Will,
I would never have taken up photography if it were not for digital. Like you said it is realtime. I look at the histogram and bam there it is. Too much light, not enough light etc. Then make the adjustments. Seems easy, it sure isn't. Then you come up with blurry pictures, I was stuck in the Av mode, did a few weddings. Not one blurry pic. Birthday partys are a mess, kids running around, a lot of movement and there goes the pics. like Kevin pointed out, use the P mode and flash in situations like that. I like the AV mode only because of the no flash involved. Anyhow, i am just learning, and i have a lifetime to learn,
Thanks for the advice Will,
Ed Strehl
__________________ Ed Strehl
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
The only comment I can add that the other guys have not covered and I only mention it as you are a new-comer is to check where you have your focus bias set.
I am not a 20 user and as such do not know what options are open to you but I'm guessing you will at least have 6 options, right, right centre, centre, left centre, left and a 'general' setting covering perhaps 40% of the central area, take a look in your camera user manual?
For example, if you have Focus set at 'Left' and centre your subject the camera will focus to the left of the subject if this is further or closer than the subject then the subject will be out of focus depending upon the depth of field.
I do hope that adds assistance and does not just serve to further add to your pain!!
One of the guys made a good suggestion, take a basic photography course at night school and get yourself a good reference book, I'm sure one of the guys here can point you in the right direction.
Welcome to our world of never being 100% satisfied with your results!!
Ian, great point, would Al Servo work instead of just the AF mode - one shot? Would that take into consideration of people moving? Thank you for your input.
Ed Strehl
__________________ Ed Strehl
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
In AV mode on a canon you choose the aperture and the camera chooses the appropriate shutter speed for the correct exposure.
That can be as slow as 30 seconds!
This is why experienced shooters don't use AV mode in low light conditions.
You need 1/focal length to avoid camera shake as a general rule. IS will give you a few stops more.
So on a 24-105 lens at 50mm or so 1/50 shutter speed, add in IA and 1/15 is about as slow as you want to go, handheld. At 105 mm 1/25 is as slow as you want to go.
A bit of practice and experimenting will teach you how slow YOU can go, as different folks have different abilities to hold still, and remember to consider your activity level and excitement - if you just run up the stairs for a balcony shot you won't be as steady as usual.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Ian, great point, would Al Servo work instead of just the AF mode - one shot? Would that take into consideration of people moving? Thank you for your input.
Condition 6. Adequate Subject with Irregular Movement:
This is the most difficult type of subject for the AI Servo AF system to deal with. A very good example is the stop-and-start, forward-and-backward movement typically seen with a runway-type fashion model. As long as the model is walking towards or away from the camera, everything is fine. But if the model starts moving irregularly, as in certain dance steps, focusing accuracy may suffer.
If the subject simply changes direction, so that predictable movement in one direction is simply shifted into predictable movement in another direction, the Focus Prediction Function can usually adjust to the change with little or no loss of accuracy. However, if the subject movement becomes so irregular that it is no longer predictable, then the
EOS 1’s Focus Prediction Function is cancelled. If the subject movement remains unpredictable, then the lens is continually focused to the subject’s most recently detected position. In other words, the focusing position will change if the subject distance changes, but the AI Servo AF system will not execute a false prediction.
Ed, my intuitive thoughts are that AI servo works best for smooth steady movements, a person walking across the room, a sailboat, a racecar going around the track, and so on. If the movement is jerky and irregular, say a person moving about at a party, then it becomes more difficult.
Linear Mode
