[cardinal43]

Wow, gentlemen! I take my lovely wife shopping (I hate that so much), and come back and find all of these terrific answers and excellent pointers for me to think about and put to use. I knew when I posted my question that I would get great answers from the extremely knowledgeable and talented photographers here on this forum.

I most definitely agree with everyone that a great picture is a great picture, no matter what mode it was shot in. And, I have been telling myself (right or wrong), that if I could learn to take good pics in M, then I should be able to take good pics in any other mode. I believe this because in M, I control speed, aperture, ISO, everything. Now, maybe I am just fooling myself, but we'll see. I really enjoy this camera, and I really enjoy seeing what I can do with it. I have a serious case of "photo envy", and by this I mean that I look at a lot of the photo you guys/gals post, and wish I could do that. BIF may never be my forte.

Anyway, thanks for your replies, and please bear with me when I ask other questions, as I know I will.

[Jewelltrail]

danielchtong:

I have seen your work with BIF and am in awe. I would not even want to try and attempt what you are able to accomplish. The commentary I leave here is just my personal opinion, from my personal experience. I have not shot BIF, so I can not offer any advice for that level of difficult shooting.

I do, however, very much enjoy the beautiful results you post of your BIF work. Keep up the hard work and best of luck to you.


Regards,

Ernest




"Humanity subdues inhumanity as water subdues fire."

Mencius 6A:18

[TourDeForce]

Normally I leave the camera in Centre Weighted mode. There are a couple of reasons for this:

1) Every camera I've owned in the last 25+ years, if it had a built in meter, that meter had a Centre Weighted pattern, so I have a reasonable idea of how the meter is seeing a scene, and I can usually make appropriate adjustments.

2) I haven't seen a marked improvement in accuracy using Multi Segment mode, but the caveat there is I haven't used it very often (see above), so I should do some testing.

I also use the Spot mode for backlit subjects.

Whenever there is a stark difference in the subject/background lighting is a good time for spot metering. 11 point metering has the advantage of adjusting the setting to consider the background as well as your subject. Use the P mode more often you'll gain an appreciation for it. I've been shooting in Av, Tv, and M modes mostly. Recently started using the P mode and have been impressed with the results for typical family gatherings and home use. Scenes tend to be more evenly exposed have a generally more bright & festive feel.

I'm old school. I upgraded from a K1000 film camera and a Kodak P&S, so a selection of automatic settings are relatively new to me. I like having the control over shutter speed and utilize the Tv a LOT - especially with the flash. Learned a few things about that WAAAY back with the K1000. When shooting events outside I switch over to Av for added depth of field and let the camera set the shutter speed.

This stuff is fun.

[Enc0der]

I'd go further and say that, if you know what you're doing and can get the right exposure, shooting in P - especially in P on the K10D/K20D which has some special properties - or Av or Tv, it's all fine, so long as you understand what you're doing. I think SpecialK would agree with that.

Hi,

I have a K200, and both P mode and Av mode let me control the same settings - aperture, and (when clicking the Av/EV button) the EV value. The shutter speed is selected automatically.

So, I was just wondering..
Is there any difference between these two modes, when using P as "Portrait" or "Vibrant" - that looks like they're both using the default values (saturation, hue, contrast, sharpness)...

There must be a difference
I just can't seem to understand what it is....


Can you please clear that up for me?

Thanks!

[dylansalt]

Bright mode vs Normal Mode

Bright mode seems to add a higher default contrast, saturation to the pic

If in normal mode and set contrast to +2 sat +2 and you get just about the same result