The “A” button

[mark harverson]

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I have to admit that I’m shooting almost exclusively on A 
the only time this isn’t so is after an A capture where  I choose to modify the same pic with a retake on a exposure change. 

all B&W is on the same settings ie ISO 640 and Jpeg with B&w option. no IR cut filter. A set. All shot on one lens the voight 50mm f1.2 nokton
 
hit and miss on lightroom. I’m still trying to find a formula that I like. 
Colours with IR cut Filter 160 ISO. unless absolutely necessary to reshoot. No more than ISO 640. DNG only. A set . One lens, the voight 28mm f2 ultron. 

again still trying to find a formula for lightroom.
in all cases trying not to over process. 
finally I’m using a tripod with 2 second timer activated.  more tripod work than I have ever done before. I have bought a second hand lightweight tripod which has so far caused no issues of instability. (Except with my wife on joint walks)

Edited June 6, 2023 by mark harverson

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[dpitt]

I also use A a lot. I either shoot DNG only or DNG+B&W. Most of the time on ISO 160. I put my trust in the flexibility to push the shadows in PP and my main concern is taking the exposure point (by pointing to a neutral grey area and holding the shutter half way before reframing) so that there is no over-exposure. Setting is -1/3 stop.

In low light situations I do not raise the ISO value, in stead I switch to manual mode and under expose up to 4 stops as needed. I found that results are better when I adjust exposure in post. And at least this method avoids unnecessary noise because sometimes you only need to lift the shadows 2 stops in stead of 3 or 4. If you decide to shoot at 640 or 1280 iSO you always have the maximum amount of noise for the shot, and maybe you could have gotten away with 320 ISO.

Sometimes in very low light I put the camera on ISO 160 and the longest possible shutter time to avoid movement, e.g. 1/15 or 1/30, and then just shoot away at my maximum available opening. This will yield under-exposed shots by a varying amount of stops, but it is the best you can do with a given lens and these camera's. It will be as good as it gets when you are done in PP.

Edited June 7, 2023 by dpitt