Auto and manual

[Dubie]

I have a canon xti rebel and I love it. Do you guys ever just use the auto instead of manual all the time or does it depend. I went to a car show yesterday and used all auto. The pics came out wonderful.

Just curious as to when you use auto and when you use manual.

I have added some of my "auto" pics. What could I have done different using manual. This is a learning experience for me. and these are just for fun...please note. lol

 

[usayit]

If I want to control my aperture (DOF for example), I'll shoot in aperture priority.

If I want to control my shutter (control motion blur for examle), I'll shoot in shutter priority

If I want to rely on my handheld meter and my intuition, I'll shoot in manual.

Some of my cameras don't have a meter, so manual all the way...no choice.

Auto is rarely ever used (except on my P&S taking quick snapshots). Program is used somtimes.

There's nothing wrong with Auto... except that it somewhat removes you the photographer out of the process.



In really low light (handheld), I often go manual and set the slowest shutter speed I know I can handhold and adjust exposure with changes to aperture. This gives me confidence that my photos will be reasonably sharp (no blur due to handshake) even though I might need to resort to under exposure.

 

[Dave V]

Auto tends to come out better for me at the moment but with a bit more practice I hope to be able to use more of the functions on the camera.

Put up some of the photos you got!

 

[kundalini]

I used auto mode for the first couple of shots (literally about 4) with my new camera. Then remembered that program mode should yeild better results, for the first week or so. Manual ever since. I'm still working on the Aperture and Shutter priority modes.

 

[Patrolman Pat]

I leave my camera on auto when I'm carrying it around just in case I see something that requires a quick point and shoot without ant time to think. I tend to use A and S settings most but am now getting more confident with manual mode.

 

[Keith Gebhardt]

the manuals nice for shooting sports.. or events that take place to quickly for you to fiddle around with the focus.

however, thats not true in all cases. like vollyball. zooming in on another player behind the net. auto focus will focus on the net not the player.

Manual focus is rather good for when your doin a portrait of somone standing or sitting still, landscape, nature, macro..etc.

 

[chris_arnet]

i use manual. always. i just dont like using auto modes. i use aperture priority and shutter priority once in a blue moon. but 99%of the time i use manual.

 

[Keith Gebhardt]

hold up.. are you talking about auto or manual focus.. or camera settings. if your talking about camera settings. ALWAYS MANUAL! you learn or complete absolutely nothing with auto.

 

[usayit]

hmmm... anyone who says you learn completely absolutely nothing unless you use Manual is completely off base. A firm understanding of exposure has nothing to do with a metering mode on a camera. Yes.. learning how to meter in manual exposure can be a learning tool... but it is just that.. a learning tool


Tools are tools... an air hammer doesn't mean the carpenter doesn't understand a hammer.


Learn proper exposure...... don't feel that using anything other manual is breaking some sacred unwritten law or that you are any less of a photographer.

 

[Keith Gebhardt]

well of course. but its alot better then auto. he cant control his exposure using auto. maybe shutter priority, but overall.. using manual setting is the best "tool" to learn proper settings and to pay attention to how they affect each picture and to learn and fix from the mistakes.

 

[usayit]

manual setting is the best "tool" to learn proper settings

Actually no... I would say hand held meter is the best tool. One good method to learn is through experimentation with a handheld meter.

ALWAYS MANUAL! you learn or complete absolutely nothing with auto.

Mighty broad statements you are throwing out here...

Even with a camera set to auto exposure, a teacher could ask why the camera chose that particular combination of shutter and aperture.... Point the camera to another scene and ask the same question... you can also follow up with a questions like:

What are two ways to open up one stop?
What are some situtations that can cause the auto mode to make a "mistake"?
What are other combinations of aperture and shutter that provide the same exposure as the one auto mode chose?

As I said... an understanding of exposure has nothing to do with a metering mode like an understanding of carpentry has nothing to do with the type of hammer you swing.

 

[Garbz]

I'm going to again disagree with a lot of what was posted here. What's the difference between a handheld metre and the camera metre? Other than the specifics of how they work they do the same thing.

I shoot in aperture priority about 70% of the time and switch to manual when the metre plays up or I want a specific effect. Does that mean because I am in a partially automatic mode I learn nothing? Hardly. And since I still have control over my aperture I still retain creative control over my pictures.

From there the skill set can increase further by reading not just what the light is supposed to be but getting a feel for what the camera metre will do in a situation. Even in fully automatic modes on even basic P&S cameras you still have control over the exposure via an exposure adjust (beautifully placed right next to the shutter on my camera) If I do some architectural photography I will likely run aperture priority +2/3EV depending on the time of day.

The only time you really lose anything is in Program Auto mode where you have no real control over your aperture beyond the suggestions the camera gives you.

 

[EOS_JD]

I use Av 70%, Tv 10% and M 20% of the time. Most of my manual shots are with flash use.

Those using Auto are really missing out on a lot. There's no creative use at all!! A compact camera would do the same job!

Also Ii agree with Garbz in that you can learn just the same using Av or Tv and making correct decisions with exposure compensation.

What's the difference between a handheld metre and the camera metre?

There is a big difference in using an external meter compared to the camera's meter. the camera's meter is easily fooled by light 9dark or bright). A handheld meter will always give an accuate reading - particularly if you use an incident reading (that is a meter reading of the light falling on the subject not reflected from it).

 

[Dubie]

Thanks you guys for all the replys.

At the car show this weekend I used auto everything because all the moving vehicles and you had to snap fast before they were gone. This is also the first time I used the camera.

Each shot I took I would look and see at what readings the picture fell under so I was still paying attention to aperature and shutter speed.

I am in a photography class and right now we are doing all film, no digital so I have been concentrating on the Nikon N60 and thought this was a good oppurtunity to pull out the Canon (which I am still learning) lol.

I think I got some pretty neat shots for auto.

 

[Patrolman Pat]

Those using Auto are really missing out on a lot. There's no creative use at all!! A compact camera would do the same job!

I'm going to disagree with that statement a little. I think actually seeing something with the eye, that you then choose to shoot is one of the biggest creative elements in photography, if not the biggest. You also discount the importance of good composition in photography. I do agree that you are missing out a lot using auto.