What mode to shoot in

[fireman32]

I want to thank everyone for their opinions on this. I have signed up for a few classes and bought a book that someone recommended called Understanding Exposure that I am enjoying reading. My first class is tonight and I hope to learn a lot.

Dave

 

[H2Ockey]

Understanding Exposure is a good one.
A few other books I think belong in a library would be:
"The Camera", "The Negative" and "The Print" all by Ansel Adams still in print
and
"Light, Science & Magic" by Hunter

 

[Small White Car]

Depends on the situation I'm in and what my subject is.

If I'm going to have 3 or 4 seconds to think about each shot I'll use full-manual mode.

If I'm only going to have 1 second or less to think about the shot before I take it then I'll tend to use shutter-priority.

Based on that I'd say I shoot manual about 75% of the time.

 

[Ruahrc]

The thing I never understand about die-hard manual mode users is, the vast majority of them still rely on the camera's meter. Which means, all the user is really doing is deciding on either a shutter speed or aperture value, and then fiddling the camera dial to adjust the other parameter to the right value based on the camera meter reading....

...which is exactly what using the camera in A or S mode does. All you're doing is moving the knob yourself to set the camera to the right value (S or A, respectively) instead of having the camera do it for you automatically. There is no additional creative input here, and it's technically slower than using A or S because of the physical movement required. It might make it a little easier to dial in exposure compensation (vs. setting that by using the specific EV+/- function) but the photographer is still basing his/her exposure choices on the camera's meter reading.

Unless you're out there with an incident light meter, using Sunny 16 or some derivative, or some well-developed innate sense of light metering, going "full manual" for most is just an alternative way of configuring the camera controls. In some cases it is slower and less efficient, in other cases it's merely an alternative method of dialing in exposure compensation by "creatively" deciding the shot needs over or underexposure- which the A or S shooter can do just as well by dialing in EV+/-.

IMHO there is nothing more "pure", "legitimate", "hardcore", or "manly" about using M full-time. It's there and has some specific uses, but not absolutely "better" than any of the other modes the camera has (with the possible exception of the canned modes like "Auto" or "Sport" or "landscape").

Ruahrc

 

[Small White Car]

The thing I never understand about die-hard manual mode users is, the vast majority of them still rely on the camera's meter. Which means, all the user is really doing is deciding on either a shutter speed or aperture value, and then fiddling the camera dial to adjust the other parameter to the right value based on the camera meter reading....

But even if that's all you're doing you know it won't change between shots.


THAT'S why you use manual mode.


Also, the majority of the time the camera doesn't know what my subject is. Is it the kid in the foreground or the ferris wheel behind him? The camera doesn't know. That's the other reason you use manual mode.

 

[TheDrift-]

I want to thank everyone for their opinions on this. I have signed up for a few classes and bought a book that someone recommended called Understanding Exposure that I am enjoying reading. My first class is tonight and I hope to learn a lot.

Dave

good luck in your classes m8!

 

[Flash SWT]

But even if that's all you're doing you know it won't change between shots. THAT'S why you use manual mode.

Nailed it. Shooting sports for example (the majority inside or at night) the light is not going to change. However different colored jerseys or different elements in the background can easily confuse the meter/camera resulting in varied exposures. It is the same reason to use a specific white balance instead of auto.

Unless you're out there with an incident light meter, using Sunny 16 or some derivative, or some well-developed innate sense of light metering, going "full manual" for most is just an alternative way of configuring the camera controls.

If you spend enough time taking photos you really do start to get a sense of what settings you need to be at when you walk into a room. Who knows, maybe this is just because, for example, all rooms lit by overhead fluorescents are about the same brightness and once you've shot in 100 of them the settings just stick in memory.

In some cases it is slower and less efficient, in other cases it's merely an alternative method of dialing in exposure compensation by "creatively" deciding the shot needs over or underexposure- which the A or S shooter can do just as well by dialing in EV+/-.

See Small White Car's answer above. In manual you know the exposure will NOT change. When you dial in exposure compensation you are still at the mercy of the meter getting confused. Think of an indoor wedding. You alternate between tight shots of the bride in her white dress and the groom in his black tuxedo. Did the lighting inside the church change between shots? No, but I can almost guarantee a camera in P, S or A will expose the two frames differently. The camera wants to make both the dress and tux 18% gray.

My first class is tonight and I hope to learn a lot.

Most importantly I hope you have some fun!

 

[fireman32]

I did have a lot of fun and learned a lot as well. I think I am just going to play around in the different modes and see what I can come up with.