Single shot mode vs continuous

dinneenp

Hi,
I presume theres no downside to shooting in drive mode.
If
So, why would you ever have camera set to single shot? I know for landscape, architecture and many other shots you domt need continuous but if there's no downside to shooting in it then why not have it on all the time?
Just for when you might want it at least it's 'on/ready'

Ta,
Pa

smelltheglove

Battery power / shutter life / memory space? The fact that you can trust in yourself to get the shot you need without continuous helps.

Eirebear

If you dont need it, why have it on?

Shutter life would be a major factor i think, why run the risk of firing off 2 shots every time you press the button, automatically halfing the lifespan of your camera?

pixbyjohn

dinneenp wrote: »

Hi,
I presume theres no downside to shooting in drive mode.
If
So, why would you ever have camera set to single shot? I know for landscape, architecture and many other shots you domt need continuous but if there's no downside to shooting in it then why not have it on all the time?
Just for when you might want it at least it's 'on/ready'

Ta,
Pa

Just clarify for me.... is it drive mode or continous focus mode you are really asking about ?

I usually have it turned on, but I go to single shot when I'm using flash at a high power setting (no point firing off three shots, if the flash only fired once for those three, leaving you with two black screens).

Same as above if I'm photographing people (though I'm usually using flash in those situations, too, anyway).


If I'm just out and about and wandering around with good light and no intention of using flash or photographing anything in particular, I'll turn burst mode and AI Servo on (but then, I photograph emergency services a lot, and I've missed two vehicles on blues before going past as I was in single shot/focus mode).

Depends what you're doing. If I was shooting anything fast-paced or intense or such (Music gig for example), then I go with burst. If I have time to pose the subject or compose the shot, then I go with single shot (though I have a habit of taking two photos anyway, and re-adjusting the focus for each one, just to make sure I got it right, though I partly blame that on the 20D's screen being so small you can't really make out if you got the shot in focus or not... generally I get it right first time, but better safe than sorry, as they say).

PopeBuckfastXVI

I mostly shoot in single shot. My camera does 3fps when it feels like it, and I would worry that the 'decisive moment' happens in the 99% of the time between the shots, I'd rather anticipate and time something.

dinneenp

Hi,
It was drive mode I meant.
I don't have it on all the time but was just wondering- late night thoughts.
cheers for the replies.

zerohamster

A camera shutter if used on burst a lot for more than 1 shot (ie not just using it as you would single shot) will fail quicker than if the same amount of shots were taken in single shot.
For example a sports photographers 1D shutter might fail at say 120K compared to one that was used in single shot that could fail at 170K as it will cause more wear in burst.

Prenderb

I already delete many of my "shots" (though that's its own failing!) - the thoughts of having to delete 50% or more of all shots because they were the spares resulting from burst mode makes me shudder!

The Snipe

I think the quality of shots on Burst is also lower, as the sensor has to wipe itself faster.

zerohamster

I think if there is any lowering of quality it is because the mirror is causing vibration from the previous actuation in burst but I dont think the sensor has any limitation from resetting as it would be able to do that nearly instantly.

The Snipe

zerohamster wrote: »

I think if there is any lowering of quality it is because the mirror is causing vibration from the previous actuation in burst but I dont think the sensor has any limitation from resetting as it would be able to do that nearly instantly.

True, id thoughr it would be that when i was reading up on the comparision of the 1d to the 5d and it was talking about the fps and the 5d ghosting at higher ones over the larger sensor size

5uspect

Wasn't that just a bug in the launch firmware?

I generally shoot in low speed continuous (~3fps) on my 7D so I can take a single shot quite easily but still have the ability to take a second or thing image quickly. I have set a custom mode for high speed shooting if I see something I don't want to miss. I just have to flick the mode dial to C1.

ThOnda

I have my camera in continuous mode, because I am using the shutter button also for Autofocus. Therefore I can recompose the picture and keep the focus without the need of refocusing or using back button for focusing (that I am not used to and use that button for exposure lock).