Favourite apertures/ISO setings?

Does anyone else have favourite aperture or ISO settings? I use the word favourite intentionally, as I don't mean to ask about optimum settings, but about those settings you tend to go back to, for whatever reason.

I always used to use ISO 400 film for day to day photography, and consequently I use 400 as a default DSLR setting. I can see no particular reason to go below this for IQ reasons on modern DSLRs. (I got to play with an Epson 7880 printer this week, and made a 29 x 20" print from an in-camera K20D RAW to JPEG file at ISO 400, with no noticeable noise. There can't be many situations where 100 or 200 are going to deliver discernably superior results.)

Aperture-wise, I like f/5.6. I know there are often good reasons for this being a good aperture (two stops down on an f/2.8 lens), but I think I have a particular fondness for this setting that isn't entirely based on anything rational. f/8 and f/11 - they're fine, but I'd take f/5.6 any day!

Does anyone else know what I mean, or am I alone in my oddness?

Jonathan

As far as aperture is concerned, everyone will give different answers as it depends on the lens they use. Mine is f2.8 as it's still pretty sharp on my DA*50-135 which is my lens of choice.

On the Tamron for example, and my kit lens it is F8.

For me my ISO sensitivity is mainly set to 100, though if i'm in low light conditions or without my flashgun, I tend to have it in the 100-800 range in AV priority.

For my landscapes f10-f16 the flowers f2.8-f10 all with iso kept to a minimum though not always possible

You are not alone! My camera is set to ISO400 around 95% of the time and only gets changed in exceptional circumstances (like when I need a longer or shorter shutter speed) - nobody's ever mentioned noise in my pictures and I don't find 400 in any way objectionable.

Favourite aperture varies from lens-to-lens though; for example the DA12-24 tends to be used at f/8, the FA43 at f/5.6, the FA77 at f/2.4, the Sonnar wide open at f/3.5, etc. From getting to know each lens these just happen to be the aperture values I think suit them best.