Auto or Manual?

[Markok765]

What do you guys prefer? Do you like a big, fast, AF Auto exposure, technologically advanced camera, or do you like a manual focus, Aperture priority or manual exposure with a meter in the camera?

 

[eddym]

Manual exposure. Auto exposure is not as smart as I am.
Auto focus or manual focus depends on the camera and the job I'm shooting. And the ambient light.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Funny. Both approaches can work. For some kinds of shots, I use a manual 35 mm SLR. But, y'know, when I'm shooting with a fixed aperture lens a body with aperture priority auto exposure usually gives better exposures. My auto exposure body is fairly advanced, but I usually run it on manual.

What do you have against shutter priority? It has its uses too. Incidentally, one can simulate both shutter and aperture priority with a manual camera.

With respect to Eddy's comment, all on-board exposure meters can give wrong advice. One always has to be a bit thoughtful and ready to override them. This is as true of match needle manual SLRs as of fully automatic ones.

I don't have any AF lenses so always focus manually. For most of what I do, AF would get in the way. My advanced body would AF for me if I had lenses for it to run. I do find its focus indicator useful.

 

[Markok765]

I don't have anything against shutter priority. It's just all the manual cameras I have tried that also have a AE mode of some sort, all the AE has been AP.

 

[Stevopedia]

I prefer manual, but I like having automatic options around if I happen to want/need them. Also, sometimes the ergonomics of an electronic AF/AE camera from the '80s or '90s feel better to me than my trusty K1000. Hence my search for an SF1n/SFXn or (P)Z-1p.

OTOH, I've always preferred needle metering to any sort of LED/LCD/etc. metering.

Basically, it's just a question of what mood you happen to be in while you're shooting.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Sometimes I wish I had shutter priority. It would make living with a flash unit a little easier. But I got the guide numbers down so I love my COMPLETELY manual sr-T101. (No battery on purpose, no meter)

 

[Stillsky]

I have a fun time with manual, probably because I'm still learning. That's not to say I can't really learn on a camera with automated functions, but I was using those functions to avoid having to learn. I love shooting with my Pentax k1000. It's all manual and the light meter is busted, so I really have to sit there and think about what I'm doing.

 

[PhotoJim]

Like so many things, it really depends.

If I'm shooting rapidly-moving subjects, I tend to use autofocus (although I'm getting better at focusing manually in such situations). If I'm shooting non-moving or slowly-moving subjects, I will often use manual focus.

As for exposure, again, it depends. In static lighting, manual focus works really well. I will often use manual exposure in snowy conditions, too, because snow so often fools meters (although I've had good luck dialing in +1 2/3 stops in scenes that are predominantly snowy, which permits use of autoexposure most of the time). Conversely, if the lighting is changing quickly (such as in broken cloud during the day), autofocus is a huge convenience.

When I use autofocus I use aperture priority about 95% of the time. I'll occasionally use program mode to ensure I get a reasonable shutter speed with longer lenses (I can quickly override it on my Nikons by spinning the command dial, if I wish), but very occasionally. I almost never use shutter priority because, if I need a fast shutter speed, I'll tend to shoot in aperture priority wide open instead.

 

[Markok765]

Like so many things, it really depends.

If I'm shooting rapidly-moving subjects, I tend to use autofocus (although I'm getting better at focusing manually in such situations). If I'm shooting non-moving or slowly-moving subjects, I will often use manual focus.

As for exposure, again, it depends. In static lighting, manual focus works really well. I will often use manual exposure in snowy conditions, too, because snow so often fools meters (although I've had good luck dialing in +1 2/3 stops in scenes that are predominantly snowy, which permits use of autoexposure most of the time). Conversely, if the lighting is changing quickly (such as in broken cloud during the day), autofocus is a huge convenience.

When I use autofocus I use aperture priority about 95% of the time. I'll occasionally use program mode to ensure I get a reasonable shutter speed with longer lenses (I can quickly override it on my Nikons by spinning the command dial, if I wish), but very occasionally. I almost never use shutter priority because, if I need a fast shutter speed, I'll tend to shoot in aperture priority wide open instead.

Jim, does your F5 get fooled by snow?

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

I don't own a system camera with automation, so I can't exactly say what my preferences are. On the point & shoot that I use, the results are decent, but it still needs babysitting in backlit situations for e.g.

I think the one auto feature I could really use is TTL flash to calculate fill automatically. I know I can find tables and make my own tests, but when I shoot flash, it's in situations where I can't calculate forever. I set my flash on auto to get the light on the subject right, but sometimes I wish I could get a little bit more background lighting.

What I find unfortunate about automation is the need to deal with workarounds like +/- exposure. I find it less confusing to open up or down than to preset a compensation.

 

[PhotoJim]

Jim, does your F5 get fooled by snow?

Honestly, I don't know. I bought it over the winter and was so busy until April that I didn't have any time to shoot with it outdoors.

 

[Andy K]

If I'm shooting fast moving objects etc. I like to use my F80 all auto (except for focus, nothing is more annoying than tracking a fast object and then the focus starts 'hunting' losing the shot). Otherwise I'll use my OM-1, Bessa R3M or SQAi, depending on what I'm doing.

 

[Steve Roberts]

What do you guys prefer? Do you like a big, fast, AF Auto exposure, technologically advanced camera, or do you like a manual focus, Aperture priority or manual exposure with a meter in the camera?

I have no experience of AF beyond P & S cameras and for my documentary/pictorial work which mainly involves stationary subjects I can see no use for it - indeed my guess is that it would prove a hindrance for differential focussing. As for auto exposure, it has its uses and can be surprisingly good, but I only ever think of it as "approximate exposure" and rarely use it as for 95% of shots some form of compensation is necessary and (as has been said previously) this is more easily achieved with manual exposure.

Steve

 

[GeoffHill]

I shoot using a combination of Aperature Priority, and Program mode on my Canon. Program mode works in a similar way to fully auto, but will allow an over-ride of any settings that the camera chooses to use. I normally use an exposure compensation value if the target is very bright or dark, and set the camera to spot meter if the subject is backlit, I only use manual for really long exposures.

I have AF on all the time, and use the focus override along with 'single shot AF' mode on the Canon if AF is failing to aquire the correct subject. I only buy lenses that allow you to override the AF. Some of the cheap and nasty canon lenes have to be set to MF before you can do this

 

[tim_walls]

I shoot either aperture or shutter priority depending on the situation, and use multi-point spot metering pretty much 100% of the time on my Canon; I avoid the automatic metering modes simply because I don't know exactly what they're going to do, whereas multi-spot gives me all the predictable control I need (which given I shoot a lot of slide film is quite a lot .)

Focus wise, I have AF bound to a control button rather than the shutter; AF bound to shutter press drives me nuts, but when it's on its own button it's great, particularly if your eyesight is as poor as mine... I did replace my focus screen with a split prism for MF anyway though.

My MF and LF are fully manual of course - but I use a handheld meter that also has multi-spot memory functions.

 

[telyt]

With my film cameras it's manual all the way. Automation (focus or exposure) can give me a good approximation but for precision manual focus and manual exposure work better for me. With my non-film camera I'll start with the auto-exposure setting (aperture priority) and fine-tune by chimping the histogram.

 

[Soeren]

Even with My F90X and F100 I mostly use Manual mode though I also use AF once in a while.
To put your question in another way I would ask "automation or bigger negs?" My F100 with MB15 is approximately as big as my Pentax 6X7 though not quite as heavy so you can have a 35mm auto everything or an all manual camera of the same size creating negs more than 4,5 times larger or a mostly manual 35mm camera "half the size and weight"

""not quite true but states my case

Kind regards

 

[benjiboy]

Speaking personally, I seem to get a much higher proportion of of correct exposures for my work ( mainly portraits, and mainly static subjects using colour films both slides and prints ) using incidental light readings and I use this method wherever possible I've been doing this for many years with my Mamiya TLRs that are meter less , I tend to only use TTL metering for action shots with long lenses.

 

[marsbars]

I tend to prefer all manual myself as most of my cameras that is all that is available. But My F3 is AP when needed and it is nice when I don't want to be fiddling with the shutter dial. Just set the aperture and go. I do have one all Auto camera and I hate letting it choose for me. I tend to use Manual on it or the TV or AP modes. As far as Auto focus, I find it to be a worthless thing. It can be convenient but more a hassle. I tend to switch it to MF. Unless I am just being totally lazy.

 

[Vonder]

I own just about every system and combination there is. Aperture priority, shutter priority, program, manual, in both AF and non-AF flavors. I've invested in two excellent Tamron Adaptall zooms and can shoot with them on all my film and digital bodies - manual focus of course. I have a few not so good lenses and a few gems of camera body manufacturer design and it all comes down to this:

What thinking do I want to skip?

Sometimes it's obvious - my eyesight isn't perfect so an AF camera is sometimes more reliable than my eyes, especially with lenses with f4 or worse max apertures. Conversely, when I want the SHARPEST photo I can make, I'll grab a 50mm prime and focus it manually. I can see the focus quite nicely at f 1.9 or better.

As far as exposure, I usually know the critical factor between shutter speed and aperture (for example, shoot 1/ lens focal length to minimize shake) so I'll set that at minimum and let the camera do the other part. I also know that certain cameras meter better than others - my Canon A-1 seems to be incapable of handling any backlit situation correctly - and adjust, maybe even switching to manual to set what I feel is the better exposure.

I have my eyes open for a certain manual-focus 35mm SLR, that I think is perfectly-designed for switching from aperture priority, shutter priority, program, and all-manual in a totally logical manner. I'll let you know if I find one. They're a rare bird unfortunately.

 

[narsuitus]

I use both automatic/electronic cameras and manual/mechanical cameras. However, my personal preference is for the battery-independent manual/mechanical cameras.

 

[Colin Corneau]

You get to know your meter, like you get to know a film or a developer or any other aspect of a camera. That's been my experience -- for most standard scenes I am OK with relying on the meter but you have to know when to ignore it.

 

[benjiboy]

I agree

You get to know your meter, like you get to know a film or a developer or any other aspect of a camera. That's been my experience -- for most standard scenes I am OK with relying on the meter but you have to know when to ignore it.

I agree with you Colin, you have to recognize the situations that will fool the metering system, both in TTL meters and hand held ones, I don't know how this is done TTL multi-pattern matrix type metering its probably not possible you probably just have to trust the cameras "brain".
Unfortunately in my experience its the sort of exposure situations that will fool light meters, without modification by the photographer ,that tend to make the great shots.

 

[jgcull]

I find working with a manual camera easiest. All that electronic stuff baffles me. I have a Nikon F100 and I use it occasionally, but I know *it* can do more than I care to take the time to learn. So I prefer my FM2, Hasselblad, or even my older FG (which is broken, but I wish I still had it).

 

[Magoo79]

I love all my Manual cameras. My mamiyas and cambo don't have any meters or fancy settings so I just break out my Gossen spot meter. My Canon f1n is manual and I'm building up a lens collection for it and hardly use it since it's mint. Its only for special occasions. Mostly I use my canon eos cameras. They are pretty reliable as far as metering. Normally I will use the auto focus since it is pretty accurate, especially when having to work fast. I will normally set up speeds manually, but if I'm in a rush or doing alot of shooting i do put it in program, aperature or shutter priority to make things quicker and the camera seems to be pretty spot on as far as my exposures. Even when shooting chrome I don't get the highlights blown out unless it's really complicated then I switch back to manual and make the changes I want.

Mike.