I usually use auto, but I use manual when there is a chance of people walking between me and my subject. For instance, my 6 year old grandson plays baseball. I use a 70-300 lens, often times near 300. I focus on him specifically in auto, and then switch to manual leaving the focus ring untouched. Then if some other play or coach runs through the shot at a different distance, the camera does not focus on the wrong person. I don't trust my eye sight to focus first in manual, even with the diopter set to my vision.

Now that Chaostrain's poll has been out there a few days, and we have learned that "about" 8-out-of-every-10 Hogs set their camera exposure controls manually, I'm just curious (as Chaostrain was originally) as to "why?" The vast majority of Hogs seem to have/use modern cameras that come with a whole lot more Bells-and-Whistles than my trusty Nikon FM did. It sure seems like the vast majority do "some amount" of computer post-processing on their images, so we must admit that they have no fear/distrust of technology. If they/we follow the recommendation of the on-board light meter in setting the camera's controls, then why restrict ourselves to the "stepped" shutter speeds available in our cameras rather than setting the aperture and letting the camera set "what should be" a more accurate stepless shutter speed to get as close as possible to "optimal exposure?"

Digital photography isn't like shooting "unforgiving chromes" was. But every book/article that I have read on the subject still recommends that we get the digital exposure as close as possible to our optimum. And, granted, tweeking expose of images in PP is one of the easiest things one can do in photography today. So I'm sure that there must be a logical reason to shoot "Full Manual." I just was wondering if someone could articulate for me what that/those reason/s might be as opposed to using Aperture Priority where we still set everything ourselves except the proper "stepless" shutter speed that we cannot manually set.

Let me give a suggestion. Assuming you're familiar with Aperture Priority and Exposure Compensation, start at zero EC at whatever aperture and ISO you desire. Take an image and observe the histogram and the shutterspeed. If you want to "move" the exposure on the histogram to the right (brighter) or left (darker), add the appropriate EC. Take another image and note both the change to the histogram and the shutterspeed. Depending on the camera model, the difference between EC in Aperture Priority is nothing more than the dials and "names" of the dials you're using to adjust the shutterspeed. The same idea applies to Shutter Priority, except EC changes the aperture.

Continuing with the example, assuming your EC adjustment in Aperture Priority is a proper exposure (no blown highlights), take your camera to a situation where the conditions are different. I just came back from a room facing East in sunlight. The first few images were away from the window where the camera decided 1/80 on the shutter was appropriate for the f/5.6 aperture and the +1 EC. When I turned toward the window, the camera responded with a shutterspeed of 1/2000. That's a heck of a lot more efficient than turning the shutter dial in manual while watching the meter in the view finder. If I turned to catch a sudden situation, I'd probably miss the shot fiddling with the camera rather than focusing and shooting.

It's really just a question of preference, need, and maybe, understanding. If you've always shot in manual, you may not feel you need to change. If you feel more comfortable in A or S priority modes, you may be unaware you're really shooting manual with each EC change because of the terms applied to the camera dials.

I followed Steve Perry's tutorial on setting my Nikon in the "Manual" mode with back-button focus and "auto ISO" set to limits that work best for me. This allows me to use the front and rear command wheels to change shutter speed and aperture quickly based on the subject and what I want the image to represent. This is all done while looking through the view finder and not needing to take the camera off the subject or away from my eye as the situation may quickly change.

A big thank you to Steve for being so generous in sharing his experience and deep knowledge of photography!