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11-26-2010, 10:31 PM   #1
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K-5 has renewed my love of TAv mode. You?

The unique to Pentax TAv was my favorite when I got my K10D for a few months and I did most of my early understanding of light in that mode; most of my time in Tanzania was in that mode. First 5 or so thousand photos were likely in TAv mode.

I then started shooting indoors with available light, and was bumping-up against ISO1600 not being enough, and was disappointed with ISO 800-1600 when underexposed. So I stopped using it.

But with the K-5's mostly monochromatic noise signature .... baby, I'm back. Not only that, but I'm getting sharper photos out of my lenses too since I'll be more apt to stop down more than I used to in the past.

Anyone of like mind?

11-26-2010, 10:54 PM   #2
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I find my self in situations where I want more control over aperture and shutter speed as well. Example is wildlife or sports. And yes, with K10D I also flt the limit.
All it takes is a camera that controls both the ISO and noise.
11-27-2010, 05:13 AM   #3
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Right, sports & wildlife is where I use TAv--regardless of body but I'm looking forward to K-5 capabilities.
11-27-2010, 12:09 PM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by m8o Quote
The unique to Pentax TAv was my favorite when I got my K10D for a few months and I did most of my early understanding of light in that mode; most of my time in Tanzania was in that mode. First 5 or so thousand photos were likely in TAv mode.

I then started shooting indoors with available light, and was bumping-up against ISO1600 not being enough, and was disappointed with ISO 800-1600 when underexposed. So I stopped using it.

But with the K-5's mostly monochromatic noise signature .... baby, I'm back. Not only that, but I'm getting sharper photos out of my lenses too since I'll be more apt to stop down more than I used to in the past.

Anyone of like mind?
I'm relatively new to Pentax so forgive what might be a newb question; but what do you get from TAv mode that you don't get from simply using the front and rear dials in P mode?

11-27-2010, 12:31 PM   #5
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It gives direct control over both aperture and shutter, vs only one of those when using the dials in program mode.

I love tav as well, though some other brands do it in various forms; my Olympus epl1 had the option to have auto iso set to on in manual mode for instance.
11-27-2010, 12:36 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by pxpaulx Quote
It gives direct control over both aperture and shutter, vs only one of those when using the dials in program mode.

I love tav as well, though some other brands do it in various forms; my Olympus epl1 had the option to have auto iso set to on in manual mode for instance.

When I'm in P mode front dial controls shutter and rear controls aperture.
11-27-2010, 02:51 PM   #7
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TAv is the answer!

QuoteOriginally posted by limbonaut Quote
When I'm in P mode front dial controls shutter and rear controls aperture.
The thing is that in TAv, while you control shutter and aperture you also control the ISO level in a handsome way, being able to balance all these three settings simultaneously against each other. Then you are as close to manual control as you can be, but in a more convenient way. I love TAv!

11-27-2010, 04:48 PM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by limbonaut Quote
When I'm in P mode front dial controls shutter and rear controls aperture.
But what is ISO doing? Isn't it held constant in P mode? The point of TAv mode is it selects the ISO to make the proper exposure plus EV compensation and lets you select the combination of shutter speed + aperture; i.e. both the shutter and aperture are treated as if in "manual" mode, never altered from what you set, and ISO is automatic. Since the K-5 has such low noise, and when noise sets in at un-charateristically high ISO value compared to my K10D, it's very film like. So I'm back to using it.
11-27-2010, 07:38 PM   #9
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The previous limitation I found with TAv mode, especially with the K-7 was the somewhat limited range I could trust the ISO to be set automatically. For me it was ISO 1600, above that I could still clean it up with NR in PP, but my max on AutoISO was ISO1600.

On the K-5, I can easily trust AutoISO to be set to ISO 6400
11-27-2010, 07:41 PM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by kittykat46 Quote
The previous limitation I found with TAv mode, especially with the K-7 was the somewhat limited range I could trust the ISO to be set automatically. For me it was ISO 1600, above that I could still clean it up with NR in PP, but my max on AutoISO was ISO1600.

On the K-5, I can easily trust AutoISO to be set to ISO 6400
Ditto here as well....any I've started using TAv for handheld macros to control DoF and ensure faster shutter speeds.

bazz.
11-27-2010, 09:29 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by limbonaut Quote
I'm relatively new to Pentax so forgive what might be a newb question; but what do you get from TAv mode that you don't get from simply using the front and rear dials in P mode?
On the K20D, TAv been very important from me shooting U7 & U8 soccer with a 50-300/F4-5.8.

I fix the shutter speed to a value high enough to prevent motion blur: 1/500s-1/1000s.

I also fix the aperture to a value in the f/6.3-f8 range to get enough DOF to get multiple players in focus at high FLs. These very young players bunch up a lot and I like to get clear shots of most of them as their expressions are great.

Using TAv, I can do this and the ISO roams between my set limits of ISO100-ISO1600 depending on the light level.

Anther use of TAv is with adult daytime sport where you want a high shutter speed, a wide aperture (say f/2.8-f/3.4) to isolate the sole subject from the background, and let the ISO roam.

Dan.

Last edited by dosdan; 11-28-2010 at 04:37 AM.
11-28-2010, 03:05 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by limbonaut Quote
what do you get from TAv mode that you don't get from simply using the front and rear dials in P mode?
TAv is: M mode with auto-ISO. You set both the aperture and the shutter speed, and the cam never changes those, it just adjusts the ISO to get correct exposure according to the selected metering and program line.
In (hyper-)P you can change either aperture or shutter speed and the cam automatically adjusts the other to get correct exposure according to the selected metering and program line.
11-28-2010, 10:19 AM   #13
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The only trouble I have had with TAv is that it does not take into account use of flash when determining ISO. I have my K5 auto ISO set to 80-1600. The camera ignores that I am using flash, maxes out the ISO, and blows the pictures. It should be noted that the camera does take flash into account in Tv and Sv.
11-28-2010, 10:34 AM   #14
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only time I really needed TAv with my ex k100d was when I was shooting an indoor football match (soccer for the US).

I needed to use exposure compensation about +0.7 to + 1 ev for correct expossure.

If I used shutter priority then the camera would choose max aperture (f2.8 with my sigma and with fast action it wasn't really working because of this dof).

If I used aperture priority the camera was using about 1/60s so couldn't stop the action completely.

If I used M mode, I could use EV compensation, so I was getting underexpossure.

I really needed TAv mode then. Other than that, Av or M mode works fine.
11-28-2010, 11:21 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by simico Quote
TAv is: M mode with auto-ISO. You set both the aperture and the shutter speed, and the cam never changes those, it just adjusts the ISO to get correct exposure according to the selected metering and program line.
In (hyper-)P you can change either aperture or shutter speed and the cam automatically adjusts the other to get correct exposure according to the selected metering and program line.
Agreed, I would mention that TAV allows one to adjust the range on the auto-iso, both upper and lower end. If you try to take a picture that would normally require ISO beyond those limits, it will blink the settings but still allow one to take an image at your settings.

I use M for night exposures, but use TAV quite often for shooting live theatre performances during rehearsals. It allows one to ignore the camera and just concentrate on capturing the ongoing performance. One can set the shutter speed to capture human motion on stage and set the aperture for the stage dof. on my K20, i use upper limits between 3200 and (gulp) 6400. the K5 will make TAV even more of a delight.
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