Do you use Program or Manual mode?

M

Mike410

Messages
134
Name
Mike
Edit My Images
No
Hi guys,

Which shooting mode do you use most - Program or Manual?

I use Program for non specific -Av and Tv shots, simply because it's easier!

Cheers,

Mike
 
I tend to use av most of the time with compensation.
For fast moving subjects TV
But I have not used prog.
For pans and multiple exposures... always manual.

So it depends on the subject and the situation.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
I tend to use av most of the time with compensation.
For fast moving subjects TV
But I have not used prog.
For pans and multiple exposures... always manual.

So it depends on the subject and the situation.
Click to expand...

I tried panning in TV mode recently, will try manual next time (y)

EDT: Sorry, forgot to add that my shots didn't come out great, not horrendous as such but definitely not what i was after, much more practice needed


In answer to the op, I tend to stick to av & tv, am going to dabble with manual mode now I feel a bit more confident. I've read tips on here about using manual for a variety of shots so will try it out this week
 
Last edited:
I shoot program most of the time, it's just easy. But will switch to A or S if the subject requires it (fast moving, want a large aperture etc.). I mainly use M if I'm shooting landscapes, just a personal preference.

But I never, never, never use AUTO. :)
 
Manual all the time.

Having full control allows me to get the results i want, not what the camera wants:LOL:

:canon:
 
Last edited:
I use Manual when i can, i don't use Program because i'd rather select the aperture in Aperture Priority for DOF, if i need fast action i use Manual and work everything else around the speed.
 
Iris said:
I tried panning in TV mode recently, will try manual next time (y)

EDT: Sorry, forgot to add that my shots didn't come out great, not horrendous as such but definitely not what i was after, much more practice needed


In answer to the op, I tend to stick to av & tv, am going to dabble with manual mode now I feel a bit more confident. I've read tips on here about using manual for a variety of shots so will try it out this week
Click to expand...

I meant making pans not panning. TV mode is exactly right for panning... and set a lowish shutter speed to blur the background. Manual would work as well but you have to adjust both shutter and aperature.
 
I use AV (Aperture Priority) the majority of the time. TV seems popular with motorsport 'togs for obvious reasons, but most on here tend to favour AV for general use.

Or manual if you're hardcore! Manual always seems like too much of a chore for me though. It only gets used under special circumstances, where it becomes more of a chore to use anything else.
 
Aperture priority, shutter priority or manual as the type of shot demands and suits my style.

Never used Auto.
 
Depends on what I'm shooting, I use all the PASM modes from time to time. I do use P, sometimes its just easier, but probably use aperture priority most and manual more than I used to.

A friend with a 550D was trying to take a group shot on Sunday afternoon at a bbq and it wouldn't go into burst mode for him. I decided not to interfere at the time in front of everyone but he asked me later if I knew why. I had a look and he was using 'landscape' mode. He thinks I'm very odd as I've never used the scenes modes 'cos the camera works it all out for you'...

(Why he wanted to use burst mode for a group shot I'm not sure, I think he thought if he took a lot he had more chance of getting a good one...)
 
Program mode works pretty well on the D700, so I just tend to leave it in that mode so I can concentrate on shooting instead of fiddling with settings.
 
Most of my shots are shot in AV to control the DOF

When shooting macro its always in Manual
 
Manual 90% of the time, Aperture priority on rare occasions. I don't think I've touched the "Program" setting even once. I like to have control over what I do.
 
Program to get the shot, aperture priority to tell the story, and shutter priority to tell how fast it was going!
 
P most of the time - it's so quick and easy to shift away from the suggested settings to an aperture or shutter speed I may feel is more suitable that using A and S modes is almost redundant (unless I want to keep the same shutter speed for a while, even after switching the camera off, like if I'm panning at a motor race.)
 
TV the most then manual with AV as a third - i'm not fully qualified to use P just yet...
 
my camera only ever see's p or auto when I pass it to the wife as she has no idea how to use the camera so I find these automated modes suit this situation and at least mean the photo she takes is of a reasonable quality :LOL:
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
I meant making pans not panning. TV mode is exactly right for panning... and set a lowish shutter speed to blur the background. Manual would work as well but you have to adjust both shutter and aperature.
Click to expand...

:LOL: oops :LOL:

I think my shutter speed was too quick last time I tried but i have a friend who likes to photograph motor races etc so he's suggested we meet up at a track day next month so hopefully that will help. It's not necessarily something that interests me hugely but I would like to learn as many skills as possible
 
I've simply never understood how people can even think that this is relevant, particularly the manual shooters who claim they're taking the control and not the camera (unless they're exclusively using a hand held meter).:nuts:

Someone explain the difference to me:
Shoot manual at 200iso choosing f5.6 and 1/250sec meter OK according to camera.
Shoot AV choosing 200iso and f5.6 camera chooses 1/250sec no exp comp
Shoot TV choosing 200iso and 1/250sec camera chooses f5 no exp comp
shoot program 200iso camera chooses 1/250sec and f5.6 no exp comp

All of the above would be identical shots and could be exposed perfectly, or could be over or under exposed.:thinking:

It's up to the photographer to choose how, why and what they METER, not whether they shoot P, AV, TV or Manual. There may be a point in Manual shooting to ensure consistency - but it's no use being consistently 2 stops over exposed.;)

Perhaps there's an argument to be had over spot, partial, evaluative or centre weighted metering - but it still comes down to the photographers understanding of what they're metering.
 
I nearly always want to control depth of field, so I never use program or shutter priority - mostly aperture priority or manual.

If I choose to shoot manual, it is for consistency. If the light isn't changing, I get to an exposure I'm happy with - via the meter, screen and histogram - and fire away, I know that the vagaries of the meter won't make unneccesary changes and my exposure will be consistent and less pp will be needed. If the light changes, I change the settings to suit.
 
I tend to flick between A and M it all depends on what i am doing, weddings are the main ones, M for the indoor shots, A for the reportage style shots but i also flick the metering as well to stop under exposure.
 
Phil V said:
I've simply never understood how people can even think that this is relevant, particularly the manual shooters who claim they're taking the control and not the camera (unless they're exclusively using a hand held meter).:nuts:

Someone explain the difference to me:
Shoot manual at 200iso choosing f5.6 and 1/250sec meter OK according to camera.
Shoot AV choosing 200iso and f5.6 camera chooses 1/250sec no exp comp
Shoot TV choosing 200iso and 1/250sec camera chooses f5 no exp comp
shoot program 200iso camera chooses 1/250sec and f5.6 no exp comp

All of the above would be identical shots and could be exposed perfectly, or could be over or under exposed.:thinking:

It's up to the photographer to choose how, why and what they METER, not whether they shoot P, AV, TV or Manual. There may be a point in Manual shooting to ensure consistency - but it's no use being consistently 2 stops over exposed.;)

Perhaps there's an argument to be had over spot, partial, evaluative or centre weighted metering - but it still comes down to the photographers understanding of what they're metering.
Click to expand...

Maybe I wasn't clear enough as to what I consider "control", but in a way you've already done it for me. If you use Program mode and want to meter for a particular area in a scene (by getting closer or zooming in), as soon as you recompose, the exposure settings will change. The only way to ensure that the exposure remains the one you metered for is to use manual mode.

Better now? :)
 
Phil V said:
I've simply never understood how people can even think that this is relevant, particularly the manual shooters who claim they're taking the control and not the camera (unless they're exclusively using a hand held meter).:nuts:

Someone explain the difference to me:
Shoot manual at 200iso choosing f5.6 and 1/250sec meter OK according to camera.
Shoot AV choosing 200iso and f5.6 camera chooses 1/250sec no exp comp
Shoot TV choosing 200iso and 1/250sec camera chooses f5 no exp comp
shoot program 200iso camera chooses 1/250sec and f5.6 no exp comp

All of the above would be identical shots and could be exposed perfectly, or could be over or under exposed.:thinking:
Click to expand...

there is a very obvious difference.

When using AV and setting the iso to 200 and aperture to 5.6 there is no guarantee the camera will pick a shutter of 250. It will pick the shutter that correctly exposes the scene according to it's own light meter. But when you did that manually you may not have wanted the scene to be correctly exposed, or even + or - 2 under or over exposed. You may be picking 250 for your own specific reasons or for exposing a particular subject within the scene a particular way.

There is no way to tell the camera that, other than dialing in some exposure comp, and/or using spot metering and having to recompose due to the fact that your subject is not in the centre of the frame.

Doing all of the above might end up being more work than doing it manually - it's in those situations that manual shooting might make more sense.
 
Boofle said:
Maybe I wasn't clear enough as to what I consider "control", but in a way you've already done it for me. If you use Program mode and want to meter for a particular area in a scene (by getting closer or zooming in), as soon as you recompose, the exposure settings will change. The only way to ensure that the exposure remains the one you metered for is to use manual mode.

Better now? :)
Click to expand...

I'm only familiar with Canon, don't other brands have exposure lock?;)

There's always more than one way to skin a cat, I find my working method to be very quick, accurate and consistent, I only need to twiddle stuff when I want to change something*, whereas if I shot manual I'd be slower in changing conditions - even when changing my position. I generally only ever resort to Manual mode when shooting indoors and balancing flash.

*My shooting style means I can maintain consistent results, metering with the half press of the shutter and focussing with the rear button - I appreciate it makes me odd - I also use Servo AF - and refocus as I deem necessary, which for me is as intuitive as manually focussing. An AF camera that wants to start focussing as soon as I put my finger near the shutter button drives me insane.:p

I had years of only using Manual cameras, some without meters, and I'm from a techie background - so I like to use the tools provided to get the results I want. Rather than either letting the tool decide or ignoring it's usefulness completely.
 
I use whatever is best for the situation, and Av or Tv work well most of the time for me. P is just a combination of the two.

I'm comfortable with manual. There was nothing else available when I started photography, and TTL metering was pretty revolutionary when I was a kid. I certainly couldn't afford a camera with it until I was older, and my "light meter" was the guideline printed on the box of film for a long time. No matter, I managed, but I only use manual now if I want to lock the exposure. There are other ways but this works as well as anything else.
 
I use M and S, but will sometimes go to A if I am on holiday and the missus wants to get in shot ;):LOL:
 
Phil V said:
I'm only familiar with Canon, don't other brands have exposure lock?;)
Click to expand...

Touché :p

But as you say, there's more than one way to skin a cat, and I personally work much faster using manual mode. I don't have to over- or underexpose on top of whatever settings the camera chooses and I don't have to worry about that pesky exposure lock button either. But hey, I never said it was the best option, just the one that works for me :)
 
Up until fairly recently I used manual pretty much all of the time, but now I use AV.
It Allows me to concentrate on composition and the ever changing light conditions, especially in the UK.
 
Of the two I use manual most simply because I have never used program. I've also never used any of the scene modes :)

I do use Aperture and Shutter priority most of the time and manual some of the time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top