Shooting Av vs Tv
 

I've kind of gone back and forth on this one. I really like being in control of my shutter speed to alter the effect of what I'm shooting, however I also like being able to control depth of field in Av. Does anyone have any advice as to which they prefer and why? I know it's fairly subjective, but I'd like to hear preferences. Most of my shooting is, unfortunately, indoors. I say unfortunately because I'm not willing to plunk down a lot of cash on professional lighting and I'm learning that low-light shooting with the Xi is less than desirable. Outdoors, I think this is one of the sharpest camera's out there.

I'm currently beefing up my arsenal for the Xi: just purchased a set of Tiffen filters based on comments picked up on this site and am looking at a wide angle adapter. I really do love the manual control on this camera, but I'm still learning so I am absorbing all the info I can. Thanks for your help.

Jason

I use TV mode 80% of the time. Mostly because it's the most convenient way to adjust the zebra stripes.

When I can, I use AV mode with an ND filter to get into the sweet spot of the lens. It's something I learned in still photography, but I haven't done any definitive tests to see if I'm actually getting better video that way.

And as you noted, AV mode is good for controlling depth of field, which is nice for doing a pull focus.

All that being said, there's many a family event when I've just set the thing on Auto mode and just hit record.

Thanks for the comments, Michael. I'm kind of the same way, too. One of the great things about this camera is that if you want, it's still really easy to pick up, point and shoot.

I just picked up some filters the other day and I'm looking forward to trying them out. I actually like leaving my shutter speed around 60fps and adjusting the exposure to get rid of the zebra stripes. That way the image quality is consistent. Plus I like to crank up the shutter really fast if I know I'm going to do slow-motion work.

Jason,

I think you mean you like to shoot at 1/60th of a second, not 60 fps.

Anyway, I prefer to shoot in TV mode 100% of the time and mostly at 1/30th of a second because it gives a quasi progressive look by doubling the interlace fields.

Yeah, Dave, that is what I meant. Sorry for the mixup.

On a seperate note, I've seen your site, and you use the Sennheiser MKE 300 correct? What are your thoughts on that mic? I've got an Azden SGM-2x and I'm not too thrilled with it. Do you use it on and off the camera?

Also, what's your filter setup on the camera? Footage looks great.

Thanks .

Jason