Really stupid question/observation.

[astroNikon]

When I'm shooting soccer I was testing Aperture priority mode @ 2.8, with Auto ISO (to make it a bit quicker)
But then I like to control the shutter to get some leg blur when making a kick from time to time.

I always tend to move into Manual mode for more control of how I want the photo to look.

 

[paigew]

So, basically, you're blaming the equipment when you don't understand why it's doing what it's doing? Have you read the manual?

No its not that. But if you are shooting in a priority mode you DON'T KNOW what the camera will do. There are probable choices but sometimes the camera will do something wonky and your like "wtf?". I am pretty much strictly a natural light shooter, and metering is SO important in complicated lighting situations. I need to know what my camera is going to do, I can't leave it to chance.

If you understand your camera, you'll understand what your camera is going to do. The only thing I could credit would be things like the D800's tendency to weigh the area around the focus point more heavily in matrix metering mode. But guess what? If you don't understand your camera, you're gonna get surprised by its decisions whether you're in Aperture Priority or manual, because you're basing your own manual decisions on the same metering system. It's not like it's going to operate any differently just because you're in a different shooting mode.

I checked out your flickr, and yeah, you kinda know what your doing...but guess what...so do I

Yes the camera (when on any sort of auto or priority mode) will sometimes choose settings that I would not. So that is why I always shoot in manual. always. I can't believe you are sitting here saying people who shoot in manual don't understand their camera...:er:

 

[daggah]

I'm saying that the guy who is surprised by what his camera does in a priority mode should probably freshen up his understanding of his camera, absolutely. He doesn't seem to understand how it works.

What are you doing when you shoot your camera in M mode outside of a controlled situation? What's your process? If it involves adjusting your settings until the little exposure meter in your viewfinder is on the zero point, then guess what? All you're doing is the same thing that the camera would do in a priority mode, just more slowly. If you're looking at the scene and deciding that the proper exposure is a little + or - the zero point, you could achieve the same thing again with exposure compensation in a priority mode.

Please, describe a scenario where the lighting is so complicated that you can't trust your camera to get it right. I'm curious as to what process you employ in your own mind to figure out the correct settings in that scenario...and I have my suspicions that the process includes a lot of "chimping."

 

[daggah]

And as far as my own work goes...well, shooting with a D800 is almost cheating. As long as I don't blow the highlights, it almost doesn't matter what I do with my exposures.

Example:


No light? No problem! by davidgevert, on Flickr

(I had killed ambient light because I was shooting with off-camera flash. The flashes were on standby and didn't fire for this picture. It's not usable in color, but B&W still works.)

 

[paigew]

I'm saying that the guy who is surprised by what his camera does in a priority mode should probably freshen up his understanding of his camera, absolutely. He doesn't seem to understand how it works.

What are you doing when you shoot your camera in M mode outside of a controlled situation? What's your process? If it involves adjusting your settings until the little exposure meter in your viewfinder is on the zero point, then guess what? All you're doing is the same thing that the camera would do in a priority mode, just more slowly. If you're looking at the scene and deciding that the proper exposure is a little + or - the zero point, you could achieve the same thing again with exposure compensation in a priority mode.

Please, describe a scenario where the lighting is so complicated that you can't trust your camera to get it right. I'm curious as to what process you employ in your own mind to figure out the correct settings in that scenario...and I have my suspicions that the process includes a lot of "chimping."

I am not even going to respond to this craziness. :madmad:

 

[paigew]

And as far as my own work goes...well, shooting with a D800 is almost cheating. As long as I don't blow the highlights, it almost doesn't matter what I do with my exposures.

Example:


No light? No problem! by davidgevert, on Flickr

(I had killed ambient light because I was shooting with off-camera flash. The flashes were on standby and didn't fire for this picture. It's not usable in color, but B&W still works.)

annnd I don't think that works. I would never keep an image with that bad an exposure. See...case closed. Manual mode for the win.

 

[daggah]

I am not even going to respond to this craziness. :madmad:

You won't...or you can't?

 

[daggah]

annnd I don't think that works. I would never keep an image with that bad an exposure. See...case closed. Manual mode for the win.

I was in M mode for that shot...because I was in control of the light. Flashes were set to manual power as well. It's not a bad exposure, it's a frame where the flashes didn't fire. I didn't use the image, it's more an example of what the D800 can do. It's pretty ridiculous that it can pull that much detail out of nearly pitch black shadows.

 

[paigew]

I am not even going to respond to this craziness. :madmad:

You won't...or you can't?

I guess you don't know me very well. I would LOVE to argue with you but I gotta run. Supposed to be at a gig in an hour. I will be shooting it outdoors. Manual all the way No chimping, no time for that when you shoot fast subjects. You gotta know your sh*t.

 

[Braineack]

Yes the camera (when on any sort of auto or priority mode) will sometimes choose settings that I would not. So that is why I always shoot in manual. always. I can't believe you are sitting here saying people who shoot in manual don't understand their camera...:er:

Because I already said I only shoot manual to impress my friends.

 

[AlanKlein]

In auto mode, change the EV + or - setting by moving the camera to relatively darker or lighter areas until you get the aperture you want. Then lock the AEL (or half shutter) and re-position the camera to take the shot.

 

[Derrel]

In auto mode, change the EV + or - setting by moving the camera to relatively darker or lighter areas until you get the aperture you want. Then lock the AEL (or half shutter) and re-position the camera to take the shot.

Alan is describing a very old way to use Aperture-priority automatic exposure, a method that's been around since the 1960's. It worked great with Nikons that used their 60/40 center-weighted light metering. Inside the viewfinder of Nikon SLRs and d-slrs is a 12mm-diameter, scribed circle on the viewfinder screen.

The long-time standard Nikon-brand center-weighted light metering worked like this: That 12mm scribed circle has the MAJORITY of the meter's sensitivity and "weight" or "bias" devoted to it, with the remaining 40% of the weighting or bias spread out, over the entire balance of the screen's real estate. In the F3, Nikon went to an even more strongly-weighted system, the 80%--20% system.

Using this kind of center-weighted system, it was/is easy to just aim the camera at "an area", and hold the shutter button halfway down to lock exposure. With more-modern, AF cameras, it became necessary to add a control, or two, to the camera, to separate AE lock from AF lock, and so on. But the way Alan is describing things works really well. If you want MORE exposure, swing the camera to a DARKER AREA. If you want to shoot for the brightest tones, swing the camera toward a BRIGHT area, and then press a button and the exposure is set, and held. No need to add-in Plus- or Minus- exposure compensation on any dial or menu.

This is a really fast, easy, convenient way to use Aperture priority automatic mode. I learned to use this system years ago, and with the cameras of that era that had a constantly-visible light meter needle, not LED's or LCD readouts, the visual up- and down- of the meter needle was really easy to interpret sort of out of the corner of the eye...needle low=dim, needle high=bright...

 

[AlanKlein]

Derrel: Thanks for giving away my age. Actually this quick, simple method works on P&S's and other modern cameras. Just be careful that the focal plane is the same in the "adjustment" view as the final view for the shot if the half shutter method locks the focus as well as well as the exposure. That's usually the case on P&S's. You don't have to worry about that if the camera has separate AEL exposure and AFL focus lock buttons.

 

[Solarflare]

About this, on my D600, my AE/AF Lock button is usually set to AF ON, thus not available for the original functionality, and I need all other programmeable buttons too, so they arent available either.

I really need AF ON, because the AF area is pretty limited and I need better control of the AF a lot.

Thats why if I want that functionality, I indeed switch to M.

 

[daggah]

One thing I do if I'm shooting outside and I'm facing a situation with difficult lighting and a huge disparity in dynamic range, but I still want to shoot in aperture priority...I aim my camera up at the sky real quick and check out what shutter speed it's giving me if I were going to take a picture of the sky by itself. If the shutter speed is several stops faster than what I'm seeing from my scene, I know that taking the shot will blow the highlights, and I need to consider bracketing or exposure compensation (knowing that I can bring shadows back up in Lightroom later.)