Is it wrong that i still don't know what ...

davidbridges

davidbridges

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David Bridges
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Hi

I have owned a DSLR for about a year and a half and i have no idea what the following modes do ...

Av, Tv, P, (the green box) then all the ones like the little face and that...

I have no idea... I understand the little face being portrait, but i can honestly say i have never ever used anything else but M on a DSLR...:(

Is this bad...:cuckoo:

Anybody else in a similary position

:bonk:

Ahhh ...

Dave

P.S on the plus side i worked out how to use the DOF preview... great little thing to have :thumbs:
 
Are you getting the results you want with Manual mode only? If yes then I'd say your doing pretty well :D
 
only reason i bought a D-SLR... probally not the best reason, but definately worth it, i was just getting sick of being stuck a 2 second exposures... f-5, so i got a dslr and moved strait onto manual :)
 
^^ what he said :D

AV is aperture priority. You control the aperture, the camera controls the shutter speed.

TV is time value (or shutter speed priority). You control the shutter speed, the camera does the aperture.

P mode is where the camera controls aperture AND shutter speed. You still have control over everything else, ie ISO, white balance etc......

Never did use DOF button, and probably won't either, as the a300 doesn't have it!!!
 
I don't know what the fully-auto modes (flower, runner etc) do either, and I have no idea at all even how to change the various JPEG setting on my 30D (sharpening, picture style, white balance etc) as I shoot RAW.

I tend to use Av almost all the time, as I'm very rarely worried about what the shutter speed actually is since I either use a tripod, or want it as fast as I can get away with in the light.
From what I can see, using M and Av are about the same. In both cases I set the aperture, and then in M I would set a shutter speed that moves the light meter to the required exposure, whereas in Av I tell the camera what that desired exposure is (EC compensation) and it uses the same light meter to set the same shutter speed. Do I have that right?
 
Eau Rouge said:
From what I can see, using M and Av are about the same. In both cases I set the aperture, and then in M I would set a shutter speed that moves the light meter to the required exposure, whereas in Av I tell the camera what that desired exposure is (EC compensation) and it uses the same light meter to set the same shutter speed. Do I have that right?
Click to expand...

sort of.. the difference is that once you have set your shutter and aparture in M mode it stays like that.. in AV the shutter will change if for example you point at a scene on a dull evening with a bright light in the background your shutter speed will change and your exposure will be foooled and you will lose the picture.. same scene in M mode you get the perfect exposure.
 
On the 5D, the green box is the idiot mode - i.e. auto everything, and it will automatically up the ISO to a maximum of 400 if the light is bad.

The only problem is, for some reason it doesn't give you the option of saving RAW files - you have to save as Jpegs, which rules out using it for me :(

Program mode is virtually the same, and you have full control over file format etc. You have to set the ISO manually though.

A.
 
hmmm, i might try of these alien modes out !
 
Tghe camera is set up to cater for all levels of skill - many are happy on full auto, and occassionally experiment with other modes if they remember.

Anyone with any interest in photography should at least be using P, Av and Tv modes, and working towards M :D
 
If all you're using is Manual mode then you're doing just fine David :thumbs: There are many togs who rarely venture outside of Tv or Av :) When I started reading your thread I thought you were going to say that all you used was the dreaded green box :cuckoo: :lol:
 
get a 1d canon series camera... there are no scene modes :) I ahve only used M and AV on mine... M preffered but as spoken in other threads there are occasions when M can't handle a situation.
 
Scene modes suck, but really, why would you not be using Av and Tv?
 
I tend to use Av as a standard setting. You can vary both the aperture and shutter speed by just adjusting the control wheel. I'll switch to Tv if I need to have a fixed ( fast ) shutter speed.

M is particularly useful in tricky lighting conditions such as mixing flash and daylight for interiors.

I'm also surprised the 5D has the idiot green box, I would have thought anyone spending that sort of money would be reasonably competent in photography.
 
you mean, none of you use auto???? to think canon spend thousands developing it and noone uses it:nono:

i only normally shoot manual, occasionally av(i think it av, the one where you set the f number)
 
i only ever use manual, sometimes click it to auto for instance if i am selling something and need a pic and cant be bothered lol
 
I know what most of the modes are but prefer to use manual and very occasionally Av. Suppose it's up to you as the photographer. I don't think using the auto modes is a negative particularly if you're new to photography and getting used to using a DSLR.
 
If a friend wants a little play with my camera because they say ''Oh that camera is one of those ones where you can do anything and it'll take amazing shot'' so i give them a go and they start messing on and twist the dial into auto. I switch my camera on and i get scared as i don't recognize it !
 
Using Manual all the time is pretty hardcore... did you use a FM3 by any chance?

Come to think of it, the market is crying out for a clockwork all-manual digital SLR :D

A.
 
davidbridges said:
FM3 ?!?!
Click to expand...

Nikon FM3A

Tough-as-nails manual-focus manual/AP SLR... takes a battery, but only for the light meter. Works with no battery in manual mode.

For the sort of situations where you might die, but your camera needs to stay in one piece :lol:

I thought Nikon still made the FM3A, but it got discontinued a couple of years ago... in fact, looking at their website, film SLRs seem to have gone the way of typewriters :'( Nikon got rid of all their film SLRs in 2006, except the pro-spec F6... and I wouldn't have thought there are any pro's left that still shoot film.

A.
 
Anorakus said:
( Nikon got rid of all their film SLRs in 2006, except the pro-spec F6... and I wouldn't have thought there are any pro's left that still shoot film.

A.
Click to expand...


certainly not in the paparazzi, they have to be on the editors desk 30 seconds after the shutter is pressed
 
I was expecting you to say you don't know what A, S, and M modes are and you've been using P (or worse, Auto). That would've been bad :p

But if you've been using manual all this time then fair play I say! A and S modes can be useful in situations where you have widely varying exposure conditions and you don't have the time to fiddle around trying to get the exposure right. I usually use A in this case; just whack it on the aperture of your choice (usually wide open) and it selects the right shutter speed. You can still control both of course, using the two command dials, but it takes some workload off you :)
 
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