Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

Here is my theory: if all you do in manual mode is shoot according to what the camera's meter says is the correct exposure, you're not doing anything different than if you used aperture or shutter priority. I use manual when I want to shoot at an exposure that is not what the camera meter reads. I find that faster and more flexible then using exposure compensation, which is another way to do the same thing. Thoughts?

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

I kinda agree. I shoot with a ring light & ignore the meter in manual, using the aperture & power level of the flash for exposure adjustments.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

The camera's meter is only as good as the person who's using it. This requires a knowledge of what the meter is actually doing. The meter has no idea what the subject of the photograph is. Thus, it renders an exposure based on whatever part of the scene is being metered and the resulting exposure will place that part being metered in Zone V, or middle gray.

If you were to meter a snow scene the snow would appear, for the most part, as a dingy gray. Meter a black wall and wall will be close to the same dingy gray. Thus, in manual mode the photographer can look for values in the scene that are close to Zone V, such as green grass. The blue northern sky, without clouds is Zone VI. So, using manual mode puts the photographer more in control of the overall outcome.
--Bob

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

Bob, I understand Adam's Zone System completely. In fact, I think your post supports my theory. You use manual when you do not want to go with the camera's meter reading. If you simply use manual to shoot at what the camera's meter says, you might as well let the camera pick either the aperture or the shutter speed, depending on what makes the most sense for your subject.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

Up until the purchaes of my A77ll, I super glued my dial in manual mode so I would not make any mistakes. My A77ll has a button you have to push in order to move the dial. Saved money on the super glue.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

RE, to give you my honest opinion, there only a few things you can shoot in manual and do it better than the camera.
But the truth of the matter is that it depends on WHAT you're shooting and WHAT you want the outcome to be.
Too many times a guy comes on here and says " I only use manual mode"!! Well, ok, but WHAT is he shooting? Turns out the ONLY thing he has ever shot is Landscape or he chases bugs or he shoots 4x5 or MF!
Well, those things lend themselves to manual.
Do you ever shoot fast moving sports, like car racing or bicycle racing? How about dance, not a play, I mean dance were the the lights change colors or intensity every 8 count? How about butterflies that flutter in and out of shadows in a herky jerky every two seconds?
Sure, every old guy here at one time had a full manual camera and lenses to boot. And what was almost an IMPOSSIBLE sports shot 40 years ago, today is a routine keeper, and for me, those keepers get better and better and more frequent as my cameras get more and more sophisticated and I can take advantage of the myriad of semi-auto settings and AF options get better and better.
A pro may use ten different settings to get gen different shots.
If you get everything on the same mode, either your shots are always the same or your subjects simply don't move and you've got time to work and chimp.
I may be way off here but for me to agree with you that your last ten shots would be better on manual, you'd have to post those ten shots because in reality you've given absolutely no information to base that agreement on!
Learn to exploit your camera, not fall in love with one mode and one subject!!
Thoughts?!?!
SS

IBM

Here is a thought set your settings " all settings " on auto let the camera do its thing that means , set white balance auto from 200 to the Maxum I don't know if you have both , if not just pick auto and click it on , I f you have a P setting nikon , set that , then walk back and take the same shots in the manual settings you would set , it was easy for me as I have two d90 so just one was in P and I never looked at the
Auto shots tell I got home , but the manual shots I tweaked each shot tell I was satisfied, and deleated the rest , needless to say I never shot in auto a anymore, but I do set fstops in auto at times depending on depth I want ,

IBM

I don't get what you mean, your not doing anything different , your not setting what the camereas wants , what ever the camera picks in auto you can do in manual , my fstop and shutter is always different than the camera in auto would pick

MilanA

Personally I rarely use manual and for the most part shoot in shutter priority mode and if I need a certain DOF I can usually roll my shutter up or down enough to get the desired f stop and if needed adjust ISO and Exposure comp to get me where I need to be, but then I'm usually shooting nature or with just natural light by preference. I think the real point is that so long as you know what your gear is capable of and what you can accomplish in post processing the road you take to get to the picture you want isn't nearly as important as being able to get there consistently. So from where I sit the fact that years ago I did shoot full manual with film and did B&W all the way through making prints was beneficial not so much because I could still do it today digitally but more because learning to go that route gives you much fuller understanding of the process which in turn allows you to more effectively use all of the wonderful bells and whistles we have at our disposal today.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

I think you miss my point completely. Let me try to rephrase:

I am arguing against the "serious photographers only shoot in manual" mindset. Let's imagine two photographers:

1. Shoots in manual, sets his ISO and wants bokeh, so he chooses f/2.8. Then he adjusts his shutter speed until the camera's meter says the exposure is correct.

2. Shoots in aperture priority. He uses the same ISO as #1, and also chooses f/2.8. Absent exposure compensation, the camera sets the shutter speed for exactly what #1 did manually.

Thus my point: if you are using the camera meter reading as the correct exposure, aperture or shutter priority is the functional equivalent of manual. If you want more or less exposure than the meter reading, you need manual or exposure compensation, and my preference is manual in that case.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

I am not talking about using Auto or Program modes at all.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

I am baffled by your response. I never said a thing about putting the camera on full auto. But you do seem to agree with me when you say your manual settings are different from the Program mode's choices. If that is true, it means your manual settings differ from what the meter says is the correct exposure, which is precisely what I am saying is the reason to go fully manual.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

No it doesn't. It simply means that the camera chose different settings to meet the meter's indicated exposure. For any specific light level there are several different combinations of settings that will achieve a correct exposure. The camera chose one in program mode, the photographer chose a different one in manual mode. Final result - same result. That manual mode is the only way to completely control the exposure is a fallacy. The same control can be had using the aperture mode or the shutter speed mode. In aperture mode you select the aperture that will give you the depth of field you want and the camera chooses the shutter speed, which is the same one you would choose if using the in camera meter. And the same reasoning applies to the shutter speed mode. Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe in the manual mode. I believe that every photographer should start out using the manual mode and should stay with the manual mode until s/he fully understand how to achieve the exposure desired. Then the aspiring photographer should learn to use aperture and shutter speed mode and learn to use and control them. Only by understanding all of the cameras modes and features will s/he learn to take advantage of the wonderful versatility of the modern digital camera. Shooting in full manual all the time doesn't garner you any extra prestige - it just means you haven't graduated to the next level.

IBM

As far as I can see the way you worded that of course I agree , if that is all you do is set it up the way the camera would have done it any
Way , but I don't check every shot in auto then proceed to set the same settings it picked in manual , that is really worthless as far as I can see , might as well set it I. P for program and be done with it , as Ken Rockwell says it stands for. Pro. Mode ,,

BebuLamar

I do the same thing as you do Rab-Eye. I never use the EC. Whenever I need exposure different from what the meter says I use manual mode.
With a few exception cameras in the old days didn't have either Auto or EC. When they started to have Auto Exposure (either Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority) they didn't have the EC either. Then manufacturer invented the EC so that you can have exposure different from the meter indication without having to leave the Auto mode. They also introduced the AE Lock to prevent user from having to leave the Auto Mode. I am old school so I use the camera like they never invented these 2 features.