"The Hot Shoe Diaries", Joe McNally : Av mode?

kennysarmy

kennysarmy

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Just reading this book...

Quite interesting...though he is a NIKON man and I have CANON gear it does get confusing when he keeps talking about EC affecting flash too :( ho hum...

But why does he insist that with flash shooting in Av mode is better than M?

Anyone go along with this?
 
It's just his preference and allows for quicker shooting.

Set the aperture, let the camera choose the shutter speed, which can be quite slow if using flash as the flash duration will help freeze the motion. So less to worry about I guess.

I prefer manual for everything but that's just me. I also can't stand CLS and its pokey line of sight

Theres a small section in hot shoe diaries where he explains why he uses it, and matrix metering, at the beginning
 
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kennysarmy said:
Just reading this book...

Quite interesting...though he is a NIKON man and I have CANON gear it does get confusing when he keeps talking about EC affecting flash too :( ho hum...

But why does he insist that with flash shooting in Av mode is better than M?

Anyone go along with this?
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Makes perfect sense to me. What's the problem?

My preferred mode for flash is E-TTL on Av, maybe with a bit of EC as and when. That's how auto flash is designed to be used.

With E-TTL flash there are indpendent exposure compensation controls for both flash and ambient light. You can get any balance you like with that in two seconds.

E-TTL is incredibly versatile and controllable, but you need to learn how it works and it's not terribly intuitive. When the penny drops, you're away :D
 
Anybody who saw his workshop in London knows there are just some occasions where manual camera and flash are much better..................
 
I use manual th majority of the time, but if you have a constantly changing light then I'll use av.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Anybody who saw his workshop in London knows there are just some occasions where manual camera and flash are much better..................
Click to expand...

Right! There's never just only one best way of doing absolutely everything.

If I had to make a generalisation, it might be E-TTL on Av when I haven't got time to fiddle about and it needs to be right straight out of the box. Generally quite fluid social situations.

Then if there's time to set up, maybe a couple of remote guns too, go manual. You set it, move things around, get it right, and it cannot change :thumbs:
 
When shooting in Av you need to keep your eye on the SS all the time - If light is low and the SS falls too low you will get some blur in your image. Too high and the sync speed will limit you and your images will be over exposed.

So as long as you know when to use AV and how to use it, it does work well.
 
I enjoyed this book too. Loads of good info and ideas if you don't mind the writing style (I don't).

The book focuses a lot on quick set up, ETTL stuff. The problem for me is that if I've got the flash off camera it's with cheap triggers and so there is no ETTL.

In this case I find manual is best, as it keeps everything locked in place, allowing 1 thing at a time to be adjusted.

That doesn't suit every scenario though, I need time to experiment & figure it all out. You don't always have time. Whereas ETTL in Av mode let's you quickly get to near where you want to be, at the expense of consistency perhaps?

via TP Forums for iPhone
 
In the book, I believe Joe made the point that Aperture Priority with exposure compensation has a different effect on the flash output than shooting fully manual. I can't remember exactly though - it's been a while since I read it!

Great book, in my opinion. Really made me think about how to use flash in creative ways.
 
I tend to use M when using TTL off camera flash, that way I can control the ambient with the shutter speed and the DOF with the aperture. If I want to adjust the flash exposure I use the flash exposure adjustment.

I thought Aperture priority on the D700 just set the shutter speed at 1/60 sec all the time?

:thinking:
 
SummerSound said:
In the book, I believe Joe made the point that Aperture Priority with exposure compensation has a different effect on the flash output than shooting fully manual. I can't remember exactly though - it's been a while since I read it!

Great book, in my opinion. Really made me think about how to use flash in creative ways.
Click to expand...

ShawWellPete said:
I tend to use M when using TTL off camera flash, that way I can control the ambient with the shutter speed and the DOF with the aperture. If I want to adjust the flash exposure I use the flash exposure adjustment.

I thought Aperture priority on the D700 just set the shutter speed at 1/60 sec all the time?

:thinking:
Click to expand...

I think Nikon and Canon are different in the way A and Av are configured with flash.

This is how the Canon default settings works in Av. Shutter speed matches the ambient light, and flash power matches the f/number. Adjusting exposure compensation on the camera changes the ambient (with shutter speed) and exposure compensation on the gun changes the flash (with power).

So it's very easy and logical to get any exposure level or flash ambient balance you want, plus there are custom function overrides you can apply to limit shutter speed shifts and avoid excessive blurring. And with HSS enabled the gun switches in and out of HSS mode seamlessly as and when necessary.

Can anyone explain how Nikon does it?
 
HoppyUK said:
I think Nikon and Canon are different in the way A and Av are configured with flash.

This is how the Canon default settings works in Av. Shutter speed matches the ambient light, and flash power matches the f/number. Adjusting exposure compensation on the camera changes the ambient (with shutter speed) and exposure compensation on the gun changes the flash (with power).

So it's very easy and logical to get any exposure level or flash ambient balance you want, plus there are custom function overrides you can apply to limit shutter speed shifts and avoid excessive blurring. And with HSS enabled the gun switches in and out of HSS mode seamlessly as and when necessary.

Can anyone explain how Nikon does it?
Click to expand...

Seems to be the same on Nikon, although in TTL my SB800 isn't displaying power levels, just distance info, but as the aperture changes so does that distance info.....
 
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if you have changing light (say a sunset scenario) AV is a better mode to be using as the shutter will track the ambient whether you're using ttl or manual flash, AV and ETTL with proper compensation is a brilliant way to work provided you have a feel for the compensation dials and the way your camera meters.

I think you should learn manual then use the auto modes to speed things up as its way confusing to start cold on say AV and wireless ETTL
 
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