what mode do you guys typically shoot in? full, AV, TV, M?

LNJ Photography wrote in post #11183930
To me, IMHO, no matter what any one else tells you, if you shoot in anything but Manual then you allow your camera to make the decision on what your picture looks like....You and your camera are parners, its job is to collect the data you tell it to. You do this in manual.

jmo

I very much disagree. While I grew up exclusively with M and I'm very comfortable with it, I now shoot most of my non-flash day in AV. But I still make all the decisions regarding EC via the thumbwheel. All the men in black; dial exposure up about a stop. Bright window in the background; dial exposure down maybe a stop and half. I find AV faster and easier throughout much of the day, but in no way am I on auto-pilot when it comes to exposure.

Peacefield wrote in post #11194733
I very much disagree. While I grew up exclusively with M and I'm very comfortable with it, I now shoot most of my non-flash day in AV. But I still make all the decisions regarding EC via the thumbwheel. All the men in black; dial exposure up about a stop. Bright window in the background; dial exposure down maybe a stop and half. I find AV faster and easier throughout much of the day, but in no way am I on auto-pilot when it comes to exposure.

definitely agree with this! i ride the exposure wheel as well but i couldnt imagine how slow and how many 'magic moments' i'd be missing using manual.. see a nice smile or laugh about to happen and my camera automatically goes to my eye ready to fire, how can u start changing shutter/ap to get the right exposure manually in such a short amount of time? i can understand how this works if you're in the one area with the same light and people are just hanging around tho

trickydan wrote in post #11195829
i couldnt imagine how slow and how many 'magic moments' i'd be missing using manual..

P has even saved my backside on occasions. I tried to do weddings on M full time but with three cameras and different lenses on the go I found that I was consulting my camera too much and losing connection to the real flow and story of the day.

highway0691 wrote in post #11196279
P has even saved my backside on occasions. I tried to do weddings on M full time but with three cameras and different lenses on the go I found that I was consulting my camera too much and losing connection to the real flow and story of the day.

I should learn to make use of the P mode. I've been too much of a photography snob to even know what it does. There have been times when I already had the camera set for some formal shots, there was an opportunity to first grab a quick fun shot unexpectedly, and it came out poorly because I couldn't take the time to understand if it was even within the exposure boundries of AV and my selected ISO. Maybe P takes over enough control to allow me to throw one dial and still get a decent shot that would have otherwise been missed.

Peacefield wrote in post #11197978
I should learn to make use of the P mode. I've been too much of a photography snob to even know what it does. There have been times when I already had the camera set for some formal shots, there was an opportunity to first grab a quick fun shot unexpectedly, and it came out poorly because I couldn't take the time to understand if it was even within the exposure boundries of AV and my selected ISO. Maybe P takes over enough control to allow me to throw one dial and still get a decent shot that would have otherwise been missed.

Isn't this what Auto ISO was invented for

I use AV mode a lot, to make sure I'm getting the depth of field I want. This means I have to have my 580EXII set to High Speed sync, since my 5D maxes out at 1/200th for full sync. There were times when I was shooting people in ever-changing lighting and I tried using the P mode to see what happened. I found that no matter the ISO my camera always shot at 1/60th if I had my flash turned on. Very annoying if you're shooting moving subjects. So I went back to AV or Manual. I do use TV a lot, actually, when I'm shooting group portraits outdoors in full sun and I want some fill light but still plenty of aperture to make sure the whole group is in focus. Then I'll set it to 1/200th and fire away. I'll also use TV mode at receptions sometimes if I want to create a cool effect like shooting at 1/20th of a second, with my flash turned on, and zooming my lenses all the way in just as I'm depressing the shutter button. Try it! Most often, for indoor shooting when I know I'll be using my speedlight quite a bit, I'll set my 5D to Manual and shoot at f2.8 at 1/125th so I know I'm getting nice DOF as well as sharp subjects because of the fast shutter. Since the flash meters separately from the camera I have a lot more latitude in my settings. The important thing to remember here is to make sure you set your Custom Functions to Average metering (CF #14 on my Canon 5D) and not Evaluative.

Phil V wrote in post #11200505
Isn't this what Auto ISO was invented for

It is, but I wouldn't use it for the rest of the day as (with all things) I'd rather have complete control and dictate ISO. Auto ISO would be great if all I had to do was press one button and go. But I've got to press the ISO button, make sure I'm turning the dial in the right direction, and back out. Yeah, I know we're talking about 5 seconds vs 2, but that can make the difference of getting a shot or not.

But if just throwing the camera into P also throws the camera into auto-ISO (and I don't know whether it does or not), that'd be a great way to ensure that the camera's settings will at least be acceptable to get the unexpected grab shots and that would take only a second.

P should be avoided really. But it has been useful as a short term fix. For eg. at a reception photographing away happily in M and your thrown into a totally different light environment to photograph a couple for perhaps one shot, under pressure, and not a really important photo at that. Then return to M, AV or whatever and back to business. Has anyone ever had a brain-freeze or has your camera gone into a temporary freeze or have you even inadvertently adjusted the dials and can't workout what the heck is going on and you must take that photo NOW!!? This is where P can help.

Manual.

RT McAllister wrote in post #11183224
I don't know how to use Av, Tv, P modes. I'm scared to death to even try.

That's not to say I'm a perfect "M" shooter though. I just feel comfortable using this mode and my fingers/thumb just know what to do. (Hard to explain).

and it really pisses me off when I accidently move it off the M to dep-f or something else.. making me think somethin broke LOL

Manual here too - mostly for consistency in exposure

Real estate I shoot full manual. Landscapes I shoot full manual or aperture priority. For sports and wildlife I shoot aperture priority. The light can change quickly when following a moving subject. I want to make sure I have the DOF I want. I set the ISO that is right for the light and I let the camera pick the shutter speed. I might need to tweak it a bit in post, but I usually get what I want this way.

M mode too, flash is set to ETTL but adjusted with FEC for a bit more or less power depending on the situation.

It's kind of funny how threads like this can tell how long a person's been shooting weddings...

P mode... You make jokes about it... 'cause they're funny... but you use it when you give up. You've been shooting under 6 months and just started reading about what Av, Tv and M are.

Swear by Av... means you've been shooting 3-12 months and haven't figured it out yet... but it's working in daylight.

Mostly Av, but sometimes M... You've figured out that Av isn't the answer to everything and you've been shooting over a year... you're just trying to stab at what the real pros are doing to get "those" results. You know that off cam lighting is important, but can't for the life of you guess why you're spending weeks processing because every shot's all over the map.

Av and M... You've been doing this a while, huh? You finally got someone to spill some beans. You finally figured out what off-cam lighting can do and you're "almost there". You're thinking about ETTL and stuff.

Manual most of the time... Av for fun... Now we're getting to the seasoned pros. These guys have been through nearly every nightmare you can think of... and failed at them the first time. You've analyzed your RAW files for weeks. You've banged your head on the desk for months at a time, but don't worry; you've found the light. You understand that it's MANUAL that is king of all. You just shoot Av when you're lazy.

Full Manual... Let's face it... you're just saying that to sound cool. You're actually probably up there with the 6 monthers.

...

If you're thinking this is funny... You've probably been shooting at least a few years... If you don't; well, here's your future.

Hint... start learning about Manual shooting and Manual off-cam flash now.

You're welcome.