Manual or use an auto setting?

Samlino

Samlino

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Do pro shooters only use manual mode or take advantage of the auto setting feature and why....?
 
I would imagine that depends entirely on the scenario... Unless I've got a bit of time to put some proper thought into it, I tend to use aperture priority, with shutter priority if the speed is more critical to get right.
 
I don't know if I count as a 'pro', but I use AV most of the time, however once flash is the primary or even a significant light source I'm mostly Manual.

The think is, if you know what you're doing modes are insignificant.

If you don't know what you're doing it's dead easy to believe that auto modes means the camera is making decisions, and Manual mode means you make them. That of course is nonsense, and if you understand why - you're on your way.

Just for clarity - I'm not talking about sport / portrait etc mode, just PAS rather than M.
 
It's all the same really, on my camera in Aperture priority adjusting exposure comp requires pressing a button whilst scrolling, yet if I was in manual I'd have to scroll a long way to get to the desired shutter speed if say going from inside to outside. Swings and roundabouts, nobody cares what mode it's in as long as the shot works out!
 
Samlino said:
Do pro shooters only use manual mode or take advantage of the auto setting feature and why....?
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The exposure setting modes are all just different ways of achieving the same thing, ie correct exposure. Use whichever one you prefer, or best suits the situation.

I tend to use aperture-priority and manual about equally. And that's fairly typical, but none is 'better' than another.
 
As Hoppy says ,,,but...
Knowing about the basics can help. Use program mode for example and you will get a well exposed piccy, but is the DOF deep/shallow enough? Once you know about exposure
you are more qualified (perhaps that's not the right word) to know what is the bes mode to choose to get the finished result you want.
 
I have a pro camera.. I use it to make a living.. this pro camera is aimed at pro users (but anyone can use it of course) the camera can be used in many modes.. auto.. a few semi auto and manual... It doesn't have modes such as sport/landscape/portrait ect..

The reason it has auto and semi auto modes is because the makers know like I do.. that all the modes are usefull.. and one mode can't do everything..

Today because the light was constantly changing I was using AV mode at a football match I was shooting for a newspaper.... now heres the important bit.. had I used MANUAL then I wouldnt be able to keep up wiht the action as I would be constantly changing my settings.. the light was changing wihtin seconds and at random times..


My point is two fold... 1) all those auto modes are there to be used.. 2) manual as much as I like using it.. is completly useless in some situations...


Hows that? :)
 
A camera is just a tool, how you use your tool is up to you, surely it is up to every professional and amateur photographers to decide if they want to use manual or automatic depending on how they like to use their cameras? There's no rules that says pro photographers must use manual (or auto) and amateurs must use auto (or manual).

Do you use the mouse to click on the save button to save your word processor work? Do you use the mouse to click on File | Print... command to print? Who told you to do that? Did you know that you don't have to do that all the time and that you can opt for different ways? I opt to use Ctrl + S for save and Ctrl + P for print.

I would assume every professional photographers have their options, some would use manual, some would use auto, some would use either way, same as we all would opt for using mouse all the time, or use keyboard shortcuts, or even sometimes either way.

I use either manual or auto depending on how I feel and depending on the subject.
 
The majority of the time I use Aperture Priority so I can change things for DOF, but when it comes to using a flash i turn to Manual mode so I can F stop my camera down to F 1/60.
 
As pretty much everything I shoot requires that I choose the amount of DoF I need I shoot mostly AP (dialing in correction as necessary)

M is used only where the subject exposure isn't changing but the overall lighting may be i.e. zooming from a tight shot to a wide one where the background is much lighter/darker than the subject. That said, if I'm working fast (such as at a Wedding) I'll zoom in, take a reading, shoot and lock it in AP, then zoom out again

I don't think I've ever used S and as for P, well for me that's the holiday exposure programme as a fail-safe for when I've had too much beer and P = pished :D

Dave
 
If you use aperture priority for say football shots, would you use auto ISO or dial in what you think you need? I'm thinking on a bright sunny day ISO 100 might be fine, but what happens when the light starts to dim.
 
footydad said:
If you use aperture priority for say football shots, would you use auto ISO or dial in what you think you need? I'm thinking on a bright sunny day ISO 100 might be fine, but what happens when the light starts to dim.
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Footie shots are almost always shot wide open or very close to wide open as a means of separating the players from the distracting backgrounds, hence AP would work fine in diminishing light, but yes you'd need to keep upping the ISO to ensure the shutter speed was high enough to not blur due to subject movement. I imagine auto ISO could work well, but I'd just adjust myself tbh

I suspect the biggest problem for footie shoots is when half the pitch is in shadow of a stand and the rest in full sun - shooting in manual is probably best there and just whizzing up/down a few stops of shutter speed as they run in & out of the dark/light - tricky

Dave
 
Bernie said:
The majority of the time I use Aperture Priority so I can change things for DOF, but when it comes to using a flash i turn to Manual mode so I can F stop my camera down to F 1/60.
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Thats a tight f stop. Or do you mean shutter speed?
 
Normally fully manual, but thats only because its a preference and not because I think it better then any other mode. I find it much easier to change aperture or shutter speed then to change the exposure compensation dial, but thats just me.

Having said that my x100s I use on AP nearly all the time, with auto ISO. Its only when I get to really tricky lighting I like to switch to manual there
 
From just a hobbyst.

#1 If the lighting is constant then manual
#2 If the in camera metering is likely to be fooled then manual.


Audi R8 LMS GT3 (3) by dicktay2000, on Flickr

Here the cars headlights shoining into the lens may cause the the image to be exposed so I was shooting manual.

#3 For almost every thing else shutter or aperture priority, with exposure compensation dialed in need be.
 
Samlino said:
Do pro shooters only use manual mode or take advantage of the auto setting feature and why....?
Click to expand...

Thanks all the great comments and advice.
I have attended a few courses during which the trainer has pointed folk more towards using manual mode as a standard. I have tried this for the past six months or so and while I think I understand how to get a balance shot the truth is I have found this difficult to achieve in a practical setting. An example of this would be yesterday when I attended a local armed forced day. Taking clear in focus shots of soldiers marching I found difficult using manual and having looked at the shots taken think I might have got better results using TV mode? Think I'm coming round to understand the important thing is to get a good result and to do so should take advantage of all camera features?
 
Samlino said:
Thanks all the great comments and advice.
I have attended a few courses during which the trainer has pointed folk more towards using manual mode as a standard. I have tried this for the past six months or so and while I think I understand how to get a balance shot the truth is I have found this difficult to achieve in a practical setting. An example of this would be yesterday when I attended a local armed forced day. Taking clear in focus shots of soldiers marching I found difficult using manual and having looked at the shots taken think I might have got better results using TV mode? Think I'm coming round to understand the important thing is to get a good result and to do so should take advantage of all camera features?
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Courses will often prefer you to use manual mode to allow you to learn how exposure works, in particular the interaction of aperture and shutter speed. In the real world, use whatever suits the situation, no-one has ever questioned me as to what mode I use on my photographs. I've just spent an hour photographing a derelict mill and used a combination of Program, Aperture and Manual modes.
 
sk66 said:
I think you have to understand and be "fluent with" manual mode in order to use the other modes and still retain "control."
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Why do you think that? Surely if you understand exposure enough to get the photo you want then you'll retain control regardless of method chosen to do it?
 
A good pro knows when and how to use each mode to his or her advantage
 
Samlino said:
Taking clear in focus shots of soldiers marching I found difficult using manual and having looked at the shots taken think I might have got better results using TV mode?
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Getting an in-focus image has nothing to do with the exposure programme you are using. And as already stated, there is nothing specific about any of the modes that will get you better results if you know what you're doing.
 
Bernie said:
The majority of the time I use Aperture Priority so I can change things for DOF, but when it comes to using a flash i turn to Manual mode so I can F stop my camera down to F 1/60.
Click to expand...

I tend to use Aperture Priority most of the time in addition to manual, and I prefer Aperture Priority over that of full program auto or Shutter Priority mainly because I can control the shutter speed by turning the aperture, as well as DOF.
 
Major Eazy said:
I tend to use Aperture Priority most of the time in addition to manual, and I prefer Aperture Priority over that of full program auto or Shutter Priority mainly because I can control the shutter speed by turning the aperture, as well as DOF.
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I've done that with aperture priority but found that using the external flash on top of the camera, that the shutter speed isn't fast enough hand held, but using manual using flash let's me find a faster shutter speed. But yeah I might use aperture priority if using a tripod.
 
I will use auto for non important stuff, like pictures of items I sell on forums or random things I need to document.

I use c3 with manual for studio stuff
AV normally when out doing location stuff in natural light
 
elliotedwards said:
I will use auto for non important stuff, like pictures of items I sell on forums or random things I need to document.
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You know what. I have read and read this and its by far the strangest reason for choosing that I have ever heard.. the more I think the more strange it becomes..

Sorry not having a pop.. just saying... strange..
 
KIPAX said:
You know what. I have read and read this and its by far the strangest reason for choosing that I have ever heard.. the more I think the more strange it becomes..

Sorry not having a pop.. just saying... strange..
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Makes sense to me.

Why faff on if all you want is a small JPEG for screen viewing or posting on ebay? Just point the camera, click and get on with your life.
 
woof woof said:
Makes sense to me.
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also makes sense to the person posting it... i just think choosing av because the pic isnt important is a very strange way to decide how to shoot a pic... You and the op and many others might think its sensible.. I may even be on my own thinking its strange... but it really is :)
 
KIPAX said:
also makes sense to the person posting it... i just think choosing av because the pic isnt important is a very strange way to decide how to shoot a pic... You and the op and many others might think its sensible.. I may even be on my own thinking its strange... but it really is :)
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Dunno what AV is. The other guy said he shoots non important stuff in Auto. Seems sensible to me.

If you really want to go the whole hog you can shoot RAW in aperture priority or manual and process in CSx and output to a 40mb Tiff :D

Personally I pretty much shoot everything in RAW and process in CS5 and save as a JPEG but I don't take a large number of record shots or shots of items that are going to end up as 300 pixel square images on ebay but I can see why anyone shooting larger numbers of those shots would turn the dial to green square mode :D
 
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KIPAX said:
also makes sense to the person posting it... i just think choosing av because the pic isnt important is a very strange way to decide how to shoot a pic... You and the op and many others might think its sensible.. I may even be on my own thinking its strange... but it really is :)
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No you're not alone.
There seems to be lots of crazy ideas in this thread.
I'm really trying to avoid keeping my views out of here.
 
drexyl said:
No you're not alone.
There seems to be lots of crazy ideas in this thread.
I'm really trying to avoid keeping my views out of here.
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You both need to get out more :D
 
drexyl said:
No you're not alone.
There seems to be lots of crazy ideas in this thread.
I'm really trying to avoid keeping my views out of here.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's right to keep your views to yourself, it's when views become arguments, but I strongly agree that if someone is doing something wrong in your view regarding photography, then air your views or simply send a kind private message. There's nothing worse than jumping down someone's throat over something trivial.
 
boyfalldown said:
Why do you think that? Surely if you understand exposure enough to get the photo you want then you'll retain control regardless of method chosen to do it?
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Because if you understand exposure well enough to retain control in other modes, then you understand it well enough to be "fluent" with manual mode.

Many recommend learning by using the semi-auto modes first in a "crawl-walk-run" philosophy. But I honestly think it's a "mistake" because in the end it slows down the learning process.
 
sk66 said:
Because if you understand exposure well enough to retain control in other modes, then you understand it well enough to be "fluent" with manual mode.

Many recommend learning by using the semi-auto modes first in a "crawl-walk-run" philosophy. But I honestly think it's a "mistake" because in the end it slows down the learning process.
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Surely if you understand exposure properly it doesn't matter how you get there, and which mode you use is irrelevant to that understanding. The guy who thinks he's been clever by using manual purely to line his meter up has far less understanding then the guy who shoots in Av and compensates properly. The understanding isn't related to the mode you use
 
boyfalldown said:
Surely if you understand exposure properly it doesn't matter how you get there, and which mode you use is irrelevant to that understanding. The guy who thinks he's been clever by using manual purely to line his meter up has far less understanding then the guy who shoots in Av and compensates properly. The understanding isn't related to the mode you use
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Certainly. I didn't say "use manual mode." I said (meant) "be able to use manual mode."

I almost never use manual mode, and usually when I do I still have auto ISO enabled...
 
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i mainly shoot in Av mode with Canon 1DX but i do often override it. Example men in black suits i dial in -2/3 of a stop as the camera will often over expose. I find this quicker than switching to spot metering. I also use manual. One big advantage with this is if you have constant lighting its much quicker to batch process
 
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