Shooting in manual mode

Steve

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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?
 
If you want your settings consistent across a number of shots. Sometimes the camera doesn't meter spot on manual mode gets around this. I wouldn't use it all the time manual mode has its place just like the other modes
 
I find it funny that people who assert that you shouldn't use auto mode don't seem to consider for a moment that this should extend to focusing.

I mean really.. what's more fundamental to "owning" the image than manually ensuring that focus is correct?
 
42zx said:
If you want your settings consistent across a number of shots. Sometimes the camera doesn't meter spot on manual mode gets around this. I wouldn't use it all the time manual mode has its place just like the other modes
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That's it - in manual you set the parameters and only you can change them.

Perhaps I am influenced through starting with an SLR that only had manual settings, but I think Manual is just so perfectly simple.
 
Anyone saying you should only ever use manual is just being elitist (you'll find a lot of that on internet forums about any subject). You can make the two priority modes give the same result as manual so it doesn't really matter if you get the result you want.

Personally I almost always use M because I don't like that the priority modes give the camera the opportunity to mess the exposure up, but I always set my camera to aperture priority when I put it away at home in case I want to grab it and use it in a hurry. If the light levels are really all over the place I might use the priority modes but it's quite rare that the light changes much.
I just wish cameras had an ISO dial so you had instant access to all three exposure controls in manual.

SimonH said:
I find it funny that people who assert that you shouldn't use auto mode don't seem to consider for a moment that this should extend to focusing.
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Not really.
Auto exposure mode is worse at controlling exposure than a competent human or a combination of a competent human and the priority modes. Auto focus isn't worse than manual focusing unless you're doing something really focus critical and it's faster if the equipment is decent (USM or other manufacturer's equivalents).
Auto exposure mode also locks you out of a lot of the other camera settings whereas focus is the same either way.
 
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DazJW said:
I just wish cameras had an ISO dial so you had instant access to all three exposure controls in manual.
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I'm surprised your camera does not have this. With my D3100, in manual mode you can instantly change the aperture, shutter speed or ISO without having to go through the main menu.

I used aperture mode most often but in some situations I do use shutter speed priority and manual. I think it depends on the situation.
 
I think it's partly because of the elitist attitude from some photographers that only those who can shoot in manual are 'real photographers'.

I've tried to shoot in A mode but gave up as a bad job because it wasn't always metering how I wanted to and worse still sometimes it would pick a crap shutter speed and I wouldn't notice. At least in manual I have to consciously choose my shutter speed/aperture. So generally I know what it's on and have noone to blame but myself if it's wrong.
 
donkey_kong said:
I'm surprised your camera does not have this. With my D3100, in manual mode you can instantly change the aperture, shutter speed or ISO without having to go through the main menu.
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It's got a button that makes the main dial set ISO but it's a toggle (press button, turn dial, half press shutter to exit the ISO setting mode), I'd prefer a third dial dedicated to ISO so it's one-touch like shutter and aperture are.
 
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?
Click to expand...

What concensus? Most people use aperture-priority, most of the time - confirmed by numerous polls.

Use whichever mode you like, that suits your way of working and the situation. All just different means to the same end.

Think of manual as a 'set & lock' mode, that's what it is really. Using one of the auto modes and compensation requires at least as much 'manual' intervention.
 
No one cares what modes you or I use. No-one has ever asked me what mode I have used to take a particular picture. For that matter no-one has ever asked whether I used, spot, centre-weighted or matrix metering either.

Get to know the fundamentals of exposure, understand what all the modes do, and then choose the right mode for the job in hnad.
 
Steve said:
I agree with the consensus that you shouldn't use auto mode.
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I'm not sure there is a consensus that says you shouldn't use auto mode. I think you'll find that the majority of photographers on here will use shutter or aperture priority rather more than the elitist 'manual only' brigade would have you believe.
 
I used to shoot in A mode, but found it would not always work perfectly for me. Manual is my preferred just because I find it easy to change settings.
 
Sorry...sloppy language on my part...by auto mode I mean those program modes where the camera chooses both the aperture and shutter speed...the kind of point and click settings.
 
Steve said:
Sorry...sloppy language on my part...by auto mode I mean those program modes where the camera chooses both the aperture and shutter speed...the kind of point and click settings.
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Nobody with half a brain uses those, unless you really need point and squirt speed.
 
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HoppyUK said:
Nobody with half a brain uses those, unless you really need point and squirt speed.
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I know...thats why I said i dont use them and the consensus is that you shouldn't.
 
You use manual mode when you know that auto-metering is going to yield less than optimal results for the given lighting conditions.

Modern cameras are clever beasties but none the less, once you understand how they work you can easily spot when letting it do its own thing won't yield the results you want.

I wouldn't go as far as to say camera metering has no purpose, far from it, but there are times when you need to do your own thing to make the image that you want - or at least get close enough to it that a bit of subtle editing will deliver the goods.
 
I do quite a lot of stuff in my church and find manual mode the easyest to use because it gives me more control of the end shot. Inside the church im always pushing the iso up to 3500 or 5000 as the light is low especially during worship with the band on stage the lighting sequences can fool the camera as they are always changing, but if im outside in reasonable light shooting landscapes id tend to use aperture mode to control dof and let the camera set the shutter speed as most of the time ill be using a tripod.
 
I shoot almost exclusively in Aperture Priority, but that's because most of the time I'm most interested in controlling DoF. If I know the light isn't going to change significantly, or if the environment I'm shooting in is variably lit to the extent that I know the shutter speed might be tricked outside of a range I feel is useful, I'll drop into Manual and set both A and S as a broad-brush setting (I shoot at 100 ISO always).

I don't hold that you should NEVER shoot in Program or Auto, though. I don't see the point in laying that down, lest someone be fooled into believing that it's a universal truth. Maybe it's my inherent resistance to arguments from authority, I dunno, but I figure if Program/Auto gets results people want, damn anyone who dares to tell them "you're doing it all wrong!" It's up to the struggling individual to conclude "I'm doing it all wrong!" and seek out ways to get more of their shots right.

I don't regard photography as the domain of elitist manual-only photographers, or photographers with recognised qualifications. It never has been in history, and it's even less at risk of becoming that now, thank [deity/force-for-good of your choice]. The strength of photography is within the image, not in the way by which it was achieved.
 
markmullen said:
It really doesn't matter what mode you use, the results should speak for themselves.

No one ever looks at an amazing photo and thinks to themselves "I wonder if that was shot in aperture priority"
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Or.. ^^^ this :D
 
for me as a happy snapper they all have their place
if movement is a primary concern due to subject movement or shaky hands then it's S mode
if DOF is most important or you know light is going to be an issue, A priority.
Manual is great if the lighting is changing so rapidly that metering is going to be pointless.
or if you're in a studio or have time to setup the shot
but as a rather well published photographer says..if your camera isn't ready to fire (out and about travelling) in P or a mode which will get the shot at a moments notice, then it's pointless having your camera on a strap as you might well miss 'the shot'
an added complication for my 7D is that in Manual it can still meter and set the auto ISO for you unless you tell it not to do so.
 
I don't have religion on this subject, but that said - when I've got time, I shoot in manual mode, because dammit, I like fiddling with all those settings. It's fun, in a "pottering round the shed" sort of way.

If I'm a little more time-sensitive, perhaps because I'm out with my wife and the dogs and they're disappearing into the distance whilst I get the perfect angle on this here tree, I'll use aperture or shutter priority depending on what I'm trying to achieve.

I don't use full auto on my camera - it's actually pretty good at nothing but selecting the worst possible compromise for any given scene. I can honestly say I've never tried any of the "creative" modes.

TV is pretty good for dealing with family snaps; set it to 1/150th or thereabouts, let the ISO ramp up to whatever, camera still does its thing when handed to other family members.
 
I mostly use Aperture but will use Manual when appropriate.

I don't use Auto as it selects options I'm very unlikely to select myself. For example with a 20mm f1.8 lens fitted and shooting in good light my 5D selected f4.5, 1/200 sec, ISO 400 (!!!!!!) and JPEG (!!)

Fool that I am I shoot RAW and with a 20mm f1.8 fitted and shooting in good light I'd have started at ISO 100 and only turned it up if my choice of aperture caused the shutter speed to drop too much.

I'm not against Auto settings as such but when my 5D Auto mode selects what seem to me to be such ridiculous settings I'm just not going to use it.
 
viewfromthenorth said:
No one cares what modes you or I use. No-one has ever asked me what mode I have used to take a particular picture. For that matter no-one has ever asked whether I used, spot, centre-weighted or matrix metering either.

Get to know the fundamentals of exposure, understand what all the modes do, and then choose the right mode for the job in hnad.
Click to expand...

:plusone:

Whilst I'm 100% on trying settings other than auto all other settings AV, SV manual etc allow you to produce the images you need, experiment with them and then just use the ones you're most comfortable with

Simon
 
gadgeteer said:
I think it's partly because of the elitist attitude from some photographers that only those who can shoot in manual are 'real photographers'.

I've tried to shoot in A mode but gave up as a bad job because it wasn't always metering how I wanted to and worse still sometimes it would pick a crap shutter speed and I wouldn't notice. At least in manual I have to consciously choose my shutter speed/aperture. So generally I know what it's on and have noone to blame but myself if it's wrong.
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That's exactly why I use manual as opposed to A or S :thumbs:
 
If auto mode actually did what you specifically wanted it to every time, then I'd use it. I wouldn't care who says what. It's about control, getting precisely what you want from any particular scene. Manual isn't hard, or special. I don't see why people don't use it more. It's the single most consistent control set, and takes about a split second more to nail than say, A.

As for manual focusing, that's not difficult either. Just slower.

Use whichever gets the end result 'You' desire.
 
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I can no longer see the point of the thread (not that Manual threads aren't generally full of bull). Because the OP appears not to mean any 'auto' modes anyway:thinking:
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?
Click to expand...

Steve said:
Sorry...sloppy language on my part...by auto mode I mean those program modes where the camera chooses both the aperture and shutter speed...the kind of point and click settings.
Click to expand...

To add to the debate anyway - what difference does it make?

Half the people who condemn anyone for not shooting full manual have had a camera a couple of years, are never satisfied with their results and don't know a Metering mode from a meat counter.
Always in these threads I point out that what and how you meter is far more important than any camera mode - 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:
 
Phil V said:
............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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It's if they start asking why they can't set exposure compensation in manual mode that you need to start worrying..........:suspect:
 
So if you have your camera in RAW, but use auto, it may in fact take your picture as a jpeg ??!?!??
 
dee1985 said:
So if you have your camera in RAW, but use auto, it may in fact take your picture as a jpeg ??!?!??
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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.
 
dee1985 said:
So if you have your camera in RAW, but use auto, it may in fact take your picture as a jpeg ??!?!??
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Most camera's will shoot Raw in AV, TV, M and P (3 of those are 'auto modes').

It's only when you're talking about the mickey mouse modes* that the camera will choose JPEG. But as has been said above, those modes aren't for photographers at all. It annoys me that they exist on mid range SLR's, But then, allowing the camera to pick a random focus point is the single most useless 'help' a camera can give.

*sport, landscape, macro etc.
at least plenty of Canon's will. Not sure about the rest.
 
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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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Ok. *** phew ***
Thank you :)
 
dee1985 said:
Ok. *** phew ***
Thank you :)
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See my post, that may not be true for your camera.

With your camera in Manual and in Raw mode, turn the mode dial to 'sports' mode and see if the camera switches to JPEG. All my Canon's that have the mickey mouse modes will switch to JPEG.
 
Phil V said:
Most camera's will shoot Raw in AV, TV, M and P (3 of those are 'auto modes').

It's only when you're talking about the mickey mouse modes* that the camera will choose JPEG. But as has been said above, those modes aren't for photographers at all. It annoys me that they exist on mid range SLR's, But then, allowing the camera to pick a random focus point is the single most useless 'help' a camera can give.

*sport, landscape, macro etc.
at least plenty of Canon's will. Not sure about the rest.
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Okay. I have been using auto and RAW. But read on another thread that the camera chose jpeg on them Maybe I misunderstood ...
I did pick up the Nikon d5000 for dummies and am reading up on aperture, shutter speed, and ISO for today. Hoping to figure it out :)
 
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