Full Manual or Semi Manual

[KmH]

I used a 1 wheel Nikon D60 for a year doing action sports shooting in manual mode.

All it takes is a little practice. Kind of like breaking and double clutch heal and toe downshifting in a manual shift race car.

As mentioned, each mode has it's uses.

 

[tecboy]

Are you a semi manual or semi automatic type person?

Opps, I mean full manual, shutter speed, or aperture priority. Am I saying it right?

 

[manaheim]

I used a 1 wheel Nikon D60 for a year doing action sports shooting in manual mode.

All it takes is a little practice. Kind of like breaking and double clutch heal and toe downshifting in a manual shift race car.

Or smashing your hand in a drawer.

 

[Ballistics]

If you use full manual all the time, what if you go to different places have different lighting condition? Do you adjust the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO very fast?

It sounds much more elaborate than it really is, but yes. Usually I make 1 adjustment to compensate. Very rarely will I go to another location that is more than 2 stops difference.

 

[o hey tyler]

Opps, I mean full manual, shutter speed, or aperture priority. Am I saying it right?

I was just playing off glass half full/half empty

 

[SCraig]

I shot in manual for many years when that was all that was available. Now that I have a smart camera I'm more than happy to let it make most of the decisions for me. I use aperture priority, shutter priority, or manual depending on which suits the situation better.

 

[tecboy]

tecboy, unfortunately your t3i makes it hard for you to do manual all the time. You do not have the thumbwheel to change the aperture, shutter speed, ISO real quick while looking through the viewfinder.

I like to use manual while I am doing portrait at the wedding, getting ready shot, or when I use flash during the reception. Any other time I use AV a lot.

I wanna to be a professional photographer when I grow up, but I don't want to be a wedding photographer.

 

[Ballistics]

tecboy, unfortunately your t3i makes it hard for you to do manual all the time. You do not have the thumbwheel to change the aperture, shutter speed, ISO real quick while looking through the viewfinder.

I like to use manual while I am doing portrait at the wedding, getting ready shot, or when I use flash during the reception. Any other time I use AV a lot.

I wanna to be a professional photographer when I grow up, but I don't want to be a wedding photographer.

No matter what you're doing, you're still going to want to know your way around the camera.

 

[Tailgunner]

Full manual, except ISO I leave auto.

This

If you use full manual all the time, what if you go to different places have different lighting condition? Do you adjust the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO very fast?

It all depends on the conditions but you get used to it though. Example, I had my camera set up for night shooting last night and had to attend a school function this morning for our son. I just made sure I got to the event early and snapped a couple quick sample pictures. A made adjustments based on what I previewed on the LCD screen and was off and running.

 

[tecboy]

Most of the times, I get different lighting and shadow everywhere I go. I tend to go to different places. Indoor, outdoor, indoor, outdoor, and indoor. Moving the dial in nano second, how is that possible?

 

[Vtec44]

Most of the times, I get different lighting and shadow everywhere I go. I tend to go to different places most of the times. Indoor, outdoor, indoor, outdoor, and indoor. Moving the dial in nano second, how is that possible?

For me in this situation, I use ISO to compensate for the exposure given that the shutter speed and aperture are where I want them to be.

 

[480sparky]

Most of the times, I get different lighting and shadow everywhere I go. I tend to go to different places most of the times. Indoor, outdoor, indoor, outdoor, and indoor. Moving the dial in nano second, how is that possible?

Practice, practice, practice. Use a camera long enough, and it becomes an extension of your body. Second nature. Reflex reaction. Muscle memory.

 

[Ysarex]

tecboy, unfortunately your t3i makes it hard for you to do manual all the time. You do not have the thumbwheel to change the aperture, shutter speed, ISO real quick while looking through the viewfinder.

I like to use manual while I am doing portrait at the wedding, getting ready shot, or when I use flash during the reception. Any other time I use AV a lot.

I wanna to be a professional photographer when I grow up, but I don't want to be a wedding photographer.

Now there's a smart young man.

It matters naught whether your camera is set to manual or semi-auto or program auto or whether you rely on the internal camera meter or on an external meter. I lick my finger and hold it up in the light. It only matters that you get the right exposure. The tools are only that and merely that. It's up to you to use the tools intelligently. My camera stays for the most part set to P mode. A simple rotation of the wheel under my right index finger will roll me through the entire EV set for the camera-metered exposure while my right thumb on the large rear wheel will set an Exposure Comp (Canon 5d) -- that get's me to the correct exposure more efficiently than any other method. If I had a different camera I might have to alter that procedure and I would, but nonetheless getting the correct exposure is my responsibility.

Getting a correct exposure is more about evaluating the lighting condition than anything else. When I'm out using my camera I'm constantly looking at and evaluating the lighting so that when I decide to take a photo I'm ready to know how to apply the tools I have to the immediate circumstance. That's the real key. It's not whether you use your camera in manual or auto mode, it's whether you can see the light and know what to do. The details are inconsequential.

Joe

 

[bratkinson]

The more I shoot, the more I want to control everything. And yes, those that know me have called me a control freak.

When I first moved from film to digital, I thought Av was the cats' meow. I did most of my work in Av and P. 2 Point and Shoots and 3 DSLRs later, I do 95% or more in full manual, including ISO. I want to control how much subject motion blur there will be (SS), how thin/deep the DOF (aperture), and how much noise (ISO), and then make settings as appropriate. Fortunately, I generally have the 'luxury' of being able to take one or two 'test' shots, check the histogram and resultant picture(s) in the LCD, and make additional adjustments if desired. Although lighting at church events tends to vary from shot to shot, usually it's only a half stop or so different, so I can correct it in post. But then, sometimes I'll see a great back-lit or in-the-shadows opportunity during the event and change everything to get the shot I want.

And the other 5% or so of my shots? "A". Sometimes I sit back and use it in 5D3 'point and shoot' mode.

 

[Garbz]

Aperture priority all the time. The only time it's justified to switch to manual is if the camera is doing something wrong. I also don't use lenscaps and don't turn the camera off.

If there's a remote possibility of a unique photographic moment I want every opportunity to be able to actually catch that. My girlfriend however loves missing photos because her camera is on manual and the setting isn't quite right.