects.
 
I only ever use manual now, but when I was learning (ok, you never stop learning) I found Aperture Priority was the best for me. Before that I admit to only ever using the green rectangle but was always disapointed with the results.
 
yeah i tend to stick with AE as i did in the old days, my Pentax me super film slr was ae so got used to that. As above i move over to Shutter priority when needing a fast shutter speed. I also use auto for snap shots of kids etc
 
Generally shoot in aperture but find that more and more I'm taking a shot and then changing to manual to tweak the settings to how I want the image to look.

Andy
 
Most of my cameras are manual only and need a separate lightmeter.


Steve.
 
I suppose there has to be a "first post" from me sometime.....

I default on A priority. Unless shooting bands indoors when its Shutter priority.

I just can't get away with manual for some reason - so just use exp comp a lot!!

(Phew that's better - 1st post nerves gone!!:))
 
I use aperture priority most of the time due my subject matter (generally fast moving!). Will switch to shutter priority on occasion when shooting things like WWII aircraft.
 
I use AV most of the times, I use Shutter Priority for capturing speed/motion. I only used manual a few times to experiment under tricky lighting situations.
 
Am I on my own??? I leave the camera on P.

That way I can always squeeze off a grab shop and be reasonably sure of getting something.


But!

I shoot Raw, so I can correct all but the worst exposure problems.
I look at the camera's chosen settings before taking the shot and use the program shift mode on the command wheel to change the Aperture/Shutter speed balance if I feel it is needed.
I look at the screen after shooting to spot 'blinkys' and use exposure adjustments accordingly.

Obviously, If I know I am shooting fast moving objects I pick S, or A when I want depth of field. However, most of the time P is fine.
 
Nope, you're not on your own!

I also keep my cameras on P most of the time - for general shooting it does a perfectly good job of selecting a suitable shutter speed for the focal length I've chosen while still allowing me full control over things should I want extra or less DoF or a faster or slower shutter speed for a certain effect. Any exposure compensation is easily dialled in too. On occasion, say while shooting motorsport, I'll know that I'll be after a constant(ish) shutter speed, so S gets selected and the relevant speed set, similarly, I may want very little DoF (or a lot), so A mode and set it. The main time I use full manual mode is when shooting a series of shots for a panorama; I'll take a few meter readings across the scene and pick a combination of speed and aperture that works all the way across (or at least does a reasonable job) then set the chosen settings for all the shots. The only problems happen when I forget to reset to P!
In essence, P mode is no different to A or S (Av and Tv in Canonish IIRC) - you're still relying on the meter, it's just that the camera defaults back to an optimum (in its opinion) setting when switched off and back on when in P.

I think a couple of my bodies have some "scene" modes or other presets - sports, macro, landscape etc but I don't think I've ever used them.
 
Most of the time I use Aperture priority, to control DOF or to use lens's sweet spot. Sometimes I use manual, and very rarely shutter priority as I don't often shoot moving subjects.
 
Aperature priority for me normally, manual if I want to do something fancy. Can't say as I've ever used shutter priority or full auto on an slr
 
snaphappy1952 said:
I suppose there has to be a "first post" from me sometime.....

(Phew that's better - 1st post nerves gone!!:))
Click to expand...

Now that wasn't too hard :thumbs: :welcome:

Full time manual for me, tried other modes but my camera couldn't read my mind very well.
 
AV point and shoot for me :D
 
Av most of the time, although i've recently started using manual more because once you get it right, you get more consistent exposures (assuming you're shooting the same subject and the light isn't changing too much). It's made me think about things a lot more. For example, I always used to ignore the ISO when I got my DSLR, and manual has made me think about this more. I used to just think 'ISO100 is best' but rarely got any sharp indoor shots. Now I know why!

But if something happens and I want to get the camera firing quickly, Av is default!
 
When I first took up photography you could only get manual...my first was a Pentax Spotmatic gifted me by my Grandfather - then I bought a Pentax ME Super which had manual override...and the Auto was so iffy that I kept using manual - but it was fiddly, so I changed back to a manual camera after 6 months - a Nikon F2-AS and haven't looked back since - today's auto settings are infinitely more sophisticated than 30 years ago and I would probably get just as good (and probably more consistant) results if I bothered to explore Aperture and Shutter-priority modes more fully than at present - but I'm comfortable with what I know...
 
Manual all the time. Auto modes are too slow, or I'm too slow at using them.

That said, I do use Av and very occasionally Tv as rough presets. As the 5D only has one custom space.

For example shooting at the footy, I might have Manual set for the sun, Custom for in the shade, and Av set to a really high aperture for doing slow pans, where it would be a hassle to repeatedly stop all the way down, and then open up again.
 
I used to stick with aperture priority pretty much all of the time, but since being designated team photographer for my son's under 11 football matches I now tend to use manual all the time. Having said that, when the camera goes back in the bag it's always lefy on P just in case I need to whip it out for a grab shot on my travels.
 
P for snap shots
A is my first choice for control
S i hardly use
M to set readings i want...usually to get the S effect but with some latitude on aperture since i can spot read and set both

on my 35mm's is was Aperture all the time...usually the shot was dof important and i could preview the shot with the preview button...stop down

i started out on auto and its a disaster...well more of a disaster...it does the most infuriationg thing and changes the iso..asa rating which i use as finest as i can to compensate for my low tech shooter
64 is the lowest it will go

hope this is timely enough
 
primarily use A for almost everything, except S for sports and full manual for macro shots.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top