Canon 1DX MKII Shooting Mode Confusion.

[LanceA]

I have not needed the experienced advice of this forum for several months because your previous advice/help was so very useful.  However, I have run into a bit of a issue pertaining to the Shooting Modes of my 1DX MKII.

I have a pretty good working understanding of the Manual Shooting Mode.  I am able / need to manually set the Apature, Shutter Speed and IOS when in Manual Mode Setting.  I am certainly able to do this, but it can be a bit cumbersom and too slow in some shooting settings. 

Setting my camera to, APATURE Priority Mode,  allows/forces me to select and set the desired Apature setting, however, I can find no way to adjust the Shutter Speed on the fly if needed?  Do I need to either switch from Apatre Priority mode to Manual or Shutter Priority Mode to be able to increase the Shutter speed? 

The same issue arrises when I set My camera to Shutter Priority Mode.  I am unable to adjust the Apature Setting on the fly unless I switch Mode to Manual Mode or back to Apature Priority Mode.

I have considered trying PROGRAM Mode, but I am unable to actually highlight and select the "P" in the MODE Menu.   I am only allowed to select C1, C2 and C3 which are highlightable adjacent to the unselectable "P".  

Any advice or clarification will be grately appreciated.   Thankss Again and Happy Hollidays.

Lance A.

[Waddizzle]

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@LanceA wrote:

Yep, that is how I thought things would word, but with the camera in Apature Priority Mode, I attempted to photograph several large water birds in flight (in the back yard, /central Florida) and there was NO auto shutter speed adjustment.  All photos were blurry. 

So I have put the camera on Manual Mode and then leave the Shutter speed between 1/1000-1/1600 to assure that I will freeze birds in flight if needed.  I am still learning all of this so please be patient with me.  I am playing with the correct Shutter speeds to capture a moving target still motion  while the background is appropriately blurred to show movement.

You folks are more help to beginners like me than you probably realize.  Thank you and Happy Hollidays,

Lance A

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Photographing birds in flight, BIF, is tricky.  Not everyone is able to do it well.  It takes muscle memory familiarity with your camera, and it begins with using AI Servo Focusing Mode.  Canon has created special PDF manuals that address the sophisticated Auto Focus tracking behaviors that are available when using AI Servo mode, which focus tracks moving subjects.

Tracking BIF also requires muscle memory familiarity with your lens.  Speaking of which, what lens are you using for BIF?  Quality super telephoto lenses have different switches that alter the focusing behavior, and many can adjust the image stabilization behavior.

All of these controls and flexibility can be your best friend, or your worst enemy.  Sit down with the manuals, for camera, lens, and focusing guides, and go through basics.  Do not expect to absorb it all in one sitting.  As I have noted above, it takes “muscle memory familiarity”, which means you need to practice at it.

Birds can be difficult to learn.  I practiced with larger, slower moving subjects, like kids playing Little League, or seagulls by the waterfronts.  Most gulls tend to glide, without many sudden changes in direction and speed.

[PaulSoebekti]

Hi Lance:

There's a guide book (in pdf format) on the AF settings of the 1DX Mark2.

Here's the link, hope it helps.

http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/news/canon_publishes_the_af_setting_guidebook_for_eos-1d_x_mark_...

Paul

[LanceA]

Thanks Paul,  I have had this saved on my computer for quite a while while waiting for the rest of my 1DX MKII knowledge to catch up.  I have experimented quite a bit with the various focus capabilites, but I have waaay more to learn. 

Lance A. 

[Johnw1]

They way I think about this is. If I don't care about Aperture I set it to Shutter priority mode. If I don't care about Shutter speed I set it to Aperture priority mode. If I care about both I set it to Manual mode. I try never to set it to auto ISO.

[Waddizzle]

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@Johnw1 wrote:

They way I think about this is. If I don't care about Aperture I set it to Shutter priority mode. If I don't care about Shutter speed I set it to Aperture priority mode. If I care about both I set it to Manual mode. I try never to set it to auto ISO.

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When I set ISO to Auto, it is because I am shooting fast, and the light conditions can vary widely.  Most action photography can fit this description.  I want a minimum shutter speed, and a minimum aperture, so I dial those in manually.

You can set the cameras to automatically set all three legs of the Exposure Triangle, any two legs, or any one leg.  Take advantage of that flexibility.

[Johnw1]

I look at ISO the same way as I did with ASA in the film days. I do think it is very cool to be able to set it to any speed one wants. Depending on the situation I will set it to a highrt speed so I can have some freedom in choosing aperture and shutter speed. 

I rellly don't see the need for an auto ISO for most things I do. That s why I say I try not to sett ISO to auto. Some one else may do something else. 

[diverhank]

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@Johnw1 wrote:

I look at ISO the same way as I did with ASA in the film days. I do think it is very cool to be able to set it to any speed one wants. Depending on the situation I will set it to a highrt speed so I can have some freedom in choosing aperture and shutter speed. 

I rellly don't see the need for an auto ISO for most things I do. That s why I say I try not to sett ISO to auto. Some one else may do something else. 

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I've long learned that there's no absolute right or wrong thing in photography but there are things that is better for the situations than others.

We have all been through the old film days where ISO is set according to the film speed you buy (or pushed a bit) then left alone.  Those days are golden but old...Today ISO is one of 3 things you or the camera can set at will.

We all know that higher ISO is worse than lower ISO regardless of shooting situations.  In your first paragraph, you set ISO to a fixed high value so you can play with aperture and speed.  That is wasteful in situations you don't really need that high of an ISO.

I shoot a lot of birds in flight where you not only want the bird to be beautiful, you also want the background to be beautiful (exposure-wise).  In my shooting, background light vary quite a bit requiring ISO varying from 2000 to 400, having Av and Tv fixed.  In your situation, you'd  set your ISO to 2000 and vary your Av or Tv to suit the lighting.  In cases you could have had ISO at 400, you wasted your image quality at ISO 2000...not quite making sense for me.

[Johnw1]

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@diverhank wrote:

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@Johnw1 wrote:

I look at ISO the same way as I did with ASA in the film days. I do think it is very cool to be able to set it to any speed one wants. Depending on the situation I will set it to a highrt speed so I can have some freedom in choosing aperture and shutter speed. 

I rellly don't see the need for an auto ISO for most things I do. That s why I say I try not to sett ISO to auto. Some one else may do something else. 

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I've long learned that there's no absolute right or wrong thing in photography but there are things that is better for the situations than others.

We have all been through the old film days where ISO is set according to the film speed you buy (or pushed a bit) then left alone.  Those days are golden but old...Today ISO is one of 3 things you or the camera can set at will.

We all know that higher ISO is worse than lower ISO regardless of shooting situations.  In your first paragraph, you set ISO to a fixed high value so you can play with aperture and speed.  That is wasteful in situations you don't really need that high of an ISO.

I shoot a lot of birds in flight where you not only want the bird to be beautiful, you also want the background to be beautiful (exposure-wise).  In my shooting, background light vary quite a bit requiring ISO varying from 2000 to 400, having Av and Tv fixed.  In your situation, you'd  set your ISO to 2000 and vary your Av or Tv to suit the lighting.  In cases you could have had ISO at 400, you wasted your image quality at ISO 2000...not quite making sense for me.

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I never said I use a high fixed ISO. I said I try never to set the ISO on auto. I like to control it as I like to control shutter and or aperture. If I use auto ISO which is rare I have a good idea about the range it will be. I don't shoot birds in flight. I do shoot people often candidly. I also shoot urban scenes. I also use external flash when I think I will need it.

What I don’t like is having a variable out of my control. So I try to avoid it. This has worked for me for greater than 50 years.

[diverhank]

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@Johnw1 wrote:

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I never said I use a high fixed ISO. I said I try never to set the ISO on auto. I like to control it as I like to control shutter and or aperture. If I use auto ISO which is rare I have a good idea about the range it will be. I don't shoot birds in flight. I do shoot people often candidly. I also shoot urban scenes. I also use external flash when I think I will need it.

What I don’t like is having a variable out of my control. So I try to avoid it. This has worked for me for greater than 50 years.

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Like you, for situations that I don't need speed, I prefer to set all 3 variables manually...but I was under the impression that the OP wanted advice on what to do in situations speed is critical (like sports and BIF)...for a photographer in the know, you have a lot of different ways to accomplish the same thing...in my circle of 30 or so friends who shoot BIF passionately...all of us use M mode with Auto ISO...it's easy and efficient.  I occasionally dial in exposure compensation depending on the color of the bird.  As an example on why you can't set everything manual...when I shoot an osprey swooping down a lake to get a trout...the whole sequence from the osprey diving to taking off with fish takes less than 3 seconds...no time to set anything.

[TTMartin]

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@LanceA wrote:

I have not needed the experienced advice of this forum for several months because your previous advice/help was so very useful.  However, I have run into a bit of a issue pertaining to the Shooting Modes of my 1DX MKII.

I have a pretty good working understanding of the Manual Shooting Mode.  I am able / need to manually set the Apature, Shutter Speed and IOS when in Manual Mode Setting.  I am certainly able to do this, but it can be a bit cumbersom and too slow in some shooting settings. 

Setting my camera to, APATURE Priority Mode,  allows/forces me to select and set the desired Apature setting, however, I can find no way to adjust the Shutter Speed on the fly if needed?  Do I need to either switch from Apatre Priority mode to Manual or Shutter Priority Mode to be able to increase the Shutter speed? 

The same issue arrises when I set My camera to Shutter Priority Mode.  I am unable to adjust the Apature Setting on the fly unless I switch Mode to Manual Mode or back to Apature Priority Mode.

I have considered trying PROGRAM Mode, but I am unable to actually highlight and select the "P" in the MODE Menu.   I am only allowed to select C1, C2 and C3 which are highlightable adjacent to the unselectable "P".  

Any advice or clarification will be grately appreciated.   Thankss Again and Happy Hollidays.

Lance A.

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My advice would be to use manual mode with auto ISO. That way you select the shutter speed and the aperture, and the camera selects the appropriate ISO. The overall exposure can still be tweaked using exposure compensation.