To people who shoot in full manual most of the time...

[ksmattfish]

Such as lots of white jerseys, then lots of black jeysers... One second white jerseys fill the frame (quarterback throwing the ball) then you zoom down field at black jeyseys filling the frame...

Yeah, I never run into anything like that at weddings. Bride in all white. Groom in all black. That's why I like M. In any auto or semi-auto mode the all black subject fools the meter into thinking the light has decreased, so it over exposes. The all white subject fools the meter into thinking the light has increased so it under exposes. Unless I set the exposure compensation to deal with the subject tone.

Don't forget to set flash exposure compensation, it works the same way.

Check out that Fred Parker link I posted above. It probably explains exposure better than me.

 

[prodigy2k7]

Thanks! That is what I wnated to hear. Sorry I get confused and say stuff weird sometimes.

 

[Bifurcator]

Hehehe this thread is funny. We have 3 or 4 guys saying the exact same things over and over.

 

[usayit]

How often should you take another reading then? (No clouds) I mean when it just comes to the suns motion across the sky...

When you observe that the light changes... (or when you spot check your histogram).

So your saying, lets say in horse racing, I can use the same exposure settings and snap away even tho the background is changing and colors are changing?

Thats, kinda...AWESOME lol...

Maybe I will do it...

Just try it... and see how it works out but it will take practice. Only works if the general area (the entire horse track) is in uniform light. Depending on your camera (film or shooting slides), many photographers will take a single reading in this situation and purposely underexpose between 1/3rd to a full stop. As with many digital cameras, it is far easier to recover shadows than blown out highlights... a lot of the data retained by the camera's processing is in the shadows.

1) Go to an open street area where you and the general area of interest is in the same light.
2) Using your camera, take a reading off the palm of your hand. Set your camera to that setting. Perhaps underexpose by 1/3rd of a stop
3) Now just leave it there and take a few shots.
4) Walk around and take a few more.
5) Now walk into a slightly shaded area and open up a stop or two (you'll get better at estimating with practice).
6) Take a few more pictures.
7) Walk back out into the daylight and stop down a stop or two.
8) Take a few more pictures.

Now go into a cafe... have some coffee.. and check the histograms. Practice gets you closer to a "neutral" or slightly underexposed histogram consistently.

You have just learned what many street photographers have been doing for decades.

Again.. it takes practice. I've been doing it for years and still manage to bugger it up when I stop shooting and get out of practice. I would imagine a professional doing this everyday can nail each exposure in the same manner.

You master this technique and you'll be surprised just how fast you can shoot....

 

[Bifurcator]

Thanks! That is what I wnated to hear. Sorry I get confused and say stuff weird sometimes.

Not a problem. Better to "say stuff weird sometimes" and learn than to never learn it.

 

[prodigy2k7]

 

[Trenton Romulox]

I shoot manual all the time. I honestly can't tell you one time in the last year that I have taken it out of full manual mode.

I can't really explain why I do it. I also prefer manual transmission cars.

So I guess I can explain it: I want full control. If there's a mistake made that makes me miss a shot, it's my fault, and not the camera's, or the car's if I'm driving. I want to have complete responsibility, so when there's a mistake, I learn from it, and have nothing to blame it on but my own errors.

 

[Battou]

I shoot everything in manual, cuz that is what my cameras are. My EF and AE-1 have shutter speed-priority, but it doesn't work for me for some reason, everything is heavilly underexposed even after battery compensation. So I don't bother with it unless absolutely necessary.

 

[elemental]

Can this be a sticky, or can we maybe make a "settings" forum?



Like Battou, I shoot "full manual" for most everything these days because that's what my camera is (I shoot with my Ricoh almost exclusively). When I'm using the digital, it's usually on aperture priority. It's a heavily automated camera and that's how I use it. If I'm in a situation where aperture priority or whatever the appropriate assisted mode is isn't getting the job done, I'll use manual.

I just don't understand this obsession with modes. It boggles my mind. If you use the light meter to set the appropriate shutter speed for f/3.5 and I shoot the same scene in Av, we get the same picture. If it's off, we compensate. In some cases, you need manual. You use it. What difference does it make? It's about the pictures you produce, not what works for you to get them.

 

[prodigy2k7]

Can this be a sticky, or can we maybe make a "settings" forum?



Like Battou, I shoot "full manual" for most everything these days because that's what my camera is (I shoot with my Ricoh almost exclusively). When I'm using the digital, it's usually on aperture priority. It's a heavily automated camera and that's how I use it. If I'm in a situation where aperture priority or whatever the appropriate assisted mode is isn't getting the job done, I'll use manual.

I just don't understand this obsession with modes. It boggles my mind. If you use the light meter to set the appropriate shutter speed for f/3.5 and I shoot the same scene in Av, we get the same picture. If it's off, we compensate. In some cases, you need manual. You use it. What difference does it make? It's about the pictures you produce, not what works for you to get them.

Who cares I learned something new. Not to mention the camera wont under or over expose because it thinks something that isnt true...

 

[K_Pugh]

Manual:

• When using Flash (portraits, general shots, anything that's not moving & consistant light)
• When in the "studio" (still lifes, products, portraits, etc)
• Landscapes
• Cityscapes
• Street Photography (generally using the FED)

Aperture Priority:

• Most of the time with ambient light (excluding above & action shots)
• Portraits, General Shots, Abstracts, etc.. (for speed really, i should slow down though)

Shutter Priority:

• Action shots (with or without flash - still experimenting here though)

 

[Bifurcator]

Who cares I learned something new. Not to mention the camera wont under or over expose because it thinks something that isnt true...

Yep! Did you watch that video in my 1st post? (post #10 above) About 1/2 way through it shows why that's true.

 

[SBlanca]

i mainly shoot manual, and use it for pretty much everyting, unless i'm in a situation where i need to use aperture or shutter speed priority. manual helps you learn stuff much quicker because you have to get used to changing the settings and stuff..

 

[Village Idiot]

I do a lot of flash photography. Manual = 1/250 ISO - 100 and an aperture to match the flash exposures. Not a lot of adjusting there and it the camera can't change those settings without ruining the shot.

I like AV mode for events as if you see a candid shot, you can get it right away. The down side is when the camera meters off something black and gives you a shutter speed of 1/30 instead of 1/100.

 

[dEARlEADER]

For over and under no. For the basic off of grey, yes. The over and under is in-brain and translates to thumb movements that adjust either the aperture or the shutter depending.

Why not meter off your grey card.... adjust for the 6% difference between your grey card and camera meter.... lock that calibration in a priority mode and fire away all night long?? That way if there are any hot spots in the field(at night) or cloud variables in the day you don't even have to worry about it. If you are grey carding before each shot I concede.

OK. But how is that like manual where you can adjust both on the fly with thumb-wheels? Beside the obvious exposure control differences isn't Comp usually tucked away in a menu setting somewhere?

Generally speaking when using a priority mode you have an idea in mind. If the shot requires the use of F4 to create a desired dof I typically don't need quick access to both. If I alter the aperture I will lose the depth required for the shoot. If the shutter speed is off exp comp to taste/histogram and blast away.

On my little boys camera (D60) exp comp adjustments are made quickly with the thumb wheel in combination with depressing the exp comp button. Hehehe the D60 only has ONE thumb wheel so it's the same process (thumbwheel plus button) to adjust shutter speed in manual.

<raises hand> to living in an environment where fast moving clouds wreak havoc on exposures 5 out of 7 days a week (Huntsville, Muskoka, Ontario, Canada) if you care to research.

I am arguing purely for the sake of discussion. I am not PRO or ANTI any mode. They are all usefull and have distinct advantages depending on the environment, user skill level, and desired result. I get the most out of P,A, and M for what I do. For the record I find the meter on my Nikon to be mostly accurate unless I'm fooling it with obvious indiscretions.