How can I keep a wide aperture but prevent slow shutter speeds on a Canon 5D Mark II?
Asked 6/24/2013
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I was shooting ambient-light portraits with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a 50mm f/1.8 lens in aperture priority at f/1.8. The camera often chose shutter speeds around 1/40–1/50s, which caused subject motion blur from small movements like hands, head movement, or even earrings.
I’d like to keep the aperture wide open, but avoid shutter speeds slower than about 1/125s by letting the camera raise ISO instead. Is there a way to set both a chosen aperture and a minimum shutter speed on the 5D Mark II?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
6
With the Canon EOS 5D mark II, the best way to accomplish what you want is to set the exposure mode to Tv, the shutter speed to the desired setting (i.e. 1/125 sec.), and the ISO to Auto. As long as the light is fairly dim, the camera will first open the aperture to the lens' maximum and then start raising the ISO. This method will only work if you are happy using the lens' maximum aperture.
There is no way on the 5DII to set a minimum shutter speed when in Av exposure mode. If you select Auto ISO and any aperture, the camera will lower the shutter speed to around 1/focal length before it starts raising the ISO. Using P exposure mode will get basically the same results as Av mode with the aperture wide open in dim light.
Experimenting in Av mode with my 5DII by gradually reducing the amount of light entering the lens:
- With an EF 50mm f/1.4 lens the shutter speed has to drop to 1/40 sec. before the ISO starts going up. Once the ISO reaches 3200, then the shutter speed is lengthened even more.
- With the EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS lens at 105mm the shutter speed stops going lower at 1/125 sec until the ISO is up to 3200 and then the shutter speed will drop as far as necessary (over 1 sec with a lens cap on).
- With the EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS lens at 24mm the shutter speed will drop to 1/20 sec. before the ISO starts to go up. Once maxed at ISO 3200, the shutter will then drop even slower.
In M exposure mode, when ISO is set to Auto it stays at ISO 400 and uses the Tv and Av you have manually set, regardless of the amount of light entering the lens. If you are using an E-TTL flash in M mode, the flash power will be automatically adjusted to properly expose the scene.
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
13y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
On the Canon 5D Mark II, there is no built-in way in Av mode to set a minimum shutter speed and have the camera raise ISO to maintain it.
If you want to guarantee at least 1/125s, the practical workaround is to use Tv mode, set 1/125s, and use Auto ISO. In dim light, the camera will typically open the lens to its maximum aperture first, then raise ISO as needed. This works well if you’re happy shooting at the lens’s widest aperture.
On newer Canon bodies such as the 5D Mark III and 6D, there is a dedicated minimum shutter speed setting for Av/P modes, but that feature is not available on the 5D Mark II.
If you need this behavior specifically on a 5D Mark II, a third-party firmware add-on like Magic Lantern may offer it, but it is not part of Canon’s standard firmware.
Also note that your example exposure of f/1.8, 1/40s, ISO 200 would need roughly a much higher ISO to reach 1/125s in the same light.
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