EOS Rebel T6 -The difference between M and AV modes?

[Dianoban]

Have a Canon EOS Rebel T6s with a lens EF-S 18-135mm 1:3.5-5.6.  Do not know how to use it.  Like to use it for street photography.  This is my set up:

Shutter speed: 1/500 second for preventing camera shake.

Aperture: 3.5 ~ 5 for decreasing ISO speed rating. (Not sure whether it does.)

ISO: auto

With these settings, what is the proper mode to be set, M mode or Av mode?  And what is the difference between these two?

Thank you.

Dianoban

[stevet1]

Dianoban,

If you put your camera in Av mode, that means that you pick the aperture and the camera automatically picks the shutter speed for you. It will vary, based on the lighting conditions and your focal length, This is a good mode for stationary objects.

If you put your camera in M mode, that means that you pick both the aperture and the shutter speed. Pay attention to the little graph at the bottom of your viewfinder. What you want to do is move that little arrow until it is hovering over 0 right in the middle.

Read up on the Exposure Triangle and the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and ISO and how they all work together,

Also, if you haven't done so yet, download a copy of your User Manual. They usually come in pdf format, and using the search functions of a pdf reader like Adobe Acrobat can answer a lot of questions that you are going to encounter.

Steve Thomas

[Waddizzle]

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@Dianoban wrote:

Have a Canon EOS Rebel T6s with a lens EF-S 18-135mm 1:3.5-5.6.  Do not know how to use it.  Like to use it for street photography.  This is my set up:

Shutter speed: 1/500 second for preventing camera shake.

Aperture: 3.5 ~ 5 for decreasing ISO speed rating. (Not sure whether it does.)

ISO: auto

With these settings, what is the proper mode to be set, M mode or Av mode?  And what is the difference between these two?

Thank you.

Dianoban

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Welcome to the Community!

Unfortunatle, that is not how cameras work.  You cannot set it and forget it.  That is not how a car works.  That is not how a stove works.  That is not how much of anything with user controls works.  

Here is a link to the Canon Support page for the Rebel T6s.

https://www.usa.canon.com/support/p/eos-rebel-t6s 

Like your owner’s manual to your car, the camera User Guide does not tell you how to used the camera, only. How to operate it.  Your owner’s manual for your car doesn’t teach you anything about the rules of the road, read a map, or provide directions on how to drive from Point A to Point B.  

The camera User Guide is no different.  It does not teach you anything about the basics of photography.  You need to become familiar with the pillars of photography, “Exposure Triangle” and “Depth of Field.”  I recommend searching YouTube for videos about those topics.  Here is a link to a series of videos about camera basics that Canon USA released a couple of years before your camera was released.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp-znpQge8HwHTOCwSAo04osDXFZx54Bw&si=ckA1nmCX2FuF5_dG 

Here is a link to a video about the general basics of photography.

[Waddizzle]

Oops.  I linked the wrong video with a similar name.  

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp-znpQge8HxrllwXwn9B0Xxf1f7BQnXC&si=MNEf0DQsn6lOEPdt 

[johnrmoyer]

I hope some of this might be helpful.

Others mentioned "exposure triangle". An explanation is at https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-exposure.htm

I am pasting a table from that tutorial here:

I have that same lens and have used it a lot. That lens has good image stabilization which reduces the need for a fast shutter speed. If you expect a lot of subject movement, then I suggest Tv mode and if subjects are not moving very fast, then Av mode.

Distance to subject and F Number also impact what shutter speed one might want. Shutter speed is easy to set in Tv mode and one may leave F Number and ISO to be chosen automatically by the camera.

For camera shake instead of subject movement, it is traditional to choose a slower shutter speed for  a focal length of 18mm than for a focal length of 135mm, but it also depends upon distance to subject. Camera shake can be reduced with practice. One might choose 1/30 second for 18mm and 1/250 second for 135mm.

[stevet1]

Dianoban,

I will say that the shutter speed you mentioned of 1/500 with a low ISO is going to result in some pretty dark pictures.

If your street action is not very fast, I'd recommend a shutter speed in the neighborhood of 1/125 to 1/250.

1/250 is a good speed for people walking.

There is a reciprocal rule that says to avoid camera shake, set your shutter speed at 1 divided by your focal length times your crop factor. That is; if you are shooting at a focal length of 100mm, set your shutter speed at 1/100 X 1.6 or 1/160.

If you are shooting at a focal length of 50mm, set your shutter speed at 1/50 X 1.6, or 1/80th.

That's just addressing the issue of camera shake. Your mileage may vary depending on the lighting conditions. In dark conditions, you might want to set a slower shutter speed. In bright conditions, you might want to set your shutter speed higher.

Steve Thomas