shooting M mode --need advice

"M mode"

Someone please shoot me.
 
What is your goal here? Are you trying to master your camera and then intend to go back to one of the automatic modes? If your grand goal was to forever adjust manual settings to match your lightmeter then I ask why bother? It's only going to slow you down.
 
What is your goal here? Are you trying to master your camera and then intend to go back to one of the automatic modes? If your grand goal was to forever adjust manual settings to match your lightmeter then I ask why bother? It's only going to slow you down.

But ... What I read from other forum members (I am not talking about OP here), they looks very cool and professional when telling others they shoot all manual because they have total control on the camera settings even if they just dial to zero.
 
What is your goal here? Are you trying to master your camera and then intend to go back to one of the automatic modes? If your grand goal was to forever adjust manual settings to match your lightmeter then I ask why bother? It's only going to slow you down.

But ... What I read from other forum members (I am not talking about OP here), they looks very cool and professional when telling others they shoot all manual because they have total control on the camera settings even if they just dial to zero.

Switching the camera to full manual adds a couple extra inches, I mean mm, to your zoom. It's mm envy plain and simple.

Joe
 
My (more serious) advice to the OP... is shoot in Manual when you are not getting the results you want from other "automated" modes.

Oftentimes people feel like either they "should" be shooting in Manual, or it's somehow "cheating" to use other modes, and that's really not the case. Shooting in Manual is no cooler and no less cheating than focusing manuallly... being able to change ISOs on the fly... or even, really, using digital instead of film.

Any and all of these things are technologies. They are capabilities that exist now that did not exist in the past. You use them as needs dictate.

Now it is certainly true that putting the camera into a more automated mode is allowing the camera to make choices for you, but the question for you is could you make a better choice? If you can, then you are doing yourself a disservice. If you can't, then you have either more to learn or tougher pictures to take before you need it.
 
Beating a dead horse here, I always use a camsimulator(Google) before taking pictures. It's a good tool along with your manual.
 
As a newbie myself who has been trying to learn to shoot in manual - I thought I would add my two cents. I commend anyone for trying to learn manual mode - but I am learning it just so I understand my camera more - can understand how, when I change aperture, SS, or ISO, my images are affected. I agree with manaheim that you can use your camera most of the time in any of the "auto" modes and can get good pictures. While I was out shooting a hawk flew over head and I wanted to try to get some shots - I was in manual messing around taking landscape shots - and knew I couldn't switch over everything quick enough to try and get a shot - so I switched to sport mode to try and get some shots of the hawk flying overhead - and it worked, and worked well.

I also know that there have been times auto mode didn't work and I went into manual mode to get what I wanted to achieve.

So, don't knock someone attempting to learn manual. However, it isn't "more cool" to learn manual - because you will probably, in the long run, miss a great shot if you think you have to stay in manual all the time to be a "real" photographer. Photography isn't about how you got there, its the final image, the result.

But for the OP - you can find many resources online to learn about the exposure triangle - I would suggest Understanding Exposure, by Bryan Peterson for a quick read which explains this pretty well.
 
I'd also recommend reading about histograms and a technique called "expose to the right". Your meter tells you some information before the shot (if you use the zone system it tells you a lot more information), but after the shot, the histogram will allow you to see how you did, since it's a graphic representation of the tonal range you've captured. You can adjust settings based on what you see there and shoot again.
 
analog.universe said:
I'd also recommend reading about histograms and a technique called "expose to the right". Your meter tells you some information before the shot (if you use the zone system it tells you a lot more information), but after the shot, the histogram will allow you to see how you did, since it's a graphic representation of the tonal range you've captured. You can adjust settings based on what you see there and shoot again.

I am facing similar issues, but have learnt to switch back to one of the automated modes to ensure that I do not miss a great shot. Can someone advise an Internet resource where I can learn more about histograms as I feel this is the next critical leaning point for me. Many thanks in advance
 
analog.universe said:
I'd also recommend reading about histograms and a technique called "expose to the right". Your meter tells you some information before the shot (if you use the zone system it tells you a lot more information), but after the shot, the histogram will allow you to see how you did, since it's a graphic representation of the tonal range you've captured. You can adjust settings based on what you see there and shoot again.

I am facing similar issues, but have learnt to switch back to one of the automated modes to ensure that I do not miss a great shot. Can someone advise an Internet resource where I can learn more about histograms as I feel this is the next critical leaning point for me. Many thanks in advance

The tutorials on this site are pretty good: Cambridge in Colour - Photography Tutorials & Learning Community

You'll find helpful information there on interpreting histograms.

The problem with camera histograms is that they are all based on the camera's programmed processing algorithms and/or image processed end result and are therefore never entirely reliable. I regularly check both my camera's live histogram display and it's after capture histogram display. The info is useful but has to be interpreted: In order to get the very best possible result I set my camera to save RAW data files. Those camera histograms don't really apply to the RAW data. Those histograms are derived from how the camera will or has processed the RAW data. As you progress in this discipline that distinction becomes critical.

Back to using the camera: M, P, S, Tv, Av, A modes, the choice is of little consequence if you understand what's going on. You need M mode to use an external flash or external light meter. There are a few other special cases like shooting multi-frame panoramas. Otherwise, to achieve maximum creative control over a modern camera when you're relying on the camera's internal meter you're best served with the camera in P mode and/or Tv/S or Av/A. M mode is actually less effective. M mode can be instructive and is frequently recommended to beginners as a way to help them learn how the camera functions -- that's valid and if you need that by all means do that. However, once that learning has taken place, it's appropriate to move forward and use the tool to best advantage. I've been taking photos for 40 years and I've made my living with a camera for at least the past 30 years; my camera right now is set to P mode. Understand how the tool functions. Apperciate how it was designed to be used. Use it to best advantage.

Joe
 
What is the different between this.

Shoot with manual mode:
Set ISO to 100
Set Aperture to f/5.6
Dial the shutter speed until the meter say zero.
Shoot

Shoot with Aperture priority mode:
Set ISO to 100
Set Aperture to f/5.6
Shoot

In same condition with same equipment, the result should be the same. Because both are based on the same in-camera meter reading. So the shutter speed is going to be the same. In manual mode, you need to dial the setting yourself, in AV mode, the camera set that for you.


There are situations I use manual mode. It is much faster for me. i.e. indoor event that allow me to bounce the flash off the ceiling. I will ignore the in camera meter, just set my aperture, ISO, shutter speed and flash power. It is not just easier, it also allow me to have consistent results.



So learning in manual mode do not gain you anything if you just dial to 0. You will learn more if you learn why when you shoot in a shaded area in clear day, you set the ISO to 100 and aperture to f/5.6, the camera recommend you to use 1/125 shutter speed (in manual mode -dial 0. or in AV mode). Or learn why when you switch to f/8, the recommended shutter speed is now 1/60.


Of course, there are times, even without using artificial light(s), you need to dial to less than or more than 0 in manual mode or use exposure compensation (+/-).
 
What is the different between this.

Shoot with manual mode:
Set ISO to 100
Set Aperture to f/5.6
Dial the shutter speed until the meter say zero.
Shoot

Shoot with Aperture priority mode:
Set ISO to 100
Set Aperture to f/5.6
Shoot

8 seconds and a missed shot.
 
Dao said:
What is the different between this.

Shoot with manual mode:
Set ISO to 100
Set Aperture to f/5.6
Dial the shutter speed until the meter say zero.
Shoot

Shoot with Aperture priority mode:
Set ISO to 100
Set Aperture to f/5.6
Shoot

In same condition with same equipment, the result should be the same. Because both are based on the same in-camera meter reading. So the shutter speed is going to be the same. In manual mode, you need to dial the setting yourself, in AV mode, the camera set that for you.

I know that most cameras can allow you to change what you want the camera to Meter to. (half stop more, 3 stops less, etc.) So unless shutter speed is essential for what I want my shot to turn out as, its Av most of the time for me.
 
I find auto modes more difficult than the manual mode to be honest.

My approach is quite simple. Going into a shot I pretty much know where I want my aperture to be based off the look/dof I am going for. Next I figure for my lowest shutter speed (handheld) for the given lens focal length ( 1/50 for 50mm works for me), then I check my meter. I generally expose to the left, but that really can depend on the scene. If I am under exposed and my strobes are of no help, then I up my ISO.

I however, never touch my ISO unless I have exhausted all of my other options.
 
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