Fully manual mode (Page 2): If you have selected your ISO and then select either aperture or shutter priority, the camera just gives you what the meter would have told you to select...

SteveR Loc: Michigan

If you have selected your ISO and then select either aperture or shutter priority, the camera just gives you what the meter would have told you to select for the other leg of the exposure triangle. When you do use the priority method, if you don't like what the camera selects you can always change the other settings. In essence, you do shoot select all of the settings, merely prioritizing one of them. If you know what you're doing when shooting in aperture or shutter priority, it's not that far from shooting manual. After all....you do select one of those first, right? Then you select the second based on what the meter tells you, but the first one you select is your PRIORITY based on the subject. In essence, you shoot in either aperture or shutter priority when you shoot manual if you're any kind of photographer at all.

BebuLamar

cabunit wrote:

Well, OK, point taken. Having the vision can be more important than executing the actual work. (Think architecture, or maybe landscaping.) And some days I think I'm better with the execution than I'll ever be with the vision. Still, with photography, most of us can't afford both the gear AND the assistant, and besides, it just feels better doing it yourself. Cheers!

My point is that what makes or breaks a photographer is really the creativity or like you said the vision. However, the technical stuff is easy and fun and so I shoot in fully manual mode. It doesn't make me a better photographer. It gives me fun.

IBM

bdk wrote:

On my 5200 I have a nifty fifty and its a full manual lens. Ithink it makes you think and learn more.I just cant push buttons andhope for the best
I actually hadto think and decide on the settings, then take thepic. Yes it made me a better photographer

On a dx it's not called a nifty fifty on your camera , on the d5200 it is a nifty 75mm , you would have to get a 36mm lens on your camera
To get the equivalent of a 50mm , only the full frame crowed calls them that , it started way back when it pretty well matched what your
Eye sees . 50mm but now on the crop camereas it's like putting a 25mm zoom on your eye on top of the 50mm lens in your eye , 75 total
I don't know if there is such a person with a normal eye sight at 75mm , he would be in the record books maginessi , I guess it would nifty
If he could focus close up , reading , threading a needle , ??

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Jim Bianco wrote:

I have a Nikon D5200 and I use all manual mode.I use all vintage lenses one nikon 50mm lens from the 80's the rest other brands with adapters,I can not afford those expensive nikon lenses.What I am trying to say is that when I take a pic and it looks great, I say to myself I took that pic ,setting the Ap,shutter sp,and ISO. It just makes me feel good that I am learning photography the right way,like in the old days.Thats just me.What do you guys think.Thanks Jim Bianco

If it makes you feel good, then do it. Don't let anyone stop you.

However, there may be situations when fumbling around in manual mode may result in missing the capture of a fleeting moment. Even in the old days, before the availability of auto modes, some photographers would have absolutely loved to have the option of auto exposure. Particularly news photographers.

If you want a real "old days" experience, try shooting completely without the aid of your exposure meter, and don't review your resulting images until the end of the day. This can be quite the challenge if you've never done it before, and will certainly make you think about exposure in a different way.

Erik_H Loc: Denham Springs, Louisiana

PixelStan77 wrote:

Jim, I am with you 100 percent. Miss the good old days without sensors.

My current favorite camera is my new (to me) Nikon F with the photomic prism head. I have that, and an old Nikkormat FT2 currwnrly loaded with tri-x, and lately I've been shooting more film than digital. I've always shot full manual because I like having full control of the output. But if I screw up, I can't blame the camera.

Jim Bianco

Very good point,I don't have an exposure meter but I do review my pics when I take about 5 pic and then adjust accordingly,I will do what you said,review when I get homThanks Jim Bianco

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Yes Steve, at 10y/o I attended a class on photography, being science nerd at an early age, I ate up the tech stuff. For taking flower shots I applied that science to "manual settings." The Canon SX50 has a C1 C2 on the dial; these are manual settings of my choice that load the same each time. Thanks Canon!

I had a Pentax K-1000 film camera. Put it up to your eye and adjust everything with your finger tips... a exposure needle right there on screen where it can be used. same with the f, s, and of course the focus and DOF. That fingertip adjustment would be a joy for a digital.

In fact, these old cameras such as the K-1000 would be a great training tool. Student sets up the K-1000 to their liking, then use those settings to adjust their digital.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Jim Bianco wrote:

I have a Nikon D5200 and I use all manual mode.I use all vintage lenses one nikon 50mm lens from the 80's the rest other brands with adapters,I can not afford those expensive nikon lenses.What I am trying to say is that when I take a pic and it looks great, I say to myself I took that pic ,setting the Ap,shutter sp,and ISO. It just makes me feel good that I am learning photography the right way,like in the old days.Thats just me.What do you guys think.Thanks Jim Bianco

Good for you! In the old days, I shot full manual since that's all there was. Now, I appreciate the advances in electronics.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

Personally I don't see the point of doing more work than necessary. I shoot with scores of vintage lenses in aperture priority mode. I let the camera decide the shutter speed--it gets me in the ballpark quick and easy, and I adjust using exposure compensation if necessary. Once I have that set up for a given scene, there is never a question of having to reset stuff if the light changes, for instance. As a pro, what counts for me is to get the shot, period. Manual is simply slower than letting the technology do what it is designed to do.

If you really want to go old school, then learn the sunny sixteen rule and don't use a meter at all. If you use a meter anyway, why not let the camera set the exposure--saves time. Then there is the AE lock button if you want to keep the exposure and move the camera. I can think of no good productive reason to use manual mode anymore.

wteffey Loc: Ocala, FL USA

I started with an SLR when the only exposure guide I had came printed on a flimsy slip of paper with the film. I do not now, and never will, miss the pain of discovering that a eagerly anticipated negative was unusable because I miscalculated, or an essential factor changed quickly. I have always considered proper exposure a mostly mathematical exercise. Add this, take away that. A little more of this, a little less of that, etc. etc. Now, free of performing these mathematical exercises, I can concentrate on composition, focus and timing, things that only I, not a computer, can improve. I keep a very close eye on what settings my cameras recommend, and if they are close to what I want anyway, I go back to what I think is important.

rmm0605 Loc: Atlanta GA

Jim Bianco wrote:

I have a Nikon D5200 and I use all manual mode.I use all vintage lenses one nikon 50mm lens from the 80's the rest other brands with adapters,I can not afford those expensive nikon lenses.What I am trying to say is that when I take a pic and it looks great, I say to myself I took that pic ,setting the Ap,shutter sp,and ISO. It just makes me feel good that I am learning photography the right way,like in the old days.Thats just me.What do you guys think.Thanks Jim Bianco

Jim, you're doing the right thing!

Jeffcs Loc: Myrtle Beach South Carolina

Glad to see someone who's learning doing the auto nothing method as my feeling is those who cut their teeth when photography had auto nothing generally become better digital shooters

Bill_de Loc: US

Knowing what the camera can do when set to automatic modes is a good thing. Knowing why it does what it does gives you control. The best way to learn the 'why' is to do it yourself unaided by a computer. At that point you can use auto modes for their speed, but still control the image with compensation overrides.

Your vision is still the most important element.

--

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

Jim Bianco wrote:

I have a Nikon D5200 and I use all manual mode.I use all vintage lenses one nikon 50mm lens from the 80's the rest other brands with adapters,I can not afford those expensive nikon lenses.What I am trying to say is that when I take a pic and it looks great, I say to myself I took that pic ,setting the Ap,shutter sp,and ISO. It just makes me feel good that I am learning photography the right way,like in the old days.Thats just me.What do you guys think.Thanks Jim Bianco

Congratulations to you! That's the way photography should be. The photographer controls the camera fully, not by auto everything!
Half of lens are old pre AI; AI & AIs lens using on my Df and D200 (except the pre-AI). I shoot manual most of the time.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

The OP has a D5200, which being a base model camera from Nikon, will not meter with older manual focus lenses. It will only release the shutter in Manual mode only. Thus some of the posts here are irrelevant. I shoot with a lot of older MF lenses but all of my cameras will meter in aperture or manual modes. Still, I shoot entirely in manual and use my ring light power level or reset the aperture for exposure adjustments (as macro as my niche). The hardest part is accurate focus using the older lenses. I used to have a D70s (since passed on to one of my sons) in which I changed out the focus screen as the screens on current model DSLR's are optimized for AF lenses. Using other types of older MF lenses I use the cameras meter. I used to do the old "Sunny 16" and then used the LCD/Histogram to fine tune exposure on my D70s. It pays to have a more advanced model if you use older MF lenses.