The Digital Camera Mode Dial B, Av, Tv, P, A+ what does it all mean

A lot will depend on your make and model of camera but for the sake of this blog post I will refer to  Canon and Nikon SLR, mirror-less and bridge digital cameras as shown in the first picture.

Ignoring C3 C2 C1 which I will deal with later in the post lets start with B or Bulb this allow time exposures ideal for dusk, night use where the camera will usually be on a tripod, the shutter will stay open until the shutter is released with the shutter or cable release button.

M or manual where the user has control over aperture, shutter speed and ISO I use this when I need to change often all three settings. For example in the picture below I wanted to control the aperture to get more of the group in focus a fast shutter speed to counter any subject movement and a high ISO number to allow for the dedicated flash to bounced off the ceiling. Correct exposure was controlled by the meter seen through the viewfinder. More on this when we get to the P and M setting.

Av Aperture priority, user sets the aperture the camera will control the shutter speed and ISO accordingly, useful for landscapes etc to control depth of field to get more of the subject in focus the picture of the poppy below was taken on this setting of f1.2 to get the background (bokeh) out of focus

Tv Shutter priority to set a higher shutter speed for example fast moving subjects a moving car or flower, a bird in flight?  again the camera will set the aperture and ISO

P Program mode here the camera sets shutter, aperture and ISO automatically but is controllable for correct exposure by the thumbwheel at the rear of the camera. I recommend this setting and the Green (auto) + for most of the time since you are unlikely to miss a shot when first picking the camera up unlike the previous modes.

A+  Fully automatic where the camera sets correct exposure of aperture and shutter speed according to the subject setting.

To summarise A+ for foolproof results P for automatic function with some control, for more creative  work B, Tv, Av and the mode I use the most M or manual let me explain in more detail using the group photograph picture above.

My dedicated flash gun when mounted on the hot shoe of the camera in the P mode causes the camera to a default setting of 1/60 sec at f4. and ISO of 400.
1/60sec is too slow in case of subject movement and f4 is insufficient for a good depth of field, however setting the camera to M manual allowed me to set 1/200th sec and a aperture of f8. To get a correct exposure I dialled in the ISO manually to 3200 which allowed me to bounce the flash off the ceiling to avoid harsh shadows.

And finally C1 C2 C3 are custom settings (you may not have them) to allow your favourite colour, ,
speed, aperture, brightness, contrast and other settings for example landscapes, children, and portraits to be stored at those values you prefer.

Canon 50Mp 5Ds R digital SLR Camera

I have recently purchase a 5Ds R I have a trusty 24Mp 5D MkIII and I was interested to see how the 50Mp full frame sensor would behave under various conditions

Squeezing that many pixels into a a full frame sensor was asking a lot and because of that the noise levels at moderate ISO's say1600 are quite high compared with the 5D which will go to very high levels with ease due to its  larger pixel size.

So I have been experimenting with a base ISO of 100 to get the best results that means in low light a tripod, in good light Canon's 4 stop IS lenses suffice.

The level of detail available with this sensor is amazing providing the best Canon lenses are used, I use a 16-35mm f4 IS L lens, a 24-70mm 2.8 mkii L and a 100-400mm IS Mkii L lens which covers most of my needs.

File size in RAW at maximum is about 65Mp a huge file size which means a large capacity fast memory card and a very large capacity hard drive.

I am using a Apple iMac and uploading some images to iCloud to save on hard disc space.

Below are two pictures where I cropped the road sign from the centre of the large image file size in RAW was 65mb to gauge enlargement potential.

These images have been exported in small jpeg size for showing here. I chose the "fine detail" setting in the menu and no post edit sharpening was applied

Brodie F1 Brussels sprout

We tried these for the first time as they were recommended to us for their sweet taste.They have been picked whilst small to improve the flavour and reduce cooking time.
We have eaten the small amount of Brussel tops but sadly the snails on the allotment plot had most of them.
The effort to net them was worthwhile to keep the large white butterflies off, so all in all a successful but small crop with beneficial health properties.

Goldfinch

We use to get lots of finches in our garden, sadly that is no longer the case. The general bird numbers visiting our garden in Eastbourne East Sussex are down in significant numbers, even starlings, herring gulls however are ever present in large numbers driven inland by the plentiful amount of food waste giving them lots of free offerings.
It was therefore a surprise to have a goldfinch visit albeit fleetingly today.
My friend Sue at glallotments here  recommends sunflower hearts here for all birds especially goldfinches, I intend to try those in addition to small bird seed mix and fat balls.

sunflower hearts here

A very surprising 50p purchase and its not the goat

I've had a Nikon D200 digital camera for some years but haven't used it for a long while since changing over to Canon cameras and lenses.
I happened upon, in a junk shop, a very early first model Nikon 18-55mm plastic bodied lens with fungus inside and a scratched front element for 50p not expecting much I popped it on the camera and got this frankly surprising sharp and well defined picture of a goat and fishing lake at our local farm shop.
A closer look revealed the fungus and lens scratches were towards the edges of the glass, so at f7.1 (the aperture of these pictures) wouldn't appear but wide open at f3.5 they probably would, so the lens will likely be of limited use for indoor work........still, I now have a usable lens/camera combination.

National Trust Sheffield Park Gardens Uckfield East Sussex Autumn 2017

All photos taken with a Canon 6D and 8-15mm fisheye lens

sunburst

the bridge and cascade

Shingle replacement and school children on Holywell beach

Contractors have been doing the annual task of shingle replacement due to longshore drift 

Children on the beach doing geography lesson on the shingle losses due to longshore drift

Longshore drift, the erosion of shingle due to wind and tides (see above)

Wind surfing on Holywell beach

                                                         

I gather its harder than it looks

This looked to be the hardest part

I cant see what all the fuss is about

Dragonfly

         Macro lens reveals a ugly but wonderful creation of nature the wings are so delicate

Accord first early potatoes

Harvested the first of them today exactly 10 weeks after planting out the tubers. The taste will be all important. They should grow more if left in the ground a little longer, sadly all my three varieties of potatoes are in need of a really good drop of rain which is in short supply at the moment. My plot soil is free draining loam over a chalk base, and that applies to most of Eastbourne and the south downs.

My good friend Jennifer Hunter kindly sent me a mixture of nigella seeds last year and the mixed colours are a picture of delight growing across one allotment bed in amongst the pineapple mint the roots of which will need attending to soon.

The painted lady butterfly with the Canon 100mm f2.8 image stabilised L lens

I recently purchased a macro lens with image stabilising of up to 3 or 4 stops built in.

I wanted to be able to select a small aperture with a slow speed to enable hand held photos, I am not a fan of tripods for these type of pictures.

This enabled me to hand hold these two photos of a painted lady butterfly supping nectar on our pyracantha bush at f16  1/40th of a second ISO 200.

The second picture may be the one for purists but I like the first for the sheer detail in such a wonderful creature.

All the way from Africa

The lens with the hood attached useless for macro work far to close to the subject scaring the beastie and blocking the light

This well rotted cow manure is wonderful stuff

Plot update 30th May `16

We recently took delivery from a local farmer a quantity of well rotted cow manure, hard to believe that 18 months earlier it had been a nasty smelly pile of cow poo. Now my plants are getting the benefit of the wonderful earthy natural fertilizer. I am trying to find a word that best describes the smell ............

I did a trial of some spinach with and without the manure and my photos speak for themselves. I had a really large picking today much  earlier than expected.

Martyn Garrett from A Gardeners Weather Diary here had his bamboo bean poles supported with a cross brace which I tried on mine as my plot is very exposed and a strong wind had collapsed the poles in the past, its good but not as strong as a simple pole placed at one end at an angle, I will probably use both methods, belt and braces so to speak.

My runner beans have flowers and are nearly at the top of the poles, will I get an early crop?

I also am trying baby sweetcorn Minipop for the first time I planted those out with the magic cow manure liberally applied when digging over.

and had my final small pick of asparagus

wonderful stuff

Better growth with manure, note my dirty finger nails no gloves for me when planting out

much slower growth rate with no cow manure added

My normal effective simple brace

cross brace ok but would be better about half way up the poles not as effective as one brace

Minipop sweetcorn

flowers on enorma runner beans

Even I can take a one handed out of focus picture

Third week in May on the plot

I took a chance this year and planted my runner beans out early hoping to get an earlier crop, time will tell, all plants are in except the baby sweet corn which go in later this week.

accord 1st early, belle de fonteney 2nd early and pink fir apple main crop potatoes

Strawberry patch will need covering as soon as fruits form

My over wintered broad beans will soon be ready to pick

cornflower

Enorma runner bean and Blue Lake green bean on the left are the pot marigold plants

Part of the perpetual spinach patch 

I had to pinch the tips out as the blackfly had started to invade the broad beans

Frame and netting ready for the alderman peas

Forget Me Not

Sometimes I take a closer look at a plant through the camera lens, as I did with the forget me not and saw that the buds are pink before they flower in the familiar blue.

I did a similar thing with a perpetual wallflower Erysimum `super bowl mauve` in my garden because I like the colour and realised it was host to some creepy crawlies.