Manual Mode

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Clloyd

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Chris
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Hi guys.. I recently did a mini tutorial about aperture, shutter speed and ISO on my blog. Hopefully it will help someone out there.

Check it out: http://christopherlloydphoto.wordpress.com/

If you think it's helpful I was thinking of doing some more tutorials.

Chris
 
A nice simple write up, i wish i had found something like this when i first started out with photography, it took me ages to work it all out
 
Well written and easy to follow Chris. I would say it's more about exposure basics than Manual specifically, and as a comment I think it's important to point out to newcomers that M does not stand for Magic, as many seem to think it does, and the result you get is no different to the same settings achieved in any other mode.

Also, linking to your personal website with your first post looks a bit like spam so you might want to check that with the mods and maybe put it in the tutorials section?

And welcome to TP :)
 
Thanks for your comments guys.

Exposure Basics maybe a more fitting title.. Thanks for your feedback on that!
Although I slightly disagree with M giving the same result as any other mode. This is why I wrote the mini tutorial. When I was starting out and my camera was selecting a slow shutter speed or slow aperture I was wondering how to achieve the images that I see with blurred out backgrounds, or low light with shap detail. I feel having full control let's you achieve what the auto modes can not. (although I must confess I still use aperture priority mode now and then!)
 
Clloyd said:
Thanks for your comments guys.

Exposure Basics maybe a more fitting title.. Thanks for your feedback on that!
Although I slightly disagree with M giving the same result as any other mode. This is why I wrote the mini tutorial. When I was starting out and my camera was selecting a slow shutter speed or slow aperture I was wondering how to achieve the images that I see with blurred out backgrounds, or low light with shap detail. I feel having full control let's you achieve what the auto modes can not. (although I must confess I still use aperture priority mode now and then!)
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That is precisely the problem! Manual mode is no different in terms of exposure on the sensor. What can you do in manual that cannot be done in an auto mode with compensation or exposure shift?

Manual is great, so are the auto modes, but they're only different ways of arriving at the same result. It's important because necomers think that becuase more advanced photographers use manual a lot, that it is in some way inherently better. Same goes for spot metering too, and then they get in one heck of a pickle!
 
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In terms of exposure you can end up with the same result. But from an ashetics point of view you may want to blow out the background and achieve a shallow DOF. Full auto mode will not know this.
Or another example is photographing a puppy in your living room. You want a higher shutter speed but auto will most likely select a slow one due to lower light.

My tutorial was to make a budding photographer able to achieve the desired end image rather than relying on the camera to select a setting which may not be sufficient under the circumstance or conditions.

But agreed.. Exposure would be the same. Just maybe not as athletically pleasing.
 
But on your comments I may reword some of it. Maybe it is more a tutorial on exposure rather than manual mode. I just figured understanding aperture, shutter and iso makes you aware of how to use manual mode to your full advantage.
 
A good write up - a couple of comments however.
1) ISO does not change the sensitivity of the sensor and the sensor does not soak up light quicker at higher ISO settings. A higher ISO simply amplifies the sensor output more - just before it is converted to digital.
2) In the sentence [Quote Shutter speed is how fast your cameras shutter stays open End Quote] I would have preferred the word long rather than fast.
An easy to read and understand explanation though, better than most you read :)
 
Suvv said:
A good write up - a couple of comments however.
1) ISO does not change the sensitivity of the sensor and the sensor does not soak up light quicker at higher ISO settings. A higher ISO simply amplifies the sensor output more - just before it is converted to digital.
2) In the sentence [Quote Shutter speed is how fast your cameras shutter stays open End Quote] I would have preferred the word long rather than fast.
An easy to read and understand explanation though, better than most you read :)
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Hey.. Thanks so much for commenting. I will change the wording accordingly. However all literature I read when re learning digital stated that the iso changed the sensors sensitivity? This was easily relatable for me coming form a film background and being use to asa film speeds. So its a valid point that's probably technically sound. But for the mini tutorial I think it's easier to understand.

But thanks for checking it out!! :)
 
Brilliant all the time people had been going on about light meter I thought they were talking about a stand alone item or the histogram. I had no idea what that scale in the viewfinder was very helpful thanks.
 
Clloyd said:
In terms of exposure you can end up with the same result. But from an ashetics point of view you may want to blow out the background and achieve a shallow DOF. Full auto mode will not know this.
Or another example is photographing a puppy in your living room. You want a higher shutter speed but auto will most likely select a slow one due to lower light.

My tutorial was to make a budding photographer able to achieve the desired end image rather than relying on the camera to select a setting which may not be sufficient under the circumstance or conditions.

But agreed.. Exposure would be the same. Just maybe not as athletically pleasing.
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I think you're missing the point. Which is simply that you can set any combination of settings using either manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, or program modes. And when you have done that, the mode you used to get there makes no difference to the result. It is the belief that using manual somehow makes the image inherently better that I am trying to overcome.

I don't understand your point about 'aesthetically pleasing' that implies there are some combinations of settings you cannot achieve with auto modes. My 5D2 can set any combination, in any mode, so long as it's within +/- 2 stops of what the meter suggests, by using either compensation or exposure shift in P, or both.

Either way, it would be a nice way to round off the piece by explaining how the various modes work?
 
Clloyd said:
But from an ashetics point of view you may want to blow out the background and achieve a shallow DOF. Full auto mode will not know this.
Or another example is photographing a puppy in your living room. You want a higher shutter speed but auto will most likely select a slow one due to lower light.

QUOTE]

two points ,i dont think richard ( hoppyuk ) meant use full auto to get the same effect .rather aperture or shutter priority ,which is still an auto mode ,if you want to ( as you put it ) blow out the background you would pick the appropriate f stop .and when writitng for the novice / new starter i would be a bit careful using the phrase blow out the background because they may get confused when they read about blown highlights elsewhere .
as for the puppy in the living room the camera has picked a slow shutter speed because it has already picked the widest aperture possible and then has to go with a longer shutter speed to get the correct ( in its opinion ) exposure ,if the lights not there you cant just up the shutter speed
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It's true what you say about the meter seemingly selecting correct exposure in its opinion. This maybe worth writing about also in a more advanced tutorial.

I'm glad it's helping some of you guys understand more about the basics. :)
 
Nice, there's also a more in-depth explanation posted in the tutorial section by David (pookeyhead) a couple of days before, here :thumbs:
 
Wow.. That is indepth. Nice write up by pookeyhead!
I tried to make mine as simple as possible. It's a small break down of how I teach.

I'm actually writing up some more tutorials.. some about composing photographs.
 
Nice write up Chris :)

If I were to pick holes in it, the only thing I spotted that could do with a bit more explaining was this line - Quote " I find that I can get away with 1/30 ok.". The begginer may think that you can get sharp images with any length lens at 1/30.
 
fatmarley said:
Nice write up Chris :)

If I were to pick holes in it, the only thing I spotted that could do with a bit more explaining was this line - Quote " I find that I can get away with 1/30 ok.". The begginer may think that you can get sharp images with any length lens at 1/30.
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Thanks.. I'll reword this section. It's good to get some feedback.. It's always welcome
 
This tutorial has proved very popular! Ive had over 700 views to it in the last few weeks with some great feedback. I'm going to write some more on different aspects for the beginner photographer.. Any suggestions guys??
 
Thanks for that Chris. I've been away from photography for over 20 years ( other than point and shoot) so your write up was most helpful.
 
gwandad said:
Thanks for that Chris. I've been away from photography for over 20 years ( other than point and shoot) so your write up was most helpful.
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You're welcome.. Thanks for checking it out!
 
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