[jeffshaddix]

Ooh, wait, I see. You want to set a minimum shutter speed and let it range upward when you hit the bottom of the ISO scale. You know you can change what the wheels do, right? Sounds to me like you should try hyperprogram with the fast setting with auto-ISO set to 80-1600 (if that's what you want the top of the range to be). And (I can't remember offhand) set the front dial to shutter speed so you can override quickly. Or just use shutter priority with auto ISO set to the appropriate range.

Yeah that works, it's just 'slow','med', and 'fast' aren't enough granularity for my needs, plus they're hard to change on the fly. If that minimum shutter speed was on the front e-wheel it'd be a breeze and more configurable!

Program (and perhaps even Sv) might work, albeit not perfectly. I'll have to play with them a bit more.

[georgecape]

I find the many references to K7's lowly ISO output quite unfair and dont want to start a debate (there are many) but I know that I luv to use TAv and watch the ISO run to 3200 from the corner of my eye, with a bit of trepidation, only to be sooo pleased with the result. My K7 is simply a joy at all times and situations and I am still after 5yrs with digital amazed at the PP possibilities.

This was taken on the spur of the moment without setting anything thks to TAv.

1/80 f3.5 ISO 2500 DA 40

[planedriver]

I always use TAV mode for BIF photography. It's really really great. And if in the meantime I would like to shoot something stationary and want to make sure iso remains around say 400..I just increase the shutter time..and lower the iso at the same time..what a great feature!





Andras

[jstevewhite]

I find the many references to K7's lowly ISO output quite unfair and dont want to start a debate (there are many) but I know that I luv to use TAv and watch the ISO run to 3200 from the corner of my eye, with a bit of trepidation, only to be sooo pleased with the result. My K7 is simply a joy at all times and situations and I am still after 5yrs with digital amazed at the PP possibilities.

This was taken on the spur of the moment without setting anything thks to TAv.

1/80 f3.5 ISO 2500 DA 40

I understand your point. I've got some lovely images shot at high ISO with my K20D. OTOH, compared to the K-5, they're terrible. The K-5 is at least one stop better, sometimes two stops, and the noise it produces is much... nicer. Where I could make a good web ready reduction or 8x10 print from a full-frame ISO 2500 image on my K20D, I can do that with an ISO5000-8000 on my K-5. Furthermore, I can use the "fill light" slider in Lightroom even at ISO6400. At ISO1600, the K20D would show terrible color noise in the shadows if you even glanced at the "fill light" slider - and at 3200? Forget it.

I loved my K20D; but the K-5 is magic. Shooting with it feels like cheating.

Just for fun, here's my entry into the "older Pentax high-ISO noise wasn't THAT bad" discussion (ISO2500, 35mm 2.8 macro LTD, K20D):

[jstevewhite]

I always use TAV mode for BIF photography. It's really really great. And if in the meantime I would like to shoot something stationary and want to make sure iso remains around say 400..I just increase the shutter time..and lower the iso at the same time..what a great feature!

Andras

Nice BIF there. I've just recently started 1) trying to catch BIF, and 2) trying to catch BIF (bees in flight ), and 3) using TaV. I've historically been a hyperprogram user because I had to control noise so carefully on my K20D. TaV on the K-5 is incredibly flexible, though- and I use it nearly all the time now.

[SKwan]

K-5 is my first DSLR. There are two functions better than my expectation. I like to take night photo and even if I have expected much on the high ISO of K-5, the actual performance on noise control still surprises me.

Later I've found TAv mode very useful. I set auto ISO as 200-16000 and when half-pushing the shutter button with changing the aperture(6.3-14, no zoom) and shutter speed (40-1600) for targeting to limit the applied ISO between 320-3200 for day shot and 320-12800 for night shot.

I like Pentax and I love K-5

[oliver939]

With TAv you use shutter speed and aperture needed for the shot, then the camera selects the ISO (in the preset Auto ISO range) to give proper exposure . I use TAv most of the time except when using flash .
In TAv with 2 e-dial wheels, you can quickly change shutter speed and aperture to get the image you want, like in this image I wanted to catch the bird's wings .

Hi,

I'm wondering a bit about this TAv mode (never used it before and I just got my K5 ).
It seems to me that this is like the M mode with keeping the iso in AUTO.

This is typically what sport photographers are using but this is possible with any camera I believe. So what the plus of the TAv mode ?

[jstevewhite]

Hi,

I'm wondering a bit about this TAv mode (never used it before and I just got my K5 ).
It seems to me that this is like the M mode with keeping the iso in AUTO.

This is typically what sport photographers are using but this is possible with any camera I believe. So what the plus of the TAv mode ?

Just googling around, I don't see this feature on other cameras. i don't own them, so I can't speak with authority, but a google of "Auto ISO Canon" and "Auto ISO Nikon" turns up descriptions (and complaints) about AutoISO being in AV mode, not M. ( Because there are only three brands, right? )

The K-5 brings a new usefulness to TAv because of the range of the sensor.

[Rupert]

How about some photo samples?

I am shooting almost 100% in Tav, it is terrific! Just set the speed and aperture you want and let the K5 pick the proper ISO. Unlike the past models, if it creeps up high, you still get a very decent shot in most cases.

The last 6 or 7 rows here were shot in Tav. Festus & Friends - a set on Flickr

Here the K5 roamed up to 12,800 in Tav, and still got me a shot I would have never made with my previous Pentax cameras.
I was wide open at 500mm , but still managed 1/125 to freeze most movement, and had to shoot fast, he was only there a few seconds.
Best Regards!

[IMG] [/IMG]

[oliver939]

Just googling around, I don't see this feature on other cameras. i don't own them, so I can't speak with authority, but a google of "Auto ISO Canon" and "Auto ISO Nikon" turns up descriptions (and complaints) about AutoISO being in AV mode, not M. ( Because there are only three brands, right? )

The K-5 brings a new usefulness to TAv because of the range of the sensor.

well, I dont own canon or nikon either but on every DSLR you can set your ISO manually on a fixed value or within a certain range (ex: 100-3200). This second case is what I meant by Auto (the iso will be choosen by the camera within this range)

Then, you have the M mode from which you can select the shutterspeed and diaph you want.

My question is what does the TAv mode does more or different than this.

[normhead]

I use TaV whenever I'm in low light. People may say you can't use it if your camera has noise but, I have a K20D and I can tell you, I'm way happier with noise than I am with motion blur or what happens when yours shutter speed is too low for even SR. Sometimes your choice is noise or no useful shot, and of the things that can happen, noise is probably the least offensive.

[Designosophy]

I use TAv mode a lot with my K-7. I also like Tv mode, but I wish that I could set an aperture range in Tv mode. With some lenses, I don't want it to go all the way open, but one or two stops from open is fine.

And oliver939, I could not get the same functionality as TAv mode with my K-x. Are you sure that every DSLR allows auto ISO in M mode?

[jstevewhite]

well, I dont own canon or nikon either but on every DSLR you can set your ISO manually on a fixed value or within a certain range (ex: 100-3200). This second case is what I meant by Auto (the iso will be choosen by the camera within this range)

Then, you have the M mode from which you can select the shutterspeed and diaph you want.

My question is what does the TAv mode does more or different than this.

From the five minutes I spent reading, that's not how it works for Canon or Nikon. AFAICT, at least on the APS-c models, AutoISO only works in Av mode, not M mode. Again, that's from google and glancing through the forums (as it's not really important to me whether or not Canon has TAv or not), but I saw several posts that said that.

It's hard to answer your question if it makes assumptions that aren't true. If, in fact, Canon and Nikon allow you to set shutter and aperture via M and the camera adjusts ISO, then they're just different names for the same function like Tv and Av. OTOH, if, as I *think* is the case from other discussions in the past, Canon and Nikon only allow AutoISO with Av, (many forum posts were cautioning that the CaNikons will often allow too slow a shutter speed for the lens before increasing the ISO, also), then TAv is a different mode.

[jstevewhite]

I use TaV whenever I'm in low light. People may say you can't use it if your camera has noise but, I have a K20D and I can tell you, I'm way happier with noise than I am with motion blur or what happens when yours shutter speed is too low for even SR. Sometimes your choice is noise or no useful shot, and of the things that can happen, noise is probably the least offensive.

I actually quite like the way the K20D looks when shot at ISO3200 and converted to black and white with Nik Silver Efex.

Everything's relative, that's for sure. The K20D@1600 produces images that look a lot better than pictures I have from the Kodak ISO 1600 color negative film. The K-5 @6400 has better color and less color noise, although luminance noise is similar. We get used to better...

[oliver939]

thanks for the answers.
Nothing against the TAv, just trying to understand it's interest and in which situation it would be worth's to use (I just upgraded my k100ds with a K5 and have a lot to discover ).