Rongnongno Loc: FL

Damned I would have modified your version for lemon juice....

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

Exposure triangle; Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO. One at least one needs to be flexible. Turn on the VR (IS)and Auto Focus, shutter fast enough to handle sloppy technique, Aperture for DOF and ISO to Auto. In poor light use a flash. Shoot away, you can't miss.

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

When your are shooting action I call it "run & gun" it is very difficult to shot manually. I can focus myself but things may pop up constantly.
I use the manual with auto focus. My Sony's have an auto that is a lot better then my settings. I am not embarrassed to use auto. If auto soonest look great you can with and make adjustments. Even the auto focus can be challenging at times they way you setup it up. I do a lot of video so it is critical a get focus fast at sporting event. Good Luck

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

[quote=Rongnongno]Oh? So you can focus [i]manually and accurately[/b] on a live view or digital view finder?[/quote]
Yes, I have no problem, even manual focus with my Sony cameras, especially using Peak Focusing. But, don't take my word for it, go to your local camera store and check one out for yourself.

Streets Loc: Euless, TX.

You sound like an unfulfilled stand-up failure. I doubt that I would provide you with directions if you were lost in Detroit.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Never a problem focusing with focus peaking on the Lumix GH4 OLED display, or with manual focus assist using the EVF. But I normally use the AF mode where I can compose through the finder and DRAG FOCUS by moving my finger around on the OLED screen. That has to be experienced to be believed. It's especially useful for pulling focus from one subject to another during video recording.

whitewolfowner

Well said Jerry. Too many here have been conned into thinking that you are not a photographer if you do not do everything in manual. To this , I say BS. I have used totally manual cameras (Konica Auto S2, Minolta SRT 101, Nikon FE2) and auto cameras (Nikon 8008s, D80, D750) and I will prefer the auto ones over the manual ones, especially in sensitive, fast action situations; not to say I don't like manual, because I do, but it has it's place and time, especially for the inexperienced. And a wedding is not place for experimentation (is one of the worst, actually). First, weddings are a specialty best left to those that know how to do them; I have done some myself and they are no picnic.

Experimenting, like you did, you held up the whole wedding party and unconvinced them by being there with a camera and also irritated the photographer. Don't say you didn't because just being there like that, you did. Weddings are in churches and reception rooms which are not well lit and low lighting is the worst and hardest scenes to try to focus on and using a screen, not the view finder, only makes it worse. What you did was extremely idiotic. If you want to learn how to manually focus in dim light go out at night on the streets and do some candid shooting to develop your skills. Skills should be practiced away from organized events, on your own or with a mentor. And you have the wrong kind of camera for manual focusing if you do not have a view finder.

papa Loc: Rio Dell, CA

Yep, like all the other old-timers, I too learned to shoot in manual everything. That's when I was a teenager in the early '70s. It was challenging then, too. By the late '80s and into the early '90s I preferred to shoot in this order; aperture priority, shutter priority and manual and it was still manual focus with a split screen. Now with AF I never, well almost never focus manually, as when calibrated my lenses are spot on. I prefer aperture priority with f/2.8 for people for the bokeh, manual at f/8 for portraits adjusting shutter for shot key, shutter priority with an appropriately set high speed for sports action or any fast moving subjects; all at the lowest ISO to produce the cleanest shot. This is NOT simple, as it took me years of film and digital to master, but they are I think essential element in photography. My best advice is start where you are, work at it diligently and be satisfied with progress, because that's what counts. Just don't compare your levels of advancement to someone else. Compare it instead to your previous work and it takes study and practice like all things to excel.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Jerry, I think it depends on what you are photographing.

I would NEVER use auto anything to copy artwork, prints, slides, or negatives. I would never use auto anything EXCEPT AF for mass portraiture under controlled lighting.

But for run-and-gun events, sports, weddings, wildlife... sure! Some mix of auto features will be on!

tjim Loc: Far Northern California

The advise here is spot on.
And as stated above you may not have wanted to interfere with the professional but I can almost guarantee you did. I have taken many weddings as a volunteer for friends and family or someone who couldn't afford a pro. But I wouldn't even take my camera in if there was a pro. As a retired pastor I have performed hundreds of weddings and have seen time after time where people with point and shoots (or even high end cameras) would try to take the same pic of which the pro had just set up and taken. Most of the time the pro would graciously capitulate. But I have seen some get their back up and kick back. I assume you asked the pro if it would be ok.

There is a great deal of wedding etiquette (in a church) that is not always taught but what every pro learns after 100s or 1000s of hours of wedding photog. Most pros would call me (the pastor) or meet me in person and ask questions like: Is flash ok? Where can I stand? How are you going to line them? Where will the men and women group? Can I move the candles to put them in some shots? When is the rehearsal? Some would ask to light the church to take light readings.

I appreciate the fact you posted your problems and you have been given some great advice. Maybe you could try to hook up with a local pro and try an apprenticeship. At any rate you had the foresight to ask and learn.
Thanks for the post.

jamesl Loc: Pennsylvania

Do you know what you had the ISO, Shutter speed and Aperture set to in the manual shots you took? If you decide to try something else like this you might consider taking a monopod to use if you need it. That way you wouldn't have to worry about a tripod possibly gettingin the way but would still have some support available. I have taken a monopod to weddings before and it does help.

DeanS Loc: Capital City area of North Carolina

My take on your issues is a bit different than most other posters. I posit that the pro put the "Pro's Hex" on you. 😎😎

williejoha

The OP probably confused shooting in manual with also meaning manual focus. Even though there is big disappointment, without failing every now and then there is no real learning.
Charge it off as a good learning experience. Your pride will heal real fast and success will be that much sweeter.
WJH

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

One thought I just had is now we can preview what our shot will look like. Thousands of throw away slides were in my past.
I never thought I would be able to evaluate what my shot looks like before shooting. When I first got digital I was in a church
in Italy. And I kept changing settings until I got the lighting and look I wanted. If I am shooting run and gun or street I can
shoot manual and then switch to semi auto to tweak the aperture etc.
When I started as a kid shooting with a pentex in NY I never could have dreamed what I can shoot with now.

wolvesaywe Loc: Hants England

Spot on jerry, I totally agree with you