General Settings: I'm sure this has been asked before but what are the recommended "standard" settings for your camera when leaving the house with no specific photographic purpose in...

mr spock Loc: Fairfield CT

I'm sure this has been asked before but what are the recommended "standard" settings for your camera when leaving the house with no specific photographic purpose in mind.
Aperture or Shutter priority? Or simply set the camera on Auto?
Aperture setting/Shutter speed?
ISO setting?
Focusing mode?

Any info will be appreciated
Mr Spock

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

mr spock wrote:

I'm sure this has been asked before but what are the recommended "standard" settings for your camera when leaving the house with no specific photographic purpose in mind.
Aperture or Shutter priority? Or simply set the camera on Auto?
Aperture setting/Shutter speed?
ISO setting?
Focusing mode?

Any info will be appreciated
Mr Spock

The question you ask - it is not logical.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

mr spock wrote:

I'm sure this has been asked before but what are the recommended "standard" settings for your camera when leaving the house with no specific photographic purpose in mind.
Aperture or Shutter priority? Or simply set the camera on Auto?
Aperture setting/Shutter speed?
ISO setting?
Focusing mode?

Any info will be appreciated
Mr Spock

For me, the standard settings are raw, whatever ISO it was on the last time, usually manual mode, shutter & aperture were left at what was last used. Every shot is unique, so normal settings - There are none as far as I am concerned. Depending on the conditions of the next shot the settings change, except the raw setting of course & manual mode.

For focus mode, again it depends on the shot & conditions, but starting standard is whatever was last used.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

The only reason to pre-set is if you think you might encounter a fleeting moment "grab" shot where you'll only have one shot. As this is likely to be something moving, and because you won't have any idea of the lighting conditions, try: shutter speed 1/400 or 1/500, f/8, ISO on auto.

Otherwise, learn the basics of exposure and how each element affects the result, then thoughtfully and carefully choose your settings and make your composition.

shutter speed for stopping fast action or deliberately blurring

aperture for controlling depth of field (how much of your image is in focus)

ISO - how high can you set it and still be satisfied with results from noise (like film grain)

mr spock Loc: Fairfield CT

Thank you.
In reality I guess there is no one correct answer to my question. I realize there every shot is unique but thought there were
settings for that might cover most situations if I were simply walking down the street and didn't have time (or knowledge) to specially set the camera.
As for shooting RAW I just got a camera with that capability so its a bit new to me. Have been using a NIKON Coolpix point and shoot up to now.

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

There is no recommended "standard" setting, conditions change depending on what you are shooting and available light outdoors. No pun intended but you must be new to photography if you have to sak that question.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

When I go out with no plan of what to shoot, I generally set Aperture priority to some value to help assure a reasonable depth of field.

mr spock Loc: Fairfield CT

Thanks so much Linda! Those are exactly the general guidelines I was looking for.
And I guess I should start spending time on You tube University.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

mr spock wrote:

Thank you.
In reality I guess there is no one correct answer to my question. I realize there every shot is unique but thought there were
settings for that might cover most situations if I were simply walking down the street and didn't have time (or knowledge) to specially set the camera.
As for shooting RAW I just got a camera with that capability so its a bit new to me. Have been using a NIKON Coolpix point and shoot up to now.

If you set your camera on auto, then of course the camera decides everything based on the scene, so for what you describe auto might be your best choice until you can start to judge a scene before the camera is raised to capture it.

I found when shooting dolphins on a sightseeing trip, P-Mode worked out fine. I never used the viewfinder or LCD, just looked over top the DSLR and clicked, letting the camera focus and evaluate the lighting conditions. Took a lot of pictures, but more than a few turned out better than expected.

P mode lets me lock in the ISO and the camera does the rest automatically.

mr spock Loc: Fairfield CT

Thank you!

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

There isn't a standard setting to cover A–Z shooting opportunities. I suppose you could shoot aperture priority mode at f/5.6 to f/8 , auto ISO and auto WB and not be too terribly lost. You could put it on Auto mode period.

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

Pulled out my camera and

Just checked, its set at 1/320, F8 Iso 640
thats the settings from the last shot.

It doesn't matter what you set the camera to, when you put it away because its never the setting you need for the next shot.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I usually use P (Program) for generic (quick) shooting unless I want to work with depth of field or speed for a particular series of shots.

mr spock Loc: Fairfield CT

Many thanks to all of you. If nothing else my first questions and the answers it generated makes me very glad to have joined this group discussion.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

mr spock wrote:

I'm sure this has been asked before but what are the recommended "standard" settings for your camera when leaving the house with no specific photographic purpose in mind.
Aperture or Shutter priority? Or simply set the camera on Auto?
Aperture setting/Shutter speed?
ISO setting?
Focusing mode?

Any info will be appreciated
Mr Spock

That is entirely up to you, what do you favor more, DOF, motion blur, action stopping crispness??? What are you after? With an answer to that in your mind, you set the camera (get it prepared for that). It's that simple, no one else can tell you that, it is what YOU're after!!!