Manual Shooting (Page 3): CHG_CANON I'm with you on focus failure. About 90% of my picture failures are for focus failure because you can't recover from focus failure. I rarely have a...

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

CHG_CANON wrote:

I'm of the opinion that the results of most photographer's will improve more from learning how / when / why to move their focus points around than how to expose in manual.

CHG_CANON
I'm with you on focus failure. About 90% of my picture failures are for focus failure because you can't recover from focus failure. I rarely have a failure due to unrecoverable exposure mistakes.
Thanks,
JimmyT Sends

Larz

To me, the use of the word "guessing" here means "applying years of experience".

leftyD500 Loc: Ocala, Florida

Jim1938 wrote:

I got my first 35mm camera in 1960 and every shot ... (show quote)

Personally, I think "manual" is a badge some photogs proudly wear to indicate his/her superior knowledge of and skill in using a camera. We have been brainwashed to think that if you don't shoot TOTALLY manual mode, then somehow, that camera is smarter than you are. There are times, IMHO, when total manual shooting is desirable, but, I rarely shoot in total manual control. Of course, I am not a pro, I am an old fuddy dud who just enjoys getting out in God's beautiful world, and perhaps capturing some of that beauty.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

For my own work, I shoot manual 99.9% of the time. It gives me far better control of the initial exposure. Manual is anything but a guessing game. However, one has to know and understand their camera and its capabilities. Once that understanding is well in hand, placement of the scene's luminosity values is easily accomplished. Manual provides far more precise control of the exposure. It's that simple and it's not a guessing game.
--Bob

Jim1938 wrote:

I got my first 35mm camera in 1960 and every shot ... (show quote)

pahtspix

I shoot mostly wildlife with a Nikon D500 and a Tamron 150-600mm G2, an 95% of my shooting is done in MANUAL mode , with ISO AUTO setting a ceiling of ISO 3200, and an aperture of F6.3 to F8 depending upon the conditions. The VC on my lens is ALWAYS set at #3, and I shoot using back-button focus..All of the above settings are used on and off of a gimbal headed tripod..As long as I keep an eye on my viewfinder, I can adjust any of those parameters that do not fall within the histogram in my viewfinder, and can very quickly make a correction if necessary..I've been using this above set up for over 2 years with many "keepers" along the way..It works very well for me..GREAT credit goes the the video teachings put out by Steve Perry of backcountrygallery.com !!

pahtspix

I shoot mostly wildlife with a Nikon D500 and a Tamron 150-600mm G2, an 95% of my shooting is done in MANUAL mode , with ISO AUTO setting a ceiling of ISO 3200, and an aperture of F6.3 to F8 depending upon the conditions. The VC on my lens is ALWAYS set at #3, and I shoot using back-button focus..All of the above settings are used on and off of a gimbal headed tripod..As long as I keep an eye on my viewfinder, I can adjust any of those parameters that do not fall within the histogram in my viewfinder, and can very quickly make a correction if necessary..I've been using this above set up for over 2 years with many "keepers" along the way..It works very well for me..GREAT credit goes the the video teachings put out by Steve Perry of backcountrygallery.com !!

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Jim1938 wrote:

I got my first 35mm camera in 1960 and every shot ... (show quote)

I shoot birds in flight early in the morning at FIRST LIGHT. The sun is coming over my shoulder and lighting the birds with flat front lighting. Right now I am concentrating on Cattle Egrets and Great Egrets in mating colors in flight gathering sticks for their nest. I use manual because I want detail in the birds and the meter will be fooled in all modes except Manual. You can try exposure compensation but even then in Aperture Priority the meter can give false readings. And, in anything but manual you will not get the feather detail I am after. So, yes, totally manual in some situations is a must. Without it I would not get the images I get.

ISOlate Loc: Maine

Cases where Manual is preferred:

- Consistent exposure over multiple frames under ambient light for composite work such as focus stacking or pano assembly
- consistent exposure over multiple frames under controlled lights for batch Lightroom adjustments such as portraits, group photos, or catalog work
- TTL metered flash and strobe work where you want to expose for the background and add light for the subject, including high speed syncing

sergiohm

Leica shooters like me shoot manual all the time! full manual means no auto iso, manual mode (you need to set speed and aperture)

SteveG Loc: Norh Carolina

mas24 wrote:

I had my first experience with a 35mm camera, usin... (show quote)

Any of the P A S or M settings is a form of manual. The camera will give you what it believes to be the ideal exposure but you can change it giving you manual control to one degree or another. M would be like using thebold film camera where you would line up the needle but knowledgeable shooters already know what settings, in what situation to use. Today's mirrorless cameras give you the actual change on the LCD or in the EVF.

markinvictoria Loc: Victoria TX

My first real (SLR) camera was the Pentax K1000. The only electronics it has was a + to - meter and a small battery which was turned off by putting the lens cap on. The battery lasted years. When I finally went digital...I longed for a camera just like the K1000, but just digital. What was I thinking...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Jim1938 wrote:

...wonder why one would ever want to shoot entirely in manual mode, except in some very rare circumstances?

Right! I don't use a sun dial to tell the time; my car starts electrically, not with a crank; I don't carry water from a stream in buckets. Modern life is great!

SteveG Loc: Norh Carolina

markinvictoria wrote:

My first real (SLR) camera was the Pentax K1000. The only electronics it has was a + to - meter and a small battery which was turned off by putting the lens cap on. The battery lasted years. When I finally went digital...I longed for a camera just like the K1000, but just digital. What was I thinking...

Understandable if you're not up to where technology hss gone but today's camera's will enable you to do just about anything you want including adding effects and doing in camera editing!

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

Most of my manual shooting is done shooting macro as I use auxiliary lighting and thus disregard any meter readings since I am setting the shutter mostly to the sync speed and the aperture & flash power setting to control the light. Now I do disregard the meter in other shooting occasionally. I used to shoot with a consumer grade DSLR that didn't meter with older manual focus lenses and then I had no meter whenever I used the older lenses.

SteveG Loc: Norh Carolina

Screamin Scott wrote:

Most of my manual shooting is done shooting macro as I use auxiliary lighting and thus disregard any meter readings since I am setting the shutter mostly to the sync speed and the aperture & flash power setting to control the light. Now I do disregard the meter in other shooting occasionally. I used to shoot with a consumer grade DSLR that didn't meter with older manual focus lenses and then I had no meter whenever I used the older lenses.

I use aperture priority with legacy glass. You should have that at your command?