Personal computing discussed

Moderators: renee, Dposcorp, SpotTheCat

 
SpotTheCat
Gerbilus Supremus
Topic Author
Posts: 12292
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2003 12:47 am
Location: Minnesota

What shooting mode do you use most often?

Sat Jul 24, 2010 9:27 pm

And why?

I use P most often because I'm lazy (and it's usually right!), but often S outdoors. I love setting my D40 to 1/500 with the flash up in full sun. It's great on the boat.
 
Skrying
Gerbil Jedi
Posts: 1792
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:37 am
Location: Missouri

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Sat Jul 24, 2010 9:31 pm

A. Almost always.
 
JustAnEngineer
Gerbil God
Posts: 19673
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: The Heart of Dixie

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:16 pm

I use Av (aperture priority) most often, because I usually want to control the depth of field. However, P (Program auto-exposure) is a close second. As Spot said, it's usually right.
 
BlackJammy
Gerbil First Class
Posts: 129
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 10:23 pm
Location: New York, NY

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:40 pm

I use P mode more often than not because it's usually spot on. Av mode is the next most used mode because, like JAE, I want to control depth of field.
AMD 9600 @ 2.6GHz | ECS A780GM-A | 2*1GB Corsair XMS 800 | WD 320GB/160 GB HDs | Lite-On 22X DVD |Samsung 955DF Monitor | HIS HD4650 512MB | Win XP (32) and Win 7 (64) |
 
danny e.
Maximum Gerbil
Posts: 4444
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 3:09 pm
Location: Indonesia/Nebraska/Wisconsin

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:43 pm

I use M exclusively
.. usually because i want control of aperture and shutter speed constantly.
You don't have to feel safe to feel unafraid.
 
Hoser
Lord High Gerbil
Posts: 8318
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: In a lab playing with blood
Contact:

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:57 pm

Depends on what I'm shooting, but generally I use Aperture priority mostly.
For those that fought for it, freedom has a taste that the protected will never know.
-Unknown Veteran
 
FireGryphon
Darth Gerbil
Posts: 7729
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2004 7:53 pm
Location: the abyss into which you gaze

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:59 am

It depends on a lot of things, but most importantly, what I'm going for in the shot. In low light, I typically want to shoot at the widest aperture, so Av wins. If I'm shooting a waterfall, I'll probably want to play with the shutter speed, so Tv gets the nod. If I don't care what the picture looks like as long as it's exposed properly, I use P, or [] if I want to throw caution to the wind (though, honestly, I rarely use [], since P works most of the time, and let's face it, I didn't invest in an SLR system to take pictures that way).

When I'm in the zone, I use M. Pictures in M come out best.
Sheep Rustlers in the sky! <S> Slapt | <S> FUI | Air Warrior II/III
 
JustAnEngineer
Gerbil God
Posts: 19673
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: The Heart of Dixie

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Sun Jul 25, 2010 1:21 am

With the green box (Auto), my camera only produces JPEGs. I'd use P (Program auto-exposure) to get RAW output even if I didn't change any of the other settings (e.g.: ISO).
 
Voldenuit
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2888
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2005 11:10 pm

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Sun Jul 25, 2010 4:47 am

Most of the time, I use Aperture priority.

In low light when hand-holdability is an issue, I use Shutter priority (set to lowest hand-holdable shutter speed) and turn on auto-ISO.

If I'm shooting on a tripod in low light/long exposure, I often use M.
Wind, Sand and Stars.
 
scare
Gerbil Team Leader
Posts: 295
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:52 am
Location: yes.

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Sun Jul 25, 2010 6:47 am

80% of the time in Av, 20% of the time in M. Like JAE, I'm mindful of depth of field all the time in my shooting. Manual usually only for scenes where I have time to set up a shot.
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.
X3 720 @3.6, 1.4V | GA-MA790X-UD4P | XFX 4890 | 2x2 PC6400 | HDT-S1283 | ModXStream 500W | CM690
 
SPOOFE
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3167
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 5:50 pm
Location: Woodland Hills, CA

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Sun Jul 25, 2010 4:32 pm

In daylight or really good indoor light, I'll stick with aperture priority.

In poor light, night time, or in most instances I'm using a flash, I'll go full manual.
 
ludi
Lord High Gerbil
Posts: 8646
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2002 10:47 pm
Location: Sunny Colorado front range

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Mon Jul 26, 2010 1:39 am

Almost always manual (M). I shoot flash-less indoor candids quite a bit, so I generally need to control both the aperture and the exposure time else the camera may pick something infeasibly slow. If I'm having trouble picking the exposure time then I may switch to Aperture Priority (Av) just to see what the camera's light meter thinks about the situation, but if it's too slow then I either need to accept a dark photo and post-process for brightness and contrast, or bump the ISO and post process for noise.

For full-auto ([ ]), I have the same problem as JAE: JPEG output only. That was fine for the first 3k shutter activations when I was learning how to use a dSLR, but now I almost always want RAW for post-processing purposes.
Abacus Model 2.5 | Quad-Row FX with 256 Cherry Red Slider Beads | Applewood Frame | Water Cooling by Brita Filtration
 
Voldenuit
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2888
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2005 11:10 pm

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Mon Jul 26, 2010 2:11 am

ludi wrote:
Almost always manual (M). I shoot flash-less indoor candids quite a bit, so I generally need to control both the aperture and the exposure time else the camera may pick something infeasibly slow.


Isn't M a little slow for candids? I'll use M if I'm shooting with a flash, since the flash will dial in the correct illumination for me in TTL mode. But if I need to capture the moment and don't have time to adjust exposure indoors, I find that S is my best bet, combined with autoISO (the camera will usually go for the largest aperture in these situations anyway). Then again, I shoot with primes, so I always know what reciprocal I need to use for shutter speed. It might be slightly more tricky with a zoom (not to mention that most consumer zooms are too slow for indoor shooting). Unfortunately, my camera disables autoISO in M mode, which means I can't use this approach when using an adapted legacy lens.
Wind, Sand and Stars.
 
swampfox
Gerbil First Class
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2008 3:15 pm
Location: Alaska

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:37 am

I use aperature-priority when shooting landscape, P for day-to-day shots, and M when I've got my father-in-law's old all-manual lenses on the D40. Even though P is typically pretty close, I find myself making adjustments often +/- 2/3. Probably should shoot manual more often :o
C2D E7300 | ASUS P5Q Pro | 4GB OCZ Fatal1ty DDR2-800 | ASUS Radeon HD 4850 TOP | 500W OCZ ModXStream | WD10EADS | WD6400AAKS | Win7 64bit | Antec P182
 
Corrado
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2574
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2002 7:00 pm

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Mon Jul 26, 2010 7:27 am

I set it to auto on my E-PL1 but because I use vintage lenses with an adapter, I still have to set the aperture and focus. If I'm looking for a particular shot, I'll switch to fully manual though.
 
ludi
Lord High Gerbil
Posts: 8646
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2002 10:47 pm
Location: Sunny Colorado front range

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:59 pm

Voldenuit wrote:
Isn't M a little slow for candids? I'll use M if I'm shooting with a flash, since the flash will dial in the correct illumination for me in TTL mode. But if I need to capture the moment and don't have time to adjust exposure indoors, I find that S is my best bet, combined with autoISO (the camera will usually go for the largest aperture in these situations anyway). Then again, I shoot with primes, so I always know what reciprocal I need to use for shutter speed. It might be slightly more tricky with a zoom (not to mention that most consumer zooms are too slow for indoor shooting). Unfortunately, my camera disables autoISO in M mode, which means I can't use this approach when using an adapted legacy lens.

Haven't experimented much with the Shutter Priority setting yet although I probably should. My wide-aperture lenses are all primes, so I can lock in the reciprocal easily enough, but I don't always want the lens to go to fully open if it's going to cost me some sharpness or make the depth-of-field too shallow. If the subject isn't moving much, I would rather dial the shutter down below the reciprocal and then use a railing or some other stationary object as an impromptu monopod.
Abacus Model 2.5 | Quad-Row FX with 256 Cherry Red Slider Beads | Applewood Frame | Water Cooling by Brita Filtration
 
SnowboardingTobi
Gerbil Team Leader
Posts: 276
Joined: Wed May 21, 2003 10:56 am
Location: in your house, on the toilet, reading the newspaper
Contact:

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:39 pm

Aperture priority (Av) when ambient lighting is good or when using a flash for fill. This is like 95% of my shooting.

Shutter priority (Tv) set to the highest x-sync when ambient lighting is bad and I'm dependent on the flash for primary lighting, but I only do this for taking pictures of people. If I can get away with using aperture priority, I would, but gotta watch the shutter speed. I'll bump the ISO up just to shoot in Av if I can, but won't go too high as it becomes a trade off between noise and overall exposure. FYI: Av mode with a flash on Canons will attempt to expose for the background, which could mean slower shutter speeds -- from the folks I've helped, a lot of them don't seem to realize that one.

Bulb mode if I'm shooting something that needs more than 30" of exposure (e.g. star trails).

I've never shot in manual mode for the types of pictures I do. It's slow to work with and seems a bit pointless with Av and Tv modes already there for use. I'll dial in EC when in those modes if needed. If for some reason I need more than +-2EV EC then I guess I'd have no choice but to switch to manual, but I haven't come across that yet in all my years of photography. I guess it's good to work in it when you're first learning about photography, but once you understand how ISO, aperture, and shutter all determine exposure, it's pointless to me to keep shooting in manual.

The only time my camera gets set to program mode is if I'm handing the camera off to someone who doesn't know how to use it, which is basically everyone I've ever handed the camera off to. haha
///_-)
 
Voldenuit
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2888
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2005 11:10 pm

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Tue Jul 27, 2010 4:08 am

ludi wrote:
Haven't experimented much with the Shutter Priority setting yet although I probably should. My wide-aperture lenses are all primes, so I can lock in the reciprocal easily enough, but I don't always want the lens to go to fully open if it's going to cost me some sharpness or make the depth-of-field too shallow. If the subject isn't moving much, I would rather dial the shutter down below the reciprocal and then use a railing or some other stationary object as an impromptu monopod.


Ah, I guess one of the "advantages" of shooting Micro Four Thirds is I never have to worry about having too little depth of field :P .
Wind, Sand and Stars.
 
Aphasia
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3710
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Solna/Sweden
Contact:

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Tue Jul 27, 2010 1:21 pm

Av is my primary shooting mode, M is the secondary shooting mode.
 
wasser
Gerbil
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2010 4:52 pm

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:01 am

I'm probably evenly split between Av and M. M is required for all my fully manual lenses.

Voldenuit wrote:
Isn't M a little slow for candids? I'll use M if I'm shooting with a flash, since the flash will dial in the correct illumination for me in TTL mode. But if I need to capture the moment and don't have time to adjust exposure indoors, I find that S is my best bet, combined with autoISO (the camera will usually go for the largest aperture in these situations anyway). Then again, I shoot with primes, so I always know what reciprocal I need to use for shutter speed. It might be slightly more tricky with a zoom (not to mention that most consumer zooms are too slow for indoor shooting). Unfortunately, my camera disables autoISO in M mode, which means I can't use this approach when using an adapted legacy lens.


On the contrary, manual can be quite fast. If the lighting is constant then you can basically set it and forget it.
 
continuum
Gerbil Team Leader
Posts: 237
Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2003 1:42 am
Location: California

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:32 am

Aperture priority for most of my shooting. Full manual with the flash, usually. Actually full manual happens decently often.

On the P&S, usually also in aperture priority, although fairly often in regular automatic P(rogram), as I find Program often defaults to fully open at f2.0, and often I prefer it stopped down to f2.8 or f4ish as the lens is noticeably sharper stopped down a bit, so I often leave Aperture priority set to f2.8 or f4 or f4.5 or whatever and then flip back to Program if I want to shoot at f2.
 
krazyboi
Gerbil First Class
Posts: 101
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 12:26 am
Location: Texas

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Fri Aug 13, 2010 1:14 am

Skrying wrote:
A. Almost always.


same here....
"Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you."
 
bhtooefr
Lord High Gerbil
Posts: 8198
Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2004 11:20 am
Location: Newark, OH
Contact:

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Tue Aug 17, 2010 4:28 am

My P&S's "manual" mode is really program auto, so that's what I shoot in.

My film SLR, I usually shoot in program auto or shutter priority, although I have done some in aperture priority. Felt no need whatsoever to go full manual, and being film, a bad shot is wasted money (both on film and on processing,) and generally when I take a shot in one of the more automated modes, I get what I want.
Image
 
wasser
Gerbil
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2010 4:52 pm

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:35 pm

The OP mentioned "mode" and I completely disregarded my film camera: it has no modes.

My SLR is a Pentax Spotmatic and it's completely "manual"; there is no option. ;)
 
JustAnEngineer
Gerbil God
Posts: 19673
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: The Heart of Dixie

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Tue Aug 17, 2010 5:09 pm

The Pentax Super Program and the Canon EOS 10s both work in Program auto or Aperture priority, but the whole world has moved to digital, so I only thought of the EOS 40D.
 
Hance
Darth Gerbil
Posts: 7775
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2003 1:58 pm
Location: Grace Idaho
Contact:

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Mon Sep 06, 2010 10:06 am

I use P mode most of the time. If I want a certain effect then I change to what ever more I need.
 
Chun¢
Gerbil XP
Posts: 454
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2008 7:46 pm

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Mon Sep 06, 2010 10:19 am

M probably.
Image
 
danny e.
Maximum Gerbil
Posts: 4444
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 3:09 pm
Location: Indonesia/Nebraska/Wisconsin

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:21 pm

danny e. wrote:
I use M exclusively
.. usually because i want control of aperture and shutter speed constantly.

just recently started trying out Av mode just to see if it'd do ok. not too bad so far.
I decided to give it a try because there have been several times in M mode where I swing the camera around taking pics and forget to check the lighting so get several shots over exposed / under exposed before I notice I didnt change my shutter speed.
You don't have to feel safe to feel unafraid.
 
bthylafh
Maximum Gerbil
Posts: 4320
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2003 11:55 pm
Location: Southwest Missouri, USA

Re: What shooting mode do you use most often?

Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:34 pm

Bolt action. :D
Hakkaa päälle!
i7-8700K|Asus Z-370 Pro|32GB DDR4|Asus Radeon RX-580|Samsung 960 EVO 1TB|1988 Model M||Logitech MX 518 & F310|Samsung C24FG70|Dell 2209WA|ATH-M50x

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
GZIP: On