Shooting in Manual mode is easy and best!

cambsno

cambsno

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I have never shot in Auto mode on my D300, or on my old D90... might have played with Shutter priority a couple of times, but aside from that everything is Aperture priority. Recently I have been using Manual mode a lot more, and finding things pretty easy and also finding my images look far better and need less PPing.

I found Aperture mode to be a bit hot and miss, at it really is quick to flick the dials so not finding I am missing too many shots.

So, give manual a try!
 
Tbo i've been coming to the same conclusion recently. I shoot footy matches and the metering is so easy to fly off the handle, im finding too many wrongly exposed shots with aperture/shutter modes.

From now on im gonna stick to manual, see how that goes.

Or maybe i should just learn to be better with exposure lock:thinking:
 
It took me a while to get to grips with manual, but I'm finally getting there...

However, I spent a lot of time on auto when I first got my camera, and it didn't often let me down...why pay for all that development and technology just to ignore it?

Janet
 
out of interest what are you shooting?

cambsno said:
I have never shot in Auto mode on my D300, or on my old D90... might have played with Shutter priority a couple of times, but aside from that everything is Aperture priority. Recently I have been using Manual mode a lot more, and finding things pretty easy and also finding my images look far better and need less PPing.

I found Aperture mode to be a bit hot and miss, at it really is quick to flick the dials so not finding I am missing too many shots.

So, give manual a try!
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I only use manual if the lighting is constant, which in real world terms isn't very often.
 
I used to use aperture priority most of the time, but since joining here I've moved to manual. It's easier to use than you would first think and you're more aware of your current settings. It's more fun imho.
 
Adey said:
Tbo i've been coming to the same conclusion recently. I shoot footy matches and the metering is so easy to fly off the handle, im finding too many wrongly exposed shots with aperture/shutter modes.

From now on im gonna stick to manual, see how that goes.

Or maybe i should just learn to be better with exposure lock:thinking:
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I find at Footy that in order to concentrate on the action I use Shutter Priority and I rarely get any metering problems
 
Manual for me too, only use auto if I have to pop the flash up for group or posed shot, don't understand flash so I let the camera do that side for me :lol:
 
That's a pretty wide reaching statement, I'd have to disagree though, manual is useful but equally other modes have their place, for myself particularly A mode, as good as I might think I am I can't adjust as quickly and accurately as my camera can, especially on the fly.
 
My first cameras were a 120 Kodak something or other in the mid 60s, followed by an Ilford Sportsman and a Zenith SLR around 1970. They were all manual, and none of them had a light meter. I just learned to do without until I could afford a second hand one. My F2 and FM that followed had meters, obviously, but everything else was manual and I've never owned a film camera with any automatic functions.

I still shoot manual with my 30D when necessary, or it I want to, but P, Av and Tv are fine most of the time.
 
cambsno said:
I have never shot in Auto mode on my D300, or on my old D90... might have played with Shutter priority a couple of times, but aside from that everything is Aperture priority. Recently I have been using Manual mode a lot more, and finding things pretty easy and also finding my images look far better and need less PPing.

I found Aperture mode to be a bit hot and miss, at it really is quick to flick the dials so not finding I am missing too many shots.

So, give manual a try!
Click to expand...

Aperture priority on most cameras these days is pretty accurate, but you still need to know when to override it in non-average situations. It WILL work well......

.....as long as you understand how the meter determines exposure....

......what area in the frame it is taking its reading from....

......and when you need to compensate because that area is lighter or darker than the 18% grey the meter is adjusting your exposure for.

It is all too easy to blame the camera when it is metering from a non-average scene, but incorrect exposure in AP is usually the user not understanding the limitations of how the meter is reading the scene.
 
trencheel303 said:
I only use manual if the lighting is constant, which in real world terms isn't very often.
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exactly...as they say

As for football as mentioned above.. you have no chance of using manual every game.. but manual is good if the light is the same....manual is very good for night football under floodlights or indoor football.. manual is useless on a sunny but cloudy day when the light is constantly changing..
 
chip said:
Aperture priority on most cameras these days is pretty accurate, but you still need to know when to override it in non-average situations. It WILL work well.
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Yes it will work well if used properly.. as you say its no use sticking it in Av or whatever and presuming the camera will do everyhting...but it wont work all the time and there are some situations where manual is required..
 
Why wouldn't you use auto in the kind of environment and for the kind of task it was designed for?

Recently I took some pictures indoors during a meeting using my Canon S90. The lighting conditions were wildly variable around the room. Some people were contre-jour, some were in deep shadows. In every case but one the face detection software found the face(s), and exposed correctly. I'm certain it did a lot better than I could have done using my k200d (which doesn't have face detection).

Surely the skill is in recognising the conditions under which the auto will get it wrong. Then you can switch to full manual (or aperture mode with +/- ev).
 
I used manual for a year when I first got my camera, I found Av always gave poor results, see this thread http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=219511&highlight=manual used to swear by manual mode.

but as I've learnt to use my camera and understand it better I find that Av is actually much easier and better to use and pretty much gets it right 90% of the time. I could still do it all in manual but requires a lot more fiddling between shots and now that my daughter is moving around like a whippet I can't risk changing settings all the time, i miss moments
 
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I just find that Aperture mode was often underexposing, especially indoors for example.
 
cambsno said:
I just find that Aperture mode was often underexposing, especially indoors for example.
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nothing a +1 exposure compensation wouldn't solve :) I went on a photographic day at WHF and the guide there who was a nikon shooter said nikons always need some positive exposure comp
 
I tend to use manual all the time as well. My first SLR was manual and when I was taught photography it was with a manual SLR. The first time I saw aperture or shutter priority modes was when I bought a DSLR. Both have their merits but for me my preference is to use manual. Increasing or decreasing exposure is the work of a split second and I can change it for every shot as I see fit.
 
Yellowduke said:
I tend to use manual all the time as well. My first SLR was manual and when I was taught photography it was with a manual SLR. The first time I saw aperture or shutter priority modes was when I bought a DSLR. Both have their merits but for me my preference is to use manual. Increasing or decreasing exposure is the work of a split second and I can change it for every shot as I see fit.
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it's only a split second if you know exactly how much to change it by, otherwise it's longer whilst you check your exposure needle or fire a test shot or just have an educated guess.

for example, this weeknd I was at Dunham Massey with my daughter and wife. We were playing in the trees and there was a lot of patches of bright sunlight and then shadow caused by the trees. shutter was needing to be changed every 4 or 5 seconds.

In these two shots the shutter speed changes from 1/500 to 1/6400 in a matter of about 2 seconds whilst she turned and then ran left. How would I have ever known to increase my shutter by this amount without looking at the needle or firing a test shot and still grabbed her smile before she span away and ran off in manual?

1/500
IMG_4083.jpg


1/6400
IMG_4094a.jpg
 
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I use Aperture, Shutter, Manual, and Program, whichever is best for what I want. I tend to use manual mostly in fixed lighting (studio) where every thing is constant, the light varies too much most of the time for it outdoors. Aperture for a lot of my wedding stuff, shutter for some effetc and some sport and program for those quick grab shots where I haven't got to worry about setting anything.
 
Don't forget you get more man points if you shoot manual and look down on all those who don't, especially if your just adjusting settings so the lightmeter says you have the right exposure.
 
joescrivens said:
nothing a +1 exposure compensation wouldn't solve :) I went on a photographic day at WHF and the guide there who was a nikon shooter said nikons always need some positive exposure comp
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In theory yes, but I found that often it would be fine, other times under exposed. Typically, when I did exposure comp, I found that it was over exposed!!!

I do find that using manual is similar to using a prime over a zoom, it really does make you think more.
 
joescrivens said:
it's only a split second if you know exactly how much to change it by, otherwise it's longer whilst you check your exposure needle or fire a test shot or just have an educated guess.
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In this scenario I too use Aperture as it is impossible as you say to get it right quickly.
 
I always use Manual, only because I havent used the other settings and I like to stick with what Im comfortable with. I always know what aperture I want to use when I set out shooting, I have my ISO set for the conditions therefore all I need to adjust is shutter speed...... I only need to fiddle with the one dial whilst shooting.
 
joescrivens said:
it's only a split second if you know exactly how much to change it by, otherwise it's longer whilst you check your exposure needle or fire a test shot or just have an educated guess.

for example, this weeknd I was at Dunham Massey with my daughter and wife. We were playing in the trees and there was a lot of patches of bright sunlight and then shadow caused by the trees. shutter was needing to be changed every 4 or 5 seconds.

In these two shots the shutter speed changes from 1/500 to 1/6400 in a matter of about 2 seconds whilst she turned and then ran left. How would I have ever known to increase my shutter by this amount without looking at the needle or firing a test shot and still grabbed her smile before she span away and ran off in manual?

1/500
IMG_4083.jpg


1/6400
IMG_4094a.jpg
Click to expand...

Do you mean 1/640? I find it hard to believe that those images are over 3 stops apart in terms of relative brightness. 1/6400 is roughly 3.5 stops brighter than 1/500 if I did my maths right. 1/640 on the other hand is a mere 1/3 of a stop brighter, which looks about right.
 
jeniveeev said:
I always use Manual, only because I havent used the other settings and I like to stick with what Im comfortable with. I always know what aperture I want to use when I set out shooting, I have my ISO set for the conditions therefore all I need to adjust is shutter speed...... I only need to fiddle with the one dial whilst shooting.
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not if to get the right exposure your shutter is dropping so low that you'll get motion and camera shake. Then it's two dials :thumbs:
 
trencheel303 said:
Do you mean 1/640? I find it hard to believe that those images are over 3 stops apart in terms of relative brightness. 1/6400 is roughly 3.5 stops brighter than 1/500 if I did my maths right. 1/640 on the other hand is a mere 1/3 of a stop brighter, which looks about right.
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nope I mean 1/6400 :thumbs: but interestingly looking at the exif I jumped up the iso from 200 to 400 as I moved round which was accidental more than intentional. I was about to change it for the first shot when she ran left :lol:

But the point is she's going from relative shade to bright sunlight and the shutter differences are dramatic

EDIT: Also, look at the actual place where the metering is happening - I'm using spot metering and look at the difference to the light on her face in both shots.
 
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joescrivens said:
not if to get the right exposure your shutter is dropping so low that you'll get motion and camera shake. Then it's two dials :thumbs:
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I set my ISO for the lighting conditions and this sorts out my s/s, making sure it is not too low - at the beginning of the shoot. Yes if I move location or say out of the area of light then I would re-think my settings. I dont chase the meter and/or switch 3 dials as I go!
 
jeniveeev said:
I set my ISO for the lighting conditions and this sorts out my s/s, making sure it is not too low - at the beginning of the shoot. Yes if I move location or say out of the area of light then I would re-think my settings. I dont chase the meter and/or switch 3 dials as I go!
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but what I mean is, even by spinning round you can get very different lighting settings, it doesn't have to be by location. In a room for example with a large window depending on if you are facing or no facing the window your sensor and subject will be receiving very different amounts of light. If you don't have a moving target or changing conditions around you then you can leave your settings as you need. But changeable environments as mine above make shooting in manual more difficult
 
Yes - Im with you Joe and I can see from the above images that your lighting is changing quickly and she is moving around a lot. I find indoors much easier because the lighting can be more consistent and it also depends how close I have my subject to the light. Additionally - what is the the outdoor light like coming into the room. i.e. clouds moving across sun etc (trickier) or blue skies/all cloud (easier). I will try aperture priority this week and see what I come up with and report back.
 
jeniveeev said:
Yes - Im with you Joe and I can see from the above images that your lighting is changing quickly and she is moving around a lot. I find indoors much easier because the lighting can be more consistent and it also depends how close I have my subject to the light. Additionally - what is the the outdoor light like coming into the room. i.e. clouds moving across sun etc (trickier) or blue skies/all cloud (easier). I will try aperture priority this week and see what I come up with and report back.
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defo give it a try, i only used manual for the first year, and whilst i found it great and still use it now, i didn't realise how versatile av was, and i find my images not being improved from using it, but i find i get more shots at the right moment than i did before, less missed opportunities
 
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