Going manual ?

OK - I said I thought that mebbe this should go to a new thread - so here goes.

It goes back a bit - forgive me if I ramble a bit in explanation.

I seriously started to use a camera when I got my Kodak C 703 - a nice little 7.1 megapixel P&S - nowhere near as sophisticated as the Optio P70.

The Kodak was great - I loved it , learned a lot from Photomonk and thoroughly enjoyed using it . The size was very helpful and from Feb 2008 it was with me everytime I went into the Hospital visiting my husband - I kept a record of his admissions - some pics are very heart string tugging , all are very memorable but I got other things as well - a yellow whirly bird landing and the crew sitting waiting , lovely roses in the garden outside the block where my husband was treated all that sort of thing .

Towards the end I was getting frustrated as I felt I wanted to take more control of HOW I was taking photos - but I couldn't go as far as I wanted , or achieve what I wanted - I was frustrated

In July 2009 I was in Belgium using the Fuji S5000 Zoom - a very different kettle of fish . I used it as a P&S but started to look at it more closely and realised I was going to be able to start using different settings on it and taking more control - but this didn't happen as it died on me in August

Soooo I started thinking in terms of a new camera - yes probably more than a simple P&S and I ' talked ' about it with the Photomonk - and slowly I found I was being steered towards a DSLR so I could really take control of HOW I took my photos . So by November I found I was ordering up a K-x !!

Cometh the beginning of December the K-x and I finally met Oh my what a difference - the photos I took , using it on fully automatic were of a very different standard and I was told to go and read my manual The intention was for me to move gently from automatic settings to go fully manual.

As you know I went on a course in January and throughout that I found the emphasis was really on shooting fully manually - I was actually the only one using Av and Tv. So of course I had the impression that to take good photos you shot manually .

I didn't think I was ready until about 2 weeks ago , when I realised I was happily shooting in Av without thinking too hard about what f stop to use so thought the time had come.

So about 2 days ago I started using Manual - yes - switched the lens to M from AF , turned the dial to M, took a deep breath and got on with it . First shots were not great , todays were a great improvement , I really felt much happier . What I posted today were just 3 from a series of 6 - 3 of the Rhodie Bush and 3 of that darn yellow skip - and I really didn't pick the best for you - I just picked 3.

BUT


I felt I needed advice - hence the questions and as a result I know have more questions

How many of you actually shoot manually over 90% of the time ?

How many of you use either Av or Tv for most of the time ?

What are your reasons for not being manual 100% of the time ?

Now persuade me to either stay in Av / Tv or go fully manual

As far as I can see, there is no reason to stay in Manual all the time. Since the manufacturer provided us with a decent exposure meter, one may as well use it.

It all depends on the motif (if that is what it is called in English).

Most of my photos are of static objects, hence I like to have control of the DOF. Therefore I shoot mostly in Av, setting a suitable aperture and letting the camera decide the exposure time. Should the time become too long for comfort, I would increase the ISO.

On the other hand, shooting moving objects I go for Tv, selecting a shutter speed fast enough to stop the motion and letting the camera decide on the aperture (again increasing the ISO if necessary).

I try to keep the ISO setting fairly low (200) to avoid unnecessary noise in the picture.

This is my philosophy, for what it's worth. Others will have different approaches. So yes, I shoot mostly Av, sometimes Tv, rarely Manual, and (almost) never in full Auto.

Hope this makes sense

I use Av 95% of the time. As I see it the only difference between this method and manual is you don't have to stop and take a light meter reading. you still have control over aperture so determine the DOF you want for the subject you are taking. I admit I'm starting to play around more with fill in flash and exposure bracketing but the constant is Av mode.

If you have control of the situation, and the light is consistent, then using manual will give the best results. But often, you need to move more quickly, and then it is best to rely on the camera's meter to set the exposure.

Many people will choose Av, because that way they can control DoF while the camera adjusts the shutter speed for correct exposure.

If it is also important to maintain a particular shutter speed, then with a Pentax camera you can set it to adjust the ISO to provide the correct exposure.

G

I can certainly understand the reason for your question, but like Terry, I can see no reason to force oneself to use manual exposure mode all of the time. At one time we had no choice, but those days are long gone.

Modern cameras have very sophisticated light measuring systems, and we pay a premium for it. DSLR's would be a lot cheaper without it.

So, I prefer to use some of the automation that I've paid for, Av mostly, and tweak it a bit using exposure compensation if it becomes necessary.

I set my ISO according to the available light, ISO 100 in normal daylight or indoors with flash, and up to ISO1600 indoors with no flash.

I'll then chose an aperture that produces the DOF I'm after, or that is appropriate to the scene. This is often arrived at by trial and error, mostly error.

I take an exposure, check the histogram, and adjust with exposure compensation until the histogram looks good. I don't worry about shutter speed in this scenario, the camera is clever enough to deal with it.

Of course, not every shot I take follows that procedure, but a high percentage certainly do.

Fully manual control really comes into its own when taking images in mixed lighting, flash and daylight for example. Aperture and shutter speed are then adjusted to produce the balance that you are trying to achieve.

My advice is to use Av mode for a while and use f8 as a default setting. Play around from there. If you go to a race track for instance, change to Tv mode and set a speed that is high enough to freeze the action.

On the K10/20D, you can even have TAv mode, shutter and aperture priority together, the camera sorts out the ISO to give a correct exposure.

There's lots to learn, and a lot of folk to learn from.

On my K10D, my LX and my GR-D I use Av 95% of the time simply because it's there (some things like panoramas require a manual exposure but they're few and far between for me - besides, I'm lazy at heart).

On my other cameras I use manual because they're mostly older than I am and they don't have the option of doing anything else. If I could use Av on my Rolleicord then I almost certainly would...

Knowing how to use a camera manually is something worthwhile because there'll be times when it gives you the best results, but using it all the time when there are other options available always seemed a bit hair shirt to me.

I start in AV but will use Exposure Lock to meter the area away from my centre piece where the tonal range is close to what I think is the mid point is, then recompose and shoot. Thats manual exposure in all but name.

I also use manual focus a lot - especially when I've got good light and I want the max depth of focus. I use the AF to get me close, then switch to MF for fine adjustment - usually pull the focus back to get more foreground in focus, using the great depth beyond the focal point to best advantage.

How you set up your camera is a function of what you expect to shoot most. I tend to shoot static subfects like landscape, so depth of field is more important than shutter speed to freeze the action.


Steve

T-T,

There's a discussion on exposure in your original thread which hasn't resurfaced here (at least not in the form originally posed).

There's another way you can use your camera (the K-x, and also my K10) to help you decide on exposure in Manual mode.

You'd be aware that you can manually set Ev in other modes - but not in Manual. When you do that, you use the little scale to set the pointer to plus or minus whatever you think fit: hence, -0.5 EV, +1.0 Ev etc.

When in Manual mode though, the camera actually uses the same scale and pointer to let you know if / when the shot is properly exposed (ie, you cannot adjust Ev yourself).

With your Kx, look in the view finder while in Manual mode, compose a shot, and check the EV scale along the bottom of the view finder.

Keep looking - now pan the camera onto a lighter (or darker) object.

The scale pointer at the bottom of your viewfinder should move up or down.

When the scale pointer is on ZERO, you should (in theory) have a properly exposed shot - simple.

If it is not, then it is of course up to you whether you choose to adjust shutter speed, f-stop or both.

So what is really happening in Manual mode is that the camera is using its light meter function, but only to give you advice rather than to automatically change settings.

That's about the limit of my knowledge on it - I'm sure many others here can add to it, or correct those bits where I'm misinformed.

I never use manual unless it's bulb, or sometimes when taking bracketed exposures (but usually just use the in-built bracketing), where I first use the Av setting with aperture set to what I want to get a starting point from the cameras light meter. Also, for panoramas I use manual, as the settings need to be the same on all the shots. Again, I get the settings in AV for an average exposure across the scene. The rest of the time I use Av, and exposure compensation where neccessary (using the histogram as reference). That way you have full control over aperture and exposure. If I see the shutter speed is too low, I open the aperture , or change the ISO. (I never use the fuction allowing the camera to set ISO) In fact, I use Av even when shutter speed is the main criteria for the picture, just opening up the aperture or changing the ISO to get the speed I need. That way, ISO is the only guesswork I need, and it's a lot easier guessing that than trying to work out the aperture, shutter speed and ISO.

Personally, I don't see the point of having a sophisticated camera with very good automatic features, and then turning it into a manual camera.

I use manual a lot but using studio flash so there isn't a choice, the rest of the time I use either Av for some specific control of DoF or P(MTF) to get the best from my lenses.

When I say I use M in the studio I do not use the camera's meter, I merely set the camera on X and the aperture to achieve the effect I want. Were I to use M in other circumstances I would use my incident light meter and not the camera's built in one.

However the Pentax metering system is so good that my £300 light meter rarely sees the light of day or any other kind of light for that matter.

This is getting very interesting - and I'll say no more than that as I don't want to colour any further responses .

Please keep them coming for a while

Interesting that your camera course they were all shooting manual. Pretentious gits

As far as I'm concerned there is no major benefit to manual. I use manual sometimes, more often in low light scenes when I don't want the dark scene to be metered as a daytime scene in AV mode, but I would prefer not to use it at all Also for macro shots I will often use manual.

Other than that I use AV 90% of the time.

I dont think it matters what mode you shoot in, if your relying on the cameras metering system to get the exposure right then all the results (exposure wise) should be the same, in manual all you are doing is setting both dials to give you a balanced exposure based on what the camera is telling you
The only benefit I can see for manual is its a much more convenient way to adjust exposure if your previous shot was off slightly.

I shoot in Av the most of the time, I can set what aperture I want and still keep an eye on the shutter speed, I rarely bother with dialing in exposure compensation, if a shot doesnt seem right I will move the camera around until the exposure changes to what I feel is enough compensation then lock it before re-composing, I often wonder if people think I am mad for pointing the camera at a subject followed by the ground then the subject again

As Ken says manual is often a must for studio lighting

and here's me thinking you must have played the trombone.

TT, you might find this thread interesting.

There was a poll a while ago inviting members to show which modes they shoot in most of the time, but I can't find it. Maybe somebody else can?