The S5 mk 1 tips & tricks thread

[Markuswelder]

I almost always shoot with M. It probably comes from my video days where you don't want the exposure to change while you are shooting. Now and then I try to adapt to S or A for photos, but it usually doesn't go well. I do use M with Auto ISO for photos fairly often, but then I'm all over exposure comp to get what I want.

I previously shot Aperture mode pretty much exclusively. Someone suggested Auto ISO plus minimum shutter speed, and I quite liked that. From the perspective of quickly changing from static subjects, to moving subjects where the light on your subject can change pretty rapidly when you're in say cities, between buildings, under trees to out in direct sunlight. And so on.
The trouble with that was your minimum shutter speed is quite different between the two (moving and static) Which required a dive into the menus to change. And that's what I'm really liking about M plus Auto ISO. Everything is there, directly under your fingertips. All I have to think about is minimum shutter, and a suitable Aperture. The focus lever is right there under your thumb. No menu diving. At all. Plain Jane M mode requires a dive into the ISO settings menu to get the required shutter speed via ISO at times, and by then I've missed the shot. I'm happy to set Exposure comp, and leave it at that for a particular situation. At worst, it might be 1/3 - 2/3 of a stop out. I can live with that
You may be able to tell from this that I try and shoot minimum ISO and shutter speed, to maximise both Dynamic range, and image quality. This makes it a lot easier in post, less fiddling around in the raw processor, which makes me happy.
In saying that, I've got a C mode setting saved now, M mode, ISO 100, F10, 1/50 shutter speed, single point AF, which I can quickly swap to for landscape scenarios.
I'm not trying to tell anyone else how to suck eggs, just sharing a bit of info derived from real life experiences wandering around strange cities. Where sensory overload happens quite regularly, and having a super quick, easily accessible setup just makes things so much easier and less frustrating.
I'm chasing quick, simple, efficient and effective. Along with excellent image quality.
Happy shooting

 

[Markuswelder]

He he he he he. A further refinement. This is the fantastic thing about going on a decent holiday, and spending some quality time working with your camera. On a consistent, ongoing daily basis.
Auto ISO. Or getting away from it, as it can sometimes cause me a bit of a WTF moment.
So, what I've now done is assign ISO to the Rear Control Dial. The one that surrounds the 4 way arrow keys and menu button. There's no need to activate ISO with another button. It's direct to the wheel. Twirl it one way or the other & the ISO ramps up or down as desired. Super quick & intuitive. I never used the dial for anything, it was just sitting there taking up space. It still works to scroll through the menus once you dive into them, it's just tied to ISO in shooting mode.
I now have EVERY exposure parameter (and more) direct to hand (or finger) on a dial.
So just to recap, I now have front dial as Shutter speed, rear dial as Aperture, rear Control Dial/wheel as ISO, AF mode still on the lever, and the AF on button set to AF point scope -so I can leave the camera in AFC and still over ride it with AFS if required. Brilliant. Just brilliant. No C settings needed. I think might still set C1 as a Landscape mode -F10, ISO 100 and a suitable shutter speed, we'll see.
Anyway, I'll give that a spin for a few days, and see if something annoys me

 

[Markuswelder]

Oh, Another tip. The Control Dial set is a bit tricky to find. I was hunting around in Fn button set, it's not there. It's actually under Dial Set. 4 lines below Fn button set. So go to Dial set, enter, then 3 lines down to Control Dial Assignment. You've then got 4 choices there, I've set mine to ISO. Done