Manual vs. Aperture/Shutter Priority Modes

[D(C)]

I'm just getting into the land of DSLR shooting and wanted some feedback from some of the more seasoned folks. I'm wondering whether you always shoot in Manual, or if you use Av or Tv, when it's appropriate to do so over Manual.

After learning the basics, I gained some experience using mainly Av mode and have been using strictly Manual for some time now. But I'm wondering if there are circumstances when even experienced people use the more automated modes. In Manual, I still use autofocus and auto-WB most of the time.

[crackboy]

i normally just shoot in Av mode for the most part unless its weird lighting then i go full manual. unless i am shooting kayaking or something actiony. i do manual for that

[systemoverblow'd]

I shoot manual for eveything but Tv for anything action and set my shutter speed accordingly.

I know a guy who doesn't take it out of program mode (P) but he also usually only shoots still life with a strobe.

[dino]

I shoot in Av mode 90-95% of the time. The reason to use manual is if you are knowingly exposing for something for which your internal light meter is off. Examples for me would be long exposures, shooting the moon and off-camera flash. If I know my internal meter is off just a stop or two, I will stay in Av and use exposure compensation.

I'll use shutter priority if I'm trying to freeze action or pan and blur.

[Max Archer]

If you're just using the exposure meter in the camera and matching the needles up, you're doing exactly what the camera does in Av/Tv, only slower and less efficiently.

I shoot Tv (actually "S" since I'm on Nikon) most of the time when doing motorsports work since it's the critical variable for panning shots. However, that's not always true, when I want to freeze action or have a shallow DOF I usually shoot Av (A) because I know I'm going to want the largest aperture or the fastest possible shutter speed. Whenever I'm not at the track, I'm also in A, and use the EV correction to adjust as needed.

There are only a few situations where I shoot M. One is where there are rapid changes of light and shadow on the track and can't change while shooting a string as the cars go by. I'll set it to whichever patch I want to be properly exposed. (usually the sunny part) Another is when I want night to actually look like night, since the camera will try to overexpose so it looks like daylight. Finally, I use it when working with tricky off-camera flash setups because of the way that SS and Aperture apply separately to different parts of a flash exposure, and because Nikon has a cool trick where using EV in M will adjust the power of remote flashes.

[Lonnie]

Nikon has a cool trick where using EV in M will adjust the power of remote flashes.

That is nifty.

[Tippster]

I don't shoot action sports, just scenics, portraits, and basic documentary shots.

For me the preferred method is to shoot AV (that way I can pick my DoF) and then chimp (checking the shot(s) on the screen) adjusting the EV as appropriate.

[outabounds]

I rarely shoot action. I leave my camera in aperture priority. If there's not much light I set the ISO higher. Whenever I'm going to take more than a few shots of anything I'll use manual.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Aperture priority most of the time for me. I'm usually concerned with the depth of field more than the shutter speed, and when I am concerned with shutter speed I want to at least make an attempt to control DOF if I can. I have the camera setup so that in A, one dial controls aperture and the other controls iso so that I can influence the shutter speed as needed in different lighting conditions.

As others have said, M is for when the camera's light meter isn't going to do what I want - long exposures, particular effects (night, intentional blurring of motion, etc.)

[truth]

Manual mode 99.999% of the time. Priority modes suck, they are always a compromise. Only time I ever use a priority mode is if I'm panning from light to shadow or vice versa while shooting multiple frames.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

How is it a compromise to determine what aperture I want and let the camera figure out the proper shutter speed?

[truth]

If you have to ask then it doesn't matter.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

LOL. Pssst, your superiority complex is showing.

[mtcham]

All modes have a useful purpose. When I shoot birds the camera is in Av mode keeping the shutter speed above 1/1250 sec and also I use EV comp a lot. If I have time to setup my tripod I usually switch to manual. If I give my camera to someone not familiar with the settings it goes to auto.

To the OP. Here is some more reading from a blog post from a friend. Keep in mind he is a wildlife photog.

http://www.naturalexposures.com/cork...-program-mode/

[Chainsaw_Willie]

I read that and can't figure out how that's really any different than shooting in A. If I want a faster shutter speed to stop action (as in his example) I either have to open up the aperture or increase the iso. opening the aperture is almost always preferable, but not always. In A, with the command dials set the way they are on my camera, I turn the secondary command dial to open up the aperture and increase the shutter speed, doing the same thing that guy is doing in P. If I can't get the shutter speed I want at an acceptable aperture then the main command dial is set to change iso. IMO (yep, my OPINION), this is actually superior to using P as I have control over two different factors that can get me what I want rather than just one.

Shooting in S(hutter priority) is pretty much the same thing, just going about it in a different way.

Unless you're carrying a dedicated light meter and want to spend time calculating apertures and shutter speeds based on it's readings (for the fun of it?), I don't know why you'd bother with M, other than in the special circumstances mentioned above. If you set your camera to M then use the camera's light meter to set aperture and shutter speed, you're wasting time doing the exact thing the camera will do for you in a fraction of a second.

With some practice you'll even come to be able to anticipate when the camera's metering system might not produce the results you want and be able to compensate for them. For example, I find that in strongly lit low contrast situations (such as brightly lit clouds over snow or distant landscapes) the D7000 wants to overexpose. I don't know why, it seems silly that it's programmed that way, but that's what it does. It'll blow highlights and produce no true blacks, often the histogram is heavily weighted to the right. I'm getting used it though and learning to dial the exposure compensation down in those kinds of situations. That's exactly the same thing as shooting in manual mode and purposely setting the shutter speed to underexpose based on the camera's light meter.

[Mathematics]

If you have to ask then it doesn't matter.

Dude, I realize you're like, a pro photog, & stuff, but could you try any harder to come across as a monster douchebag?

[Lonnie]

Scroll around on some of the popular photo sharing sites and look at the exif data. One day when I was bored, I looked at the exif data several hundred photographs from dozens of skilled and accomplished photographers. My unscientific results showed that of the ones that had exif data (about 70% of the pics), roughly 35-40% were shot in Aperture mode, about the 25-30% were in full manual mode, about 15-20% were in Shutter priority mode, and about 10% of them were in other modes (auto/program). Sports shooters tended to use full manual and shutter priority, Fashion photogs used mainly manual, landscape folks were more inclined to use Aperture mode. I think most of the images were landscape based to there could be some bias in the results based upon that.

[truth]

Dude, I realize you're like, a pro photog, & stuff, but could you try any harder to come across as a monster douchebag?

Yeah, I could be completely honest with you if you really want.

[skifishbum]

as soon as those ogden resorts break 30" me and my dog is comin to pee on your meanyhead lawn
and take blurry photos

[4-TEEF'S Ghost]

Unless you're carrying a dedicated light meter and want to spend time calculating apertures and shutter speeds based on it's readings (for the fun of it?), I don't know why you'd bother with M, other than in the special circumstances mentioned above. If you set your camera to M then use the camera's light meter to set aperture and shutter speed, you're wasting time doing the exact thing the camera will do for you in a fraction of a second.

You're not understanding what happens when you're shooting manual. When I set the camera to manual it calculates NOTHING. Every exposure is the same AND it happens instantly. It doesn't matter that you're method calculates exposure in a fraction of a second because it has to do it for EVERY frame and this is waaaaay slower in effective shooting. Shooting manual also greatly simplifies/speeds batch post processing.

With some practice you'll even come to be able to anticipate when the camera's metering system might not produce the results you want and be able to compensate for them. For example, I find that in strongly lit low contrast situations (such as brightly lit clouds over snow or distant landscapes) the D7000 wants to overexpose. I don't know why, it seems silly that it's programmed that way, but that's what it does. It'll blow highlights and produce no true blacks, often the histogram is heavily weighted to the right. I'm getting used it though and learning to dial the exposure compensation down in those kinds of situations. That's exactly the same thing as shooting in manual mode and purposely setting the shutter speed to underexpose based on the camera's light meter.

You're saying that you can't trust your camera's exposure calculations but you recommend using an exposure calculation modifier rather than a technique that removes the untrustworthy exposure calculation from the equation. Statements like this are why Truth said "if you have to ask it doesn't matter."

I've made lengthy posts on here probably 10 times over the last 8 years extolling the virtues of shooting manual. Every time people raise the same reasons for using auto exposure + EV being better and generally say "I'm dumb for shooting manual", "Manual is only good for a very limited type of photography" or "I'm elitist for shooting manual."

If you're looking to shoot relative slow frame rates of the same scene in changing light (eg: sunset landscape) then I could see it being EASIER to use aperture priority but I don't think the exposures would necessarily be better.

Hopefully you guys can understand... I started shooting manual because I got tired of the camera NOT making the correct exposure. I keep shooting manual because the camera continues to NOT make the correct exposure.

[iscariot]

Full manual 99% of the time.

Tried AV/Tv and they piss me off. Never quite what I want.

[LeeLau]

Scroll around on some of the popular photo sharing sites and look at the exif data. One day when I was bored, I looked at the exif data several hundred photographs from dozens of skilled and accomplished photographers. My unscientific results showed that of the ones that had exif data (about 70% of the pics), roughly 35-40% were shot in Aperture mode, about the 25-30% were in full manual mode, about 15-20% were in Shutter priority mode, and about 10% of them were in other modes (auto/program). Sports shooters tended to use full manual and shutter priority, Fashion photogs used mainly manual, landscape folks were more inclined to use Aperture mode. I think most of the images were landscape based to there could be some bias in the results based upon that.

I wonder if those photo-sharing sites are for other sports or specifically for winter sports. Snow is weird. Camera's have a heck of a time metering BC snow shots particularly the omnipresent gray and white and gray shades of powder snow days (can't remember what those are like now - damn you high-pressure). But even the huge contrast between dark-light in bluebird days tricks cameras. Many times I'll shoot some AV just to get a baseline exposure then have to switch to Manual to get the exposure I want. For me, with the SLR- Manual. With the G11, often its AV but with reservations that the shots will turn out underexposed so I often bump it up 2/3 stops; that's just more because it takes more time to fiddle with the G11 and figure out settings. Whereas its easier to get the settings right with the 7d. BWDIK, i hardly have any time to set up a good shot because I'm trying to get some skiing in too.

[10% Groomed]

How is it a compromise to determine what aperture I want and let the camera figure out the proper shutter speed?

Because of this part, "let the camera figure out the proper shutter speed."

Personally, I have more confidence in my skills than my camera's skills to "figure out" what I'm trying to expose.

[Max Archer]

With snow on a bluebird day it should be pretty straightforward, shouldn't it? Just shoot BDE/Sunny 16 and adjust to desired SS/Aperture.

I've been shooting for long enough that I can often shoot without using a meter at all, but I still find it a lot easier to use priority modes in the majority of shooting situations. Maybe it's the cameras I'm using or the subjects I shoot, but I haven't had any real complaints about auto exposure with any of my DSLRs since the D2X.

[LeeLau]

With snow on a bluebird day it should be pretty straightforward, shouldn't it? Just shoot BDE/Sunny 16 and adjust to desired SS/Aperture.

I've been shooting for long enough that I can often shoot without using a meter at all, but I still find it a lot easier to use priority modes in the majority of shooting situations. Maybe it's the cameras I'm using or the subjects I shoot, but I haven't had any real complaints about auto exposure with any of my DSLRs since the D2X.

Sometimes. There's so much contrast between light and dark. Sometimes you want backlight/ sometimes you want it front lit. Sometimes you want flare. Sometimes you don't. Yeah ideally you shoot golden hour so the light is muted but with snow shots you don't get a lot of re-dos. Once the person is done their slutty turn they're often 10s if not 100s of meters below you so you get one chance to get it right so usually so there's not that much opportunity to practise. Anyway that's part of my reasoning behind Manual. Gives me the least amount of excuses for blowing the shot - it takes away "the camera fucked up" excuse. Again, jmo