Manual - sell it to me........

shabba

shabba

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Hi all,

Been doing photography as a hobby for a while now and I’m comfortable with ISO, aperture and shutter speed, I know what is needed for what situation to get good results – I take a lot less photos than I used to but a lot more are keepers. I need to learn more about spot and matrix metering etc, I think I have a basic understanding though.

I always shoot in AV mode when doing walkaround or portrait, even sports etc. I use TV mode only when panning, and I only ever use manual when using a flash or studio lights.

Should I be using manual all the time (maybe except panning)? I know when using manual you can look check the EPI and adjust your shutter to correctly expose the image…..but surely this is a lot more time consuming than letter the camera do this via AV mode?
I tend to like to capture my shots quickly, snap the moment I want not be fiddling with the camera to get the right setting, especially if shooting candid shots or out with a non-photographer friend etc.

I use exposure compensation when I feel I need to bump up/down the exposure of an image, again this is surely easier to tweak than using manual?

I want to keep improving so any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrdanbartlett
That is my flickr, ok most are old pics but you get a rough idea on the level I'm at (and can see I need to get better....!).
 
I can see very little reason for you or anyone to use any setting exclusively. Learn how to use manual and then understand when you might want/need to use it. Just like all the other settings your camera has. Using manual over Av or Tv is unlikely to alter the outcome (unless you can't meter the scene properly anyway) in the vast majority of cases, but it may make the difference in probably 5% of your shots where you need to override the Av/Tv settings to get a good shot.
 
I do spend a lot of time using aperture priority, but for me, when I do it, the advantage of shooting manual is less of a technical one, and more that I find myself more involved with the scene and actually thinking about the light that's around me.

It increases my awareness of the environment in which I'm shooting, which is no bad thing just for its own sake, you begin thinking more critically about the light itself and how it might contribute to the final image.

Once I'm in the zone, then I'll start to think of areas of shadow and light as being 'two stops darker' or 'a stop and half lighter' than what I've currently got set. It then becomes easier to dial the parameter (aperture, shutter speed or ISO) that I'd want to change for that particular moment and, perhaps more important for the end result, I can start to get a better feel for the dynamic range in the scene.

If the lighting is fairly constant, it can actually mean less work to do, as once I've hit the right exposure point, I don't need to adjust it to take account of the varying tonalities in the scene which might fool the camera's metering and require dialling in some exposure compensation.

Once you've made the initial effort, it can be quite liberating.
 
I dont use manual all the time, mostly AV spend less time looking at the data in the viewfinder that way and more time at what you are shooting.

I find manual easier to tweak exposure comp as it just a dial, in av its a button+dial
 
I have a 40D so its just on the job wheel for exposure comp and the top wheel for apature......or is it the other way round, either way I find it very easy to quickly adjust.

I was just assuming the decent snappers would all use manual all the time, I may be wrong with that one then.
 
ahh i might have set mine differently as use my dial on the back for focus point select as can get to it with my thumb with the grip (I use the back button method, and swapped AF-On & exp lock.)
 
I thought I'd have a pop on manual at a horse show on sunday, resullts were okay, but its was very difficult as conditions were changing all the time and the sun came and went behind the clouds, so don't think it gave me any real advantage over using AV.

I have used manual in a staged studio setting and it seemed to give better results being able to lock into a setting.
 
I predominately shoot in av mode and dial adjust when required. I only venture into manual when doing off camera flash work.
 
33L said:
ahh i might have set mine differently as use my dial on the back for focus point select as can get to it with my thumb with the grip (I use the back button method, and swapped AF-On & exp lock.)
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Interesting, I can see how that would also be handy. I tend to just 'drag', i.e half hold to focus on the subject using the central point and then move the camera to where I want it for the shot, and finish the click. Again this probably isnt the best method but its fast.
 
You can use any exposure mode you like and get any combination of settings. Even P using program-shift. It's just a matter of convenience, and what suits you or the situation best.

If you think of manual as a 'set and lock' mode, then the time to use it is when the subject is changing and likely to fool the meter, wheras the light is not changing and therefore the exposure should remain the same. You can chase it around using compensation, but if you are taking a few shots in the same location, it's easier to set the exposure correctly once in manual, and then lock it there.

For example, panning at a motor race. The cars are red, black and white, and the background is perhaps changing too between grass and shade or a bit of sky as you pan around, all of which would fool the meter, but the light falling on the cars remains constant. So use manual, but keep an eye on the light because if a cloud comes over then the exposure should be altered.

Basically, if the subject is changing but the light isn't, use manual. If the light is changing quickly but the subject is constant, then use an auto mode. If neither is changing, it makes no odds; if both are changing, best of luck :D
 
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I'll tell you about the first time i thought, "I should really be using manual here" and did so.

I was shooting some BTCC cars and the area was quite tight, some of it was under a tree, some cars were white, some cars were black some cars were bright orange! So as each car went past the meter was reading it differently. Also if i metered off the road or a barrier then... yeh, my shots were all over the place! I was in shutter priority (doing panning shots) and i was spending so much time dialing in exposure compensation because i knew the camera would misread certain things when i noticed i was pretty much dialing them to the same exposure anyway. Flipped it to manual at those same settings and then i stopped having to care about exposure, i knew it was right every time so i only had to worry about nailing my focus and composition.

The clouds were moving about but i only had to dial 1/3rd of a stop, then 15 mins later dial it back. The rate of change was so slow compared to me running exposure comp up and down and having to keep an eye on what colour car was coming and being careful to meter off a specific coloured area, so much stress!

Once I'd found that exposure i wanted i had less stress and much much more fun!

So for me what i will do is if i'm going to take maybe 1-2 shots of something, if i'm out for a walk for example i will just leave it in aperture priority. If i'm going to be taking more shots than that (more than 5 or so) i'll find a manual exposure and spend the rest of the shots on composition.
 
I started on Auto, then A, then Manual. With manual I find I get a much better picture. Often the A would underexpose generally, sometimes overexpose and I also found it would drop the shutter speed lower than it should be imo. I also find as mentioned above, that it does make me think a little more about light etc...

If I know i have limited chance to take a picture, I will use A so I get something decent. If I know I have time to adjust then Manual.
 
I was going to write some stuff in here but I think Hoppy's got the explanation about as good as it gets. One thing I will add is that there seems to be some sort of extra kudos for shooting on manual all the time, it seems a bit silly to me to buy a camera that can meter accurately and consistently at lightning fast speed and not take advantage of that at least sometimes. If I'm shooting on the fly out in the street etc I usually use A mode and have a function button set to give me spot metering. That covers me for most of my stuff really.
 
Another time for using manual is birds in flight against the sky.. Hold your hand out, meter against your palm and the bird in the sky will be just about correctly exposed.
 
Now that you can (on my 60d at least) use Manual with auto ISO, I think it's become a much more useful tool for quick picture taking.
However, of course; part of the point of being a 'M' purist is that you actually stop and take note of what you're doing and don't just fire away with auto everything!

Possibly you could do it previously and I just didn't know how to when borrowing my friend's older dSLRs.
 
BazEP said:
I can see very little reason for you or anyone to use any setting exclusively. Learn how to use manual and then understand when you might want/need to use it. Just like all the other settings your camera has. Using manual over Av or Tv is unlikely to alter the outcome (unless you can't meter the scene properly anyway) in the vast majority of cases, but it may make the difference in probably 5% of your shots where you need to override the Av/Tv settings to get a good shot.
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Thats it above.. apart from the 5% bit that let down what was otherwise a perfect answer :) in some situations manual could help with 100% of shots.. in other situations manual could ruin 100% of shots.

You don't get better pics using manual than using av or any other mode if you got everything right :) Use what suits the situation.
 
I look at the scene, think will my preferred Aperture Priority cope. If yes (and it is mostly), it stays on that. If no, I switch to manual and adjust. Or manual when I'm after a specific effect that I know the auto-whatever won't give me or can't cope with.
My camera has 'scene modes', which I hate with a passion and never use lol. Manual for those :)
 
I use AP,i would say for about 99% of the stuff i shoot,but had a lot of years shooting in manual,before camera had any auto modes :)
 
manual should sell itself to you.. you realise you can fine tune the exposure without it changing on its own in any way. so next time you find the exposure changing when you dont want it to, use manual.
 
KIPAX said:
Thats it above.. apart from the 5% bit that let down what was otherwise a perfect answer :) in some situations manual could help with 100% of shots.. in other situations manual could ruin 100% of shots.

You don't get better pics using manual than using av or any other mode if you got everything right :) Use what suits the situation.
Click to expand...

ok, fair point - I should have said (generalising) that you might only need to use manual 5-10% of the time. Looking at the type of togging the OP does I think this would be about right tbh.
 
Thanks guys, I will continue to work as I do then.

I will also read up more on metering though as I feel its the only setting I'm not strong with.
 
I use manual quite a lot when using say ND Grads and always when doing light trails.

I would say for me it would be

50% Av
20% Tv
30% M

Though I covered a friends wedding on Saturday and shot exclusively in manual for the indoors stuff and 50/50 Av/M for the outdoors stuff

To me it's what suits you best, I try and use manual more as it makes me really think about my settings ;)

Matt
MWHCVT
 
I tend to use aperture priority or shutter priority unless im working, when i need specific settings, makes my life a lot easier and makes me concentrate on the subject more rather than the exposure.
 
When im at events I tend to use aperture or shutter priority. Manual mode I only really use when im looking more control or have time to adjust more in the picture. For multiflash setups manuals the only way to go.
 
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