Using "A" setting on Nikon SLR's

Mike Kennedy · Jun 1, 2006

I use 3 different Nikon manual cameras. An FE,FE2 and an FM2.
This morning while photographing rock formations along the river I spied 2 eagles flying in tandem not more than 30ft. away. Knowing that I didn't have time to meter,compose and shoot I quickly set the FE2 to automatic ,focused and got off 3 frames.
What kind of results should I expect? The camera was loaded with Kodak P3200 rated at 1600.

Thanks Much,
Mike

David H. Bebbington · Jun 1, 2006

As far as I recall, all your cameras have center-weighted metering. Assuming you used a long lens and got the eagles fairly large in the frame, the metering should be fine. Were you shooting upwards or horizontally from a high viewpoint? If you were shooting upwards with a shorter lens, the meter may have been fooled by a big expanse of sky into slightly underexposing, but the negatives should still be printable.

Regards,

David

Mike Kennedy · Jun 1, 2006

Thanks David.

Lucky for me the pair was out looking for their morning meal and were flying quite close to the river. I don't think I got too much of the sky in the frames.

Muke

PhotoJim · Jun 1, 2006

It'll depend, too, on what aperture you chose. Aperture priority is only a semiautomatic exposure mode - you have to choose the appropriate aperture for your subject, both for depth of field (or lack thereof) and to get an appropriate shutter speed, if applicable.

DBP · Jun 1, 2006

Shot a couple of rolls of Kodachrome a few weeks back in my FE2, leaving it in aperture priority mode much of the time because I was tired and distracted. The exposure was uniformly pretty good. So I would be surprised if you had any trouble printing the result.

How do you like P3200? How does the grain look?

tony lockerbie · Jun 2, 2006

I find that the Nikon meters are pretty darn good and often use the aperture priority auto. We should't ignore the auto feature on our cameras as the shot is the most important thing - not how we arrived at it. I agree with David and if you haven't too much sky all should be ok.

BradS · Jun 2, 2006

I have an older Nikon FA. I leave it on 'A' for whole rolls at a time. Never a problem. It kinda dulls the operator's brain though.

kivis · Feb 5, 2010

Just setting it to A is no guarantee. A little knowledge of camera and photography basics would help.

unclemack · Feb 5, 2010

Aperture-priority with substitute metering and exposure lock is the way I work in 35mm. - full control and fast to use. Never use the program mode at all and manual only for tripod shots in low light.
I keep the aperture preset to suit the prevailing conditions and the focus preset to a distance appropriate to the location.
With practice you can adjust the camera as conditions change without looking at it or signalling your intentions to a prospective subject - I use 35mm. mostly for street photography - so you can usually get the shot without even raising the camera to eye-level when doing so would attract unwanted attention.

darinwc · Feb 5, 2010

If you were shooting into the sky at the eagles the the exposure is probably underexposed. Even on cloudy days the sky is usually very bright. Unless the eagles filled the frame, the camera was probably calculating the sky for mid-grey.

if you were shooting against a mountain or similar object, the exposure should be spot-on.

Good luck on getting a sharp frame though.

But then again, what do I know. I suck.

Using "A" setting on Nikon SLR's

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