Aperture priority and speedlites

[Colin Southern]

Wow 6!!! I can just wish! Just to be clear Collin. Adjusting EC and FEC in AV mode, right?

One "l" in "Colin"

You can adjust it in any mode, but most 'togs use Av mode because they need aperture control more than they need shutterspeed control.

The 6 are used most often as 2 groups of 3 in a Lightware 4-Square; lots of power, but can still use HSS which means wider apertures and tighter DoF during daylight shoots, eg

1/3200 @ F2.8

[Joselito]

I am sorry about the extra "l" Colin. I have a nephew named Collins, maybe that is where I got it. Force of habit. The reason I asked is because when I am in manual mode, I could not make any adjustments in EC. I went back to the manual and tried what it instructs but I still could not adjust it in manual mode. I will try to go back to it again (read the manual) and see if I missed something.

Hopefully with the help of the members of CiC, I could also capture pictures like yours.

Thanks!

[Gorilla]

Hi there - I'm seeing what might be a truncated version of this discussion, and I am new to this site/forum, so please forgive me if I'm raising something you already discussed.

In Aperture, you can control the Exposure Value by making EC adjustments. In Manual, there is no "EC adjustment" button/combo of buttons. There are only the elemental exposure adjustments, which you can make by a) changing the size of your aperture b) changing the shutter speed c) changing the ISO. If you are in Manual and adjust any of these elements, your exposure will change accordingly. In my Canons, you can watch these manual mode adjustments in your viewfinder (or you could memorize the stops - strongly advised - and not even have to look at the viewfinder to confirm/assess the change you made)

For example:

In Aperture priority mode, with a fixed ISO, if you make a +1 EC, then the camera will slow the shutter speed by one stop (say, from 1/400th second to 1/200th of a second).

In Manual mode, if you do not change the aperture or ISO, and you change the shutter speed from 1/400 to 1/200, then you will have added 1 stop of light - the same as +1 EC in Aperture priority mode.

Aperture priority works well in many situations, and after mastering the the EC control, at times it is often all you need. However, Manual mode is far more flexible. Say your shooting a reception in relatively low light. In Aperture priority, you may try to bump up the exposure value by adding, say, +1 EC. But the camera hass already calculated a relatively slow shutter speed (let's say 1/60th second). In Aperture priority, if you add +1 EC you are telling the camera to use a shutter speed of 1/30th - and now you have significant risk of unacceptable blur in the shot. In Manaul mode, you can keep your shutter speed acceptable, open your Aperture, adjust your ISO (and of course, use a flash!)

[Geoff F]

And when you use a flash with manual camera settings you can adjust the flash output compensation which gives the same controllable variability as using exposure compensation when shooting in aperture or shutter priority.

Providing you are using the flash in ETTL mode. And it is one of the modern 'auto thinking' flash units which has this option.

[Colin Southern]

In Aperture, you can control the Exposure Value by making EC adjustments. In Manual, there is no "EC adjustment" button/combo of buttons.

It depends on the model; normally EC in manual exposure mode is moot, but it becomes essential when using in combination with auto-ISO (or everything gets recorded as a standard exposure regardless of what you wanted).

[William W]

. . . Aperture priority works well in many situations, and after mastering the the EC control, at times it is often all you need. However, Manual mode is far more flexible. Say your shooting a reception in relatively low light. In Aperture priority, you may try to bump up the exposure value by adding, say, +1 EC. But the camera hass already calculated a relatively slow shutter speed (let's say 1/60th second). In Aperture priority, if you add +1 EC you are telling the camera to use a shutter speed of 1/30th - and now you have significant risk of unacceptable blur in the shot. In Manaul mode, you can keep your shutter speed acceptable, open your Aperture, adjust your ISO (and of course, use a flash!)

No, not really.
Manual mode is not “more flexible”. The functionality might be easier or more convenient for one person to use: but of itself the MODE is not “more flexible”.

Given the example above manual mode is stated to be ‘more flexible’ because: “In Manual mode, you can keep your shutter speed acceptable, open your Aperture, adjust your ISO (and of course, use a flash!)”

In Av Mode you can ALSO adjust the Aperture to keep the Shutter Speed acceptable and ALSO you can adjust the ISO.

The only difference between using the two modes is the knob/button functionality to make the changes.

This is commonly stated that Manual Mode more is "more flexible" or "has more options" - it isn't and it doesn't - it has a different FUNCTIONALITY to Av Tv and P Modes, but the same results can be got, just via a different route.

WW

[Colin Southern]

To add to Bills post, at the end of the day, certain apertures, shutter speeds, and ISOs with produce certain results. A shutterspeed of 1/100th @ F4 @ ISO 400 will give exactly the same result whether those settings are obtained in AV mode or manual mode.

As with any tool, the "trick" is in understanding how to use it properly; Some will bemoan using Av mode "because inside at a concert it gives them shutterspeeds of 1/4 of a second which is too slow". In contrast - in manual mode - they can "over-ride that" and have a shutter speed of 1/100th ... and a background that looks like it was shot inside a cave on a dark night; Av mode is selecting the slow shutterspeed because that's what's needed for a standard background exposure - and that's how Av mode works. If one wants a standard background exposure at 1/100th in manual exposure mode then they'd better be prepared to crank up the ISO considerably; no surprises there. But - surprise surprise - crank up the ISO to the same value and Av mode will give you exactly the same exposure.

I quite often read of people "preferring manual exposure" and "preferring manual focus"; to me - for the most part - it's crazy; auto-focus is usually going to be faster and more accurate if you know how to use it and the same goes for the automatic exposure modes. I'm not trying to knock manual exposure mode (I use it often when shooting landscape) (but I'm shooting in very controlled conditions and am hyper-aware of the exposures that I'm getting); in contrast, if I'm shooting "out and about" then manual mode would be the last mode I'd be wanting - when the difference between shooting someone in the shade -v- someone in the sun could be 3 stops, why would I want to risk my exposures being all over the place - or make a whole lot of extra work for myself when I have the automation available to me?

So I always say to people "don't be afraid of the automation" - automation is our friend - but - like any tool, one needs to understand how it works - how to use it - it's strengths - it's weaknesses. It's not "hard", but it does take experience -- and unfortunately -- using a flash adds a whole new layer of complexity to master, but hey, that's just part of the game; mastering it takes time, but that's how the pros get the good shots when everyone else has thrown their arms up in disgust and gone home.

I'd encourage anyone who's not convinced to do a bit of research into Joe McNally's shots; killer shots from a master of flash lighting. Coincidence? I think not.

[William W]

To add to Colin's Post:

Whether the choice is to use M Mode; Tv Mode (S Mode for Nikon); Av Mode (A Mode for Nikon) or P Mode – in a nearly ALL circumstances the Photographer uses the TTL Meter as THE MAJOR integral step to the exposure.

It occurs to me that there is much MUCH more chatter about what CAMERA MODE to use and very little emphasis placed upon: knowing; understanding and then CHOOSING what METERING MODE to use.

*

. . . I quite often read of people "preferring manual exposure" and "preferring manual focus"; to me - for the most part - it's crazy; auto-focus is usually going to be faster and more accurate if you know how to use it and the same goes for the automatic exposure modes. . .

I agree and I hope I have never phased it such. I have said many times that I use Manual Mode (M Mode) more often than I use any other Camera Mode: but I don’t think I have generalized, “I prefer . . .”

I think that one really good set of four questions to ask is: “Why did you CHOOSE that particular: Camera Mode; Metering Mode; White Balance Mode and Capture form?
The answers are often very revealing.

In respect to the Original Question: for that particular type of shooting scenario (with camera mounted Flash) I would usually use Manual Camera Mode, because in such circumstances I am usually shooting on the hop and through varying lighting conditions and switching from Flash as Fill to Flash as Key: in these cases the functionality of using MY Cameras in M Mode and riding the FEC works best for my Brain to compute; my Eye (to read the Exposure Meter in the Viewfinder) and my Fingers and Thumb on the Controls.

WW