lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Show me an all or only Manual digital camera. Rarer than a Yeti, i.e., it don't exist. And the OP has already been shooting in manual mode.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I'll tell you why. In manual mode, the photographer is in control of the settings, not the camera. In reality, once the photographer decides he needs to catch the action, shutter speed is considered first. If it's DOF, the aperture is selected first. Whichever is selected as a priority, the other adjustments are made accordingly. That's why.

I'll do the thinking, I'll leave it to the camera to capture the photograph.
--Bob

dyximan

My understanding of the difference between A and P is the P programming mode is a little more sophisticated within the inner workings of the camera what those things are I’m not sure, But I’m sure there’s someone on here will be more than happy to explain it or give you a video to watch That will explain it to you. I would also be interested in the answer to that question.

srt101fan

Right on!!!

I would only add that you should keep an eye on the camera's meter to make sure you don't over expose because the ISO has reached its lower limit. Also should learn about Exposure Compensation for the more difficult light situations.

szoots

I use all the different modes depending on what I want and the situation. Primarily a bird photographer, I shoot a lot in A/P because my DOF generally is shallow so aperture is wide open. Auto ISO and keep an eye on SS. Birds move from sun to shadow, flitting from perch to perch. Small and fast there is no way to do manual. I don’t care how good you’re in manual, you cannot adjust at 11 frames per second. Birds in flight (BIF) is a bit different as you have to shoot with a faster SS to freeze the motion unless you’re panning to blur background. Others have discussed the other modes but what I have found just as important are focus points and back button focus (BBF). For my birds to look great, the eye has to be sharp. Single point, center spot focus gets you passed twigs, branches that may surround your target. With BIF, BBF allows you to lock in your focus so you can attempt to compose (cropping is almost always needed).

dyximan

I find your response interesting as I was always told, and found shooting BIF to be easier with shutter priority. As I found that if I shot in Aperture prioyand wanted a little more DOF it would sometimes slow the shutter down to much to compensate, and my birds would be blurred, or increase the ISO and produce some noise. I shoot with a D500, and often use my Tamron 150 to 600. But found it Les problematic when using my Nikon 18 to 300. But understand it may also be a product of the difference in the speed of the 2 lenses.

Tronjo Loc: Canada, BC

Bob, When you are in full manual how do you set the last parameter? Do you use external meter, camera's internal meter, or some of the rules (like sunny 16)?

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Except, of course, when it is the worst option! Take, for example, a moving object moving through changing lighting. You would find it nearly impossible to get the right exposure, yet shutter priority would freeze the subject for you but have latitude on exposure with aperture variation.

szoots

For BIF I do shoot with shutter priority. So not to blur unless for special effects and still choose that slower shutter speed. Again with birds I am shooting burst and just cannot fathom anyone can shoot burst and still use fully manual unless there is consistent lighting throughout and constant distance.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

There is a reason why you have options on these cameras. First of all, shooting fully in manual mode is not going to make you a better photographer, but it sure seems that many likes to brag about it, like it is going to make you something special. I guess it feeds their big egos.
Secondly, if you follow Bob, you will see that he mostly shoots landscape. Landscape doesn’t move. So you have all the time to fiddle with settings.

But if you are shooting anything that moves, shutter priority is your friend. Try making adjustments between shots while shooting birds in flight as the light changes.

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

"Why would anyone purchase an expensive camera with all of that marvelous technology and then shoot exclusively in manual" As the OP said, to learn and now that the learning has progressed the OP is looking to expand their knowledge

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Then again, sometimes manual isn't manual at all. I use manual for flash shots, but the flash is in ETTL mode, so the camera and flash control the exposure, which, to me, isn't manual.

kdogg Loc: Gallipolis Ferry WV

I use manual with floating ISO for BIF, set shutter speed to freeze motion and adjust fstop according to background. With my 7DII I am also able to use exposure compensation when shooting birds against the sky. When not shooting birds I am usually in AV mode, mainly because I shot that way for many years with a Minolta XK and used slide film exclusively. Didn't get into automatic modes until I picked up Minolta X-700 so when I went digital the only thing I had to get used to was being able to adjust ISO. Gone were the days I needed 2 bodies loaded with different speed films to get the photos I wanted from bright light to low light conditions. For me that was the biggest advantage to going digital. I still shoot film to this day but it is totally a specifically planned shoot (mostly landscapes) with large format film cameras.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Tronjo, I'll use both, internal and handheld. It just depends on the circumstances. If a handheld, it will more than likely be my Sekonic L-758DR set to the profile for the digital camera I'm using. Either way, I'll adjust the meter reading to place the metered area in the Zone I wish it to be in the final image. I use spot metering almost exclusively. Much as I mentioned in my post. I'll determine whether DOF is important or capturing action or both. The final parameter is determined by that preference.

A while back I photographed a horse/rider competition. The surroundings were less than visually amenable. So, I picked an aperture that would sufficiently blur those backgrounds but keep horse and rider sharply focused. Also needed was selecting a shutter speed that would capture the motion of horses jumping, trotting, etc. After those choices were made, in this case, I needed to adjust the ISO to provide a suitable exposure.

I view taking a photograph as system engineering. The system is the shutter, the aperture, and the ISO. The idea is to adjust the components of the system to optimize their performance and produce a product one wants. I hope this answered your question.
--Bob

Wmetcalf Loc: Rogersville, Mo

Not if you are shooting fast moving subjects in changing light. There is a place for manual mode but some situations are better handled by automatic settings. You paid for them, use them.