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I've switched to P mode.

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I use an A710, but I guess it may apply to most Canons...

I was shooting in Av mode, like most people, to keep the aperture at f/4. But I then decided to test P mode to see what combinations it was selecting for various lighting levels.

What I found is that the camera will select f/4 for speed of 1/60 and faster. As light levels drop, it holds 1/60 while opening the aperture. Then, at f/2.8 it will start to extend the speed.

I thought about that for a moment and concluded that it's close enough to perfect. So now I'm shooting in P mode. This allows me to press the EC button after turning the camera on, and leave the camera in EC and not have to worry about opening the aperture in a low-light situation.

So I recommend testing your P mode to see if it selects the same combinations that you would select in a range of light levels.

.
 
I have found no reason to use other than P mode and I used it on G7, G9 and the G10 I have had for well over a year. It will pick the right aperture and does a great job for me. Good luck.
--

 
With my Canon and Sony cameras, I rarely use anything but P mode, except for a few Anti-Blur and Twilight mode shots, when appropriate with the Sony. I can choose which settings I want to manually vary and let the camera decide on the others. I think it's a mistake to try to manually set them all, as something usually ends up out of balance. I might manually lock the ISO at its lowest point in daylight, move the EV down a click and the camera picks the best F-stop and shutter speed, to match my settings.

Steve McDonald
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22121562@N00/
http://www.vimeo.com/user458315/videos



http://video.yahoo.com/people/4019627
 
Thanks for excellent tip and comments everyone - trying my G11 hard next week - just want to see Aperture never going above f5.6 and never over 2.8 when light is low ..

Not too much to ask I guess ..
--
Visiting the Absences. Architecting the Obscure,
http://nightlight.zenfolio.com
 
I always use the P mode with my G11, both outdoors and indoors, and merely adjust the ISO speed according to the existing light. I find that 95% of the time f/4 - 4.5 (lenses' sweet spot) comes up, especially outdoors in sunny/bright conditions. I also set my G11 EV control to -1 to prevent blown highlights.

I use ISO 80 when shooting outdoors in sunny conditions and ISO 100/200 in cloudy conditions. I rarely shoot indoors, but when I do I generally set the ISO speed to 400 or 800 depending on the available light.

Less is more!

--
Digart
 
I rarely use anything but P mode on my SX2is and SX10is. There is vertually no reason to assume one can improve on the factory defaults exept in very unusual conditions and for those few times it is imparative to have those manual inputs.

I do find that -1/3 exposure setting helps with highlight retention and of course auto mode is to be avoided as is auto iso. Canon does a very good job without monkeying around with adjustments.
 
--I like using "P" on my G11 as it does a great job most of the time... In "P" mode you can still adjust what is most important:

ISO- 80 daytime.... And I try not to exceed ISO 400 with flash and ISO 800 in lower light no flash...
Exceptions using high ISO with some night street photography hand held no flash.

EV ---- based on histogram information provided... (-1 to -1 1/3) daylight to control highlights... Again based on histogram display...

Flash power ----I keep my flash at (-2) most of the time and I prefer "slow sync" to get a more natural look pulling in the ambient lighting... When not using slow sync, and direct flash off of camera, the images look flat... Try shooting both ways amd see what you prefer......

Tripod night shots: I would go all Manual mode and bracket my highlights, midrange, and shadows for a stack and blend technique...

Vaughn T. Winfree

'Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening.
Love like you've never been hurt and live like it's
heaven on earth.' --Mark Twain
 
Thanks Vaughn for the tip regarding SlowSync with the flash. I have been trying to get more ambient light into my flash photos for awhile- and I had no idea that was what Slow Sync was for. I tried it out and it was exactly what I had been searching for. Thanks again for the tip!

--
Daniel
http://www.natureatcloserange.com
 
--You are welcome...

Just be mindful that you have to hold the camera still during the entire shot and it should be ok....
Vaughn T. Winfree

'Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening.
Love like you've never been hurt and live like it's
heaven on earth.' --Mark Twain
 
In the past, (before digital) the testing of equipment, would show the relationship between the f stop and shutter used. Looking at the chart would let you know at what point the shutter speed changed along with the the appropriate f stop.Then you knew, what was going to happen.

With the advent of digital, most of the old knowledge was imo thrown out and every thing left to electronics. Lately, I have a seen that people are once again becoming interested in what is happening to produce a good photo.

Think that I may of gotten off the subject a bit. Just think for a moment, if you have to use a 'light meter' and figure out the exposure that you want. How many would do so.
--
'just my humble opinion'

Gor
 
On my G11 as well as on my DSLR, I shhot P mode about 90% of the time. I only switch when I am looking to solve a special problem or obtain a special effect. Once I set all of my personal P mode parameters, I am able to just concentrate on the shot.
--
Bob
 
Right on.
--
Don V. Armitage
 
i think the obsession with the biggest possible aperture -which seems the reason for P- is a consequence of the fashionability of the higer-ISO-induced-noise-is-horrible in compacts discussion. But there are very valid creative reasons to sometimes use other modes. Don't be slaves to the noise argument, camera evaluations have gone obsessive about any sort of noise, but sometimes it is cool and desirable to shoot otherwise. Heck, I introduce noise and blur with Photoshop on quite a few of my shots - no one else? Really?

P mode is great for indoor snapshots with compacts 90% of the time. But I am not so sure it is the right thing to advocate for creative photography in quite as many situations. I will regularly shoot on highly noisy ISO1600 or so for creative reasons, because it is what I want (and some ladies I know think those are brilliant shots due to the soft nature and highlights and mood they capture) :-D
 
I mostly shoot P mode in bright conditions. For low light, I like TV mode better. I would adj the shutter speed up or down depending on the stillness of the subject. For your info, P modes will set shutter at 1/30" in low light and TV mode can duplicate that and be flexible according to different scenes.
 
HODSO said:
In the past, (before digital) the testing of equipment, would show the relationship between the f stop and shutter used. Looking at the chart would let you know at what point the shutter speed changed along with the the appropriate f stop.Then you knew, what was going to happen.

With the advent of digital, most of the old knowledge was imo thrown out and every thing left to electronics. Lately, I have a seen that people are once again becoming interested in what is happening to produce a good photo.

Think that I may of gotten off the subject a bit. Just think for a moment, if you have to use a 'light meter' and figure out the exposure that you want. How many would do so.
--
'just my humble opinion'

Gor
Click to expand...
In the past I have done photography for decades with a light meter (the unbeatable Sekonic Studio DeLuxe 398) and a full manual camera. Now that I am switched to digital I shoot most of the time in P mode but always look what the camera has chosen for shutter speed and aperture. I must admit that the camera does a great job in 90% of the time and for the other 10% I use my manual-camer-experience to adjust.
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joharis/
 
Try complete AUTO
Look at LCD
Don't like
Change
95% of time
Auto will do it

Love Vjim
 
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