[lastdodobird]

This is one thing about photography that I've had a bit of difficulty in understanding.

I usually shoot in Aperture Priority and am fairly satisfied with it.

What exactly is the benefit of shooting in manual most of the time?

[blende8]

What exactly is the benefit of shooting in manual most of the time?

The only advantage is that you always have the full control about the values and perhaps recognize earlier when e.g. the time gets too slow.

M is very useful for flash, though. Here full control is a prerequisite IMO.

[ftpaddict]

This is one thing about photography that I've had a bit of difficulty in understanding.

I usually shoot in Aperture Priority and am fairly satisfied with it.

What exactly is the benefit of shooting in manual most of the time?

M mode is also very good for creative exposure - high or low key - which you can't obtain using EV compensation.

[pw-pix]

M mode is also very good for creative exposure - high or low key - which you can't obtain using EV compensation.

Can you explain what you mean by this?
I thought high key vs low key was more a question of brightness range in the scene and the exposure used. How would manual vs auto with +/- compensation make a difference?

[PentaxPoke]

I shoot manual when I am shooting indoor sports like basketball. The gymnasium lights are relatively consistent, so I meter on the court and then set my exposure manually. This way all of my shots look like they were taken under the same lighting. If I did Tv instead, then exposures would change as I selected different parts of the scene, and it looks like each picture was taken under a different lighting condition.

[DJey]

For me I use manual on times where I expect the camera to incorrecly meter the frame.. I also use it for creativity like what ftpaddict said..

[ftpaddict]

Can you explain what you mean by this?
I thought high key vs low key was more a question of brightness range in the scene and the exposure used. How would manual vs auto with +/- compensation make a difference?

My K100D can only compensate for about 2 EV stops. Other cameras can compensate for 3-5 EV, but sometimes you need even more. I have shots where I was forced to switch to manual, because the camera couldn't compensate enough for the type of shooting I wanted to do. 4.3 EV (I think) was the amount of compensation I added. You can do that with some cameras, but I can't do it with mine. That's a good enough reason for me to go manual.

[pschlute]

Can you explain what you mean by this?
I thought high key vs low key was more a question of brightness range in the scene and the exposure used. How would manual vs auto with +/- compensation make a difference?

For an average scene it would not make a difference. But remember that exposure compensation relies on what metering mode you use, and where you point the camera.

If you are after a high or low key image, it is better to pin down the exposure in manual mode (using the screen and the histogram) , and then you can concentrate on getting the framing right without worrying if the exposure will change with a change in camera angle/framing.

[lastdodobird]

Hmmm... so shooting in Av ain't all that bad, ain't it?

[MrApollinax]

I think you are missing the point the others are making here. You asked why shoot in manual and they are telling you why they personally shoot in manual. If Av mode works for you when you are shooting then no, it isn't all that bad. You asked why people choose to shoot in manual and they are giving you an answer. Each Program mode has it's places and uses but Manual is the only mode where you do ALL the thinking when it comes to representing a scene. The other modes are "difference engines" basically aiming for what the camera thinks is the correct exposure based on a few user inputs. Manual gives you complete control.

[Gooshin]

AV could not do this shot:




AV could also not do this shot:




also, i had to resort to M mode in this scene, which is much brighter when the subject, who had to run, is not in the scene. Av had trouble getting the exposure i wanted in such a high dynamic range situation, if i left it up to AV he would have probably turned out black.



Manual was used in this scene as well





so... manual has its uses, you just have to find them, AV is not always accurate, and can be fooled. So when AV is giving you problems, you switch to Manual and adjust how you want to.

[lastdodobird]

^ What are the most common scenarios when Av could be fooled?

You asked why shoot in manual and they are telling you why they personally shoot in manual.

I didn't ask why other people shoot in manual. I asked what the benefit of shooting in manual is, so I took the answers as a reply to that question.

What I got from it is something like "Manual is good for specific situations where Av might not be so accurate." and then I processed that to mean that in most cases, Av would probably give you a good picture - but if you want to get a good picture more often, you should learn when to use Av or Tv and when to use manual.

The reason why i made this thread is that a lot of photo-hobbyists I know come across as preaching that you should use Manual Mode almost always - if not always. And I find that a little bit weird since Av seems to do a pretty darn good job most of the time.

[MrApollinax]

Hmmm... I didn't take your original post as how you just explained it. I think you nailed it with this comment though:

Av would probably give you a good picture - but if you want to get a good picture more often, you should learn when to use Av or Tv and when to use manual.

For me I learned to shoot Manual (with a manual lens) because I knew nothing about SLRs. Learning how exposure was linked to ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed allowed me to understand what was happening in Av and Tv modes and understand if I could get what I wanted using those modes. Like it was said earlier there are just some instances where it cannot capture what I want to capture and I switch to full Manual.

[Marc Sabatella]

There is nothing wrong with Av mode, and if you're completely satisfied with both the results it gives you and the amount of work it takes those results, there is no reason to change. For me, the decision to change was based on a combination of things mentioned here other factors.

- When using a manual exposure lens (eg, manual focus Pentax-M lenses), you *have* to use manual - Av doesn't work (it shoots wide open regardless of aperture ring setting). I shoot "M" lenses a lot, and got tired of having to change my thinking every time I changed lenses.

- As PentaxPoke mentioned, in some settings (*most* settings, I'd argue), light really doesn't change that much from shot to shot. If I'm going to take 100 pictures in the same light, there is no reason in the world they shouldn't all have the same exposure. "M" produces this result with the least work: hit green button once, then forget exposure and just shoot. If you use any auto-exposure mode, the exposure will likely vary from shot to shot depending on if it happens to contain mostly light obejcts or mostly dark objects.

- I do a lot of low light shooting where I basically have to underexposure to get a shot free of blur. By far the easiest and most consistent way to do this is to simply set the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed you want and then shoot. In an auto mode, it would be choosing far to slow a shutter speed by default, so I'd have to dial in negative exposure compensation - but the actual *amount* of compensation required to get the shutter speed I want would vary from shot to shot according to, again, the color of the objects in the scene, also whatever variations there is in the lighting. I can't afford to have the camera select too slow a shutter speed, just because one guy is wearing a white shirt doesn't mean I think I can get away with a faster shutter speed when shooting him, either.

- We all know a lot of scenes require some adjustment to the basic exposure you'd get by pointing and shooting in Av mode - backlit scenes will be underexposed, etc. There are basically two ways around this. One is to let the camera meter the scene then try to guess what kind of compensation is needed. the other is to force the camera to meter off something that *will* give the correct exposure (like metering off the ground first, then pointing at your backlit subject). The former strategy strikes me as a lot of guesswork, and whatever compensation setting you end up with is likely to apply to that shot only - you'd better remember to reset it for the next shot. The latter strategy makes way more sense to me - I meter off something that I think *will* give a good reading, then shoot away. And "M" mode fits that style of working very well - green button on the ground 9or whatever), then take as many shots as you want. With Av mode, you'd use AE-L in order to implement this approach, but then you have to worry about how long it stays in effect and remember to turn it off when you're done. but this whole mdoel of the metering sometiems working one way and sometimes working another, depending on whether you've got the lock on - that doesn't fit the way I think at all. I much prefer the "M" mode model of kowing the exposure is *always* locked until I change it. I make far fewer mistakes in "M" mode because it fits well with how I think.

So anyhow, "M" mode gives me the results I want with the least amount of thought and effort. I could in most cases duplicate the results with Av mode, but it would be more error-prone and take more effort to do the necessary overrides. The bottom line: I shoot "M" mode because it makes it easier and faster to get the results I want.

[Gooshin]

^ What are the most common scenarios when Av could be fooled?

i posted pictures to illustrate my point...

maybe you're not a visual person, so let me explain :ugh:

fireworks picture:

remember that the camera operates in stops, and when you get to the slower speeds, a one stop increase, in real time, a very long time difference.

my camera on matrix metering is giving me a 2 second exposure, but the fireworks last 10-15 seconds

manually bumping my speed up to 10 seconds or so, is only a 2 1/3 stop increase, at night this is hardly enough to blow out the scene

but in REAL TIME, 10 seconds is much longer than 2.

you would have never gotten this picture if you simply relied on your camera to do the dirty work.


candle-light picture

AV cant handle such darkness and only a single candle as the lightsouorce, AV was giving me like 1/6th exposure when that picture is like 10 seconds

the camera only reads reflected light, not ambient light (this is where a hand held light meter comes in handy)


also, lets say you have a scene that has a dark center and bright surrounding area, how is the camera going to meter that? center weighted? spot meter? how are you going to find the balance?