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EOS R3 / R5 / R6 - let's talk about Av vs Fv

Started Feb 24, 2022 | Discussions
Horrgakx
Horrgakx Regular Member • Posts: 387
EOS R3 / R5 / R6 - let's talk about Av vs Fv
1

Aperture Priority vs Flexible Priority.

The manual says about Fv; "In this mode, you can set shutter speed, aperture value, and ISO speed manually or automatically and combine these settings with your choice of exposure compensation.".

I want to understand this more so has anyone got any real-life examples where they've preferred using Fv over Av ... and why?

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quadrox Senior Member • Posts: 1,382
Re: EOS R3 - let's talk about Av vs Fv
1

Horrgakx wrote:

Aperture Priority vs Flexible Priority.

The manual says about Fv; "In this mode, you can set shutter speed, aperture value, and ISO speed manually or automatically and combine these settings with your choice of exposure compensation.".

I want to understand this more so has anyone got any real-life examples where they've preferred using Fv over Av ... and why?

It's really quite simple:

The advantage of Fv is that you can decide on the fly which settings to automate and which to choose manually. The disadvantage is that changing settings is a bit more complicated since you first have to select which setting you want to modify.

The advantage of Av is that it is simpler/faster to understand and use. The disadvantage is that it can only do one thing - aperture priority.

So if you know exactly which setting needs to be fixed - e.g. if you are doing a sport/action shoot and *always* need a fast manual shutter speed, you will prefer to use e.g. the S mode. Or for portraits you may prefer the Av mode.

If your subject/theme is not fixed and you may want to switch things up, then Fv can be useful.

Finally, Fv will *not* respect your shutter speed limits if you have any configured, at least not on the R5. Why that is, I have no idea.

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birdbrain
birdbrain Veteran Member • Posts: 4,259
Re: EOS R3 / R5 / R6 - let's talk about Av vs Fv
1

Horrgakx wrote:

Aperture Priority vs Flexible Priority.

The manual says about Fv; "In this mode, you can set shutter speed, aperture value, and ISO speed manually or automatically and combine these settings with your choice of exposure compensation.".

I want to understand this more so has anyone got any real-life examples where they've preferred using Fv over Av ... and why?

Air Shows.

I want a shutter speed of 1/250 or slower for decent prop blur, aperture f8 as the sweet point of the lens, auto ISO as the exposure can vary dramatically as you pan with the plane across the sky, an exposure compensation as the subject, the plane, can be heavily backlit.

I used to use manual on the 7D2 but there can be just too much light for 1/250, f8 at ISO 100. So adjustment is needed 😬

It’s quite quick as one dial switches the item to adjust, while another adjusts it. Like cranking the shutter speed up for jets. I quite liked it when I tried it at my first R5 air-show.

Most other times I shoot in AV, in the ISO Shutter setting, I crank that up to +1 when using the 100-500 with 1.4x or 2x adapter, or tye 600 f11.

FV is a new way of working and offers some advantages in certain shooting situations.

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Dan W Senior Member • Posts: 1,154
Re: EOS R3 / R5 / R6 - let's talk about Av vs Fv
1

Horrgakx wrote:

Aperture Priority vs Flexible Priority.

The manual says about Fv; "In this mode, you can set shutter speed, aperture value, and ISO speed manually or automatically and combine these settings with your choice of exposure compensation.".

I want to understand this more so has anyone got any real-life examples where they've preferred using Fv over Av ... and why?

I tried to like it, I really did but just couldn't get comfortable with Fv. I typically shoot in Av or Manual modes. So for me Fv just didn't work for me. I would have to think about getting back into Av mode or whatever. But a lot of folks love the mode... Its there if you want it, or you can disable it in the menu so you never even see that mode if you hate it.

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robgendreau Forum Pro • Posts: 10,917
Re: EOS R3 / R5 / R6 - let's talk about Av vs Fv
1

It's not anything that you can't do with other buttons/dials/menus, just sort of one stop shopping. Av is one kind of priority; this lets you mix and match.

I haven't been using it that extensively, but did use something similar on my Pentax a lot. Saved me the trouble of going back to the dial and selecting alternately Av or Tv depending on my needs. When used with a WYSIWYG preview in the EVF you can change around settings to get say different exposures and looks without having to go up to the dial.

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G Rash Senior Member • Posts: 2,890
Re: EOS R3 / R5 / R6 - let's talk about Av vs Fv
1

I am a big fan of Fv.  I've used Nikon, Fuji and Sony (among others) in addition to Canon and Fv is by far my favorite mode because it allows every mode, from fully manual to full automatic quite quickly.

Fv mode, the ergonomics of the R5/R6 bodies and finally catching up to Sony for tracking AF are the things that brought me back to Canon.

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Horrgakx
OP Horrgakx Regular Member • Posts: 387
Re: EOS R3 / R5 / R6 - let's talk about Av vs Fv
2

Some good, varied opinions, thanks for posting.

For the moment I prefer to switch between the modes manually, since a degree of manual mode-switching has to be done in Fv anyway I'm struggling to see a huge advantage.

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Sittatunga Veteran Member • Posts: 5,406
Re: EOS R3 - let's talk about Av vs Fv
1
  1. quadrox wrote:

Horrgakx wrote:

Aperture Priority vs Flexible Priority.

The manual says about Fv; "In this mode, you can set shutter speed, aperture value, and ISO speed manually or automatically and combine these settings with your choice of exposure compensation.".

I want to understand this more so has anyone got any real-life examples where they've preferred using Fv over Av ... and why?

It's really quite simple:

The advantage of Fv is that you can decide on the fly which settings to automate and which to choose manually. The disadvantage is that changing settings is a bit more complicated since you first have to select which setting you want to modify.

Conversely, changing settings is simpler because you don't have to change your grip to find and use the exposure compensation or ISO setting dials because your thumb is already on the rear dial and it's just one or two clicks to the right with your thumb to adjust either, using the same wheel you were setting the aperture with. I use Fv as a super Av mode on the EOS R.

The advantage of Av is that it is simpler/faster to understand and use. The disadvantage is that it can only do one thing - aperture priority.

So if you know exactly which setting needs to be fixed - e.g. if you are doing a sport/action shoot and *always* need a fast manual shutter speed, you will prefer to use e.g. the S mode. Or for portraits you may prefer the Av mode.

If your subject/theme is not fixed and you may want to switch things up, then Fv can be useful.

Finally, Fv will *not* respect your shutter speed limits if you have any configured, at least not on the R5. Why that is, I have no idea.

Fv does respect the overall shutter speed range you set in C.Fn2:Exposure, but not the minimum shutter speed you set in SHOOT3 ISO speed settings - it falls back on Canon's traditional 1/f shutter speed. I don't find the SHOOT3 ISO speed settings very useful as I shoot a wide variety of subjects, so checking this menu item at the start of every session is more inconvenient to me than keeping an eye on the shutter speed or using Tv mode. I seem to be in a minority here.

The other two things Fv mode won't do are the B setting (neither will M mode, B is a mode all to itself) and it won't give you metered manual exposure. The exposure compensation scale resolutely remains that, even though it's redundant when you take control of shutter speed, aperture and ISO all at the same time.

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