What setting would you use?

claybreaker said:

Tom Axford said:

BAK said:

I would set the camera on P for Professional, automatic white balance, center-point autofocus with the ability to move to other settings, clickety-click instead of single shot, Servo version of autofocus, ISO 400 probably on a nice day, RAW + JPEG, no "regular" exposure compensation, minus 2/3 flash exposure compensation on the built-in flash when I need to fill in some shadows.

Camera is a T1i, which unfortunately is broken, but if I win a trip to Rome, I'd probably buy a Canon 70D, and set it the same way.

BAK

Click to expand...

What mode is P for Professional?

All my cameras have a P mode on the dial on top of the camera, but P stands for Programme (according to the manuals). Are you referring to this or something else?

Click to expand...

Say it aint so!! The only 'professional' photographer that I know of that refers to Program Mode as 'professional mode" is none other than everybody's favorite... Ken Rockwell.

I'm no pro, but I rarely shoot in Program mode. To me, it relinquished too much control to the camera. Even when I'm not too concerned about DoF, I want to control the aperture so I'm working in the "sweet spot" of the lens. I want to avoid corner unsharpness at the wide-open end and diffraction at the stopped-down end. It seems to me that pros would be even more sensitive to this, making Program mode anything but 'professional mode' for most photographic endeavors. Maybe I'm missing something.

Click to expand...

You are missing something, you just indicated why you needed to ask the original question.

In the hustle and bustle of touring or crowds where things are changing rapidly and you don't want to miss anything, nothing works better than auto to catch everything you want.

So you can either solve your original question or keep absolute control over everything the camera is doing, to achieve both similtaneously you will have to develop super powers.

Brian

brianj said:

claybreaker said:

Tom Axford said:

BAK said:

I would set the camera on P for Professional, automatic white balance, center-point autofocus with the ability to move to other settings, clickety-click instead of single shot, Servo version of autofocus, ISO 400 probably on a nice day, RAW + JPEG, no "regular" exposure compensation, minus 2/3 flash exposure compensation on the built-in flash when I need to fill in some shadows.

Camera is a T1i, which unfortunately is broken, but if I win a trip to Rome, I'd probably buy a Canon 70D, and set it the same way.

BAK

Click to expand...

What mode is P for Professional?

All my cameras have a P mode on the dial on top of the camera, but P stands for Programme (according to the manuals). Are you referring to this or something else?

Click to expand...

Say it aint so!! The only 'professional' photographer that I know of that refers to Program Mode as 'professional mode" is none other than everybody's favorite... Ken Rockwell.

I'm no pro, but I rarely shoot in Program mode. To me, it relinquished too much control to the camera. Even when I'm not too concerned about DoF, I want to control the aperture so I'm working in the "sweet spot" of the lens. I want to avoid corner unsharpness at the wide-open end and diffraction at the stopped-down end. It seems to me that pros would be even more sensitive to this, making Program mode anything but 'professional mode' for most photographic endeavors. Maybe I'm missing something.

Click to expand...

You are missing something, you just indicated why you needed to ask the original question.

In the hustle and bustle of touring or crowds where things are changing rapidly and you don't want to miss anything, nothing works better than auto to catch everything you want.

So you can either solve your original question or keep absolute control over everything the camera is doing, to achieve both similtaneously you will have to develop super powers.

Brian

Click to expand...

I don't think I'm missing anything. There are other auto modes besides Program. I would rather use Aperture Priority. And possibly put the ISO on auto if I need to deal with large variances in ambient light. It's still better than Program IMO.

And my original question was about what focus area mode to use, specifically center spot or scene . I didn't ask anything about exposure modes or parameters.

claybreaker said:

brianj said:

claybreaker said:

Tom Axford said:

BAK said:

I would set the camera on P for Professional, automatic white balance, center-point autofocus with the ability to move to other settings, clickety-click instead of single shot, Servo version of autofocus, ISO 400 probably on a nice day, RAW + JPEG, no "regular" exposure compensation, minus 2/3 flash exposure compensation on the built-in flash when I need to fill in some shadows.

Camera is a T1i, which unfortunately is broken, but if I win a trip to Rome, I'd probably buy a Canon 70D, and set it the same way.

BAK

Click to expand...

What mode is P for Professional?

All my cameras have a P mode on the dial on top of the camera, but P stands for Programme (according to the manuals). Are you referring to this or something else?

Click to expand...

Say it aint so!! The only 'professional' photographer that I know of that refers to Program Mode as 'professional mode" is none other than everybody's favorite... Ken Rockwell.

I'm no pro, but I rarely shoot in Program mode. To me, it relinquished too much control to the camera. Even when I'm not too concerned about DoF, I want to control the aperture so I'm working in the "sweet spot" of the lens. I want to avoid corner unsharpness at the wide-open end and diffraction at the stopped-down end. It seems to me that pros would be even more sensitive to this, making Program mode anything but 'professional mode' for most photographic endeavors. Maybe I'm missing something.

Click to expand...

You are missing something, you just indicated why you needed to ask the original question.

In the hustle and bustle of touring or crowds where things are changing rapidly and you don't want to miss anything, nothing works better than auto to catch everything you want.

So you can either solve your original question or keep absolute control over everything the camera is doing, to achieve both similtaneously you will have to develop super powers.

Brian

Click to expand...

I don't think I'm missing anything. There are other auto modes besides Program. I would rather use Aperture Priority. And possibly put the ISO on auto if I need to deal with large variances in ambient light. It's still better than Program IMO.

And my original question was about what focus area mode to use, specifically center spot or scene . I didn't ask anything about exposure modes or parameters.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I missed that last little bit and was answering the 90% of the question instead. I would use centre spot focus and prefocus on the desired subject then re-frame and fully press.

Brian

If my main goal is versatility and trying to get lots of keepers even with spur-of-the-moment shooting: TV mode (shutter priority)

In any other semi-automatic mode, there is a risk of the camera choosing a shutter speed that is too slow, resulting in some crappy blurred shots. I want to avoid that blurring at all costs, even if it means underexposing the shot. I shoot in RAW and fix exposure in post, whereas blur cannot really be fixed.

So I'd lock in at maybe 1/100th or whatever you think is your safe minimum handheld shutter speed is. Then I'd let the camera close down the aperture in broad daylight (making for nice, sharp outdoor shots, especially landscapes) and let it open up in the shade or indoors.

I'd probably want ISO 400 outside, and 800 inside, because I know I won't really notice the quality difference between 100 and 400 unless I'm really pixel peeping. And I know that indoors, 400 won't cut it and 800 is a minimum unless I'm using a fast prime at f/1.4 or something.

This + an image stabilized zoom lens is fairly safe and no-brainer.

claybreaker said:

Suppose you're in Rome on vacation with the family. As you tour the city, your photography may range from street photography to landscape to stills to portraits because there's so much to see. You're taking pics of everything: your kids eating gelato while walking in the street, sculptures, the coliseum, architecture, the leggy brunette in the miniskirt getting out of a Ferrari in front of the Jumeira Grand Hotel. It's crowded and the there's not much time to goof with camera settings so you set the camera on an auto or semi-auto setting. What is your preferred autofocus area? Center spot focus? Wide focus? Both have their advantages, but what would you choose?

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First, it depends a lot on the camera. Mine allow these:

I have the camera set to selective AF point; normally set to centre point but it's a couple of clicks if I want to change it. I would never trust the camera to guess what particular point I want in critical focus.

I use Av, so I can flick from wide to narrow aperture depending on the subject separation I want in a fraction of a second.

I use matrix metering on DSLR, so the camera averages what's in the scene for its exposure assumptions. I chimp often and use + or -EV correction as needed. I have luminance histogram and blinkies on instant review.

I normally use base ISO unless I know the light is dim enough to need higher ISO to give fast enough shutter speed.

I use AWB. I always shot in raw so the WB setting doesn't really matter at capture time but I find it easier if the review looks roughly right.

--
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Gerry
___________________________________________
First camera 1953, first Pentax 1985, first DSLR 2006
http://www.pbase.com/gerrywinterbourne
[email protected]

I always use center focus, actually single area focus (I move the focus box around sometimes, other times I re-compose if I need to), because cameras can only focus on one focal length and I like to be the one to decide exactly what that length will be by picking one thing at that distance from the camera.

Having visited Rome twice I would say...

When in Rome... do as romans do. ;-)

In a setting like this I practically always shoot in RAW, auto WB, shutter priority except when dof takes priority(!); multi metering, flexible spot single AF. I pick the ISO. I also use bracketing when I decide that the shot is a going to be a keeper, I want it to be perfect, and worth the effort...

Rome is a beautiful city but a word of caution: whatever else you do in Rome, watch your gear, and watch your wallet, especially on public transportation and in crowded places. There are real expert pick pockets in Rome as I've experienced first hand.

Brad Bohland said:

I always use center focus, actually single area focus (I move the focus box around sometimes, other times I re-compose if I need to), because cameras can only focus on one focal length and I like to be the one to decide exactly what that length will be by picking one thing at that distance from the camera.

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That seems to be the general consensus. I, personally, would use center spot focus and recompose while using the focus hold. I was just wondering if wide focus (or some other type) would be anybody's choice. Moving the focus box around is great for carefully composed shots when time allows, especially for tripod work. One person mentioned face recognition focus. My dslr has it, but honestly I've never really used it other than trying it out on my dog right after I bought the camera, and it worked.

Someone on another thread once said that the focus point is too important to let the camera decide, and it can't be fixed in post processing.

Brad Bohland said:

Someone on another thread once said that the focus point is too important to let the camera decide, and it can't be fixed in post processing.

Click to expand...

I'd agree with that 100% for static subjects, but for rapidly changing situations (e.g. someone getting out of a car as the OP mentioned), I have found that my own reactions are often not fast enough and the camera does better than I do on average.

Valid exception to the rule.

yardcoyote said:

I start with Auto WB, check a few shots every once in a while (or whenever I change the situation). If Auto is working, I leave it, if it isn't, I change it.

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But WB can be erroneously "corrected" by each individual shot. (sunset, red building, etc.)

Better to lock it to ambient light conditions if you don't want the color diluted.