I know it's probably all situational, but is there really a difference in doing the math all by yourself and adjusting accordingly, or is auto really going to be able to match what a pro could do manually with a camera? I'd like to learn how to not rely on the camera for this, but if there's no need then why not just go auto?

Do YOU have an opinion on how the image should look? ..


or are YOU just a transport-droid for a CCD exposure mechanism?


come on, fess up .. the truth is out there



There are times for auto (college frat party) ..

and there are times for manual (pulitzer prize nomination party)

The trouble with just shooting in auto is that you will only be able to record in JPEG mode usually. In camera trickery processing and metering isn’t infallible and if it gets it wrong you’ll end up with an image that is harder to repair. The opportunity for creative photography is also severely diminished as the auto mode will take the best shot for a ‘Kodak’ moment but not necessarily the best aesthetically. Try to wean yourself off it by switching to aperture priority mode after auto where you have some input, albeit slight, and you get to shoot in RAW as well.

Keith, of course I have an opinion! I am no droid, I merely want excellent make-me-famous photos :)

I knew auto wouldn't be the answer for it all, but in some cases if I try to find the right settings for my camera the moment I'm trying to capture is gone. For you guys that have been doing this for years, does it become easier and faster for you to decide the right settings for situations? Or do you still have to fumble around with the settings a little to get it right

here's a trick I've used a few times, perhaps it can help.

lets say you want to shoot something moving. a car, a boat, a bird, etc. won't have much time, right? shoot test exposures at the spot or area where you anticipate the motion or action will be happening. set your shutter speed first, and then adjust the other settings to match. too complicated for now? set your camera to "shutter speed priority" or "S" and do it that way.

ahh, didn't think about that... sounds at least a little less time consuming haha

Manual and Automatic can produce identical results if you know how to use them.

Auto gets annoying when the lighting is constant for a long time - you always have to make tests shots to make sure you have the right amount of exposure compensation. In manual, you adjust the settings once and those settings will last a long time.

Auto is better for 'on the fly' shooting - like when a UFO appears for a split second and disappears. This is the very reason i keep my camera on Aperture Priority most of the time.

Other than those things (and a few other that i cant think of right now) it's mainly personal preference (i think).

My camera stays on aperture priority most of the time. I use exposure compensation to adjust it around a bit to where i want it. The reason i do this is because if i were to throw it into manual i would use the meter in the view finder to help find the right exposure anyways. With aperture priority i am left with control over my depth of field and indirectly my shutter speed. There are times, like when there is a very contrasty scene that ill throw it into full manual so i can get exactly what i want. I never however use the full auto mode or any of the other preset shooting modes.

One more thing: when using a flash, it's easier (for me) to control the balance between ambient light and flash - i just figured that one out last week.

What's an example of a high contrasy image? I think I know what you mean but I want to be exactly sure..


Also, Noah, do you mean it's easier to balance ambient light and flash in aperture priority? (That's night time shooting, right?)

Sorry about the dumb questions lol, I'm trying to learn!!

Thanks guys

High contrasty image --> example: you have the sun in the background and you're trying to take a picture of a person standing in the foreground. If you use auto, then you will have to overexpose (using exposure compensation) a lot to get detail in the persons face. If you do not, the person will become a silhouette. It can still be done in auto, but if you take 5 pictures from the same general spot it would probably be easier to use manual.

And for my last comment, i forgot to stick in "in manual it is easier..."

Flashes can be used as fill in day time too. Usually people think flashes are only used at night. And uh, just look in a magazine, you'll see they use flashes in the photos of models, items, etc.

PS: Grammer here needs work; ignore the mistakes for now.

yeah, okay thanks for explaining Noah, I appreciate it :)

Just so you are sure, what noah said is what i meant by a high contrast image. Where a portion is in the shade and another is in the bright sun.

ok, so it doesn't have to do with different colors really, just bright vs dark

Well, if you're talking about manual vs auto in the white balance sense ... then color matters. The higher the color temp, the more orange/red the photo. Lower the color temperature, the more blue the photo will be. I usually keep my camera on auto white balance since i shoot raw and usually I'm satisfied with the results auto provides.

White balance is used for different type of lighting - like fluorescent, tungsten, sunlight, flash, etc.

Thats correct. When i was talking about high contrast images in this case i was talking about brightness changes because sometimes your meter wont pick the right area to expose properly, or will have trouble getting a little bit of each so that as a whole it works. Contrast can also refer to color like you suggest however. That is just not what i meant.

Since we are on the Manual vs Auto debate, what is the difference then between Auto and P mode? I'm sort of lost on that one since the manuals explain the Program Mode as (I thought) an Auto mode..
Tony

*shrugs*

ditto

p mode is usually very similar to auto. It does everything for you usually, but will allow you to change some things. Often will include exposure compensation, iso control, ect. It gives you access to some of the features that auto hides, but it still gives you auto aperture and shutter speed.

I'm sure it changes from camera to camera however. That is just how it is usually i think.