al davis Loc: chesterfield virginia

Like most here I shoot Manual 90% and apature 10% of the time. I have found over the years that shooting in manual has taught me a lot through trial and error and realy gets the creative juices flowing. :-D :-D

christofras Loc: Gold Coast Australia

Yes, that is how I use it when in AV, and that is generally the accepted method.....Happy shooting!

lowkick Loc: Connecticut

I shoot in Av most of the time, sometimes switching to Tv, depending on the subject. If things are moving and changing quickly, I'll go to Auto. Av is the artistic mode because controlling depth of field is usually an artistic choice. Tv is the mode for sports since I can set the stop action for dead stop or varying degrees of blur to highlight the movement. In Av mode, I can change the aperture whenever I want, for whatever depth of field effect I want, and the shutter speed adjusts for the light automatically. In Tv mode, the shutter is set for my preference and the aperture changes to adjust for enough light.

Most of the time, the only reason for me going to manual is to override the auto shutter speed setting in Av or the auto aperture setting in Tv. If you think about it, there is little difference between manual and using Av or Tv. If, in manual mode, you know the effect you want, you will set either the shutter speed or the aperture to achieve that effect, then set its counterpart to balance the light. It's really not different than using Av or Tv - just slower. However, if I want to override the auto settings to create a picture that is over exposed, under exposed, or has blur or focus effects, then I need to use manual mode.

Av and Tv modes give you a lot of artistic control. Manual mode gives you the rest of the control that isn't provided for in Av and Tv.

wannabe63 Loc: Bellevue, Washington

What does back button exposure mean?

amehta Loc: Boston

It is not back button exposure, it is back button focusing. It means you are separating the focusing action from the shutter release button, so it is not linked to the specific act of taking the picture each time.

wannabe63 Loc: Bellevue, Washington

Sorry, I don't understand. Would you please give an example of that process?

jamesl Loc: Pennsylvania

My understanding going way back is that light meters are set up to based on 18% reflectance (neutral gray) so it will try to give an exposure to produce that, so it will over expose the black and under expose to white in the process.

wannabe63 Loc: Bellevue, Washington

Were you trying to explain my question about back focusing. If so I'm really lost.

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

The only problem with shutter or aperture priority is that additional shots, unless you jerked the camera, will be identical to the first. The camera decides how much light to let in for the ISO set; when you change the shutter speed, the camera increases or lowers the aperture to allow the same amount onto the sensor. if you changing the aperture, the camera will vary the shutter speed. Need proof? Put your camera on a tripod and take a fairly close up shot, then change either setting and take another shot; they will be virtually identical unless the lighting changed.

jamesl Loc: Pennsylvania

No, I'm sorry, i was just getting at the reason you get gray in both cases for the sake of someone who is very new and may not realize how exposure meters are designed to work. Again, I am sorry, I wasn't trying to cause any confusion.

wannabe63 Loc: Bellevue, Washington

No problem. I'm a beginner and easily confused. I'm getting the feeling that "back button focusing" is something different to what the name infers. I still don't get it but that's ok I'll live to shoot another shot.

Cu Cuchulainn

When I started many years ago manual was all we had. Lugging a 4x5 in all possible situations was a great learning experience. But I really welcome all the auto features on a modern digital camera. I use them all in appropriate situations and sometimes auto is a blessing in fast moving situations.

Best advice use what ever gets you the results you want. Practice makes perfect.

wmarcoux Loc: Massachusetts

With back button focusing you assign a button on the back of the camera, usually the AE lock button, to start the autofocusing mechanism on the camera. It replaces the autofocus that starts when you half press the shutter release button on top of the camera. When using this button the camera will constantly focus if you are in the continuous focus mode and when you wish to take the picture you just press the shutter release button. You can also use the back button focus to focus the camera then take your finger off of it move the camera for a different composition and the focus will remain as it was previously set using the back button focus button. Hope that helps. I find it very good for wildlife as you can hold the back button focus down and snap away.

Picdude Loc: Ohio

Ahh... Austin, Texas. I lived there for 8 years before I moved back to Ohio (don't ask). Very beautiful city, and lots of photo opportunities there and in the 'Hill Country' around Lake Travis (a.k.a. the Colorado River). Looking forward to seeing some of your posts :-D .

City-Scapes would be an excellent style to really focus on learning manual mode. You can take as much time as you want to compose your shot and take multiple shots at various EV levels. When you download your pictures, check the EXIF data on the images that came out exceptionally well and the ones that came out exceptionally bad to get an idea of settings that either work good or don't work at all. With the State House, Town Lake, Univ. Texas and 6th Street you should have plenty of subject matter to work with. There's plenty of Parks as well (there's one that boasts natural springs that are open for swimming and if I remember also hosts Eyore's Birthday).

Peekayoh Loc: UK

Correct, which is why we need the exposure compensation dial to second guess the meter.