aperture and shutter priority

captain carrott · Dec 11, 2009

if i am going to take a picture of something that hs fine details and i want to captrue it as clearly as possible,

is it better to take the shot in shutter priority, setting the shutterspeed to the fastest you can get away with while staying within the aperture capability of the lense but in essence letting the camera sort out the aperture itself.

or is it better to set the aperture in order to give a fast shutter speed using aperture priority.

which would give the clearer resulting image.

The Monk · Dec 11, 2009

aperture priority probably Jason but it depends on what you are taking and what result you want what DOF etc, the higher the F stop the greater the DOF, manual may be more appropriate mate depending on the ambient light, I presime this is inannimate Jace, if they you were photographing a quick insect, you might struggle freezing it in shutter priority and have to resort to flash to freeze

captain carrott · Dec 11, 2009

no mate wildlife photography and as you know it don't stay still. so good light needed not worth starting till you can get 1/125 or faster shutter speed plus probably hand held at 300mm.

there's nowt like starting off with somethin nice an simple.

The Monk · Dec 11, 2009

ok mate probably shutter priority then, especially for moving birds

Mark Wintle · Dec 11, 2009

Jason,

As you are trying to decrease shutter time the first thing to do is see how far you can push the ISO setting without getting too much noise. You ought to be able to get to at least 400 or even 800 speed which is 2 or 3 stops improvement without too much noise. If you are really clever you can push/pull with digital which is where you shoot in RAW at say 1600 and then underexpose by up to two stops when developing into a tiff then making it lighter again, losing the 'noise' on the way.

Generally in this case you would use shutter priority (and use a tripod).

captain carrott · Dec 11, 2009

it's a 400d so i can get away with iso400 without too much increase in noise but am still getting used to it. only had it a week the trouble is as you know thrying to take a pic of something that's small and likely to move needs a fast shutter spped to give you a chance of getting rid of motion blur. sometimes if it's with a bird of it actually still being in the frame at all.

i know the lens has a sweet spot around f8 so i think it's probably better to shoot in aperture priority set it at f8 and live with what you can get for shutter speed but was just enquiring now you have left me with something to think about

The Monk · Dec 11, 2009

I`m not sure about the camera you are using but on mine I can set a limiter on the ISO, ISO sensitivity, once you preset what you want shutter and aperture the iso will increae when needed but not drop below the level you restrict it too,

dezza · Jan 14, 2010

The Monk said:
ok mate probably shutter priority then, especially for moving birds

And I suppose aperture priority for slappers that keep still!

:j

Cakey · Jan 14, 2010

---------- Post added at 18:13 ---------- Previous post was at 18:07 ----------

when I took this is was very overcast and fairly dark and pi55ing down with rain
the d300 lets me pick shutter priority and auto iso.......so I picked 500th of a sec
camera picked 500 iso ,it always picks the lowest it can
still dont know if i like it or not as I have froze the rotors
next time maybe a bit lower around 400th of a sec
Im sure your 400 has auto iso give it a whirl ...............:wh

S-Kippy · Jan 14, 2010

Wow...I have not understood a single word of this but to me that looks like a pretty damn good shot in those conditions.

Photography is like serious carping to me...I just about manage to cling on to the fringes of understanding while deep down knowing I could never,ever really be any good at either.

slb · Jan 16, 2010

Mark's answer was really good, I'm sure you could go to 800ISO without noticing the noise on a JPEG even without following Mark's superb bit about shooting RAW and changing the exposure after.

I would be inclined to shoot at 5.6 in AP, as that often gives a reasonable DOF, but it also depends on the subject, choosing the correct point of focus, how close you are to the subject and how good your lens is.
Perhaps some more very specific notes about your gear and subject may help to find the best solution?

aperture and shutter priority

captain carrott

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The Monk

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captain carrott

Senior Member

The Monk

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Mark Wintle

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captain carrott

Senior Member

The Monk

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dezza

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Cakey

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S-Kippy

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slb

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