Av, Tv or full Manual?

[Tommo1965]

the only times I will go to full manual is if the camera is doing something I don't want it too or in the studio as I use my studio heads with radio triggers in manual ..outside of the studio its always a light metering issue that will make me switch to "M".... typically shooting night basketball in a outdoor crt.....as you pan around large portion of the background go to black..as the evaluative metering needs to use the dark areas in it exposure equation the shutter speed drops ...I cant spot meter as the players are moving too quick...so I meter in AV mode at the aperture I want..normally taking a light reading from the crt surface..then go to M using that aperture and the shutter speed the camera says I needed { perhaps a tweak from there} .. I can pan to my hearts content and still have well exposed players and deep dark backgrounds with a shutter speed that is just quick enough for my needs .....

sorry for a long winded reply..but the moral of my story is don't just use M for the sake of Using it...but learn when you need to use it as the dumb black box{camera} is not all knowing ....but in most situations AV mode is most used as I want control over aperture and Im content to let the cameras metering do its magic ..

[mugget]

For learning, that's already been covered fairly well - just do whatever will help you understand things better.

Once you have a good understanding - for actual usage I think it's important to understand that each mode has it's uses. For example when I used to take alot of motorsport photos I almost exclusively used shutter priority (Tv) because I found that to be a much easier way to control how the photo looked (slower shutter for more motion/speed blur, or faster shutter for a crisp sharp photo).

Also some cameras actually lend themselves to manual usage, I'd say that rangefinders fall into this category.

But there's no point in worrying if you're using the 'right' or 'proper' setting - just because someone uses manual mode doesn't necessarily mean that they're a better photographer. Just make sure to use the best setting for the current situation and look you want to achieve.

My 2 cents.

[jackdaw]

I reckon AV is ideal to start on. Once you get the understanding of how your aperture is related to shutter speed and shooting stops under/over, then switch to Manual.

[danny]

As a fellow beginner... I usually take a few shots in Av first then switch over to manual that way I have some comparison between what the camera automatically assigns in terms of level and what I think.

Cheers

[Wynny]

I'm a relative newby but have started to get some pleasing and more consistent results concentrating on Av mode.
Having said that however on a recent day of shooting I decided to take control at one stage and go onto Manual mode and those photos were the best of the day. All good learning.

[simongledhill2000]

I use manual mode pretty exclusively - I couldn't really say why, or whether it was a better learning path for me. I've always spot-metered, and to me it feels easier working in manual mode as I'm often metering away from my af point.

As others have stated it may well be easier learning Av and Tv modes first, but you do still need some understanding of how those modes work (or don't) to choose the right mode for the effect you are attempting to achieve.


Simon

[ricktas]

I use manual mode pretty exclusively - I couldn't really say why, or whether it was a better learning path for me. I've always spot-metered, and to me it feels easier working in manual mode as I'm often metering away from my af point.

As others have stated it may well be easier learning Av and Tv modes first, but you do still need some understanding of how those modes work (or don't) to choose the right mode for the effect you are attempting to achieve.


Simon

This thread is in the New To Photography forum, it is for providing advice for beginners. Therefore understanding and learning about the modes is exactly what this entire forum is about.

[jibba02]

I use Aperture priority 95% of the time. most of my work requires me to shoot in constantly changing lighting conditions. if i need to shoot in manual mode i will take an exposure reading in Aperture or Shutter Priority and work my manual setting from there. i dont know anyone that can guess the correct Manual settings to use first time up.

[William W]

It is a rare circumstance that there is the need for one to guess any Manual (exposure) Setting.

WW

[pearson]

I took the time to muck around and get to know how to use manual mode on my camera simply because, if you can get that mastered then Tv or Av mode become a piece of cake. I find myself shooting on full manual as a general rule 99% of the time because it gives you more options to change the way your images will look. You just need to know how you WANT them to look before you take them!

[arthurking83]

...... it gives you more options to change the way your images will look. You just need to know how you WANT them to look before you take them!

Yes it can .. but only when you use external lighting.

For all intents and purposes doing this with either Shutter or Aperture priority or full Manual makes no difference.
But this statement also needs to be qualified with a caveat that your choice of camera will also determine the subtle differences between how each shooting mode operates.

Most importantly is the requirement to fully understand your cameras metering system and what each different metering mode does.
It's been said previously, but needs to be re-iterated again. Your choice of metering mode is more important than your choice of shooting mode(except when external lighting is used).

[William W]

. . .Your choice of metering mode is more important than your choice of shooting mode. . .

+ 1

WW

[BLWNHR]

So my question is do I continue as I am learning Apeture and shutter speed seperately or do i go manual?

Each one has their place and you should learn each one of them. You should also understand the effect aperture has on depth of field as this will influence the mode you choose. Personally I use each of the three in the following circumstances:

Av - I use for portraiture, landscape and other circumstances where you need to control the depth of field (either shallow or deep). Shutter speed should still be in the back of your mind though as too slow and you will get blur or camera-shake.

Tv - I use for sports as you are trying to freeze the action, so aperture is less of a concern. It still is important to remember the aperture and the effect it is having on depth of field.

Manual - I shoot manual about 80% of the time now, and 100% for indoor shots or important portrait sessions. You have full control over what the camera is doing, if you get an unexpected bright light source the camera is not going to try to compensate for that. A good example of that is at the music festival I photographed a few weeks ago. As you will see in this image, the powerful rear-of-stage lighting would have made the camera compensate heavily, but because I was shooting manual the exposure was exactly as I wanted it.
Personally I never use automatic ISO. I used to but found the less you give the camera to think about the better. You'll also know how the camera is going to react in a given circumstance.

Once you start getting into flash photography then you need to intimately understand the relationship between ISO, shutter speed and aperture. Basically Aperture controls the flash power, shutter speed controls the ambient light and ISO controls both. But that's a story for another day.

[Dylan & Marianne]

I use Aperture priority 95% of the time. most of my work requires me to shoot in constantly changing lighting conditions. if i need to shoot in manual mode i will take an exposure reading in Aperture or Shutter Priority and work my manual setting from there. i dont know anyone that can guess the correct Manual settings to use first time up.

actually, if you do enough of the same thing , you quite often have a good starting point
eg.

bright day wedding, when I want limited DOF, I'm at 2.8 iso100, CPL turned on, shooting 1/800
dawn's just broken, I'm at the coast, I want good DOF with 0.3 seconds partial wave motion , I'm usually at F11, iso has to be between 200-800 depending on lighting conditions and filters.

Experience eliminates alot of the guesswork (not all) and gets you closer to where you need to be for given situations

[William]

We take the fun out of it Dylan, I'm the same , Just know all the settings before I even get to the event or Sunrise , Usually set it the night before so I dont have to muck around in the dark for Sunrises