As I was looking at Tim's pics (love them!) I noticed that many he uses f/8. ; Anyone know if there is a reason for this? ; Is it personal preference? ; Better quality? ; I am just starting to get out from using program mode on my camera and was wondering. John
I think Tim likes to stay in Aperture mode most of the time. ; f/8 comes from the generally accepted photography principal that most lenses are at their sharpest at around f/8-11, along with a decent depth of field at most focal lengths/focus distance. Personally I don't see anything wrong with P mode once you understand why to choose shutter priority or aperture priority mode over it. ; Especially since with many current cameras you can override the camera's P setting in different directions. Thanks for joining back then jbwolffiv! ; Welcome!
Welcome John. ; Much depends on your camera - if you're shooting with a DSLR, then that F8-11 rule is a pretty good one to abide by when in doubt. ; You can use other aperture ranges as needed, but many lenses do tend to respond best within that range. ; Like Roger, I'd agree you don't necessarily NEED to go off of P mode - more important is to understand the relationship between a given aperture and shutter speed, and how that will affect your outcome. ; You can control the aperture and shutter in P mode too - many people don't realize that! ; I use P mode 75% of the time, yet I am consciously overriding the P mode selection using 'program shift' mode to force a different aperture as needed. ; Also, using a spot meter, you can manipulate the camera's shutter and aperture combo just by pointing at varying light or dark areas within a shot (that's how I control the shutter and aperture on my subcompact, which only has a P mode, and no manual modes). On that point - if you are shooting with a P&S camera or prosumer fixed lens camera with a smaller sensor (anything but a DSLR for the most part), remember that the aperture values don't have the same range as on a DSLR. ; Where a DSLR lens might give you from F3.5 - F22, making F8-11 a nice sweet spot, a P&S camera might only go from F2.8-F8...making the sweet spot usually something in the middle, like F4.5-5.6. Hope that helps!
Thanks so much for the information! ; Did not expect such detailed and quick responses so soon. ; Thanks again, I am sure I will be posting more questions as I come up with them.
Long live the P-Mode!!!!!!! ; I use it most of the time, too. ; I spin my camera's rear dial depending on what kind of Depth of Field I am looking for OR, if shutter speed is an issue, I spin it to set the shutter speed where I want it. ; It's really an A+S mode. However, when first learning, I would do as Tim suggests and start out in A mode until you get a full understanding of how that works then try out S mode. Once you understand the relationship between Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO, then you'll be able to unleash the power of the P-mode to it's fullest. (insert dramatic music here). ;
I prefer A mode over program mode. During the day when I am feeling lazy, and taking pics of buildings or big stuff, or unimportant stuff I will set the camera to f8 just to be lazy and have the lens at one of its sharpest fstops. Also f8 wont show any sensor dust.
I'm in the same boat as Craig, Aperture priority mode and keep it at f/8 as a default. ; I make adjustments from there.
