Exposure Question for Canon SX50 Users: Has anyone successfully used shutter priority? If yes, what subject and conditions? I quickly found it to be useless because of the limited...

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Has anyone successfully used shutter priority? If yes, what subject and conditions? I quickly found it to be useless because of the limited apertures at zoom ranges. I was either bumping up against over-exposed or under-exposed. Am now using aperture priority almost exclusively.

Thanks for any input!

(edit - added after first response): I prefer to not set ISO above 400. Don't care for the results. So just curious if anyone is using shutter priority and how/why.

architect Loc: Chattanooga

Given the limited number of aperture settings with almost any compact camera (usually F8 to F11 at the small end, and F5 or so at the wide end using telephoto settings) you would only have about a 3 or 4 stop variation because of the aperture. To maximize your shutter speed, set the camera on the widest aperture using Aperture priority. If the camera includes Auto ISO settings, using a higher limit can extend the shutter speed selections at the price of additional noise.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

architect wrote:

Given the limited number of aperture settings with almost any compact camera (usually F8 to F11 at the small end, and F5 or so at the wide end using telephoto settings) you would only have about a 3 or 4 stop variation because of the aperture. To maximize your shutter speed, set the camera on the widest aperture using Aperture priority. If the camera includes Auto ISO settings, using a higher limit can extend the shutter speed selections at the price of additional noise.

Yes, thanks. I do know that. Just wondering if any SX50 users had liked shutter priority and how they used it.

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Do you mean, when you use a fast shutter speed, you get under exposed and slower speed, over exposed? I don't think I'm understanding the question. Most people use shutter priority when they want to stop action or give the feeling of motion.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

cjkorb wrote:

Do you mean, when you use a fast shutter speed, you get under exposed and slower speed, over exposed? I don't think I'm understanding the question. Most people use shutter priority when they want to stop action or give the feeling of motion.

Sorry! I need to stop posting questions as I can't seem to be succinct enough :) I tried shutter priority for moving birds, so yes - for stop-action. However, with limited aperture range in the telephoto range on SX50, sometimes I was getting warnings of over-exposure (when aiming towards sky) and sometimes under-exposure (when aiming towards dark sagebrush), so it was a hassle trying to set the shutter (and ISO) while letting the camera attempt to set the aperture.

Hmmm, that's even less "succinct" than my original post :) Thanks so much for reading and commenting anyway!

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Shooting in areas of high contrast is always a problem, that has to do with your cameras metering system, cameras don't always get it right. If the camera is leaning toward under exposure, bump up a few stops on the exposure compensation or vise-versa, hope this helps.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

cjkorb wrote:

Shooting in areas of high contrast is always a problem, that has to do with your cameras metering system, cameras don't always get it right. If the camera is leaning toward under exposure, bump up a few stops on the exposure compensation or vise-versa, hope this helps.

Thanks cj.

architect Loc: Chattanooga

I do not recall ever seeing an outstanding moving bird pic taken with a compact superzoom camera like yours, and I have tried, believe me. The autofocus in these types of cameras is not as precise as a modern DSLR.

Taken with a Canon S70

bunuweld Loc: Arizona

Linda From Maine wrote:

Has anyone successfully used shutter priority? If yes, what subject and conditions? I quickly found it to be useless because of the limited apertures at zoom ranges. I was either bumping up against over-exposed or under-exposed. Am now using aperture priority almost exclusively.

Thanks for any input!

(edit - added after first response): I prefer to not set ISO above 400. Don't care for the results. So just curious if anyone is using shutter priority and how/why.

I have used shutter priority when planning to get subjects in motion and when using the maximum zoom (to minimize camera shake effects) with no tripod. Otherwise I trust the automatic setting for walk-around unplanned shooting. This may change when I get more used to my relatively new SX50 acquisition.

PNagy Loc: Missouri City, Texas

Linda From Maine wrote:

Has anyone successfully used shutter priority? If yes, what subject and conditions? I quickly found it to be useless because of the limited apertures at zoom ranges. I was either bumping up against over-exposed or under-exposed. Am now using aperture priority almost exclusively.

Thanks for any input!

(edit - added after first response): I prefer to not set ISO above 400. Don't care for the results. So just curious if anyone is using shutter priority and how/why.

I wish I had tried to do as you say with my wife's SX50, but let me observe anyway that the problems to which you refer are easily solved.

Overexposure: set the ISO and the exposure compensation lower.

Underexposure: set the ISO and the exposure compensation higher.

I have borrowed it from her to shoot portrait shots of aquatic birds that are out of range even for my 400mm lens with a 2X expander. most of the shots have come out very well.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

bunuweld wrote:

I have used shutter priority when planning to get subjects in motion and when using the maximum zoom (to minimize camera shake effects) with no tripod. Otherwise I trust the automatic setting for walk-around unplanned shooting. This may change when I get more used to my relatively new SX50 acquisition.

Thanks for comments bunuweld. Enjoy the camera!

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

PNagy wrote:

I wish I had tried to do as you say with my wife's SX50, but let me observe anyway that the problems to which you refer are easily solved.

Overexposure: set the ISO and the exposure compensation lower.

Underexposure: set the ISO and the exposure compensation higher.

I have borrowed it from her to shoot portrait shots of aquatic birds that are out of range even for my 400mm lens with a 2X expander. most of the shots have come out very well.

Thanks for writing PNagy. I didn't make my question/comment very clear, I'm afraid. I understand exposure. I was finding that with the narrow range of aperture choices at zoom length, using shutter priority for quickly changing conditions was not working out (no time to use exposure compensation, for example), so was curious if anyone else had used shutter priority on the SX50.

n3eg Loc: West coast USA

My Kodak Z990 is at f/5.6 at full zoom, and only goes to f/8 - not a lot of room there. Usually I wind up at a high ISO and a mediocre shutter speed. Good thing for you that you're on the sunny side of the Cascades and get the faster shutter speeds.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

n3eg wrote:

My Kodak Z990 is at f/5.6 at full zoom, and only goes to f/8 - not a lot of room there. Usually I wind up at a high ISO and a mediocre shutter speed. Good thing for you that you're on the sunny side of the Cascades and get the faster shutter speeds.

There's always a silver lining; thanks for reminding me!

gailfoto Loc: Mt. Holly Springs, PA

I use shutter priority often for moving subjects. I use it as high as I can and keep my aperture above 5. Some shots I have to keep it 7 or above. If need be I up the ISO. Caution I may not be the one to listen to.

Linda From Maine wrote:

Has anyone successfully used shutter priority? If yes, what subject and conditions? I quickly found it to be useless because of the limited apertures at zoom ranges. I was either bumping up against over-exposed or under-exposed. Am now using aperture priority almost exclusively.

Thanks for any input!

(edit - added after first response): I prefer to not set ISO above 400. Don't care for the results. So just curious if anyone is using shutter priority and how/why.