jtm1943

Manual is good for macro and special effects. Otherwise its history - or should be/

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Interesting you stopped watching right before he explained he shoots in manual mode when using flash in the studio. Nothing in his article stated manual mode is outdated, that was a click bait headline. His article explained at length that manual mode is overrated.
I reckon one could say outdated if you still shoot only in manual because you shot only in manual 50 years ago, before camera's were automated to the extent they are today.

I can't even imagine anyone shooting only in manual today unless they are shooting very limited type of photography, say only in a studio taking portraits or other controlled conditions. When action and lighting is changing, auto modes today is where it's at. Auto focus, auto ISO, auto white balance, aperture/shutter priority are tools that most use all the time, including professionals.

Manual is not often required today for most general photography. I use it mostly when I'm feeling frisky, but I can see people using it all the time, much like Roy Underhill the Neanderthal woodworker that shuns ALL electric tools. It's a niche enjoyed by some, but not oft required. Not wrong, just different.

My 1975 Pentax Spotmatic 35mm SLR had a built in light meter.
Things have been going downhill ever since for some I reckon.

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Good summary of Scott Kelby's article

therwol Loc: USA

Add studio work and professional level video. Also for anyone using the zone system or histograms to calculate the best exposure for capturing shadow and highlight detail.

Hereford Loc: Palm Coast, FL

Clever, that use of "digested material."

radiojohn

Shooting manually, using a incident light meter is time consuming, but satisfying for some.
Or, two words about metering and shooting manually: Ansel Adams.

BebuLamar

But Mr. Adams didn't like the incident light meter.

Chappy1101 Loc: Glenview, IL

Just watched the video, and I did not hear the same dogmatic message that the title suggests. Kelby and his co host covered the obvious examples where full manual is best/required. But the point that P or one of the other priority modes may be a best choice for most situations where conditions change quickly (bouncing boat, people walking through varying lighting conditions and other examples were noted). Playing “devils advocate” here, this is not a bad piece of advice for many photographers. Certainly Manual is NOT outdated and very useful with Auto ISO set.

CaltechNerd Loc: Whittier, CA, USA

There is one situation where you definitely need to use manual mode. Any time you're shooting panoramas/360s. You have a real mess unless they're all shot at the same exposure (and focal length and focus of course).

BebuLamar

Although I use manual mode quite often because it's simpler but you can use AE lock to ensure all shots in a panorama have the same settings. There are many ways to avoid having to switch to manual via AE-Lock, Program Shift, Exposure Compensation etc... but lots of time it's simpler just switch to manual.

DICK32

CHG CANON: Your points are well taken. The new cameras are giving you better shots with improved technology. Or why would you buy a new camera.

BebuLamar

One reason. Current camera breaks. Another reason, you can't get consumables for the camera any longer like the right battery.

PhotogHobbyist Loc: Bradford, PA

Haven't waded through all 14 pages here and do not think I will. I started into my photography avocation over 50 years ago and it was with a SLR with only match needle metering. Nothing was automtic, no special camera made adjuctments, I had to manually change things to get the shot I wanted. My composition may not have been the best and the subject matter may have been esoteric but i enjoyed taking photos and the results were good enough for me.

Once i changed over to digital there was the possibility of automatic camera settings determined by the camera but I was used to manual mode and I quickly endorsed it over the others. I guess it made me feel like I was still shooting film but with much faster turn around to see the results. Personally, manual is the way I'll continue to shoot. I may once in awhile try something with aperture or shutter priority if it seems appropriate, but my go to mode will mostly be manual. It ain't dead yet, and neither are DSLRs.

russraman Loc: New York City

As Ken Wheeler has said in many of his “Angry Photographer” Nikkor lens reviews on YouTube, “You’re not a photographer if you can’t shoot in manual.”

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

A common Hog theme is it's not the camera, but the photographer. Of course, (or Acoarst) those saying that generally sport multi-thousand dollar camera's and lenses. I reckon they discovered after spending all that cash on gear, their photo's still suck. Myself, I'm sticking with my cheap camera's so I can blame all my lousy photo's on my equipment. When I get lucky, it's all me, nothing to do with $10g's of gear.