Manual vs Aperture Priority

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Hi all, as some of you may know from a couple of threads I started on here recently, I used to be a member years ago with the name NikonSimon then totally lost the bug and sold all my gear and I think my account eventually got binned after years of inactivity. At the time I had a D300s, numerous lenses, filters, tripods, bags, books. The lot.

I recently bought a great condition Pentax ME Super from a good seller on ebay who services cameras, which arrived last week. My film order (XP2) from AW only arrived yesterday a week after ordering. I'm ready to go.

My question is, is there anything wrong with sticking it in Auto for the time being, choosing the Aperture (I'm probably going to stick with something around f8) and letting the camera choose the shutter speed? I think what made me lose the digital bug years ago was the idea that I had to shoot in manual, which whilst it was good for learning the interaction between settings, made things a lot less fun. Always thinking I had to do things 'properly', and that any other way was cheating.

I knew quite a bit back then. By no means an expert at all- I was an amateur for sure. But I was able to dish out advice to 'newbies' (god I hate that word).

So, as a newbie (!) film photographer, what's the best way for me to learn the art?

p.s. Absolutely love the ME Super. It's a gorgeous camera. So solid and well built. And the 50mm 1.7 is such a lovely little lens. They really knew how to make things back then didn't they.
 
Use whatever mode you want :D and no, you don't need to use digital cameras in manual mode.

As this is film you wont be using auto ISO :D and will be limited to whatever speed you put in the camera so the one piece of advice I have for you is watch the shutter speed as f8 could lead to some under exposed shots if the light is less than good.

Good luck with it, have fun :D
 
woof woof said:
Use whatever mode you want :D and no, you don't need to use digital cameras in manual mode.

As this is film you wont be using auto ISO :D and will be limited to whatever speed you put in the camera so the one piece of advice I have for you is watch the shutter speed as f8 could lead to some under exposed shots if the light is less than good.

Good luck with it, have fun :D
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Thanks mate. Yeah, I should really have a said f8 if the light allows.

One thing the seller said to me (genuinely really nice and helpful guy) is that he always sets his film to one stop over. So shoots 400 ISO film at 200. He said he does this because in his opinion it's better to over expose film than under expose. Anything in this?
 
Someone will be along shortly to answer this but in the meantime I'll just relate what I used to do...

I stuck to the stated film speed and the exposure meter in the camera with only minor under or over exposures as I saw fit. I think my most used film was ISO 1,600 as a lot of my pictures were taken at gigs, other than that I think I used 400.
 
On extra exposure: fine with negative films, as it will help with shadow detail and is unlikely to give problems with highlights. With reversal film, generally a bad idea as blown highlights give clear film and no way to recover.

On manual etc. If my camera allows auto exposure, I use it. Very few problems. I would be wary of using aperture priority, for me anyway, as I know that anything less than 1/250 sec isn't as sharp as that speed and faster. You may have steadier hands. You may ignore my age and infirmities due to it, as the measurements/tests were carried out when I was 18.

Unless you're going to correct the exposure - and this is usually simpler just using the compensation dial on cameras I've used - then auto everything is simpler. I used my OMs in auto and they were aperture priority, so I had no choice.

Have fun - and the less you have to think about the technicalities the more fun you'll have.
 
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The ME Super exposure system works very well so why not use it? The only time I do not rely on a camera's exposure system is when I am shooting a very awkward subject (which is virtually never).
 
ancient_mariner said:
IIRC the ME Super is auto-only, manual is not an option. :)
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Manual is possible but awkward. Shutter speeds are adjusted by repeatedly pressing one of two small button right by the pentaprism hump. It is really not worth the bother.
 
john.margetts said:
Manual is possible but awkward. Shutter speeds are adjusted by repeatedly pressing one of two small button right by the pentaprism hump. It is really not worth the bother.
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Interesting. I don't recall my brother's MES having that facility, but maybe he never discovered it. :p
 
john.margetts said:
Manual is possible but awkward. Shutter speeds are adjusted by repeatedly pressing one of two small button right by the pentaprism hump. It is really not worth the bother.
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Thank you. That's good to know, and also reassuring.
 
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