Favorite mode and why?

When I first used my K10, I used full auto untill I felf comfortable with the camera. I tend to use the Av mode a lot. The rationale, is that with the ME, I controled the apeture and the shutter changed accordingly. With the K-10, I can control the apeture with the rear E-dial and the shutter will change. I prefer a high shutter speed when taking pictures at sporting events. I sometimes use full auto when I am ok with the shutter speed and DOF.

Av, I like the depth of field to be shallow when shooting plants and animals.

On the odd occasion I use Sv or Tv, but that's definitely not normal for me.

Av to control the DOF in the image.

M for special purposes such as studio flash.

I think I'm more of a novice.

I like to use mine in program mode but then use the dials to adjust the aperture (usually to achieve the required DOF) and sometimes the shutter speed (for action shots). The advantage here is that if I mess it up the green button quickly gets me back to the starting position.

Occasionally I have used mine in manual to take shots of the moon through a long lens but it then usually takes me several attempts to get the desired result.

Glyn

If you think about it, if I set f8 on my lens and the shutter speed the camer selects is 1/250 sec (for example) then the person next to me sets Tv and uses 1/250 sec their camera will selct f8 as the aperture.

These are the same result, so in that sense what mode you use doesn't matter.

The purpose of all these modes is for us to choose how we like to operate so that the camera can be customised to all sorts of personal preferences.

The worst option is the thinking that looks at the scene and then decides what mode to set.

Av mainly, occasionally Sv for fast movers etc but I find that Av is the one that gives me the shots I want most of the time.

Agree with John (Riley) that in some sense it doesn't matter, but my way of thinking with the K10D is to use Av and control aperture with rear dial, with front dial set to ISO changes. This way I can choose something relating to the DOF I want and yet relatively easily get a fast enough shutter speed that helps reduce camera shake effects by upping the ISO (within reason also trying to keep noise levels down!)

However, a slightly noisy but sharp shot is better than a 'clean' blurred one

Andy

Have never used auto on mine, I decided on day one that I needed to try and work things out from the beginning.

I have used AV mode virtually all the time with the exception of airplanes when I want some prop blur whan I use Tv.

Have lately discovered P mode though and think that's just about right for me, I get to choose between the 2 with the flick of the front or back wheel.

rarely ever off manual....occasionally tav...

av mainly with manual in second place.

Av mode for me to control dof

Even when using an older lens I tend to leave the body in Av. I have aperture ring engaged in the menus so all I need to do is focus, compose, adjust aperture manually and shoot.

Maybe I should use Manual mode!

But what the heck it works either way!

I'm in M most of the time, the lighting is mostly quite constant and you've a little leeway when shooting in raw.
And when the lighting isn't constant I will use AV.
I did try TAv once but couldn't get the hang of it maybe i should use it more.

Having grown up with an OM1 (manual only) this was not an issue.

When I got my K20d, I found myself using Av although I would not be able to explain why.

Av 99% of the time, M 0.99% and TAv 0.01% (made up stats of course, but you get the idea!)

I like Av because it's the way I grew up thinking about things with my dads MV. M obviously has its uses for situations where you want absolute control, and TAv I find fantastic for sports.

In the sport situation TAv lets you set shutter speed and aperture for the effect you want without worrying about light levels overmuch, so you have the reaction times of an automatic mode with most of the control of full manual. Obviously you have to keep half an eye on what the ISO is doing and temper your demands accordingly.