Antwerp successfully preserves a sense of tradition and history, here with the horse drawn carriage and the famous Cathedral in the background, making it attractive to tourists, while at the same time boasting some beautiful modern architecture.The picture above was a split second grab shot. As usual my Canon EOS 5D was set to AV (aperture priority) and I trusted my light meter to give me the correct exposure. As it happened the background sky was extremely bright and the foreground in deep shadow, so the background was a bit overexposed. Using the RAW file's information I was able to retrieve detail everywhere important.
Read any guide to improving your photography, listen to photographers advice and you'll be told to set your camera to manual. Using program mode is strictly for amateurs we're told. Well I beg to differ and respected photography tutor John Wade shares my viewpoint.
Camera design these days has advanced tremendously and automatic metering has become reliable and accurate 99% of the time. If you used your modern Digital SLR on manual and took the same shot on program mode you wouldn't see any difference. John, in a recent article suggests looking at magazine pictures and asking yourself how many of the images would have required a setting different to the one the camera would have given the photographer if the camera was set to automatic program mode? Very few.
Letting the camera do the technical work frees you up to be creative and concentrate on the important part, taking pictures.
I can just see the die-hards shaking their heads at this blasphemy. Camera on program mode indeed.
So when do you use the camera on manual. Well in my case virtually never. The most important element for me to control is depth of field, so I work in AV (aperture priority). I keep a close eye on my shutter speed to see that it is not going too low, risking camera shake. If I see that there is a risk of camera shake, I up the ISO. I'm continually riding the ISO and changing apertures. The low noise handling of the 5D means I can shoot in very low light. When I do want maximum depth of field and a silky smooth images at 50 or 100 ISO, and the shutter speed would be too slow to hand hold I use a tripod or flash.
On the other hand when I want to control the creative effects I get by using the appropriate shutter speed, for example to blur water in a waterfall or stop sports action, I switch the camera to shutter priority.
But what about situations where traditionally the light meter would be fooled for example a very dark or very bright background? Here I rely on checking the histogram and then using the exposure compensation settings. This solves everything 99% of the time.
Our modern Digital SLRs are fantastic pieces of technology. They're designed to make taking pictures easier and to deliver reliable, high quality results. So my advice is: don't handicap yourself by using your camera on fully manual. Choose program mode for fast convenient results, aperture priority to control depth of field creatively and shutter priority to stop action or allow motion to be visible in your image.
Focus your energy on taking creative pictures not camera settings.
Comments
the only times I use full-manual is if:
1) I am using my 1967 pentax spotmatic where manual is pretty much the only option!
2) when I am using flash and trying to balance flash and ambient, thus needing to control aperture and shutter speed independently.
in contrast when i used the AE modes i found that every shot was a "surprise" and, when a big moment happened i had to just hope the camera would read the scene correctly. i felt like i had to constantly babysit the AE sensor to get the look i wanted. it was more of a headache than a convenience; i ended up reviewing a lot more than i was shooting.
now i just set the exposure manually right before i start shooting, review occasionally, and adjust a stop up or down as needed. i really do spend less time with the technical side and more with the creative this way, because i can make quite a few shots under the same lighting conditions without having to worry about the meter being fooled by a new composition. i can do all the things i used to do with the semi-auto modes, it's less complicated because i don't have to mess with AE lock and exposure compensation, and more fluid because i don't have to change shooting modes when i want to change exposure effects. i haven't found any drawbacks at all.
oh, saw this post on photographyvoter.com, btw.
I use the camera in the same way you describe and have always felt that I should be using manual - but could never work out any advantage to it so didn't bother.
The only time I have had a use for manual is when working in almost darkness before dawn, as it goes beyond the ability of the camera, but even then I found I was simply adjusting the aperture till the cameras meter said the exposure was "right" and working from there...just doing what the on-board computer does anyway.
yet another good read.
Chris
Jason I take your point completely. However I find that shifting to follow action quickly between shadow, full sunlight, backlight, moving indoors would require me in many circumstances meter and change exposure quickly from one scene to another. After years of experience I know what the right exposure is going to be anyway but many readers would not be able to anticipate exposure changes.
Ed Z
Auto iso is indeed a very useful gadget and I'd use it too but it's not a feature on the 5D :-(
Everyone has to find their own way of working but my guess is that most would find using the camera's automatic modes easier than setting everything manually.
I still prefer manual mode most of the time. I'm comfortable enough with my cameras that I know how the meter works and what I need to do with my metering to get the shot right as possible first time.
If the light is changing or changeable, then I switch to A or S mode, which gives me a little more time on the shot...
Interestingly, there is a custom function on some Canon cameras that I didn't know about until recently. Jeff Ascough, the wedding photographer, covered it on his blog: http://jeffascough.typepad.com/wpj_resource/2007/05/shooting_in_m_m.html
Thanks,
James
1/. Like yourself I generally shoot aperture or shutter priority depending what I am after and usually aperture priority as I am a shallow depth of field Bo keh freak...but you knew that already!
2/. I strongly recommend any photographer starting out shoots in manual for a while so they learn the relationship between aperture, shutterspeed and subject texture and colour. Like you said in your post you anticipate shutterspeed and aperture when you see the conditions. I'd suspect this is down to much experience shooting manualy. I can do this now after a few years practice. I feel I would not be able to if my first photography tutor hadn't insisted on manual as a learning tool.
3/. When shooting in a studio or controlled light environment I set up on manual and just shoot. I figure the light won't change so why let the look or consistancy of the images alter.
4/. When I want a batch of images shot in same place together to look simmilar I tend to go manual with WB and aperture/shutter. To help keep look consistant.
5/. When shooting flash and wanting to drag the shutter to play with mixed strobe and ambient light.
Anyway hope that adds to the debate. Essentially I agree with you but think one size never fits all circumstances.
Stay Well,
David
Get a shot so you have it then focus on properly exposing the area in the scene that is most important. If your main subject is exposed properly you'll save yourself post production time, be it in the conventional or digital darkroom. Manual exposures allow for more consistency exposure to exposure, especially in situations with a high scene brightness range.
And what about depth of field, or shutter speed for stopping or creating action? The camera doesn't know what you want, at least I hope its not that smart. If you're changing program modes and adjusting f-stops and shutter speeds, what's the difference?
Thank you for the points you make David. I agree with you. Photography students certainly need to understand manual exposure.
Until recently I would have advocated and did use my camera on manual settings. However the premise in the article is that due to technological advances modern Digital SLRs are excellent at gauging exposure automatically.
The two main creative exposure controls are shutter speed and aperture. Both can be controlled perfectly using the relevant priority modes. This is not a one size fits all approach. I use manual settings in the studio and when appropriate in the field as I said in my blog above.
Thanks for taking the time to comment guys. I thought this would be a bit of a controversial one LOL.
Cheers,
Paul
Certainly a post to prod many a photographer to examine really why they use manual mode.
Personally, it was "forced" on me by an excellent course tutor. His reasoning was that if you cannot master a camera in manual mode how the heck do you know when the camera is right or wrong.
Now I have passed this point, I often appreciate the ability to adjust just DoF or shutter speed and let the camera brains work the rest out. With the 5D, I found I did have to run a few test shots as AV mode did not require the same exposure correction as manual.
Now, pretty much all my shots start in AV or TV then, if I want to get all creative (or use flash) and have the time, I switch to manual and play. Histogram, however, drives both and reviewing this constantly has resulted in fewer surprises.
I use the Pentax like a Polaroid back: shoot, check the LCD and shoot again if necessary. It takes only a few moments longer and ensures that I nail the exposure. With a digital camera, there's no excuse for not getting the technical issues bang on.
If I used the Pentax on an auto mode, I'd have irretrievably blown highlights on probably 30-50% of my pics.
Maybe I should have bought a Canon?
Bruce
http://pentaxk10dblog.blogspot.com/
What am I doing wrong.
I don't usually get into technical advice. If you need to know something about your camera's settings, read the manual or buy a beginners book on how to take pictures for general advice - there are thousands.
Using S (shutter priority) should not affect exposure any differently to the other automatic modes.
Put your camera on a tripod. Take three shots in S, P and A modes of the same scene. If there is a difference in exposure then there's a problem with your camera. Just one thing, check when you're shooting in S mode that the shutter speed is not set to an extremely slow speed.
When you do your test try a daylight scene with a shutter speed of 1/125 in S mode.
Hope this helps.
cheers,
Paul
I found this entry while searching for info that would help me decide whether to buy a camera with manual settings or not. I use a Canon S-80 now,and get some wonderful shots. I will not carry a dslr, and am looking for the best camera that will replace my s80, but with IS. Sorry if this is off topic, but thought maybe you could help.