use of auto?

donkeymusic

donkeymusic

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Carlo
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Hello

how often do you find youself using auto on your camera?

sometimes i find it easier just to use auto unless i am going for a particular style of photography or want to show dof.

just wondering what others do?

thanks
 
I dont think ive used auto for a good while now, i prefer to shoot on A (Appeture priority) unless im really shooting some bad lightning or weird stuff where i will swap to manual
 
I only very rarely shoot auto, almost never. I usually stick to manual, sometimes going to appeture priority or shutter priority.

I hate auto :lol:
 
aperture priority is my favourite but sometimes a quick shot is needed so go to auto
 
I walk around with my camera set to Program ready for a quick shot if needed,
then change to the mode required for a shot with more time to prepare.
 
I'm with Paul, mine is always on P ready for a quick shot and then if I have the time I will go to A or T. I did make a mistake today thinking I had set it at P and it was on Auto.
 
I did a photography course with Seb Rogers a few months ago. The best thing I learned was that only you know the shot you want to take, the camera can only guess. This goes for focus, exposure, white balance, flash power etc. I mostly use manual when I've got time to set a shot up.

Occasionally I'll use shutter priority for mountain biking shots where I want to capture motion and I sometimes use aperture priority if I'm likely to need to take a shot quickly and freeze action.
 
I consider 'Auto' to be 'Girlfriend Mode' :D

Generally I use Aperture priority, as I either want as fast a shutter speed as possible, so set the lens to wide open, or plenty of depth of field, again with Av.

Sometimes I use 'P' when I'm in a rush, or the settings are set up for something else, but rarely auto as it'll inevitably try and use the flash in a completely unsuitable situation!
 
Depends what you mean by 'auto'
I consider Tv and Av to be auto modes. I shoot around 80% in Av, 10% Tv, and 10% M

edit:
Have never used the mode called 'auto' or any of the 'creative' modes.
 
Where is the Auto setting on my camera? :D
 
Used it for the 1st shot I ever took then stuck to manual and the Av or Tv settings. Mostly in manual now though.
 
Used it a couple of times when i first got the camera, but since learning/reading up more on camera functions I mainly use Av or Tv depending on what I'm shooting. Haven't really dabbled with manual mode much though.
 
interesting reading this, so out of interest would the AV or TV modes be what you would mostly use, including motorsport / moving objects etc ?
 
I almost always use Av- as I can set the depth of field then, and just check that the shutter speed is fast enough not to cause problems. But then I don't take photos of anything moving that quickly :)
 
Not even once. I shot on aperture priority for a week or two when I first bought an SLR. That was based mainly on what people were saying on here and a couple of other forums.

Didn't take long to realise that manual was the way to go for me though, since then I use it 99.9% of the time.

Teaching the girlfriend to use A for amateur now. ;)
 
Aperture priority all of the time for me except when I do stuff in the house I tinker with manual then
 
KRO said:
interesting reading this, so out of interest would the AV or TV modes be what you would mostly use, including motorsport / moving objects etc ?
Click to expand...

I tend use Av for static shooting and Tv for motorsport so i can set it lower for a panning shot for example or higher for a capture the action shot.

It seems to work for me and I get the results I'm after.
 
never anymore, i don't like the results. unless someone else is using my camera.
 
I used auto on my d40 for quite a while, then got annoyed with shots coming out not how I wanted. As someone else said flash pops up when you wouldn't want it.

Guess coming from a film slr the auto everything was something of a novelty.

So generally use manual, or shutter/aperture priority depending on what I'm shooting.

Although tend to leave it in full auto when I switch if off, so If I need to take a quick photo can just grab it.
 
I used it a couple of times when I knocked the mode dial... I don't like the enforced flash when it thinks I want it... nor the enforced jpg. For an Auto mode I use P (that's the OH mode) but the flash and format is the same as for the other creative modes.
 
I really mean to try auto (ditto P) on the 30D but keep forgetting. It probably produces nice results and I ought to find out.

99% of the time I use manual but always check when I put it back in the bag that it is set to f/5.6, ISO 400, 1/125", auto white balance. One way or another I can change things quickly from there if I need to grab a shot quickly.
 
There's a time and a place for full auto. Here's how I normally find myself using it...

Down the battle-cruiser for a few jars with mates. Start on manual mode. All is fantastic. I'm controlling the DoF and motion blur in my photographs. Fantastic results; sharp, contrasty, colourful. Composition and technique are spot on (for me, anyhoo). You could show these pictures to your folks and they'd be impressed, thinking you're a model citizen. Even the local paper would snap them up to show that not all mid-to-late-twenty-year-olds aren't binge drinking trouble makers.

After a few pints of ale, I can no longer be bothered with manual metering and faffing about with shutter speed so I find myself slipping into aperture priority. Still getting some great shots, just not as finely tuned as before drinking started. The flashgun is out for a bit of fill here and there, bouncing it from whatever I can to get some nice diffuse light. These will be great for mounting on bedroom walls, posting to Facebook, or showing to siblings with a good story about the night.

Now some idiot goes and buys a rack of shots. Fantastic idea. We're all knocking them back and the light is getting lower all the time, if there's any natural light left. f/whatnow?! Jeez this gear is getting heavy. Screw this... flashgun back in the bag, full auto, on-camera flash pops up and I'm snapping away like a tourist in the West End. The photographs are becoming obscene. "Dude! That photo's hilarious! Quick... get one of that girl's boobs!".

Now I'm absolutely trollied and the camera goes in the bag before I drop it, spill booze all over it, or start taking unacceptably inappropriate photos. Wake up the next day, feel the massive hangover and see camera in auto mode. Shudder. Download photos and spend the rest of the day giggling, cringing, deleting...

All in all... full auto, at least for me, is for when I'm completely wasted and can't be bothered with anything resembling good photographic technique.

George.
 
I got my first DSLR on Monday and still haven't had a chance to play with it yet - but I'll doubtless leave it in Auto for a while simply because I haven't got the first idea what the other modes do and so wouldn't know what settings were best for what.

We all have to start somewhere..... ;)

Off topic a bit, but can someone point me in the direction of a n00b-friendly guide on the basics for straying out of full auto mode?
 
Lurking Lawyer said:
I got my first DSLR on Monday and still haven't had a chance to play with it yet - but I'll doubtless leave it in Auto for a while simply because I haven't got the first idea what the other modes do and so wouldn't know what settings were best for what.

We all have to start somewhere..... ;)

Off topic a bit, but can someone point me in the direction of a n00b-friendly guide on the basics for straying out of full auto mode?
Click to expand...

This is a good start Morguefile photography lessons

Controlling the aperture (Av) will allow you to set depth of field ie a narrow DoF will give a nice blurred background making your subject stand out, and Shutter (Tv) will allow you to set a high or low shutter to freeze an action shot or give motion blur with a slow speed to give running water a nice look. Obviously the possibilities are limitless its just down to your creative abilities.
 
Cheers beermonster - very helpful! :)

I'll check out the link once I've had a chance to unpack the camera and experiment with it.
 
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