To the Masters:

[kira_greene]

<p>I was wondering what mode all you professionals keep your camera set to - is it all manual? Do you prefer a priority mode? Auto even? </p>

<p>I ask because I keep mine in manual, and sometimes it takes too long to set the exposure, and I miss the shot. However, since working in manual I now dislike the effects my onboard flash gives to my photos. I don't like P mode because it seems that autofocus isn't as sharp. That could easily be user error though. I don't feel guilty about using auto mode anymore because I understand and can properly expose a photograph...so I was just wondering what the pros do.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

[john_elder1]

<p>Every time you move into a different light situation correct the exposure settings on the camera. That way when a shot presents itself, al you have to do(most of the time) is focus and shoot.</p>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>In most program modes the camera sets the lens to its widest aperture until the light levels are high enough to permit smaller apertures while maintaining a hand holdable shutter speed. Instead of unsharpness you may not have enough depth of field. Also, since the program setting may be keeping the lens wide open, the lens is not working at its optimum aperture. Most lenses are at their sharpest at 2 to 3 stops down from wide open.<br>

If manual exposure requires too much time to set and program is not delivering results that are satisfactory why not try aperture priority. With that you can set the aperture and let the camera automatically select a shutter speed.<br>

I don't use program much. Usually for grab shots when I'm outside and have pleny of light.</p>

[garrison_k.]

<p><em>...so I was just wondering what the pros do.</em></p>

<p>What is a pro?</p>

[frank_dzambic]

<p>Good question Kira. See my reply in this thread.<br>

http://www.photo.net/beginner-photography-questions-forum/00SDrS</p>

<p>If you're missing shots by shooting in Manual mode then why are you shooting in Manual mode?</p>

[bobcossar]

<p>I leave the camera set on P, Center Focus, Highest quality jpg, and 400 iso when I am just out wandering......not much you can't get that way.....regards, Bob</p>

[jenkins]

<p>I only bought my camera a year ago and i can't see the problem with Manuel mode, it seems very straight forward, select what f number you want, check the exposure reading and adjust it accordingly, if the picture is too bright, increase the shutter speed, i use this nearly all the time now, along with the histogram there is a lot of help on modern cameras.</p>

[seismiccwave]

<p>There are four variables in photography. The aperture setting, the shutter speed setting, the ISO setting and the focus. Since I am assuming you are using auto focus so let's take that out of the equation. Assuming that you have your ISO preference for most shots so we can leave that out of the equation for now. So you can control either the aperture or shutter speed and let the other one come in automatically with your light meter in the camera. <br>

I personally prefer aperture priority and I control the aperture. Then I let the shutter speed comes in automatically. I just keep an eye on it in the view finder.</p>

[brucecahn]

<p>I am new to digital and far from a master in it. But I have discovered that the manual setting is the only way to conveniently control the variables: focus, f stop, shutter speed, color or B&W, and flash. That capability is why I bought an SLR, otherwise I was happy with my Canon P&S. I also use a handheld meter because it is a very good incident meter for the studio, and gives me better results than the one in the camera.</p>

[pjmeade]

<p>For average daylight conditions: Aperture priority, centre spot AF, and centre weighted metering, iso-100 to 400.<br>

The rest of the time, manual.</p>

[tonmestrom]

<p>aperture or shutter priority, depending on the subject. Fully manual is a purist thing.</p>

[sasvata__shash__chatterjee]

<p>I am not a professional photographer by any means, but just to give you another data point....I agree with Ton's statement. </p>

<p>In today's world, manual is needed for some extremely limited and specialized situations, and you should use it if you must. It is also worth understanding how to do manual exposure if you use older film cameras without automatic metering. But, having said that, for most situations I think it is better to use semi-auto exposure, i.e. aperture-priority or shutter-priority. I would really, really strongly recommend reading Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure book if you haven't already. Based on what you want to portray, you need to decide whether the choice of aperture (affects depth-of-field and lens sharpness) or choice of shutter-speed (affects capture of motion/blur/stability) is more important for the frame, and use that to decide which of the exposure-priority modes to use. If you can't choose the aperture or shutter-speed you need, that would be time to try alternative ISO settings. But between aperture/shutter-speed, choose one yourself, let the camera choose the other. You still need to understand what the camera is going to pick, but I think letting the camera choose it means you can take advantage of the camera's speed when light changes subtly between when you metered and when you actually take the shot. When the camera does it, it can actually choose much finer gradations than you would using manual controls. I was taking a shot with a no-meter Rolleicord the other day, and drove me nuts as to when the sun would go in and out of clouds between my bouts of trying to focus with a waist-level viewfinder! Even though I was in shade, the light level changed appreciably, and I had to fiddle with the shutter-speed constantly instead of thinking about the composition.</p>

<p>With digital, I find that you can just use any old metering mode and adjust after watching the histogram, as long as you have the luxury of taking two or more shots. But, watch out for setting the habit, if you ever have to shoot film, you better understand how metering works, the different metering modes, and also understand how/why to do spot-metering with exposure-compensation.</p>

[allardk]

<p>I would not call myself a master. But here's how I look at it: mostly aperture priority, with direct access to under and overexposure via the thumbweel on my canon 40d. That's not very different from using manual, except it's faster because in most situations you don't have to turn the wheel.<br>

When using flash as main light: usually manual & ETTL, with Flash Exposure Compensation if needed. With flash, exposure becomes very different and the auto part is now in the flash intensity instead of in the choice of shutter speed.<br>

In some difficult situations: manual. This image (that's me, taken by a friend with my camera) is a good example. The lights in the background may appear or dissapear in the image if I move my head a bit, and they can fool the light meter. The amount of light on my face is constant. So when taking pictures like this, you want to press the shutter based on someones expression, you want to react fast and not have to dial EC. You could spot meter with Av, but this limits your choice of composition if you don't have the time to lock and recompose. So you meter once for how the light is, set that in your manual setting, point, wait and shoot.</p><div></div>

[sarah_fox]

<p>M and Av. I was very recently in a situation in which I had to grab a flash shot REALLY FAST with a 40D. I popped the flash, flipped the camera to P, and shot. It didn't work. (!) Boy, I felt dumb. I don't trust anything other than M, Av, and perhaps Tv. I don't even know what the flower, mountain, and other modes do. Don't care.</p>

[CharlesBecker-Toronto]

<p>I'm hardly a 'master' but, for what it's worth I use mostly the same settings as Bob Cossar; "P' (programmed auto), center focus, and highest quality jpeg for my standard settings then deviate from them as necessary. I use an ISO setting of 200 and again, change that as required. Hope that helps! regards, cb :-)</p>

<p><br /></p>

[kira_greene]

<p>Thanks! <br>

I hadn't expected such detailed answers, I appreciate it though. :)</p>

<p>I have read, and do own, <i>Understanding Exposure</i>, and refer to it often. I stay in Manual simply for the sake of truly understanding exposure. <br>

I am happy to know how the camera uses P mode, and that my photos in that mode were slightly not focused because of ignorant user, not broken camera. LOL<br>

I do shoot film, which is partly why getting it right is so important to me, the other part is just wanting to know! <br>

I think I am so slow, because I am constantly reading the meter, instead of doing it once for the light and then focusing on composition, instead I am trying it all at once: exposure, composition...however, I do keep my ISO at 200.<br>

I don't know what Av mode is, my Nikon doesn't have that. It sounds nice though. </p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

[jenkins]

<p><strong><em>I don't know what Av mode is, my Nikon doesn't have that. It sounds nice though.</em></strong></p>

<p>Kira Av i think is Cannon, its the same as A on the Nikon, Aperture.</p>

[CharlesBecker-Toronto]

<p>Simon is correct; 'Av' for Canon and 'A' for Nikon both being Aperture Priority mode.</p>

[david israel]

<p>M or AV or sometimes TV mostly.<br>

Fun question!</p>

[jenkins]

<p><strong><em>Fun question!</em></strong><br>

It is a fun question and an interesting one, i only bought my first Adult Camera :) 13 months ago, luckily i found this website Kira, i have no friends into photography, no mentor, just P.Net for answers, now my camera makes some sense, in fact 90% more sense than when i first bought it, i know at first its a mystery and confusing but stick with it and look for simple answers to your questions, people are great on this site and really willing to help, if you don't understand just keep asking and people will guide you.</p>

[kira_greene]

<p>Hmmm....</p>

<p>Let me clarify: I can properly expose a photograph 100% of the time in manual mode.</p>

<p>My question was simply "what mode do you normally shoot in?" and by mode I meant what you have to choose from on the dial, (auto(green box), aperture priority, manual, landscape, macro, sports, shutter speed priority, etc.)</p>

<p><i>I was not asking how to expose a photo,</i> I was asking what people most often keep their camera in, since it takes me a few minutes to get my light meter where I want it. Recently I was the subject for a photoshoot, and the photographer never turned any dials on the camera, all they did was adjust focal length on the lens to zoom in or out. So, I was wondering if AFTER one understands exposure does one go to auto or a priority mode simply for the fact of saving time while composing photos.</p>

<p>Nonetheless, I appreciate all the tips.</p>

[allardk]

<p><em>it takes me a few minutes to get my light meter where I want it</em><br>

What kind of camera do you use that it takes you minutes? I do it in a few seconds at most. At the photoshoot, was there a lot of changes in the amount of light? If not, all the photographer has to do is set once to get the proper exposure and fire away. Or 'they' were using a P mode, of course.<br>

<em>I was wondering if AFTER one understands exposure does one go to auto or a priority mode</em><br>

To understand exposure (to me) means the mode does not matter anymore to get the right exposure, so you can choose based on convenience. Before you understand exposure the mode does not matter so much either, since you will either let the camera decide completely or make similar mistakes in any mode.</p>