Shooting modes
What do you shoot in?
I use aperture priority 99% of the time when shooting anything outside action. Most of the time my first consideration in a shoot is the DOF and background, I know the depth I want and let the camera pick the SS - I then usually adjust with ISO - the 7D allows such a high ISO I find i can gain my speed this way if needed and keep the aperture right were I want. Lately I am using allot of flash for flower and still images so SS stays around 180-250.
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bjorn
For me it depends on my goal and the light/weather. Sometimes I just walk around town pressing the shutter button, sometimes I pretend to be a sports photographer. If the light is constant I go for manual mode. Constant light for me is outside in an overcast day or inside a (dimly lit) sports arena. I don't do much studio stuff or use flash often but the same would apply if you control the light somehow. Decide what kind of image you want and adjust your settings accordingly. Any decision you leave up to the camera will be wrong sometimes.
13 May 2012
If the light changes quickly I can't keep up changing the settings on my camera. Even a bright sunny day without clouds can be challenging if you keep changing the direction you're shooting towards. In those cases I'm willing to compromise. If I'm shooting action I try to get the shutter speed right and obviously go for shutter priority. Aperture and ISO are pushed as far as required. For anything "slow" (not action) I go with aperture priority. I don't push the shutter speed beyond anything that would introduce too much blur though. I prefer to increase the ISO in that case. In any case I make some test shots and adjust my settings. Often I add some exposure compensation when using either aperture or shutter priority.
For macro and still shots you can control the light. I would go for manual in that case and bring in the gear necessary. A single off-camera flash and a tripod can make a big difference. -
kanonkop
for me, also mostly aperture priority. if i'm shooting with ND filters, or sometimes moving subjects, i use Time priority mode.
13 May 2012
Lately though, I'm using manual when i shoot landscapes. with landscapes, you've got time to play around with settings so it nice for experimenting. So in order to gain a better feel for light and exposure, i'm shooting in manual and also playing with different light metering modes -
senoch
85% - aperture, 10% - shutter and 5% - manual. I am wanting to get into lighting, so I am sure that this will change once I figure out what kind of lighting setup I want to get and start practicing.
13 May 2012 -
luc
manual, since shutter or aperture priority do not work with reverse mounted lenses :P
13 May 2012 -
kavian
@fredclarkphotography Hmm.. Well, if I need to use the shutter speed priority, then it's because I need to take a quick snapshot, which easily can get blurry if the subject is moving. :)
13 May 2012 -
justincbongers
I use Shutter priority for sports, use aperture priority when I want a certain depth of field, Manual for shoot with strobes and program on a nice day when I'm hanging out with the kid and don't care.
13 May 2012 -
fredclarkphotography
@kavian manual for sure has that advantage, more wondering about shutter speed as a priority. I shoot manual when using flash always, shooting water falls and dark ND filters I am usually manual or hard to control light. But I enjoy the speed of using a mode to get the shot fast and not miss it.
12 May 2012 -
KatiePhotographie
I am 40/60 between aperture priority and manual. I do a lot of outdoor portraits, and on cloudy days just using aperture priority works really well and allows me to get exactly the DOF I want. And since it's a portrait, shutter speed doesn't matter quite as much. But sometimes (usually on sunny days!) the camera will use a shutter speed that doesn't create the effect that I want, especially when using backlighting on a subject. So that's when I switch to manual. Take for example, the latest picture I posted (in the basketball court). I was using AV, but the camera kept picking a shutter speed that under exposed the subject, because the sun was so bright. So I switch to manual. The sun was blown out, but I got exactly what I needed for the subject. And sometimes, you WANT the image over or under exposed... and in that case, manual is definitely the way to go.
12 May 2012 -
kavian
@fredclarkphotography Because it gives you more control over the image. :)
12 May 2012 -
fredclarkphotography
@kavian I use manual with flash, because there not TTL. Why do you shoot this way?
12 May 2012 -
kavian
I usually use manual mode.. ..or shutter priority, if I don't have time to set the settings. - but mostly manual. ;)
12 May 2012