What mode do you normally shoot at?

JbleezyJ · Nov 13, 2010

About 90% of the time I shoot Aperture priority mode. I rarely use Manual unless certain situations call for it. I hear this is normal for most photography like weddings, events, outings, and other stuff. I'm just curious how often do you shoot in fully Manual mode? What mode do you shoot the majority of the time and why?

I feel like I can get away with almost anything in Aperture priority mode.

eccs19 · Nov 13, 2010

I would say I do AV 90% of the time. The rest in Manual. I hardly ever use any other mode. I mostly use manual if using flash, as my flash is older, and the camera can't control it, so I control the camera to get what I want. Also manual is good if you are doing a series where you don't want the exposure to change from one frame to another. (panorama comes to mind)

Robin Usagani · Nov 13, 2010

When there is not enough light and I use flash to mostly lit my exposure I use manual. During the day with enough light I use Aperture priority.

Vinny · Nov 13, 2010

I've been a aperture priority shooter for years ... bought my Nikon FE for that reason vs the FM. It's nice sometimes (most times - 90%) to set it and forget it depending on the situation. I also shoot in manual as well; I haven't gotten into shutter priority yet. I never used auto focus until the DSLR and I do like that as well under certain conditions

jamesdavidboro · Nov 13, 2010

Aperture Priority 90% of the time, occasionally Shutter Priority, very rarely Manual.

o hey tyler · Nov 13, 2010

Exclusively manual, mainly just because I find it more intuitive.

c.cloudwalker · Nov 13, 2010

Manual. 100% of the time.

When I started in photo there wasn't the auto modes with have now and I'm so used to manual that it just isn't a big deal. The situations that actually require manual are pretty rare but they do exist so it is not a bad idea to understand manual.

sobolik · Nov 13, 2010

JbleezyJ said:
About 90% of the time I shoot Aperture priority mode. I rarely use Manual unless certain situations call for it. I hear this is normal for most photography like weddings, events, outings, and other stuff. I'm just curious how often do you shoot in fully Manual mode? What mode do you shoot the majority of the time and why?

I feel like I can get away with almost anything in Aperture priority mode.

I shoot using the incredibly simple and effective DO I CARE METHOD.

I always shoot in auto everything unless I care. (actually I care but I'm not worried)

If I care about depth of field (maximizing or minimizing whats in focus) I will shoot in aperture priority

If I care about motion and blur I will shoot in shutter speed priority

If I care about a potentially really complicated or difficult situation I will shoot in manual.

Very simple method. I shot over 2500 photos at the last wedding and 99% were shot in auto everything. There were a few macros and the fact that I use a 12-24mm lens with huge depth of field helps. Wedding parties are not prone to bursts of running so shutter speed is seldom a concern. I did a few with various shutter speeds to get a rotating ceiling fan to look just right. At the dance etc blur could be a problem but a flash is most often used so auto everything 99% of the time works just fine.

D-B-J · Nov 13, 2010

full manual, all the time. Like someone else said, its more intuitive. I prefer to alter the settings to the way i want them, and not how the camera wants them.

Light Artisan · Nov 13, 2010

I see no reason for manual mode under most circumstances, the camera can adjust much faster than I can - and it doesn't forget.

I'm typically in aperture priority mode however.

Overread · Nov 13, 2010

Depends what I'm shooting - and how I'm shooting it.
Some situations and subjects require manual mode whilst others are more easily done in one of the priority modes;

For example - from my own shooting experinces:

Macro photography with flash dominant (providing most of the light) lighting - manual mode only. This is because the flash is providing more light ontop of the ambient light and the camera can't meter the flashes additional light and its impact on the exposure - so in any other mode it would start giving me less than ideal settings - so manual mode is the way to go.

Wildlife/sports/general shooting - I do most in aperture priority mode - I define my depth of field with the aperture and let the camera adjust the shutter speed based of that and my ISO. However I keep an eye on the shutter speed - if it drops too low its time to widen the aperture - raise the ISO and maybe even add flash. Note that in these cases when using flash its mostly for fill lighting rather than the dominant light source

Propeller aviation - shutter priority because I want to define a specific shutter speed to allow the propellers to blur - the aperture can do what it likes and be wide or closed down so long as I nail the focus and get the right shutter speed for the propeller blur whilst panning the shot.

General shooting where flash is dominant - manual mode - because again its because the camera can't take into account the effect of the flash on the scene - so to get the settings I want with the flash light I have to be in control over the camera.

Those are my examples of how I shoot - other people will differ and I'll point out that no situation above is written in stone. There will be times when I don't follow the above pattern and use a different mode.

The key is not the mode that you shoot in - but in getting the settings you want and the result you want out of the camera in the best way possible. Sometimes that's full manual - other times its full auto and a lot of the time its somewhere between the two.