Canon 40D in Manual mode

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Steve Henderson

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Steve henderson
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Hello.
I have been using DSLR for a few months now and began in TV and AV modes but I have to get the hang of Manual mode ( I mean I really need to ).
So I shoot in raw and manual.
This is baby talk but it will give you an idea of what I am doing wrong ( Please tell me )
Aperture is Lower the F number the lighter the shot
ISO ---More ISO more light and maybe more noise
Shutter speed..I think I am OK with this
BUT MY SAGA is pics are to dark and need photoshop to assist nearly all the time.
I notice the meter is always low on a big -side of the scale.

So without a flash can I get the meter up ?
Any help will be appreciated.

As you can see I am new to DSLR but I need to be able to have full control of the camera..HELP

SO we have top wheel for shutter speed....ISO on top wheel...aperture on rear dial what can be hard ? :LOL:..Its the metering...if I can get the light up on the shots they will be OK ish.

Steve// PS: I hope I have posted on the right forum . thread
 
Shutter is the amount of time you expose the sensor to light. Aperture controls the size of the hole in the lens the light can enter the camera and this also controls how sharp things are over a set distance, Higher the F# more you get in focus. ISO controls the sensitivity of the sensor. What you take pictures of also controls how you set your camera. It's no good having a slow shutter to shoot fast action likewise if you want to show motion a fast shutter is useless. ISO is you friend in digital and new cameras are now very noise tolerant so you can set your aperture and shutter and wind up your ISO to give you a correct exposure. If you can't dial in the setting you need then you will need to light via flash or use a tripod for long exposures. Hope this helps in some way. There are some good books around to show you how it all comes together explaining stops and other useful stuff to help you calculate exposures.;)
 
Steve, you asked a huge question, which it would really need a small book to answer properly, and there's plenty of versions of that book out there which have already been written. ;)

To start shooting in manual, you really need to understand the principles of basic exposure and light metering, before you're going to gain any advantage from it, and so much depends on which of your cameras metering modes you'll be using, Evaluative, Centre Weighted, Average, or Spot.

Personally, I think you're placing too much emphasis on shooting in Manual Mode at this stage anyway. I shoot in AV most of the time. There are advantages in shooting in Manual Mode sometimes, but there's really no great rush for you to go that route. I'm sorry if it sounds like a cop out, but a good basic book is what you need at this stage. :)
 
Ok, here's an attempt at making the answers simple.

In manual mode you have to control 3 things

Aperture - the lower the f/ number the more light you let through the lens
Shutter Speed - the slower the speed the longer the sensor is exposed to the light (longer=more light).
ISO - the higher the number the more sensitive the sensor is (higher=more light).

Now you really have two situations you need to adjust for - under or over exposed according to the meter in the viewfinder.

Under exposed options
lower f/ number - more light
slower shutter - more light
higher ISO - more light

You can do any or all of these to get the correct exposure and the decision will be based on the type of shot you want to take and the lens you're using. For example if you're shooting a landscape and need lots of DoF then lowering the f/ number wouldn't be an option so the next choice would be a slower shutter speed. But then you might find the shutter speed is too slow for the focal length of the lens and you might get blur from camera shake. At this point you move to option 3, higher ISO which introduces more noise. If that's no good you need to re-think the shot, maybe use a tripod or rest the camera somewhere so you can use the longer shutter speed needed. Another option would be using flash (more about that later).

Another situation that could affect your choice would be with a fast moving subject, sports for example. You want the shutter speed as fast as possible so you'll sacrifice DoF for speed and when you can't go any lower with the f/ number the ISO will need to be increased.

Over exposed options
higher f/ number - less light
faster shutter - less light
lower ISO - less light

Dealing with over exposure is really the opposite of under exposure but generally a lot easier to cope with. But in some situations the only solution is to use a neutral density filter to simply cut back the amount of light getting through, eg. you want a slow shutter speed to get a blurred effect of the water in the stream but it's a bright sunny day.

For any given situation you only have the 3 things to change and the trick is learning which one to change to get the shot.

Going back to your question about under exposed shots it seems you only considered changing the f/ number and not the other two options. If you were shooting in AV mode you would have set the f/ number and the camera would have chosen the shutter speed for the correct exposure.

Flash is an alternative method but in manual mode your basically letting the flash calculate the correct exposure for the first thing it hits. The settings you made are really a decision about how much of the ambient light in the scene should be recorded.

Now having said all that, manual mode really isn't all that different from Av or Tv modes - you make the same choices but let the camera fill in the gap for you. For example if you're in manual mode and want to take a shot at f/4 then you'd adjust the shutter speed to get the correct exposure, in Av mode the camera would do that for you.

Where manual mode really helps is in situations when the camera's meter is likely to be wrong. A football match is a good example, the background can be constantly changing and the camera could easily be fooled by it. Shooting manual means you can take a reading that's correct for the players, dial it in and shoot away with the same setting. You'd only need to change if the light changes - sun goes behind some clouds, etc.
 
Excellent answer PXL8 but got to say I agree with CT, your placing to much emphasis on shooting fully manual. Shooting Fully manual isn't the holy grail of photography and will not necesarily improve you pictures, it will give you more control but you have to understand what your trying to achieve. CT often posts excellent pictures and has freely admitted to shooting Av most of the time and I'm sure if everyone was honest most posters on this forum will shoot Av/Tv and let the camera sort out the details.
 
to be fair, i shoot manual most of the time. but purely to fully understand and embed in my brain and train the eye to see the correct settings. i found shooting on av and tv that i would set one then just click away not realising how much things changed. it has on the whole sunk in, and mostly im about right give or take a setting one way or the other. after im happy i got it, i will prob use av/tv more often. to be fair though, i havent had many one chance shots, and at times took 6 pictures of the same thing to get it right
 
I think the thing about shooting using manual is that you must check and setup for each and every shot.
My lady persuaded me to switch to fully manual about a year ago and I will say the quality of my pictures has improved no end. I think its because you are more aware and think about what you are asking the camera to do so it makes compensating for light/movement much easier.
 
I just think there's a logical progression to understanding the basics, and you can try to grasp too much info all at once. I'm sure the best way to learn manual exposure is with a manual only camera and no distractions - all you need to worry about is aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, in fact they're the only settings you get. Before you start though, you need that basic understanding of how metering works, and when there's an advantage in taking away exposure decisions from the camera or you're just likely to be going around in circles. You'll no doubt get there eventually, but it can be a long and frustrating journey.
 
Some sound tips there and Thanks pxl8 for the detailed break down.
I do appreciate it. (y)

I have taken on-board what has been said and I MUST learn..
So I have the basic know how on Shutter speeds and how it effects light.
ISO and how it effects light and aperture settings how it works...
Now I have been looking into the metering modes...I reckon a lot lies in this setting as to the quality of the end product..
I have set mine to evaluative metering most of the time...
Spot metering is an option but I am not sure of it.

Also I need to keep an eye on the exposure level indicator...I think I do....--Don't I ?

Stepping back to the beginning of this post.
I really appreciate any advice you can give me but I do need to learn and I might be wrong but the only way to learn is to try fail try fail and try again , am I wrong ?

I am possessed with taking pictures and learning the art of light.
So I will try anything you guys tell me that will help.

PS:: Wait for it..You might laugh at me for this BUT
I have just bought a 1200mm (2000mm)Telescope for my Canon 40D.
I fancy a shot at astrophotography hopefully in manual mode...LOL

I JUST LOVE THIS Photography...And most of you lot must love it as well.

Regards Steve
 
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