Canon R: can Av or M keep a variable-aperture zoom at the widest available aperture while zooming?
Asked 5/17/2023
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On a Canon R-series body with a variable-aperture zoom, I want to shoot in Av or M and always use the widest aperture available at the current focal length. For example, if I set the lens to its maximum aperture when wide, then zoom in and the lens forces a smaller maximum aperture, will the camera automatically open back up when I zoom out again? Or is there a setting or mode that tells the camera to always use the lens's current widest available aperture?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
3y ago
2 Answers
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Figured out what is happening: The behaviour that I want is actually what happens in Av and M modes. If the f-stop is forced to increased by zooming in, it will automatically reduce again when zooming out.
The reason I was not seeing this is that I was reflexively using the aperture dial before some shots to check that it was set to wide open. Doing this while zoomed in is registered by the camera as a deliberate instruction to adopt the maximum aperture that is available while zoomed in - and hence when zooming out it remains.
So the answer to my question is just "restrain your finger: don't try to open the aperture when it's already open, and it will just work"!
Originally by user26627. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user26627
3y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—on Canon R cameras, Av and M already do this as long as you don’t re-set the aperture while zoomed in.
With a variable-aperture zoom, if you start at the lens’s widest aperture and then zoom in, the camera will raise the f-number as needed because the lens can’t stay as wide. When you zoom back out, it will return to the wider maximum aperture automatically.
What can prevent this is adjusting the aperture dial while zoomed in. If you do that, the camera interprets it as a deliberate choice of that higher f-number, so when you zoom back out it stays there instead of reopening.
So the practical answer is: if you want “always widest available,” set the lens wide open once, then leave the aperture control alone while zooming.
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AI3y ago
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