Shooting Manual or Auto-unhijacking the other thread

[stsinner]

When it comes done to it, I sell photos and how I get the best ones has little to do with my ego. the truth is (at field trials I probably shoot and sell more photos shot in the sport mode than any other mode) I simply cannot change settings ( shutter speed , aperture, ISO, and so forth ) and still get the shot in time allowed to get the shot!

A good photographer will do what it takes to get the best shot no matter mode he/she has to rely on. If time permits, full manuel gives the photographer complete creative control over his work. Yet technology has given all of us the benifit to help us get the shot we need.

Wow.. Well said.

 

[inTempus]

Though they may have a better understanding of what the camera is looking for and why it does what it does, that doesn't make their pictures necessarily better.

I can take a better exposed picture of something like this...

...in Manual mode vs. automatic. Light meters are easily fooled by things like lots of white. Since the camera tries to meter everything at 18% grey, it's never going to get it right on it's own. So you have to know how to compensate.

 

[uplander]

I can assure you I can take a better exposed picture of something like this...

...in Manual mode vs. any of the automatic modes. Light meters are easily fooled by things like lots of white. Since the camera tries to meter everything at 18% grey, it's never going to get it right on it's own. So you have to know how to compensate.

But yes, a static shot you have all the time in the world to set it up in manual and i'm not disputing this (yet fading light is a factor) there is still sometimes when time is of the essence and a shot is captured or loss.

 

[inTempus]

But yes, a static shot you have all the time in the world to set it up in manual and i'm not disputing this (yet fading light is a factor) there is still sometimes when time is of the essence and a shot is captured or loss.

I have already agreed with this in an earlier post. I was responding to a specific point raised by stsinner.

 

[dEARlEADER]

I can take a better exposed picture of something like this...

...in Manual mode vs. automatic. Light meters are easily fooled by things like lots of white. Since the camera tries to meter everything at 18% grey, it's never going to get it right on it's own. So you have to know how to compensate.

That's what exp comp is for...

 

[Aye-non Oh-non Imus]

Yet another thread that has the appearance of its sole purpose is to stir dissention and controversy. Such a shame.

The FINAL result is paramount. The path taken is irrelevant. Arguments on one side or the other is fodder for fools.

 

[dEARlEADER]

Yet another thread that has the appearance of its sole purpose is to stir dissention and controversy. Such a shame.

The FINAL result is paramount. The path taken is irrelevant. Arguments on one side or the other is fodder for fools.

whew... good thing i just renewed my fool permit...

I nearly got busted for foddering without proof of foolsmanship...

 

[Aye-non Oh-non Imus]

^^ I am a card carrying fool myself. I got proof, somewhere.

 

[KvnO]

Though they may have a better understanding of what the camera is looking for and why it does what it does, that doesn't make their pictures necessarily better.

I never said that it did. I meant that people shooting in manual know what they want out of an image (depth of field, blur, etc), and know how to achieve the results through the various settings.

 

[inTempus]

That's what exp comp is for...

Still, that's a manual setting. The camera doesn't set its exposure compensation automatically.

 

[bdavis]

Auto is helpful when something happens fast and you need to get the shot quickly. An example would be if you were doing street photography and a person did something really fast like sneezed or made a unique facial expression. Other than that, I cant think of any benefits to auto.

 

[stsinner]

Yet another thread that has the appearance of its sole purpose is to stir dissention and controversy. Such a shame.

The FINAL result is paramount. The path taken is irrelevant. Arguments on one side or the other is fodder for fools.

This is a DISCUSSION forum.. So now we should only start threads if we're all going to agree on the all points raised? I think it's a splendid conversation with good points raised from both camps, and that's why I come here-to learn.

 

[gsgary]

How about shooting in Auto/Program Exposure ... and using Exposure Compensation to over-ride the camera meter > would that be considered shooting Manual ?

No

 

[gsgary]

Wow.. Well said.

I would never use auto for sport because you never know what your going to get, shoot sports mode for motorsport and you get no motion in the wheels and thats no a good shot, shooting field sports i want to know what DOF and shutter speed i have so i know what i am going to get i don't want the camera telling me me what i am having

 

[stsinner]

I was thinking about this thread today as I was in the waiting room at the doctor's office and I think some people may have misunderstood what I'm proposing here.

I know that strict manual shooters understand photography more than auto shooters, and that's commendable, but what I'm railing against is the disdain for auto shooters that some express, as if it's any of their business what mode anyone else shoots in.. Why the disdain? It's come up several times, and of course I don't expect this thread to change that. It will always be. I know it must suck for someone who has always been into photography, taken multiple courses, read multiple books and made a career out of learning the craft when an amateur picks up a camera for the first time, puts it in auto and achieves photo gold, but it is pretty common.. Auto will usually grab a good shot. No need to get pissed. Just rest on your laurels that you could get the difficult shot better than the auto shooter when that time comes and let it be. It doesn't make someone stupid if they like to shot auto.. Many of us have very busy lives with work and kids and dinner to make and what-not, so learning the intricacies of photography may be at the bottom of our priority list, if its on it at all, but we know that a good camera takes good pictures, and it's the pictures we want, not the knowledge of how it was achieved..

I think it comes down many times to the difference between the hobbyist/professional and everyone else who just wants to make memories.

In fact, I'll bet you that if one of the big three made a dSLR that eliminated all the confusing modes and buttons and was essentially always in auto with just a power button and a shutter release, it would sell like hotcakes!! People want a nice camera, and for most people more $$ translates to a better camera, so even though such a camera might be more expensive than a P&S, I'll bet it could find its niche. (My wife would be first in line..)