Limited shutter speed in AV mode - normal?

[teekay]

Here's something not in the G1 manual - at least not where it should be on page 60.

When in AV mode and the aperture is set to f8 I know the max speed is 1/1000 sec (as mentioned on p.60) but I have just found out the hard way that the *minimum* shutter speed at *all* apertures in this mode is 1 second. Not good when wanting max depth of field in low light :-(

Is this normal, and if so have I missed something in the manual? It wouldn't be the first time.

[shaunyc]

Hmm, I was shooting with a dark filter on the other day in Av mode and noticed that I had a red 1" indicator. Some playing about confirms that in Av mode the longest shutter speed is one second.

It's also the longest shutter speed in P mode too. If you want anything longer its Tv mode or manual mode.

And frankly, I find it much easier to use Av or Tv mode with exposure compensation than to use manual mode. Especially since the main times I use it on my film camera is when I want to balance ambient light with flash. As documented on these pages, full-power flash in manual mode is almost always a disaster.

Shaun