Advice on ideal settings in "M" mode.

[Strela]

Hi all,
I have just brought a Canon ESO 40D and would like to bring the best out of my camera when i'm taking portraits, Indoors with natural light & studio lighting, Outdoors in different lighting situations with my listed equipment below. Would you all be kind enough to advise me how to proceed with the intention to keep the best image quality I can?

Equipment: Canon 40D, 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM lens, lens hood, lens UV and polarised filters.


Kindest Regards and Many Thanks,
Kim

[Strela]

Anyone?

[bikeboynate]

It all depends on the lighting conditions. M mode takes getting used to as you have to guestimate what your SS and ISO will need to be if you want to keep your aperture the same. You would have to do the same if you want a high shutter speed but put your aperture to the lowest it will go and your ISO to make up for any darkness that may occur.

M mode has a learning curve but the more you use it the better you will get at it and the more useable shots you will have in the long run.

[sandpiper]

M mode does require some basic understanding of the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and ISO and how you need to balance them. If you have that, then simply decide on a suitable aperture, or shutter speed, for what you are attempting to achieve, and balance the other two settings to give a correct exposure.

So, if you wanted a fairly shallow depth of field, you might choose f/2.8 and want a shutter speed of "at least" 1/250th for avoiding camera shake with the focal length you are using. The meter tells you that even if you drop ISO to 100, the lighting is so bright that you would still be overexposed, so you raise the shutter speed to where it needs to be for correct exposure. Then if you wish to change any of the settings later, in the same lighting, you would need to compensate by adjusting one (or both) of the others in the opposite direction. If the light changes, then you only need adjust one setting to correct the exposure.

To get the correct exposure, meter the scene and that will give you a reasonable starting point, it may well be correct but not necessarily. Take a test shot and view the histogram on your screen, it should be centred with no extreme bunching at either end. If it is going off one end but not reaching the other the exposure needs adjusting (more exposure will move it to the right). In general it is best to "expose to the right", which means that you give as much exposure as possible without the histogram slipping significantly off the right hand edge, causing blown highlights. This may give a slightly overexposed image, but captures the most detail and can be corrected in post processing for the best result.

Don't "chase the needle" in manual (attempting to keep the meter centered at all times) as that will simply give you the same results as using a semi-auto mode, but with more effort involved.

There are no "ideal settings" we can give you, the whole point of manual is that you choose nthe settings for the lighting, the situation and what you are wanting the image to look like (DoF, motion blur, etc).

[sspellman]

Kim- the whole purpose of M Manual Mode is for the photographer to select the best exposure for the amount of light available and style of the photo. Since light conditions vary widely, there will never be ideal settings for a camera any more than there ideal settings for a stove.

[drmaxx]

Did you see this thread:
What are the general rule of thumbs for portrait photography?

Some very good links to 'How-to-pages' on the web.

[stickman513]

kim,

I found this book incredibly helpful and still refer to it from time to time. He does a fantastic job of putting it into an easy to understand context with tons of examples and different situations. It made going to "M" a no brainer.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0817439390/...hvptwo=&hvqmt=
Best,

Doug