How many use auto on their cameras

I have used it a few times, but mainly to take a photo of the scene im wanting then check what settings its used and ill try and adjust for myself, thats only if im having any trouble.

Ive really struggled on what kinda things to shoot and what to shoot them in, swaying towards AV mode just now.
 
Hello all.

I am trying to stay away from auto, i have been tempted a few times but i am learning more by not using it.:)
 
Never use "P" but do use Av & Tv for exteriors with changing light. Interior and with flash or studio lighting only "M" as light is constant.
 
I've never used Auto on any of my DSLRs. :shake: The D70 had it, but I never used it, and the next three didn't have Auto. :shake: I've never used Program either. I want some input into what the camera is doing. ;) I use Aperture Priority 90% of the time, because I want . If the picture has a motion element, either freezing movement, or blurring movement, I'll use Shutter Priority. If I need for the camera to keep the same settings and not be affected by changing light levels then I'll use Manual.

I do/have occasionally use Auto on my compact camera, especially with the flash, because at least with my new camera, I haven't worked out how get as good pics changing the settings myself. :(

All Auto wants to do is give you at least 1/60th sec, (when the light gets low) it will change Aperture and ISO if it needs to achieve that. As far as I know there are not any cameras whose Auto takes into account the focal length used, so 1/60th sec is easy to handhold at 18mm, but may not be at 300mm. :shrug:

Some cameras, mainly compacts, have an Intelligent Auto mode, which 'know' what it is looking at, and sets the appropriate Scene Mode. :eek: It is a bit freaky the first time you see it. :lol:

Irritatingly, when I use the Auto or Scene Modes on my compact it disables the RAW capture. :bang:
 
Don't think I've ever used it, or Program. Don't even get me started on Scene Modes!
Mainly Aperture Priority; sometimes with spot-meter and AE lock. Full Manual when I'm after even more control.
 
redhed17 said:
I use Aperture Priority 90% of the time, because I want . If the picture has a motion element, either freezing movement, or blurring movement, I'll use Shutter Priority. If I need for the camera to keep the same settings and not be affected by changing light levels then I'll use Manual.
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That sums it all up pretty easily in to one paragraph. I think im going to enjoy it here a bit more than the Canon forum :naughty:
 
neil_g said:
Although not a rule as such, I use aperture priority for sports to control the depth of field ;)
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Yeah i understand, there are so many ways of doing different things, it just helps clarify a little to others slightly less knowledgeable on the subject what to do ;)
 
boliston said:
I would probably be more inclined to shoot full manual if DSLR cameras had a proper shutter dial and ISO dial like a traditional film SLR.

I really do not like using a command wheel as there is no physical indication of the setting when you look at the wheel.
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But you can see the effect of the command and sub-command wheel in the viewfinder ... which is where your eye should be anyway (not looking at some number on a dial). Most film SLRs had dials graduated in full stop increments - your D700 can do 3 times better than that and you think it is a backwards step?

You own what is argueably one of the most sophiosticated camera in the world and use it like a point and shoot - what a waste of the camera's capability and (dare I say it) your talent ... sheesh!!
 
boliston said:
I would probably be more inclined to shoot full manual if DSLR cameras had a proper shutter dial and ISO dial like a traditional film SLR.

I really do not like using a command wheel as there is no physical indication of the setting when you look at the wheel.

At least some lenses retain a physical aperture dial, allowing more intuitive aperture setting, but I'm sure there must be a market for a physical shutter speed & iso dial.
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Why, it is all displayed in the viewfinder. Even my old film Nikons had a window showing the aperture set on the ring.
 
Bristolian said:
But you can see the effect of the command and sub-command wheel in the viewfinder ... which is where your eye should be anyway (not looking at some number on a dial). Most film SLRs had dials graduated in full stop increments - your D700 can do 3 times better than that and you think it is a backwards step?

You own what is argueably one of the most sophiosticated camera in the world and use it like a point and shoot - what a waste of the camera's capability and (dare I say it) your talent ... sheesh!!
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As I mainly shoot street photography then my eye is not really going to be looking through the viewfinder till about half a second before I press the shutter - I will have already mentally framed my subject before the camera gets anywhere near eye level. In program mode the camera normally selects f/8 or f/11 anyway, so it's just selecting what I would have chosen had I been using aperture priority - it won't make the picture any better or worse.
 
boliston said:
As I mainly shoot street photography then my eye is not really going to be looking through the viewfinder till about half a second before I press the shutter - I will have already mentally framed my subject before the camera gets anywhere near eye level. In program mode the camera normally selects f/8 or f/11 anyway, so it's just selecting what I would have chosen had I been using aperture priority - it won't make the picture any better or worse.
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Why would you want to use f/8-11 when doing street photography?

Don't take offence, but you seem to have a "pot luck" mentality by shooting like this. I can't understand why you wouldn't, for example, pre select your settings in say aperture priority, rather than hope the camera gives you something that you "probably would have selected anyway"??

By doing this you have absolutely zero input into how the final image looks, apart from the framing. That's what a CCTV camera operator does, not a photographer.
 
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boliston said:
Well, I want to get maximum DOF possible, and these apertures give this, especially f/11.
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Normally for street togging, I'd go for wide apertures and fast shutter speeds, separating the subject from an often cluttered background and ensuring shots often taken from the hip, are sharp. But that's just the way I like to do it I suppose,, and why I don't use auto!
 
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The last time i used auto was the second lesson of my photography course, i havnt looked back since and im really enjoying being able to experiment with the settings.
 
boliston said:
I would probably be more inclined to shoot full manual if DSLR cameras had a proper shutter dial and ISO dial like a traditional film SLR.

I really do not like using a command wheel as there is no physical indication of the setting when you look at the wheel.

At least some lenses retain a physical aperture dial, allowing more intuitive aperture setting, but I'm sure there must be a market for a physical shutter speed & iso dial.
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If you look at the top LCD or even through the viewfinder when changing iso you'll see it displayed on both........
 
odd jim said:
Normally for street togging, I'd go for wide apertures and fast shutter speeds, separating the subject from an often cluttered background and ensuring shots often taken from the hip, are sharp. But that's just the way I like to do it I suppose,, and why I don't use auto!
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I guess there are quite a lot of different types of street photography, and I like to have the surroundings in focus as well as the subject - not that difficult as I just use a 28mm prime with loads of DOF compared with say a 50mm (as used by quite a lot of street shooters). I started doing street with a 50 but it just felt too narrow after a while.
 
Manual for me the majority of the time, others it's aperture priority. I do alot of studio work for a local sweet shop getting their products in good light, manual allows me to choose exactly what I want from the photo. It's good for me to learn from it because I know exactly what to control and when, whilst getting 'the shot'.
 
i have tried auto(green rectangular box)and i didnt think it was to bad,but when im new to dslr's i suppose it wouldnt.In saying that im trying my damed hardest to avoid it,as i want the satisfaction that iv produced images of my own creativity.
x
 
i think almost everyone starts off with auto but soon you will start to find things out about your camera. and dont worry about messing manual up because there is usually a default setting you can choose so just mess about with manual and see what you can learn:)
 
Having had my Nikon for about a couple of months I try to avoid auto.

Id suggest to anyone new to take your shots using aperture priority or shutter priority they just allow you more freedom.

I had the issue of occasionally getting under exposed shots when I was trying my hand with manual but rather than switching to auto. I think it's worth going against a piece of advice I read in many guides (that basically said always use the lowest possible ISO) and pushed mine up to 400 - 1600 for the darker night club shooting I've done recently.

In this ISO range the D3100 appears to handle very well and offers well exposed shots with good quality bokeh that I've been able to control myself because I'm in control of the aperture. Something that you can't change in fully auto modes.
 
I've never had anyone ask me what mode my camera is in when looking at my photographs. The RPS didn't ask when i got my associate distinction, alamy don't ask when i submit my photographs, buyers don't ask when they buy my photos and picture editors didn't when they published my photos. I'd hazard a guess that they were a mix of aperture priority and program mode. I'm not saying this to brag, but to make the point that as long as the exposure and dof are appropriate, no one gives two hoots as to how the picture was taken, just what it looks like.
 
viewfromthenorth said:
I've never had anyone ask me what mode my camera is in when looking at my photographs. The RPS didn't ask when i got my associate distinction, alamy don't ask when i submit my photographs, buyers don't ask when they buy my photos and picture editors didn't when they published my photos. I'd hazard a guess that they were a mix of aperture priority and program mode. I'm not saying this to brag, but to make the point that as long as the exposure and dof are appropriate, no one gives two hoots as to how the picture was taken, just what it looks like.
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I tend to go along with this view - also there seems to be an element of irony in that a lot of people will proudly say the "never use auto" yet will happily let the camera focus the image for them.
 
I stick my D7000 on p mode and hand it to Ali to use for snaps of family with the 35mm prime on. I've tried it myself but its just sooooo frustrating letting the camera make crappy decisions.
 
boliston said:
I tend to go along with this view - also there seems to be an element of irony in that a lot of people will proudly say the "never use auto" yet will happily let the camera focus the image for them.
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AF and full auto are totally different aspects.
 
boliston said:
I mainly use auto on my D700 because it actually seems to work quite well. A lot of people use Aperture priority but auto generally seems to choose the correct aperture and it's one less thing to worry about.
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I assume from this you mean 'P' mode, as the D700 doesnt have an 'Auto' mode... :thinking:
 
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boliston said:
I tend to go along with this view - also there seems to be an element of irony in that a lot of people will proudly say the "never use auto" yet will happily let the camera focus the image for them.
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Its true a good photo is a good photo however its taken.

However I am more accurate with the chosen exposure settings (how could the camera even guess what I am trying to do) yet the camera is more accurate and faster than me trying to manually focus. Macro/liveview is the only exception.
 
Thanks to this site and some great advice when I got my 1st DSLR, I started off using manual, (so glad I did now) as it has enabled me to understand how everythiing interacts with each other on the camera and now feel I have a reasonable control over what the camera is doing and also how to react to differing situations (i.e. light etc..)

I use Av occasionally depending on the light but mostly use manual.

Are there any tutorials knocking about on how to use this "Auto-thingy" ?? :thinking:
 
If your happy using auto for those important shots, that's fine! Use AV etc when playing around and the pictures are not so important to you, you will eventually move on.

But, please remember, its not a crime to use your camera in auto mode, no ones been sent down for doing so.

Most importantly........... Enjoy!
 
Birty said:
Thanks to this site and some great advice when I got my 1st DSLR, I started off using manual, (so glad I did now) as it has enabled me to understand how everythiing interacts with each other on the camera and now feel I have a reasonable control over what the camera is doing and also how to react to differing situations (i.e. light etc..)

I use Av occasionally depending on the light but mostly use manual.

Are there any tutorials knocking about on how to use this "Auto-thingy" ?? :thinking:
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there is 1 tutorial about the auto thingy says switch to auto, point, press button the end lol
 
It's manual WB I struggle with mostly happy to use the manual settings or av ,tv,p . Don't see what the big deal is ,it's the end result that matters to everyone .
 
Been on Aperture mode now for a while and actually feel a lot better about the whole photography thing, i can blur background now at the turn of a wheel where as a few weeks ago my only hope was to stick it in portrait mode.

It's a learning curve that's for sure and my biggest problem is finding the time to keep learning!
 
neil_g said:
however like i say auto mode will not necessarily going to get you the creative look you want as the camera picks a middle of the road setting to achieve what it considers good exposure.
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P mode however allows the user to nudge away from the cxamera's selected settingts to achieve the DoF or shutter speed the user thinks more apropriate.
 
viewfromthenorth said:
I've never had anyone ask me what mode my camera is in when looking at my photographs. The RPS didn't ask when i got my associate distinction, alamy don't ask when i submit my photographs, buyers don't ask when they buy my photos and picture editors didn't when they published my photos. I'd hazard a guess that they were a mix of aperture priority and program mode. I'm not saying this to brag, but to make the point that as long as the exposure and dof are appropriate, no one gives two hoots as to how the picture was taken, just what it looks like.
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:clap::clap::clap:

The first thing I do when I switch my camera off is put the dial to AUTO so that if I pick it up in a hurry and try & get a photo quickly the settings will at least be appropriate for the conditions in the camera's eyes rather than whatever I was working on when I put the camera down.
 
boliston said:
I tend to go along with this view - also there seems to be an element of irony in that a lot of people will proudly say the "never use auto" yet will happily let the camera focus the image for them.
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:shrug:

Nod said:
P mode however allows the user to nudge away from the cxamera's selected settingts to achieve the DoF or shutter speed the user thinks more apropriate.
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indeed but P and full AUTO are 2 separate settings on most cameras :)
 
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