Automatic Vs. Manual Settings

[Aye-non Oh-non Imus]

Program, Aperture, Shutter when the situation calls for it. I never waste time in manual.

This is definitely the way to prosperity.

^^^ oh, see, now there is the first shot across the bow. That very comment is going to make this thread spiral into the depths.

May fire the next shot?

 

[DRoberts]

M most of the time. If I want a quik shot around the house of kids or something I will turn to Auto(no flash).

 

[nikonguy]

uh oh... this topic...

+1 that... some day people will learn to search...

 

[tsaraleksi]

When I shoot in studio or with strobes (or even with a speedlight) I'm always going to be in manual because I am setting the light up to behave in a certain way with respect to the exposure, and in the case of strobes, because the camera is not communicating with the lights, it has to be or the exposures will be wrecked.

Indoors is almost always manual as well, because a)the light level is not going to change and b) things like lamps or whatever will throw it way off pretty easily.

Outdoors depends on lots of things, but again, light levels don't just bounce around, so chances are manual is going to retain more consistent exposures. For sports I will always shoot manual because things like uniforms can readily wreck a exposure and it's important to retain both the f/stop and aperture that I want.

If I'm in a situation with changing light, then I will either use Av or just adjust my settings on the fly.

Using manual has nothing to do with elitism or whatever, it just lets me get more consistent exposures and know exactly what to expect when I shoot. I really do not want surprises when I pull the images up later. The other modes work fine I just find it easier to work in manual.

 

[Dao]

This is one of the reasons i like my Olympus. i'm not sure if other cameras do this too, but i can adjust aperture, shutter, iso, af, and a pile of other things from the automatic. for just being a beginner, what i have been doing is letting the camera decide what settings are best for the "setting" that i am shooting, then i take a few different pictures to find out what looks best, all the while staying on automatic.

Mark

At this point, I am learning to use off camera flashes. So TTL will not help that much. On top of that, they were two Vivitar 285 and one 283 mounted on umbrella or softbox. It is hard for the camera system to know what will be the best settings. I strongly believe your system will not work either. It's because it will not know how much light will pass thru the shoot through white umbrella or a softbox or bounce from a silver umbrella.

 

[Josh66]

+1 that... some day people will learn to search...

I don't think searching has anything to do with it. People will always start these threads, no matter how many more just like it there are.

I don't really think that the people who strart these threads care what the answer is...

 

[nikonpreap]

I dont think my d200 has an auto option.... i think the closest to auto is program mode..... ive never had any experience with auto mode but i have seen many pictures taken in auto mode and they look perfectly fine

 

[Montana]

I shoot 90% manual.
The other 10% is either aperture priority or shutter priority.

My 40D has only been in an automode once.....when my father borrowed it.

 

[Gomes]

99% of the time I am shooting sports. You dont have time to fine tune each and every shot, and I found that Av is more consistant in the long run.

 

[elemental]

I dont think my d200 has an auto option.... i think the closest to auto is program mode..... ive never had any experience with auto mode but i have seen many pictures taken in auto mode and they look perfectly fine

This is my favorite thing about the D200- no scene modes (okay, well maybe not my favorite, but one less thing to not use).

Aperture priority is my go-to for decent lighting, since the things I shoot don't tend to move so quickly. I use manual for manual off-camera flash (TTL and CLS are a little too rich for my blood when it comes to off camera work).

However, I should probably make the obligatory point that all that matters is what comes out of your camera. It matters much less how you hold your hammer (or what kind of hammer you use) than how the house looks when it's finished. Worry about getting the house you want from the hammer, not the other way around. A camera is just a tool; a means to an end.

 

[kombizz]

Would be nice to use different setting based on what you would like to produce at the end of the day.

 

[gsgary]

100% manual

 

[Josh66]

Would be nice to use different setting based on what you would like to produce at the end of the day.

You can use different settings to do what you want, it just happens that all of them can be applied from one mode.

There is no shooting mode that cannot be duplicated in manual mode.


ps-
As I said eariler - I use M probably 30% of the time, Av the other 70%. Most of the time, all I really care about is the aperture - so Av works perfectly for that. I use M for the times when something else is more important than the aperture.

 

[elemental]

Would be nice to use different setting based on what you would like to produce at the end of the day.

Different hammers for different houses!

It seems sometimes that people get so ego-invested in a shooting mode ("I only shoot manual," and its only slightly less silly counterpart "I never shoot manual") that they end up using the wrong tool for the job, which is a total waste.

 

[fwellers]

Auto modes are too hard for me !! Seriously. There's stuff to remember about how exposure comp works and such.
I'm really getting quick now at zeroing out the meter in manual, and I just pick my desired shutter or aperture first and zero from there. It's the simplest thing in the world unless I'm missing something ( which I think I'm not ).

Now if someone can tell me how to get my non-afs lenses to focus a little faster for candid shots .......