Manual v. Automatic

Badger UK

Badger UK

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Brian Ardrey
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Unless the aim is some sort of whacky effect, why would anyone want to use the manual setting on their camera these days?
 
Because it gives you more control over the settings in varied circumstances?
 
I would say mainly to give you that extra control, such as slow shutter speeds when taking photos of waterfalls, or narrow appetrures when doing portraits. Also some of the old school photographers who grew up without any of the latest control would never dream of using them.
 
i'm a complete noob so automatic is good for me at the moment. But as soon as i get to grips with my camera i can see me moving on to manual to give me greater control/creativity.
 
I use Av 95% of the time, but manual has had it's uses, for instance shooting a neon lit street at night, where in Av it just couldn't get the exposure right. For most photos the camera gets the exposure right, and if not then with digital you have the ability to tweak it anyway.
 
Honestly I've only ever used manual once, and I'll not be going back too soon.

I usually use Tv (for motorsport) and Av (for landscapes). I know what sort of shutter/aperture I want for each situation and let the camera tell me what it thinks the reciprocal value should be. If I disagree, it won't be by much so exposure comp will sort that out. For what I use the camera for, I'll probably never need to use full manual - doesn't mean I couldn't use it, just that it would take me longer to achieve the same effect.
 
AlfaFoxtrot said:
I use Av 95% of the time, but manual has had it's uses, for instance shooting a neon lit street at night, where in Av it just couldn't get the exposure right. For most photos the camera gets the exposure right, and if not then with digital you have the ability to tweak it anyway.
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My serious reply now. Yes I also use Aperture priority most of the time and 90% of the time the camera gets the exposure right. On the occasions it doesn't I can either use exposure compensation or, as I shoot in RAW, it can be fixed in PS. There is nothing wrong in this, it IS digital photography and shouldn't be stigmatised. Full manual also has it's uses especially in unusual situations as said in a previous post. For me Manual is a must when doing flash photography as it lets me have full control over aperture AND ambient light by use of shutter speed.

Full Auto is a waste of time in my experience as you get no control over Aperture and therefore no control over depth of field and the camera seems to prefer narrower apertures and therefore higher ISOs. To me the end results always seem soft and flat.
 
I wanted to learn manual with the zone system and did... then have never used anything else. As an example... if there is bright white in a photo.. then I spot meter on that.. give it +2ish and that exposes the white right without blowing it out.

thats a very basic analogy but just so you know. :D
 
I don't like anything else but Manual. I might aswell be walking round with a P&S if i am going to use auto..
 
While I'm fine with using P for a grab shot I would not dream of using it 99% of the time.

Reason?

Quite simply that P produces average. The metering is eval rather than spot so that's average, the aperture the camera will choose is generally mid range, so again, that's average, shutter speed will again be average.

So, in short, it will produce average everything so you will end up with average pics.

If you want to get anything creative from your camera you can't rely on the camera to do it for you.
 
I used manual for every single shot for the first 2 years with DSLR.... for the past couple of months I've started using AV and would say it's 50% split between AV and manual. Manual gives you significantly more control and in difficult conditions where lighting is tricky, it's sometimes the only way to go. The main advantage though, is a real understanding of your camera... you learn how to control it. I have a friend who actually earns a living from his camera though and always shoots auto... He hasn't really got a clue what his camera is doing, and he shocked me a few weeks ago when he asked me to explain depth of field. He had no idea what it was and it's relationship to aperture. He owns a successful photographic studio and as I said, makes his living from portraits. It just goes to show, you don't really need to use Manual, the camera can do all the work for you.
 
I guess also on a similar topic, I've never seen the big deal with a camera having like 500 auto focus points. I only ever use one focus point because I often don't want the entire frame in focus. I can understand having a few, perhaps nine tops so that you can single out a certain focus point to help speed up shots like when doing a model shoot you may want to select the focus point that is always on the model's eyes and therefore helps eliminate the requirement to recompose every time.
 
I’ve been into photography since the 1960s, camera development has come a long way since then, ask yourself why the manufacturers have bothered, if manual is best. I am not saying don’t use manual but use the all the tools in box to get the best image possible. Those of you who use manual do you switch of the auto focus, exposure meter, do you do the sums to calculate your flash to aperture distances, still use grey cards, of coarse you don’t ( or maybe when the circumstances call for it you do). Like I said use all the tools, as and when you need them.
 
Depends what you are shooting though Gman.

I've got a 5D with 9 focus points and a 1Ds with what seems like a gazillion. It makes a difference when trying to track a fast moving whippet!
 
fabs said:
I suppose if you are doing portraits in a studio with a plain background, depth of field doesn't really come into it as long as all of the subject is in focus and Auto will give you that.
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Quite true... however, he's recently started doing weddings which is what prompted the DoF question.
 
AliB said:
Depends what you are shooting though Gman.

I've got a 5D with 9 focus points and a 1Ds with what seems like a gazillion. It makes a difference when trying to track a fast moving whippet!
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If the 9 focus points of the 5D aren't coping, feel free to 'donate' it to me ;):D

I see your point though, in full Auto Focus does the 1Ds selectively use the best focus points or will it simply make sure all of them are used and in focus? I would have though it were more the speed of the focus motor in the camera and lens rather than the number of focus points would have been the important factor, although considering how fast the whippet must be I guess keeping him/her in the frame at all would be the challenge which probably answers my own question! hehe
 
I mainly shoot aperture / shutter priority but use exposure compensation when I know the built in meter will be wrong. I hear the arguments for using full manual being that you have more control but I think I have that control without needing to worry about changing light conditions between shots.

Can someone tell me what the difference is between full manual and aperture / shutter priority + exposure compensation is?
 
Techno-Geek said:
huh?
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Like semi auto.

I always shoot A priority, it may as well be full auto for all you have to do.

My problem is the people that claim to do it manual but use some sort of meter to get their readings and just push them into the camera, you may as well be shooting full auto.
 
ryank said:
Like semi auto.


My problem is the people that claim to do it manual but use some sort of meter to get their readings and just push them into the camera, you may as well be shooting full auto.
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Not quite sure what your saying here :thinking: do you just make a wild guess at iso, aperture and shutter speed dial it in and just hope for the best - i shoot fully manual when taking macro shots but i always use the cameras exposure meter to give me reading of the expected exposure and i may then need to adjust the ISO / shutter / aperture to get the desired effect.
 
I'm a complete noob and I soon realised that auto mode was the worst thing I could do.
Thanks to other people who looked at my first few pics, I realised that I should at least try AV and TV modes.
I've been using manual mode the last couple of weeks because I am keen to get a better understanding of the settings and I want to learn how to improve my pictures.
I also find it very annoying that auto mode wont let you change the ISO settings.
Don't get me wrong, I have seen some very good pictures taken with a point and shoot camera but if one wants to stick with auto mode, there is very little point investing in a DSLR (in my opinion).
 
ryank said:
Like semi auto.

I always shoot A priority, it may as well be full auto for all you have to do.

My problem is the people that claim to do it manual but use some sort of meter to get their readings and just push them into the camera, you may as well be shooting full auto.
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I don't do none of that..

But i see what you mean
 
If you shoot auto you have no control over the metering mode, ISO, use of flash etc its not just about the shutter speed and aperture :)
 
Rhodese said:
I’ve been into photography since the 1960s, camera development has come a long way since then, ask yourself why the manufacturers have bothered, if manual is best.
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Any advertising executive will tell you that the more buttons something has the more you can charge for it and the easier it is to sell.
 
hashcake said:
I have seen some very good pictures taken with a point and shoot camera but if one wants to stick with auto mode, there is very little point investing in a DSLR (in my opinion).
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In fact I'd go as far as to say I have taken better pictures with a P & S that with a DSLR using Auto.
 
I shoot manual 99% of the time (but I still use autofocus so does that really count as manual? :thinking:). It's just second nature and since getting my camera, I haven't really tried any of the other modes unless I'm going for a really quick grab shot where I don't have time to fiddle with settings.
I like to be in control ;)
 
As a new starter in January with no previous experience of slr cameras I started off with Av as I knew I wanted to use DoF from the outset and I learned what it was because of what I wanted to take for the POTY in January. This went ok until the Portrait round when I'd never taken a portrait before and only wanted to use natural light. The only way I could figure out how was to go Manual and gradually increase the shutter speed until I got the effect I wanted with the aperture set at f2.8 as I only had a small room to work in.

Using any other option didn't give me the effect I wanted, but I've only used it once since (and cocked it up! :nuts:) trying to take a picture of waves coming in - but I'll do better next time I hope. But like a lot of the other posters I usually use Av and very occasionally P when I'm feeling too lazy or just want a quick shot.
 
Toothie said:
If you shoot auto you have no control over the metering mode, ISO, use of flash etc its not just about the shutter speed and aperture :)
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Oh yes you do. You have control over all of those on most SLR's I believe. I've certainly got it on my 40D.
 
One thing I do agree with is that using manual teaches you things about photography that you miss if using complete auto. But you see I did all that in the 70's before they'd invented auto.

Now I don't wnat to be contorversial, but I defy anyone on this site to beat the electronics on a modern camera for either focus or exposure in 99% of circumstances. And given that we then have the scope to adjust exposure by 2 stops either way, it's just a no brainer to use automatic if you are looking to take well exposed, infocus photographs.

Manual has been relegated to the artiste thinks me.
 
Badger UK said:
Oh yes you do. You have control over all of those on most SLR's I believe. I've certainly got it on my 40D.
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But then what's the point of using Auto then if you are changing the other settings? You might as well use Aperture Priority and at least have some control over depth of field.
 
Badger UK said:
Oh yes you do. You have control over all of those on most SLR's I believe. I've certainly got it on my 40D.
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Looks like i will have to read my 40d manual again because if i have my 40d set to auto (the little green rectangle) i can't adjust anything :shrug:
 
macky799 said:
Looks like i will have to read my 40d manual again because if i have my 40d set to auto (the little green rectangle) i can't adjust anything :shrug:
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I can on my A700, everything except shutter speed and aperture. I would have thought Canons and Nikons would be similar in that regard.:thinking:
 
macky799 said:
Looks like i will have to read my 40d manual again because if i have my 40d set to auto (the little green rectangle) i can't adjust anything :shrug:
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Use the P setting it's sort of fully automatic but you can set the ISO and flash and stuff like that. And of course you can shoot in raw too if you ise the P setting.
 
fabs said:
But then what's the point of using Auto then if you are changing the other settings? You might as well use Aperture Priority and at least have some control over depth of field.
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So that you can use depth of field and shutter speed etc.
 
Badger UK said:
Oh yes you do. You have control over all of those on most SLR's I believe. I've certainly got it on my 40D.
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not if you use it in full auto (green square) mode the camera control it all - well it does on the 350d which is what i meant and because i want to control those things as well i never use auto. I just P though when im feeling lazy :)
 
Techno-Geek said:
I don't like anything else but Manual. I might aswell be walking round with a P&S if i am going to use auto..
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Hiya Techno, it's Badger here again.

What exactly do yo mean by 'manual'? Are you talking everything switched off and using a light meter and grey card etc.?
 
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