Originally posted by Wired I myself am a manual shooter. The only things I let the camera decide are focus and white balance.
It's Av for me, but I prefer shooting manual focus. If a lens is autofocus, I'll use that capability, but I find that I have more fun with manual focus lenses.
For most of my shots, shutter speed is irrelevant as long as it's fast enough to get a clear shot. I might slow it down to smooth out some moving water, or speed it up to freeze a fast-moving subject, but most of the time I let the camera do it's thing. I almost never have to correct it more than a half-stop in post, so I say the camera's doing a pretty good job without me in that department.
I would never let the camera take over my aperture. It's a creative choice that a machine simply cannot comprehend.
I only use M at night. You can throw anything automatic out the window at that point. It just doesn't work, and you have to take over all the controls.