shooting M mode --need advice

[Catchmo]

I think this thread is focusing on the wrong idea here. When figuring out what mode to about in, out is a question of control, I.e. what do you want control over. Those other modes beside manual are called aperture priority and shutter priority which means that is what the camera will adjust for the proper exposure.
When I go into a shoot I know what I want to use to adjust my exposure before I take the first shot. I almost never ramp the aperture because with the mid grade lenses I use, too many things are affected by the aperture size like dof, color and spherical aberration.
If you're looking to capture those great wildlife pictures, before you start your stakeout take a couple of tests of trees and the sky and whatever is around you and adjust to that so when that hawk does fly by, you are ready. Please don't blame the camera for not being prepared.

 

[Martys]

Personally i've spent tooooo many years learning photography,...to have the camera tell me what to do.
I always shoot in manual mode only,..have never used auto focus on a DSLR, don't know how to if i wanted to ,......many of my lenses date back to late 1960s - 70's, they are used in manual only, manual fstop ring, rugged metal construction, have engraved usable depth of field scales.
I have two auto focus capable lenses that I also use only on manual.

For the type of photography I do,...this presents no problem,....yes I could miss an occasional image if something happened to quickly, I can pretty much anticipate what I want since I'm primarily doing scenic, landscape or macro.
As long as you can pre-focus,...understand over/under exposure,... when to use it,..and,.. not to use it, and understand the old "Sunny f16 rule" a lot of us old timers cut our teeth on,...you'll be fine.

If I were doing other types of photography requiring fast reaction, quick focusing ,...maybe I'd consider using auto focus,...maybe,.....although I do pride myself in being responsible and disciplined enough to capture the images I want.
That's how it always use to be done, not that long ago,... with no excuses or auto focus to save the day. Old habits die hard. Even with auto focus it's not fool proof.
Just my thoughts
Martys