Good photographers can shoot on full manual all the time, but they also know when certain other camera modes can help out in tricky shooting situations. AV and TV are two modes that you’ll often see photographers reaching for, but it can be easy to forget the difference between the two. Let’s talk about how AV and TV differ and when you should and shouldn’t use each.\n
\nWhen your camera mode dial is set on AV (just A on some cameras), your camera is in Aperture Priority Mode (AV technically stands for Aperture Value). In AV, the user manually chooses an aperture setting while the camera automatically adjusts the shutter speed for each shot (based on available light) to achieve proper exposure.\n<\/p>
\nAV is great for situations where there is plenty of light. I use this mode on vacation a lot when I’m wandering around a city during the day time. I still get control over my depth of field, but don’t have to take the time to manually adjust the shutter speed for each and every shot. If, like me, you often snap shots at hazardous moments like crossing the street (a terrible idea by the way), every second counts and you don’t want to be caught fiddling with your shutter speed.\n \nAvoid AV in low light situations without a flash. The camera will choose such a slow shutter speed that you photos will turn out blurry. If the camera thinks it needs a three second exposure to get the photo bright enough, it will take it!\n \nWhen your camera mode dial is set on AV, your camera is in Shutter Priority Mode (S is used instead of TV on Nikon and many other cameras). In TV, the user manually chooses a shutter speed setting while the camera automatically adjusts the aperture for each shot. So it’s exactly like AV, only the variables are swapped with you controlling shutter speed instead of aperture.\n<\/p> \nTV mode is good for situations where you don’t care much about depth of field, but need to make sure you’re hitting a specific shutter speed. For example, at a sporting event, you might want to keep your shutter speed locked in pretty fast to capture motion without blurring, but still want the camera to handle the overall exposure calculations so you can get the shots off really quickly.\n \nTV mode is great when you’re shooting video on your DSLR, and need to adjust quickly to different lighting situations. When you’re shooting video, you want to lock in your shutter speed for a consistent look (read up on how shutter speed affects video<\/a>), but you don’t want to constantly be fiddling with your settings to get the right exposure. TV mode allows you to set that shutter speed right where you want it (I usually shoot around 1\/50) while letting the camera take care of making sure every scene looks perfect.\n<\/p> \nAvoid TV when your depth of field matters. For instance, if you’re taking a photo of a family in medium to low light, a camera set to TV mode might open up that aperture all the way to help grab extra light. Unfortunately, this will make your depth of field so shallow that some of the people in the photo will be out of focus.\n \nAlways remember, automatic camera modes are dumb. I don’t mean that you shouldn’t use them, I mean they literally don’t have any intelligence beyond taking educated guesses at proper exposure, and you shouldn’t use them as if they’ll magically take great photos. They do what they were programmed to do and never take factors like motion blur or camera shake into consideration. Automatic modes will screw you over and ruin your photos every time if you aren’t careful. You should definitely make the most of them, just make sure you know what they do and where their limitations lie.\n<\/p> AV and TV are two modes that you’ll often see photographers reaching for, but it can be easy to forget the difference between the two. Let’s talk about how AV and TV differ and when you should and shouldn’t use each.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[],"topics":[],"class_list":["post-20635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tutorials"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n<\/span>When To Avoid AV<\/span><\/h3>
<\/span>TV: Shutter Priority<\/span><\/h2>
<\/span>When to Use TV<\/span><\/h3>
<\/span>Awesome For Shooting Video<\/span><\/h3>
<\/span>When To Avoid TV<\/span><\/h3>
<\/span>Remember: Automatic Modes Are Dumb<\/span><\/h2>
Header image created using Camera<\/a> by corioes<\/a>.<\/em>
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