Manual or Aperture settings for macro

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Manual or Aperture settings for macro

Postby MSabater on Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:20 pm

Dear All

For Macro-photography which mode is most commonly used? M (Manual) or A (aperture)?

Manuel
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Re: Manual or Aperture settings for macro

Postby Matt Bennett on Tue May 01, 2012 10:03 am

MSabater wrote:Dear All

For Macro-photography which mode is most commonly used? M (Manual) or A (aperture)?

Manuel


It depends on the situation! Aperture Priority mode means that you can stop down and get better depth of field (shallow depth of field can cause focusing issues with macro) but you may need to shoot with a fairly high ISO to ensure that the shutter speed doesn't drop. If you do not have a fast shutter speed with macro photos, you can end up with blur as the slightest movement will be very obvious and spoil your images.

If you are using flash to light your subject, you do not need to worry about the ambient light quite as much and can use Manual mode to set a narrow aperture (f11, f16 or even f22) and a fast shutter speed at ISO 100 or 200.
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Re: Manual or Aperture settings for macro

Postby wildcard on Tue May 01, 2012 1:07 pm

In Manual Mode you set the aperture and the shutter speed.

In Aperture Priority Mode you set the aperture and the camera sets the shutter speed to what it thinks it should be based on its internal light meter. If the resulting image is too light or too dark for what you intended you can override the suggested exposure using exposure compensation.

For Macro shots, because you are so close the depth of field is reduced. You therefore need to be very careful with focusing and will probably need to use a much narrower aperture than usual.

So whichever mode you use it is probably best to set the aperture first to give you the depth of field you want.

Then select the shutter speed (if in manual) to give you the overall exposure you want. Alternatively, if in Aperture Priority, see what the camera selects and amend as necessary using exposure compensation.

Because you are probably using a narrow aperture, not much light is getting into the camera. The correct exposure may therefore need a long shutter speed. If you are handholding or the subject is moving (eg a flower in the breeze or a creature of some sort) this may give too long a shutter speed to achieve a sharp shot (due to either camera shake or subject motion).

To counter this either raise the ISO or introduce light by way of flash or some other method. Either of these methods will enable you to use a faster shutter speed giving a sharper image.

As such there is no right or wrong answer as to which mode to use. They are both just means to an end.
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Postby Femoirramma on Sun Mar 10, 2013 10:58 pm

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