topic Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ? in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

Dianoban — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 03:05:19 GMT

Camera & lens: Rebel T6 & EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM

I am going to take pictures of elementary school kids. They are moving constantly and the ambient light, shine, cloudy, rainy and shadows, is also changing rapidly. I need an aperture F11 for a reasonable depth of field and 1/250s shutter speed for freezing the motions. Can F11 and 1/250s be set up on Rebel T6 simultaneously and how, please?

Thank you.

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 03:52:06 GMT

Yes, you can set both aperture and shutter speed in M (manual) shooting mode.

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

kvbarkley — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 04:30:11 GMT

Use manual mode, but not that might not be the correct exposure. You might want to set auto ISO.

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

Tronhard — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 00:17:06 GMT

Hi Dian:

As Bob said, you CAN set up those two settings in M mode, but as Kevin also said you should set the ISO to auto to give the camera some flexibility. That said, by forcing yourself into both a fixed shutter speed and aperture you are making it harder for the camera to adjust to short-term changes in lighting conditions for you. I would strongly suggest switching to Av mode, keeping the ISO on Auto and let the camera figure out the shutter speed.

As regards aperture, I will further add the following. You should seriously reconsider the necessity to shoot at f/11. Given you are shooting with a crop-sensor camera, you should get quite a deep DoF at f/8 or even f/5.6, and by opening up each stop you have twice as much light to play with, and thus be able to achieve a higher shutter speed and/or better ISO. BTW, setting the ISO at auto will mean that camera will try to always use the lowest ISO possible for the other settings, so it is to your advantage to allow as much light into the sensor as possible.

The following image was taken of a gathering of 85 academics for a symposium at my local university. Would you be likely to have as many students in one class photo? All of the subjects are acceptably sharp, and I can assure you that organizing academics is like herding cats.

I took the image in shaded available light on a partly cloudy day, with the camera set in Av mode and auto ISO. They had only about 10 minutes for the whole shoot and there was the complication of a second photographer to get his shots.
Canon EOS 5DMkIII, EF 24-105@32mm, f/7.1, 1/160sec, ISO-640

As you can see my FF camera was shooting with an f/stop of 7.1, and because you are using a crop-sensor camera you should achieve a similar DoF with a wider aperture, say f/5.6. That said, I would suggest doing an experiment to gauge how deep you actually need your DoF if your group is smaller, and then use a DoF calculator to confirm the settings you require. There is one here:
A Flexible Depth of Field Calculator (cambridgeincolour.com)
For example, if you dial the settings in the picture below, you will see that with the modest aperture of f/5.6 on your crop-sensor camera, at 24 ft from the nearest subject, you will have everything within an acceptable DoF from about 10ft to infinity.

If you have the ability to control the location, I recommend setting up with your students on steps or a stand, preferably in a shaded area, to avoid high contrast, wide variations in direct light, and having your subjects squinting against light - you certainly don't want direct back lighting. That gives you the added benefit of a reduced level of variation compared to direct sunlight, so things are more predictable.

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

stevet1 — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 07:25:51 GMT

Dianoban,

With rapidly changing lighting conditions, if you use Manual mode, you are constantly going to be changing the settings, and you risk missing the shot.

If you put your camera in Av mode, your camera will automat8cally set a shutter speed roughly twice what your focal length is, so if you shoot at 100mm, your camera will set a shutter speed of 1/200, or thereabouts,, which might be fast enough.

If it's not, you can put your camera in TV mode and set the shutter speed at 1/250 to freeze the motion. Your camera will set the aperture to give you the proper exposure at that speed. It probably won't be f/11, it will probably be closer to f/5.6; but how many kids need to be in focus at any one time anyway? Do need the entire playground, or just one or two kids at a time?

As your shutter speeds go up, your aperture numbers are going to go down.

And yes, as others have suggested, use Auto ISO, especially if your lighting conditions are going to be rapidly changing.

Steve Thomas

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

normadel — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 16:19:59 GMT

Simply put, you can't have multiple priorities. It's either Shutter priority OR Aperture priority. You are talking about MANUAL settings of aperture and shutter speed. Which doesn't mean proper exposure, unless you are lucky enough in a specific lighting situation.

It sounds like you may want to use Shutter priority, and let the camera set the proper aperture for correct exposure. You can vary the aperture by changing ISO setting manually.

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

Tintype_18 — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 16:31:26 GMT

What is the policy of taking the pictures of the kids? Some schools prohibit taking pictures of kids...period. Only exception would be for regular class pictures. Check with the school or school district. Parents permission needed?

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

stevet1 — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 00:08:08 GMT

normadel

Could you expound on your last paragraph a little bit?

Would it be safe to assume that if I'm in shutter priority with a fixed shutter speed, as I raise the ISO, the camera will gradually set a smaller and smaller aperture?

Steve Thomas

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

Tronhard — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 00:40:17 GMT

With respect, I disagree on the basis that the OP's parameters are basically flawed.
I think they need to set a scene that offers minimal real-time light variation, with no direct sunlight: it's bad practise as subjects are either back-lit or likely to squint. If you check out my post I can demonstrate that a much more open aperture will provide sufficient DoF while allowing enough light in to cover any movement. In that respect, I think that Av mode is most appropriate, especially if they use auto ISO set with a max of 1600.

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

FloridaDrafter — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 00:36:31 GMT

Steve, basically ISO will allow you to adjust either leg of the triangle that you don't have "fixed". I do it mostly in Av to adjust my shutter when shooting macro handheld. I know I need f/xx to get the proper DOF but I also want a shutter speed fast enough to freeze action. So I set my aperture in Av mode then adjust ISO to get an effective shutter.

Newton

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

deebatman316 — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 01:12:07 GMT

Tv (Shutter Priority) Mode isn't appropriate for the OP's situation. It would be best to use Av Mode with an aperture of F/4.5 or F/5.6 when I was still shooting with an APS-C camera. With Full Frame I usually shoot at F/7.1 or F/8. Stopping down too far would result in unintended things (distractions) being in focus. Which is something you would want to avoid. F/11 is unnecessary for what the OP is doing. Using Auto ISO with upper and lower would be a good choice too. Unless the OP is using flash whether that be built-in or an external speedlite. The camera will ONLY use ISO 400-800 in that case. That's how Canon's DSLRs work the EOS R series cameras don't behave this way. A lot of times it will push the ISO as high as ISO 3200 or even higher.

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

normadel — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 04:59:33 GMT

Yes, exactly.

Do bear in mind that increasing ISO can lead to image noise, which can become noticeable and objectionable at extremes.

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

normadel — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 05:03:43 GMT

Why is Shutter priority not appropriate? The OP's concern is wanting to stop the action of elementary kids moving around. There's a certain minimum speed needed to do that.

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

Tronhard — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 05:10:49 GMT

The OP is also concerned with Depth of Field, which is why they are looking at f/11 as an aperture.

As I have commented, I believe that limiting both to specific values is severely and unnecessarily limiting their options and making it hard for themselves. Given that, one has to step back and leave their assumptive values aside. For a subject group the size of a school class, depth of field is likely the biggest issue, and as I demonstrated in my lengthy post, an acceptable DoF can be achieved using a much smaller f/value, yet still yield a hyperfocal solution. By opening up the aperture and using an auto ISO of modest range, they have much more flexibility to deal with movement and changes in light intensity - given the parameters I mentioned for location.

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

Dianoban — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 03:18:38 GMT

Thank you.

I'll set my camera F/8 and ISO800. This will probably provide a shutter speed around 1/200s even in cloudy day light.

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

Dianoban — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 03:22:42 GMT

Thank you.

I decide to set my camera F/8 and ISO800 which will provide a shutter speed around 1/4000s in sunshine and 1/200s in cloudy day light.

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

Dianoban — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 03:34:07 GMT

Thank you.

My subjects are constantly moving running jumping twisting and rolling kids. I will not take pictures of any group standing or sitting still.

I tested in the last few days and found that the if my camera was set as F/8 and ISO800, this combination setting would probably provide a shutter speed around 1/4000s in sunshine light and 1/200s in cloudy day light.

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

Tronhard — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 03:34:51 GMT

Hi Dian:
What shooting mode (Av, Tv, M) do you now have the camera set in please?

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

Tronhard — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 03:38:32 GMT

Hi Dian:
It sounds like this is not your bulk standard class photo exercise! I had just inquired about your shooting mode as you were responding to me! 🙂 Given you have set the ISO and aperture and the shutter speed appears to be vairable, I would guess you are now using Av mode, is that correct?

Re: How to set 2 priorities aperture & shutter-speed on Rebel T6 ?

Dianoban — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 04:05:39 GMT

Thanks.

The setting is as this: Av mode, f/8, ISO800, and leave shutter speed to the camera. I hope to get a shutter speed 1/4000s in sunshine and 1/200s in overcast cloudy day light.