Shutter priority/aperture priority/manual mode/program mode - Which to use?

lolage

lolage

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Ben
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Hi,

Which setting do use for general snapping? I have been using manual but have been told that its a waste of time messing around with the Shutter, aperture and ISO. However whenever I try appeture/shutter/program mode the images turn out really under exposed.

Any opinions on this? Is it normal for somone to shoot in manual all the time?

Thanks :thumbs:
 
I generally use Manual unless there's time pressure and the lighting is changing. It makes me stop and think about what I'm doing. If the lighting is changing very rapidly (e.g. gig lighting) then I'll stick with manual.

But if you don't like manual, or the lighting is changing and you're under time pressure.. if it moves Tv, if it doesn't Av.. or if you don't care P.
 
I shoot in Aperture Priority 80% of the time, I switch to manual when using OOC flash, and shutter priority when Im shooting the dog running around.
I also use manual for gig photography as there is no way the camera can cope with all the light change in A mode.


Just a quick note about the underexposed thing in A,S,P modes. Have you accidently added some -exposure compensation?
 
Alastair said:
I generally use Manual unless there's time pressure and the lighting is changing. It makes me stop and think about what I'm doing. If the lighting is changing very rapidly (e.g. gig lighting) then I'll stick with manual.

But if you don't like manual, or the lighting is changing and you're under time pressure.. if it moves Tv, if it doesn't Av.. or if you don't care P.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks!

TCR4x4 said:
Just a quick note about the underexposed thing in A,S,P modes. Have you accidently added some -exposure compensation?
Click to expand...

lol! -5 exposure comp :bang:

Thanks :bonk:
 
Hah, sorted. 2nd one this week!
 
If your pictures are comiing out under exposed you need to understand why. You need to know what affect shutter speed / appeture / iso have on you picture. until you understand the effect you will not progress. How your camera is metering the subject. unless you do manual is a no go, likewise if you dont undersatand sutter speed again tv no go. Av well again opening and closing your appeture without knowing what affect will be , I think a hour or two u tude is called for you will learn lots. I did
O and every one on heres done a -5 join the club lol
 
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haha the worrying thing is it must have been on -5 for at least 5/6 days but I've just been compensating for it by using different shutter/appeture settings without realising. :p
 
lolage said:
Hi,

Which setting do use for general snapping? I have been using manual but have been told that its a waste of time messing around with the Shutter, aperture and ISO. However whenever I try appeture/shutter/program mode the images turn out really under exposed.

Any opinions on this? Is it normal for somone to shoot in manual all the time?
Thanks :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Well treads carefully as accused of being old last time about the moden thinking of crop vs FF.:)

i shoot manual all the time, ultimate control ultimate effects and allows you to be more creative. :razz:

But far from my Old worn out views stop you or others from using the Green setting, if the going gets tuff.:bonk:

sorry can not help on the other setting these are new and mysterious to me that could involve witch craft, i suggest you burn your camera a the stake and get another less possessed one;)



Merc:naughty:
 
lolage said:
its a waste of time messing around with the Shutter, aperture and ISO.
Click to expand...

Whoever told you that hasn't a clue. They obviously have no idea about photography.

Experiment, spend some time getting used to settings and what they do, and the relationship between shutter speed and aperture, not to mention ISO. All your 'auto' settings do is set the camera to pre-set shutter, aperture, iso, so why not learn how to do that yourself?
 
Another thing to consider is what metering mode you are using, Auto settings aren't a magic wand, it's the cameras best guess which can be wrong, the meter will read what's in front of it, if spot for instance and it happens to be on a very dark part in an overall lightish frame then you are going to get an overall over exposed shot. Yopu need to read up a bit on exposure and understand how all the elements of shuuter, aperture, ISO and metering link together.
 
It can be a good idea to use manual when you have the time and are prepared for a few wrongly exposed shots as you practise. That way you learn the relationship between shutter, aperture and ISO quicker and you will then appreciate what A & S can do for you.
When I am walking around I leave the camera on A most of the time as I want to control depth of field and have the camera responding to different lighting conditions by changing the shutter speed.
If shutter speed is more important, to reduce or allow subject movement blur, then I use S.
I use Manual when the lighting is pretty constant but the scene is changing, birds in flight is a good example. I want the bird to be correctly exposed and I don't want the camera changing anything just because the background changes from blue sky to dark foliage for example.
 
I'm an Av man.

Although P can produce the goods, the random nature of how it changes the exposure values mean from one shot to the next you don't know what the DoF is going to be unless you start to override it using a command dial. Then you might as well be in a semi-auto mode.

I rarely do anything where I need ultra-fast shutters (aside from casting shots) so Av does the job because ultimately. sharpness and DoF are the key elements in my photography and this is the constant I'm working to in terms of the set exposure value, the value that I am in control of. Providing the shutter speed the camera chooses avoids camera shake, i'm happy. If the shutter isn't fast enough I just up the ISO to give me more working leeway.

I used to us M all the time but have just drifted away from it....

At the moment I'm trying to help all the journos at work with their camera knowledge and this is one of those subjects I'm having to cover. Some of them have been told to use manual by a previous member of staff and although they're getting results by constantly adjusting settings until the shot looks right, it's not perfect because they don't actually know why they're changing (other than to get the shot) and what the changes are doing, hence why I'm turning them to AV......
 
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