How does Shutter Priority AE work?

Sirius Glass said:

Most people think of the shutter speed first.

Click to expand...

MattKing said:

Sirius' point reflects the prevailing wisdom during the 1970s and early 1980s, when so many people shot relatively slow slide film.
That was one of the reasons that the Canon AE-1 was as successful as it was - unlike most competitors, it offered shutter priority automation.
In more recent years I would say that many more people who understand the difference tend toward aperture priority automatic systems because, providing that the shutter speed is sufficient, the aperture choice is one that has greater effect on the appearance of the photograph.
Most modern cameras that offer automation offer both and, from what I've observed, younger people are more likely to choose aperture priority. Younger people who seek to teach photography also tend to recommend it.
In the 1970s with manual metering I would choose the shutter speed first. Nearly a half century later I tend to do it the other way.
Old dogs you know ....

Click to expand...

MattKing said:

From the late 1970s on most people who started with film started with medium to higher speed negative film. Using that made for an entirely different emphasis than using Kodachrome II .....

Click to expand...

Sirius Glass said:

And there it is! One of the moderators even states that Kodachrome was not all that wonderful.

Click to expand...

MattKing said:

Hey - Kodachrome was what I grew up on.
Indirectly it fed me, clothed me, provided me with shelter and a lot of my education!
And I used it happily for years.
You will never hear me say that it wasn't wonderful - in its time.

Click to expand...

runswithsizzers said:

If I understand correctly, that seems to be saying mechanisms inside the camera are determining how far the diaphragm is stopped down, so click stops in the lens may not be involved?

Click to expand...

grat said:

If you look at the camera side of your AR mount lens, there's a small tab sticking out. This tab is spring-loaded, and connects directly to the aperture blades, and has no click stops. If you set the camera to a click stop, then the lens stops down to that value. However, when mounted to the camera, the bayonet mount pushes that lever over to "full open", the maximum aperture the lens supports for focus/composition.

When you release the shutter, if you're in manual mode, the camera closes the lens down to the set value (a click stop), and actuates the shutter.

If you're in AE mode, the camera closes the lens down to the value (well, mechanical distance) indicated by the exposure meter, and cycles the shutter.

Depth-of-field preview, if you have it, stops the lens down to the set value (manual) or measured value (AE).

For more detail, you'll need a service manual.

Click to expand...