Camera set different shutter speed in manual

<p>Besides from auto bracketing can you think of any settings that cause a typical modern Nikon DSLR to set its shutter speed different from the user input in manual mode?</p>

<p>Did you check to see if bracketing was turned on?</p>

<p>Flash sync speed?</p>

<p>Exposure compensation?</p>

<p>On some cameras, when a set value is outside the 'proper' exposure, values may be slid up or down. What model are you finding this on?</p>

<p>I had that happen on my D800 when I accidentally had it set on auto ISO. I went to the manual and took the camera off auto ISO and the problem went away. </p>

<p>James: Are you sure that happened in manual mode? I just checked my D810 and the time setting for auto ISO is ignored in manual mode there (though not in, for example, aperture priority). It's possible this changed between the D800 and D810.</p>

<p>Too much Whiskey? :)</p>

BeBu, did you actually experience this problem or you are merely asking a hypothetical question? If you actually

experienced it, how far off was the actual shutter speed from the setting?

<p>Well Shun I saw a post in the other forum. The poster said he was using a D810 and a SB910. Everytime he attached the flash the shutter speed went down to less than 1/60 although he manually set the shutter speed at 1/250. So it's kind of a hypothethical question. I only own the D70s and the Df and neither would do that.</p>

<p>James I don't own a D810 but I believe if you set auto ISO and the light is too dark it would increase the ISO and if the light is too bright it would decrease the ISO. It won't change the manually set shutter speed. </p>

<p>BeBu, thanks for the clarification. Now we know that someone we probably don't know encountered this problem. (And that person could be a beginner or at least someone who is not familiar with Nikon or that specific camera, which turns out to be a D810. Or perhaps that person might indeed have a few drinks too many .... :-) )<br /> And more importantly, a flash is involved.</p>

<p>I have neither a D810 nor a Df, but most likely it works that same way on the Df. Try to adjust Custom Settings e1 and e2. e1 specifies the fastest shutter speed for flash sync and e2 specifies the slowest. For example, if you set those to 1/60 sec and 1/15 sec, respectively, the camera will ignore your manual shutter speed setting should you choose something faster than 1/60 sec when you mount a Nikon SB-nnn flash onto the hot shoe and switch it on.</p>

<p>If you switch the flash off, the e1 limitation for the fastest shutter speed goes away, replaced by the fastest shutter speed that camera is capable of.</p>

<p>I was using the D800 in manual mode when I tried to place an object in the middle of the tone range or zone V equivalent in color. I wanted the background to go dark. No mater what I tried the camera would raise the ISO to include the background detail. As an old black and white zone system photographer, I apply the same principles to digital photography. As mentioned earlier when I took the camera off auto iso the problem ceased. I was not using flash. When I use the built in flash the camera automatically sets the shutter speed to 1/60 of a second. I haven't tried to change it although I can see when using mixed lighting that would be useful. </p>

James: yes, auto iso still works in manual mode (I

usually work like this - I control the shutter and aperture I

want and let iso float using exposure compensation). I

should probably use aperture priority more, but I find it a

bit painful to assist the shutter speed limit (huh, that

would be a good "easy" mode, like iso and ec). It's just

the shutter speed limit part of auto iso that doesn't do

anything in manual.

 

And ah, flash. Yes, I believe the flash speed limit theory. I

don't really trust auto anything in flash (except the flash

exposure, sometimes). Auto iso in particular appears to

behave very strangely and probably unhelpfully when

mixed with flash.

<p>I experience something like this regularly with my D800 set on manual. It occurs when I'm taking pictures of objects, tripod + live view + ISO 100 + manual focus + timer.</p>

<p>I like this set up because I can "see" what the exposure will look like in live view. Ok all that sounds fine doesn't it? but this happens quite often, I take the first picture, play back comes up for a short while and the camera reverts to live view, but quite often looks as if the exposure has changed i.e looks much darker even though no dials have been touched.</p>

<p>I've learned to live it but it is quite confusing</p>

<p>I wonder what happens if you set the speed 1/1000 by the speed dial and use the Df with SB910 turning on.</p>

Clive: are you pressing the ok button in live view to turn

on exposure emulation? Otherwise the camera uses

auto exposure in live view so that it makes sure(ish) you

can see to focus.

<p>thanks Andrew - but I'm still puzzled, everything in manual and the camera ignores it, or at least on the screen, is that right, I'll try what you suggest when I get a mo</p>

 

<p>Pretty much, yes, Clive. I believe the idea is that you're probably using live view to check focus, and so you likely want the equivalent of what the viewfinder gives you for doing the same thing (a wide open view). Particularly if you're doing flash shooting the exposure with the flash off might be very dark. Poking "ok" is like pressing the DoF preview button. There are some limits on how well the camera will emulate the exposure in either case - bear in mind that in live view the shutter speed is limited in order to keep the refresh rate up (although actually I'd happily accept a lower refresh rate in return for a better match, or the ability to view independent quadrants on the display rather than two aligned halves). This behaviour changed between the D700 and D800, I believe. The D800 has other live view issues (half resolution at maximum zoom and hanging until the image is written out) that got solved on the D810, and were part of my reason to upgrade - which doesn't mean it's not usable, of course. Please experiment, though - I may not be reporting the behaviour perfectly.</p>

<p>Thanks Shun! I don't have a compatible flash unit to try and I am not going to buy one just to test it. However, I think it's strange that Nikon allows a camera in manual mode to change shutter speed when the flash is attached. Even if the user chose slow sync Nikon should only allow the camera to automatically changes the shutter speed in A or P mode. And in the case if I set my shutter speed to 1/1000 it should not correct me and let take a partial exposure due to too high shutter speed.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I wonder what happens if you set the speed 1/1000 by the speed dial and use the Df with SB910 turning on.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Again, Custom Setting e1, among other settings, controls that.</p>

<p>I have never run into this issue myself since I set e1 to allow FP sync, hence there is no upper limit to the flash sync speed. With FP sync, I can easily use 1/500 sec, 1/1000 sec, etc. but with reduced flash power. The faster the shutter speed, the further flash power will be reduced.</p>

<p>To me, it is important that Nikon lets me select the shutter speed in M mode while using a flash. If I want a balanced contribution from ambient light, I use 1/30 or 1/60 sec to brighten up the dark areas farther away, beyond the flash's reach. If I need to freeze action, I want to reduce the contribution from ambient light and therefore I would select 1/250 sec or perhaps even faster if necessary.</p>

<p>BeBu, do you have any hot-shoe flash at all? I haven't tried it, but perhaps when a Nikon DSLR can detect any flash, it will trigger the effect from the e1 setting.</p>

<p>Shun! I have a number of hot shoe flashes including the Nikon SB-15 and SB-16b but my Df doesn't recognize either one of them that is it doesn't know if that flash is attached although it would fire the flash.</p>

<p>I tried the SB-15 on the D70s in this case it recognize the flash. It turned on the flash ready light and set the shutter speed to 1/60 but only in A or P mode not on M mode. It would work with the flash in Auto or M but not in TTL. In TTL it simply doesn't take the picture. </p>

<p>Out of curiosity, I tried my old SB-24 flash on the D750. The e1 settings have no effect with the SB-24. Apparently you need an i-TTL-compatible, i.e. SB- with 3 or 4-digit model numbers, for the e1 settings to take effect.</p>

<p>Well Shun! With your D750 and a newer SB does the E1 setting has an effect if the camera is in manual mode?</p>