Slow lens-Shutter vs. Aperture priority

[masoud a.]

with slow lenses which is preferred : Aperture or Shutter priority ?

 

i found shutter priority more responsive .what do you think ?

 

suggestions would be appreciated .

[sam_thompson2]

Aperture priority with auto iso on.

 

With shutter priority you might underexpose pictures. With aperture priority you will make well exposed blurry pictures or well exposed pictures with noise. I prefer the latter.

[nickwhite]

Purely a matter of personal preference.

 

I prefer to use Aperture Priority most of the time but would switch to Shutter Priority if the subject required it (eg fast moving sports). I never use Auto ISO!.

[bjørn rørslett]

The aperture setting is *the* primary tool for the photographer. It determines the pictorial outcome. There is no way the camera can know more about my intentions with a shot than I do myself. Shutter speed and aperture settings are not interchangeable variables.

[Hector Javkin]

As Bjorn says (and we all defer to him, of course, because he knows more than we do) your settings are your control of the image. That means that you want to make your settings depending on what you're you're trying to achieve. Do you want everything in focus, or part of the image out of focus? Do you want blur to indicate movement?

 

In the shot attached, I could have boosted the ISO past 200 to get a faster shutter speed but, rightly or wrongly, I wanted movement blur on the hand gesture. This was taken after watching Mr. Bradbury speak for a while.<div></div>

[ShunCheung]

It really depends on each individual shooting condition and what you would like to achieve in that particular image.

[paul_sokal___dallas__tx]

It depends on your subject and whether you're trying to control motion or DOF.

[Ed_Ingold]

I generally use Aperture priority. If the shutter speed gets too low, I bump the ISO setting. Auto-ISO is not an option - too much effect on image quality.

 

I am not averse to using shutter priority where warranted - e.g., action photography.

[mendel_leisk]

Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority exist so that you can lock-in a specific aperture or shutter speed and let the camera's automatic exposure sort out the counterpart. If it's important to maintain some shutter speed, you use Shutter Priority. If you have some aperture in mind, you use Aperture Priority.

 

I think your question is: what do people care about more, shutter speed or aperture? And, I don't the answers can be meaningful or helpful. Your preferences will vary with the shot. For what it's worth, I let my camera decide both shutter speed and aperture (full program mode), probably 95% of the time, and use full manual for the remainder.

[masoud a.]

Thanks all for replying.

[tonybeach]

Aperture priority, Shutter priority, and auto-ISO are all automatic settings where you take control of two variables and let the camera determine exposure by adjusting the third variable. I did not use auto-ISO with my D70 cameras because it was not really configurable and I could not see what is happening with it in my viewfinder; but with the D200 it is my preferred method.

 

The first consideration for me is where do I focus and how much DOF do I want to place in front and/or behind that focal point. My second consideration is what is the appropriate shutter speed given the focal length, subject motion, and the technique I'm applying to the shot (tripod, handheld, or panning). Finally, I must balance all of these against the ISO, which cannot be less than 100 (on my D200) and which I generally prefer to keep below 400 (subject matter, flash in conjunction with ambient light, and the nature of the light all play a role in whether I'm comfortable going past ISO 400 and as high as ISO 1250 or not; again this is because I choose to use a D200, other cameras would cause me to choose different ISO parameters).

[sampson]

Why would you underexpose with shutter priority and not aperture priority? The camera's meter will select the same EV value given the same scene in all automatic modes.

[calarrick]

It is possible (especially with a slow lens) that you set a shutter speed for which the lens simply cannot be opened wide enough to get an acceptable exposure, so the camera would have no choice but to underexpose.

 

With aperture priority, the camera could (at least in any reasonable situation) always set a long enough shutter speed to get the exposure for any given aperture. It might be really long, in which case your exposure will be blurry if you aren't using a tripod and/or your subject is moving... but you'll get an exposure.

[calarrick]

...and of course it depends on what you are trying to accomplish. I'd join most here in noting that (even with the hypothesized slow lens) aperture matters photographically more often (or at least over a more complete range of possible settings) than does shutter speed. Shutter speed need only be fast enough to freeze (or sometimes slow enough not to speed) any motion you are concerned with. Aperture always matters. With our slow-lens hypothetical (and assuming a moderate focal length), let's just say that the difference between f5.6 and f8 is likely to matter much more than the difference between 1/125 and 1/250. Now... if we are talking the difference between 1/40 and 1/80?... maybe then the shutter matters more, at least for people or other subjects that are likely to move.

[sam_thompson2]

With auto iso you get intermediate values so while you might choose ISO 1600, the camera might choose ISO 1400. On some cameras you can only choose ISO in full stops. You will get a somewhat benefit in reduced noise if you take advantage of auto iso.

[mawz]

Wait, there are modes other than manual or aperture priority?

[masoud a.]

Sam ,thank you so much ,you are correct on auto ISO speeds .

 

Adam,now i mostly use Programe Mode .