What is fully manual?

[thatguy]

I usually use aperture or shutter priority, but I was interested as to what counts as fully manual. Obviously it would be in manual mode, setting shutter speed and aperture, but what about metering. If you shoot in manual with the cameras built in meter, compensating as neccessary, does this not count as being fully manual? If a fully manual camera doesn't have a meter, does its user just use a handheld meter? I just thought of this whilst reading another post and got confused as to what manual meant. I've always thought that setting aperture, shutterspeed and iso/asa was as manual as possible.

 

[Big Mike]

I don't think there is a proper definition for 'fully manual'. Some people mean manual focus...which has nothing to do with exposure.

Realistically, there is little difference between using Av or TV with exposure compensation...or using manual mode and the camera's built in meter.

There are several ways to meter, without using the camera's meter. The Sunny 16 rule, for example. However, with digital, one of the easiest/bast ways to meter is by shooting and viewing the histogram to determine if your exposure was good.

The way I see it...people say 'shooting in manual' as an opposite to shooting in auto mode. It doesn't really matter as there are many different ways to determine your exposure.

 

[TATTRAT]

Sunny 16 rule? Fill me in Big Mike.

 

[Big Mike]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_16

Basically, in bright sun light your exposure should be close to:
F16 and a shutter speed that is the reciprocal of your ISO. So 1/100 for ISO 100.

You can extrapolate your settings from there.

 

[Mike_E]

A pinhole camera and some rocks for a tripod.

As Mike says, very bright. If you have a hard edge to the shadow cast by your hand at waist level they you are at f16. With practice you can judge by how fuzzy the shadow is what your aperture setting should be.

 

[Alpha]

I think that fully manual can be strictly defined as "no batteries."

More loosely, and more commonly, it means not capable of auto-focus.

 

[usayit]

I agree with Max..... thats what I think of when someone mentions "full manual".

Sunny 16 rule
or
Selenium light meter

with my old Asahiflex IIB or M3.


My friends used to ask me "why?". I usually say that most of the enjoyment of shooting with a DSLR is at the end... when I"m processing the photos and seeing the results. With these older cameras... I enjoy the whole process beginning to end.

 

[Garbz]

Strictly yes. But I personally do think of it as overriding the camera settings. Yes they have a light metre in them and digital cameras must run on batteries, but I still consider Manual exposure modes combined with manual focus to be manual in my books. The reason is simple, Manual to me means that if I take a picture change the situation and take it again the camera does NOTHING to compensate for it. Yes the light metre is thinking wtf is this guy doing and flashes a big off exposure thing in the view finder and the focus light is blinking, but the camera still does nothing for the new photo which fits the dictionary definition:

Manual: requiring human effort;

 

[Alpha]

Well, that may be true of "manual," but not of "fully manual."

The OED definition of "fully" is as follows:
"In a full manner or degree; to the full, without deficiency; completely, entirely; thoroughly, exactly, quite."

Thus, a "fully manual camera" is one that is completely, thoroughly, or exactly manual.

So I'm gonna pull a Bill Clinton here and say it depends on your definition of what the word "is" is. In that case, "the camera is fully manual" means not capable of being automatic. That's semantically distinct from "the camera is capable of being fully manual (in addition to automatic)."

 

[Iron Flatline]

If you were strict you would also inclunde non-exposure related items such as film transport or cocking the shutter.

 

[Alpha]

If you were strict you would also inclunde non-exposure related items such as film transport or cocking the shutter.

"No batteries" covers these.

 

[Garbz]

Some cameras can have fully automatic shutter movements without batteries. The Nikon FE has it. Granted it works at 1/90th only, but still

 

[Bobby Ironsights]

"No batteries" covers these.

This is fully manual. And yet it too, has batteries, D-batteries in the tube below the flashbulb to run the Bulb and the rangefinder "focuspot"

The focuspot is UBER-COOL, when I get mine working I'll post a vid.

Tasty, tasty crown graphic.

 

[Alpha]

With a thoroughly impractical light-saber flash.

I love that camera.

 

[ksmattfish]

The dictionary defines manual as: done, operated, worked, etc., by the hand or hands rather than by an electrical or electronic device.

To me that would suggest that "fully" manual would require you to make your own gear and materials as well. Film would be out. There's no such thing as handmade film. You could possibly find a glass blower to make your plates by hand (they'll be a little rough). Start looking for a lens grinder who works with hand powered tools; you need to find him fast, because he's really old and is going to die any day now. Then mix your own chems and emulsions (hand refined chemistry supplies? good luck finding that source). You can take paper making classes. The paper is going to be much easier to make than the glass plates. You'll probably need to use collodion process (coating and processing the plates in the field). Ansel Adams used mirrors and a skylight to run his enlarger. Overcast days are wonderful; party sunny days are a beetch. No electric water heater to temp those chems and water.

You know what I think? Fully manual photography is called "painting".