pedroan2 Loc: Covington, Virginia (USA)

I also agree with whatever gets a photo worthy of being showed publicly is all one needs. By the way, I practically always use the P setting in my Cannon

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Do what works for you...

But there are times when auto exposure modes are better or even necessary... Whenever lighting is variable.

Lighting could be variable on a partly cloudy day... and if you have to stop to change exposure settings each time the light changes you may miss some shots.

Lighting also can be highly variable in situations like you mentioned, where the subject moves through different levels of lighting, such as going from sunlight to shade outdoors.

It's also very possible indoors shooting sports. Most venues have some variance in light levels across the court, rink or field of play. There you have a choice to set up for one particular lighting and limit your shooting to just that area, or you can use some form of AE to be able to be able to follow the action around the arena.

Sometimes when shooting moving subjects they are presenting me with a fully sunlit or brightly lit side at first, then change direction to that now the side of the subject toward me that I'm shooting is shaded. Sometimes they are even backlit. If the subject is moving even moderately speed, there's no time to change settings between shots. I'd rather not have to be pausing to tweak exposure anyway. I want to keep concentrating on composition and focus, while watching the subject to time shutter releases at peak action moments.

It's great to "lock down" your settings when you can by using fully manual exposure (not even any Auto ISO). Shooting more sedentary subjects such as landscapes or architecture or shooting under highly controlled ligting such as in a studio are times when M is very useful. But there are lots of other times when you can get better exposures by properly using one of the AE modes.

Which of the auto exposure modes you choose to use is entirely up to you. Each has it's uses, but in general...

- Aperture Priority AE is one of my personal favorites because I can control depth of field and background blur effects. Here I set the ISO and choose the aperture, letting the camera choose an appropriate shutter speed. Of course, I still have to keep an eye on what shutter speeds are being selected and adjust ISO or aperture at times, to be sure they're fast enough to prevent camera shake blur and subject movement blur (or cause subject movement blur, if that's an effect I'm going for).

- Shutter Priority AE is popular with many sports and action shooters who are trying to freeze subject movement. In this mode the photographer selects the ISO and shutter speed, then leaves it to the camera to choose an appropriate aperture based upon the readings from the camera's built in metering system. Of course you have to occasionally check if too large (too shallow depth of field) or too small (diffraction issues) aperture is being chosen and may have to adjust ISO or shutter speed a little.

- Program AE might even be helpful at times. In this mode the photographer chooses the ISO and leaves it to the camera to select both shutter speed and aperture based upon its meter readings. This is probably my least used AE mode, but I sometimes use it when I have been shooting in another mode but need to turn to quickly take a few snapshots in radically different lighting, don't have time to think about my settings, and then will be returning to what I was originally shooting. On my cameras, temporarily using Program leaves the other mode set up as I had it, so I can very quickly switch back to what I was doing.

- Manual with Auto ISO AE (yes, this is another form of auto exposure). I've been using this more and more. Here I select both the shutter speed and aperture, leaving it to the camera to choose an appropriate ISO. This is great for sports because I can fully control both depth of field/background blur as well as how the subject's movement is frozen (or not). My three newest cameras have a usable form of this mode. Earlier camera models I used didn't. They had Auto ISO, but no means of setting limits on what ISOs could be used and no way to dial in any Exposure Compensation with it. On the newer cameras I can both set a maximum ISO limit and can dial in E.C., if needed. The only minor drawback is that E.C. isn't as accessible as usual. In Manual w/Auto ISO the dial normally used for E.C. in other AE modes has to instead be used to select the aperture. To set any E.C. in Manual w/Auto ISO AE mode I have to dive into the menu. There's a quick access method to this, so it's not bad. But it's not as fast and easy as a dial dedicated to E.C. like I have in the other AE modes.

Speaking of which, an important tool when working with the auto exposure modes is Exposure Compensation. This allows you to override the camera, tweak the settings to "correct" some inherent "errors" that occur with cameras' built in reflective metering systems. Because those meters are measuring the light being reflected off of the subject (and the scene around them, for that matter), unusually light tonality subjects will make the camera want to under-expose and need some + E.C., while unusually dark subjects/scenes will cause over-exposure and benefit from some - E.C. As a result, learning to use E.C. effectively is important when using any of the AE modes. It simply takes practice to learn to recognize when E.C. is needed and how much to apply.

Hand-in-hand with E.C. is how you set up your camera's light meter. They typically have three or four different modes or "patterns" of metering. Most today have a "Matrix" or "Evaluative" metering mode, which reads the overall scene but typically puts some extra emphasis on the area immediately around active AF points. An "old school" form of this that many of today's cameras have is "Center Weighted" metering. This also reads the entire scene, but with some extra emphasis on the central area, sort of assuming that your subject will be centered and that's the most important part of the image. Other common meter patterns are "Partial" and "Spot", both of which reduce the metered area to less than the entire scene. Partial is usually around 15 or 20% of the scene, while Spot can be as little as 1% and is rarely more than 5% of the scene. Generally speaking, both Partial and Spot are centered within the image area. However, some advanced, pro-quality cameras have "Active AF Linked" Spot metering (which assumes that the active AF point is where the subject is located). Matrix/Evaluative is similar, but AF Linked Spot is more precise.

Personally I use a Matrix/Evaluative metering most often. In the past I used cameras with AF Linked Spot and I find Matrix/Evaluative to be similar with its emphasis on the area immediately around the subject. In the far more distant past, I used cameras with Center Weighted metering. Back in the 1960s that was the first major improvement over just plain overall metering, but I have little use for it now. Matrix/Evaluative today is similar, but with the advantage of better accommodating off-center subjects. So in a sense Matrix/Evaluative is a blend of the best features of AF Linked Spot and Center Weighted metering. I occasionally use Spot metering and probably used Partial metering the least (it's like a "large" spot, so maybe if shooting closer to subject).

In general, I find the broader metering methods usually require less E.C. than the more precise Spot. The reason for this is simple. If you are reading a broader scene, it's more likely a mix of tonalities that average out to not require much or any tweaking with E.C. It's the opposite with Spot metering. That may be reading only a small part of the subject where only a single tonality is present, so greater care is needed to dial in a correct amount of E.C. to render that tonality "correctly" (there's always some personal interpretation as to what's a "correct" exposure.... exposure can anything from a "high key" to a dark "silhouette").

I do recommend becoming familiar with the different exposure modes, with E.C. and with the metering modes offered by your camera. Think about and experiment with them a bit, to learn what works best for you and the types of photography you tend to do.

Yet another form of AE is modern dedicated flash photography. Flash used to be purely manual. Then thyristor flashes became popular, which have their own built-in metering system, of sorts. Today flashes work with the camera's metering system using iTTL, ETTL or similar to (hopefully) deliver highly accurate exposures. "Fill flash" is a lower powered flash that combines with ambient lighting, while "full flash" makes the the flash itself stronger and the dominant light source. With the Canon cameras I use, dedicated flashes in their auto exposure mode are automatically treated as "full flash" whenever the camera is set to Manual (without Auto ISO). Or, if the cameras are instead set to any of the AE modes, the flash will automatically act as "fill". Either way, there is Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC) that can be used to increase or decrease the flash's contribution to the exposure or to correct for unusual subject tonalities, if needed. Some flash units have a dial or buttons to adjust FEC... others have it set via the camera's menu. FEC is the same as E.C., except FEC is just for the flash output. E.C. is still available, to adjust the camera's response to ambient light if needed. Modern flash also can be used in strictly manual modes, if wanted.

Finally, you may have noticed in the Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Program AE mode descriptions above that I always stated "user adjusts ISO". That's deliberate. Personally I never use Auto ISO with any mode other than Manual. If you think about it, using it with any of the AE would be sort of a "double auto" mode,which to me is just asking for trouble. Maybe it will work. Maybe it won't. I just think it's "safer" and more predictable to only have one variable being controlled automatically. Plus I tried but really can't think of any scenario where Auto ISO would be helpful or useful when using the other AE modes.

lowkick Loc: Connecticut

I agree. I never shoot automatic. If I need to control shutter speed, I shoot in shutter priority. If I need to control depth of field, I shoot in aperture mode. I'm almost always in auto ISO. If their is no action and time is not a problem, I often switch out of auto ISO and if it is a difficult exposure I go to manual - as long as I am in a situation where I can take my time.

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

The secret of choice is common sense. What are we taking pictures of. Is it action, changing lighting situation, dark and light, a studio. In my case I know very few times that something has to change in man camera to get the next shot. For that reason I use A or T.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

To answer your question - automatic is better when it allows you to get a picture that would not be possible using manual.

In my shooting workflow - that almost never happens. But everyone's mileage will differ.

Barry335 Loc: Philadelphia PA

Here’s what works for me. I am a dinosaur who’s used to shooting in manual on film cameras and I understand the “exposure triangle”. However...I typically use either aperture priority or shutter priority along with auto ISO and Auto white balance. The key word here is priority. If you are shooting portraits then you probably want to shoot at a relatively wide aperture and if you are doing street photography it makes sense to stop down to a smaller f stop so you don’t miss those “decisive moments.” Hence what aperture you shoot at takes priority. Sports, action or wildlife photography has obviously different requirements so shutter priority mode might make sense in those situations. So you are taking control where it counts and utilizing the technology you have at your disposal. As has been stated elsewhere here If you are in a situation where you have total control such as in a studio or shooting landscapes or night photography using a tripod and have the time to experiment then manual will give you the most control and is pretty much a necessity at slower shutter speeds. Oh and from what I’ve read “real photographers” like photojournalists and professional sports photographers have no compunction at all in using aperture or shutter priority modes as needed. But ok yeh if you don’t want to worry about any of this and just take the shot put your camera in point-and-shoot (auto) mode. Oh and point-and-shoot mode is what Nikon calls it in their manual not me 😊. Or, as has been discussed, some cameras have a P or promgrammed auto mode which sets all parameters to start but allows you to change settings after the fact. Bottom whatever works for you is what you should use.

Barry335 Loc: Philadelphia PA

I meant bottom line 🙄

Hal81 Loc: Bucks County, Pa.

While in the car I keep my nikon on auto. I shoot a lot just while riding around our neck of the woods. You never know what you just happen to come across. In not just looking for the artistic just something that catches my eye.

MichaelMcGrath Loc: Ireland

There is a sneer abroad about a fella being "only a point and shoot man".

Bill_de Loc: US

Some Nikon, and I guess others, allow for in camera 'post processing', including raw files. SOOC really doesn't stand for much today.

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Bill_de Loc: US

Actually you just said that you use a variety of auto modes, sometimes two at a time when you include auto ISO. But, that's the reason we all by cameras that will 'pick up the slack' for us.

Program is a good mode because you change aperture or shutter speed and maintain the same exposure. Then use exposure compensation when conditions require it.

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lowkick Loc: Connecticut

Actually, they are semi auto modes. Full auto makes all the choices for you. I'm making a choice of which auto mode to use based on the situation and effect I want to achieve. That, by itself, is a form of control.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Yes, with my Canon I can connect the camera to the computer (or in camera) and basically set Sharpness; Contrast; Saturation; and Color Tone editor adjustments IN the camera. (Picture Styles- six predefined (but adjustable) styles and three user defined styles).
The JPEG the camera creates, via which style that has been selected, will be set according to those slider "presets" in that style.
Saves <only> a few moments in editing as I have a "head start" in editing. Sometimes the images do not need additional editing (for my taste). Still "editing", just at image creation time instead of post. Ergo, pre-edit... or preprocessed.

anotherview Loc: California

These settings work well in daylight: "set shutter speed and aperture, and then use auto ISO if your camera has the option." My Canon 6DII has Auto ISO available with the other two settings on Manual.

I set the Shutter Speed to suit the lens focal length (per the general rule) when shooting handheld. Thus, at 400mm, for example, I'd set the SS at 1/400 sec. (or faster). The aim is to eliminate camera movement that blurs the subject.

In this pursuit, it helps to learn the technique for handholding the camera during shooting. Note that the camera still moves, but the fast SS enables the camera to stop the motion, so to speak.

I like the Aperture at f/8 because it falls near the sweet spot of my 100-400mm lens. Auto ISO relies on the metering system for its setting.

If time permits, I check the Histogram for exposure. I will adjust the ISO manually for a better ISO setting for the conditions.

If a novice reads the above text, it may seem esoteric. (It did when I started doing photography.) So, I suggest spending some time with your camera and its lens taking shots while learning from your mistakes and successes. Keep in mind that photography functions as a craft. One learns it by doing.

trinhqthuan Loc: gaithersburg

Can agree more.. auto ISO is a default on my cameras
I shoot in M with auto ISO for portrait, close up and scenery ... when I can have my time. I set to P to do street photography and children activity. With P mode I still can change A and S in pair, also I can change ISO handy ( set control of the red record button to easy ISO on my D750)