Shooting in manual mode

I've paid for those modes so I'm sure as heck gonna use them!! :)

The serious side to that slightly flippant comment is that whether you use manual, Av, Tv, P or whatever, it's secondary to the need to actually understand what it is you're trying to achieve in an image and then using the facilities of your camera in the most appropriate way to allow you to accomplish that aim.

Understanding WHY you're turning the mode dial to a particular setting is what counts.
 
simon ess said:
Hi Dee - given your use of question marks and exclamation marks, I'm guessing that's a serious question?

If so, welcome to the wonderful, but steep, learning curve that is photography.

No - using auto makes no difference to whether the camera takes RAW or Jpeg.

It takes the format you've set the camera to.

Hope that answer doesn't come across badly - it's not meant to.
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There speaks a man who has never, ever had a Canon 30D!

I wish you much luck and many patient years, trying to use RAW with a Canon **D camera in auto mode!
 
:)

Sorry - never owned a Canon.

I realised after I posted that it might not be true of all cameras.

PhilV cleared it up though.
 
Steve said:
I agree with the consensus that you shouldn't use auto mode.

But why does everyone say you should use manual mode only.

I use aperture priority if depth of field is my primary concern, and shutter speed priority if movement is my my primary concern.

I check the other setting chosen by the camera to make sure it is reasonable.

If I need to over or under-expose, I just use +/- EV

Am I missing something by not using manual mode?
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I think you need to evaluate this statement.

Do what you need to, to get good photos, not what you may think others use:)
 
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buckas said:
hah 30D, my first dSLR - a thing of beauty :)
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Still is, took it on my Route 66 trip this year with one lens.

My Brownie is still not talking to me!
 
86 posts on this thread and I haven't seen or should i say read anyone being elitist about using manual. Many folk will encourage beginners to use manual because that is the best way to learn about exposure.(Well I think so anyway) I use manual only because once I learned how to I didn't really need the others. However this is my failure. The camera is an instrument that has many adjustable settings. The aim is to know how to manipulate those settings to limit your failures. The more familiar you are with your camera the less failures your likely to have, therefor I have a bit to learn yet. The trouble is we all at times take the easy option and we stop learning. Finding time to experiment is the difficult part but that is what we should all try to do. There is no best settings only different settings, and learning one is as important as learning the other. Digital is so much better for learning because the results are instant and the disappointment of seeing 36 photographs of under and over exposed snaps on the table is no longer the disincentive to pick up the camera that it used to be. Now where did I put that manual?:thinking:
 
Doog said:
86 posts on this thread and I haven't seen or should i say read anyone being elitist about using manual. Many folk will encourage beginners to use manual because that is the best way to learn about exposure.(Well I think so anyway) I use manual only because once I learned how to I didn't really need the others .etc.
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Yip. I concur fully with that. The simplicity of it is a big help. I often want to over or underexpose from what the meter indicates and it is quick and easy to do so in manual.
First time I got a digital camera with a variety of exposure modes I found it a turn off. Could not even suffer learning what all the various symbols meant. To me they made learning to use the camera harder rather than easier.
 
Mikesphotaes said:
I think you need to evaluate this statement.

Do what you need to, to get good photos, not what you may think others use:)
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Well, I'm happy with what I'm getting. But I'm also not averse to changing if there is some benefit to be had, hence the original question.

What this thread has told me is that for the type of photography I do, and from the results I'm getting, I will continue using A and S modes.
 
arclight said:
The simplicity of it is a big help. I often want to over or underexpose from what the meter indicates and it is quick and easy to do so in manual.
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Although using exp comp is not exactly slow or difficult either is it.
 
Once id learned to read the histogram properly it really doesn't matter what mode your in. As long as you get the results.

If im doing a gig and the lights are constantly changing then I will ignore the metering and metering mode altogether and work in manual so all shots have the same settings (of course they will change slightly depending on the lights).

Ive seen amazing shots in manual and ive seen amazing shots in AV, TV, doesn't matter at all. Whatever gets the job done
 
Use the mode that gives you the results you need in a given situation...... simples! :D
 
ernesto said:
Although using exp comp is not exactly slow or difficult either is it.
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But in manual I already have my fingers on the main and sub command wheels to set shutter speed and aperture and that makes exposure compensation all the easier.
 
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Phil Young said:
Compensation doesn't even have an effect in manual???
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It does if you consider that to add or subtract exposure you can change the shutter/aperture with your thumb/finger, which is easier then fiddling with an exposure compensation dial.
But you are quite correct, the "exposure compensation dial" has no effect. The main 2 controls are the compensation !
 
The thing is you can almost get any result you want by compensating, locking, metering, auto, manual... etc whatever.

The correct mode to shoot is the one that requires fewer user interventions to produce the required result time and time again.

That is what elite photographers shoot, not one mode above the other.
 
Phil Young said:
Yes indeed it will show on a meter but will not actually compensate by reducing shutter speed for example.
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No, but the reading will always be working with the applied EC and if you are a slave to what the meter says then in effect, you're using EC when you choose settings that match the meter reading....

I don't shoot in manual much, only ever for studio and OCF, plus some video, so I'm a bit rusty on this...
 
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arclight said:
But in manual I already have my fingers on the main and sub command wheels to set shutter speed and aperture and that makes exposure compensation all the easier.
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I suppose it depends what camera you are using and how quickly you can use shutter,aperture or exp comp wheels or buttons.

I grew up on computer games so have pretty quick fingers...
 
ernesto said:
Although using exp comp is not exactly slow or difficult either is it.
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Just thought. This wouldn't be manual anyway, inputting figures the camera would normally get in auto surely can't be passed off as manual + meter reading???

One could argue against af and manual being manual mode but that's af, exposure is what we're discussing...
 
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Phil Young said:
Just thought. This wouldn't be manual anyway, inputting figures the camera would normally get in auto surely can't be passed off as manual + meter reading???
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I refer the honourable gentleman to earlier posts......;)

Phil V said:
the 'Manual zealots' can't get their head round it - they seem to think that if they shoot manual and zero the meter they're waving a magic wand at their photography because they're 'in control' :exit:
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simon ess said:
:lol: Love this.
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Phil V said:
You know it's true.;)
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simon ess said:
It was for me for a while - 'till the penny dropped :D
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simon ess said:
I refer the honourable gentleman to earlier posts......;)
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Ok, for me the descriptions are as follows;
Manual exposure: exposing and image yourself with zero help from the camera or metering (ie you meter by your eye and knowledge / adjust settings based on test shots & everything is how it is because you calculated those settings).

Manual AF: setting the focus to manual and you control the the focal point.

Using those modes may be necessary sometimes or if that's how the photographer wants to shoot but will not improve the image and of course it's easier, faster and often gives a better result to use a semi auto mode.

I personally wouldn't use full auto because there is nothing user defined and as a result the probability of it going wrong is higher.

Manual exposure is for: whenever you want to use it.

Auto and semi auto is for: whenever you want to use it.

The bottom line is they will and can all produce great images in the right hands but the ratio of those images being great is usually the deciding factor of which mode to use.
 
Phil Young said:
.....Manual exposure: exposing and image yourself with zero help from the camera or metering (ie you meter by your eye and knowledge / adjust settings based on test shots & everything is how it is because you calculated those settings).....
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I can see where you're coming from - total user control - but for me, manual exposure is just the user selecting the settings, regardless of whether they're getting the exposure from an experienced eye or from a lightmeter. It's more about the user retaining control over this settings and not having them changed by anyone other than themselves :)

Interesting how there are different opinions :)
 
Phil Young said:
Manual exposure: exposing and image yourself with zero help from the camera or metering (i.e. you meter by your eye and knowledge / adjust settings based on test shots & everything is how it is because you calculated those settings).
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see what you are getting at but you are still using help from the camera by doing test shots. A test shot tells you how your exposure has turned out just as a meter would have before you took the shot.
 
SilveR_172 said:
I always shoot manual on my 1100D to be honest i cant get my head round the other programs on the camera and love shooting manual
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And no appreciation of what your meter is doing, based on this answer?
SilveR_172 said:
I use evaluative at the moment
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So you might as well be on one of the semi auto modes, for exactly the same amount of control and half the work.:thinking:

Or even - take control of your metering - use the semi auto modes and be in full control of what you're shooting:thumbs:
 
Phil Young said:
Ok, for me the descriptions are as follows;
Manual exposure: exposing and image yourself with zero help from the camera or metering (ie you meter by your eye and knowledge / adjust settings based on test shots & everything is how it is because you calculated those settings).
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How is taking a test shot and adjusting any different to using a light meter and making your decision?
 
joescrivens said:
How is taking a test shot and adjusting any different to using a light meter and making your decision?
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Guessing and then correcting your mistakes makes you feel like you're 'in control', whereas using a tool to do the job accurately makes you a slave to the tool.

Unless the histogram is..... Ohhh now I'm confused:lol:

What's that phrase chippy's use? measure twice, cut once - well that'd be double checking your meter reading and getting it right first time.

Whereas, measure cut, re-measure, re-cut, re-measure, re-cut, well that's just a bit....:cuckoo:
 
Phil Young said:
It's not really...other than allowing you to make an informed decision rather than indicating if it's 100% right.

For the sake of argument it doesn't need to be in there - we can rephrase to just "meter by eye".
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Meter by eye is a special power that most people don't have though Phil. You can look at a scene and know within a stop what the exposure needs to be.
 
After time,one can kinda know what shutter speed,iso and aperture your going to need by just looking at the subject and the light, but not checking by using that expensive camera in your hand just seems daft to me.
 
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"Chimping" is no good for most of the stuff I take. OK when doing landscapes or studio etc, but not when shooting anything which moves.
Nikon have spent a long time developing the metering system in my camera, and I intend to use it ! :thumbs:
Provided one knows the limitations, and when the meter is likely to be "fooled", then it's pretty easy to compensate for it in whichever way works for you.
 
joescrivens said:
Meter by eye is a special power that most people don't have though Phil. You can look at a scene and know within a stop what the exposure needs to be.
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Indeed but in my opinion, most people SHOULD.

Doesn't mean you need to use manual all the time but I firmly believe after having a bit of experience you should be able to accurately judge a scene.

If I ask a bunch of personal trainers to tell me where their olecranon process is, I'm sure 95 out of 100 wouldn't be able to tell me and the fact that they wouldn't use that terminology all the time doesn't mean they shouldn't know it...

I see no difference in photography, in my opinion, photographers of a certain experience should be able to walk into a room and say of the top of their head f4, 1/60th, ISO6400.

To be honest...

The only reason I can judge a scene is because when I started..... I didn't know what A and S modes were and I didn't know anything about metering...so I was fourced to learn but very glad I didn't know back then because I feel I know much more now :)
 
Phil Young said:
Indeed but in my opinion, most people SHOULD.

Doesn't mean you need to use manual all the time but I firmly believe after having a bit of experience you should be able to accurately judge a scene.

If I ask a bunch of personal trainers to tell me where their olecranon process is, I'm sure 95 out of 100 wouldn't be able to tell me and the fact that they wouldn't use that terminology all the time doesn't mean they shouldn't know it...

I see no difference in photography, in my opinion, photographers of a certain experience should be able to walk into a room and say of the top of their head f4, 1/60th, ISO6400.

To be honest...

The only reason I can judge a scene is because when I started..... I didn't know what A and S modes were and I didn't know anything about metering...so I was fourced to learn but very glad I didn't know back then because I feel I know much more now :)
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It's an awesome skill.

If I showed you a photo and told you aperture and iso would you be able to tell me the shutter I used? Or does it only work in the actual scene?
 
Cool, will post a few examples in a new thread over the weekend as a Phil challenge
 
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