DSLR users, do you shoot in manual mode?

[hawkaye]

Good evening,

I was wondering what the general consensus was on the manual mode. I personally always shoot in manual, but get laughed at by friends for the hassle it causes. Even at motorsport events I never use TV, should I? A lot of my shots seem pretty soft compared to other peoples with the same gear. I'm using a Canon 350D & 40D (mainly the 40D) and L lenses, so my shots should be pretty sharp? I could study the exif for other people's shots, but this could take an age.

I only got into photography (dslr's) in February 2007 so am still a bit of a noob.

What do you guys prefer?

[nick_bbb]

90% of the time AV, 9% TV, 1% Manual.

[Simpo Two]

As you say 'soft' I think you mean manual focus, not manual exposure?

[V6GTO]

The mode you shoot in shouldn't have anything to do with getting soft images...it should only govern exposure.

I use Manual most of the time, but it's not necessary to get a good shot. There is always more than one way to skin a cat. If I were you I'd stick with it because ultimately it's good experience and you should end up being very proficient with your camera quicker.

M.

[hawkaye]

Simpo Two said:

As you say 'soft' I think you mean manual focus, not manual exposure?

Even on autofocus mate

see the little M on the dial, that's the one I'm talking about

Edited by hawkaye on Wednesday 23 January 22:33

[Simpo Two]

hawkaye said:

Even on autofocus mate see the little M on the dial, that's the one I'm talking about

Well that's exposure - nothing to with focus. But you implied that because you used it, your shots were out of focus. You have another problem to address!

[Luca Brazzi]

For my motorsport pics, always autofocus, always manual exposure.
LB

[hawkaye]

Simpo Two said:

hawkaye said:

Even on autofocus mate see the little M on the dial, that's the one I'm talking about

Well that's exposure - nothing to with focus. But you implied that because you used it, your shots were out of focus. You have another problem to address!

hmm, I think it's exposure that's the issue, I've never quite got my head around this. I hear this book is pretty good. Have any of you guys read it?

[nick_bbb]

So those who use manual exposure, do you use a light meter all the time? Do you use the in camera meter and then set the exposure yourself? Or do you just guess the exposure by experience? Just curious really. How do you deal with clouds or changing light when shooting reportage?

I know what aparture I want to use or what shutter speed I want to use and find the camera does a bloody god job of working out the other 99% of the time. Hence the 1% as I would use manual to adjust if I'm not getting what I want.

[nick_bbb]

BTW Hawkeye it could be because you're not using a fast enough shutter speed and getting camera shake

[hawkaye]

nick_bbb said:

BTW Hawkeye it could be because you're not using a fast enough shutter speed and getting camera shake

It's not the shutter speed mate, and even if I use a tripod/monopod the results are the same. My shots are not always soft, but the more I think about it the more I think exposure is the problem. I need to do some reading me thinks

[V6GTO]

Just seen your Armani shot. It's not particularly soft...it's just not sharpened. And there is nothing wrong with the exposure either. There is a very shallow Depth of Field, so while the metal badge is in focus the lables are not. If you set a smaller apature this will solve this problem...of course it creates another problem in that you will need a slower shutter speed or a higher ISO setting

M.

Edited by V6GTO on Wednesday 23 January 23:12

[hawkaye]

V6GTO said:

Just seen your Armani shot. It's not particularly soft...it's just not sharpened. And there is nothing wrong with the exposure either.

M.

That's maybe not a great example Martin, I'll dig a couple out and post the exif

Edited by hawkaye on Wednesday 23 January 23:09

[V6GTO]

I added a couple of sentances on to the above post.

Your shot a bit sharper

Edited by V6GTO on Wednesday 23 January 23:15

[RobDickinson]

If your shooting in RAW you HAVE to sharpen after, and adjust levels/colour etc.

It could be shake, subject motion (both due to shutter speeds) , it could be shallow DOF or softness due to lens/aperture settings too.

[Ordinary Bloke]

I'd say unless you are after a particular effect, Canon's P mode does the job 90% of the time. I'm a portrait photographer so if people aremoving around I use P or otherwise I'm in AV mode using f1.8-f3.5 to soften the background. For fast moving action (motorsport with frozen background, not blurred) try selecting a high shutter speed. Or close to the widest aperture you have (best performance of most lenses being 1-1.5 stops from widest aperture).

I wouldn't dream of using full manual on a Canon 350D, though. Why bother? Let it do the work. Before the cars come past, do some test shots, look at the histogram then dial in some compensation +/- 0.5 or 1 stop.

If you're not happy with your pics, I'd look at the lens. Or more specifically, look what other people are using. Those sport photographers have f2.8 Canon-L Series for a reason. Look at Sigma EX for a low-cost alternative. No substitute for glass...

[hawkaye]

It's definitely exposure I need to get to grips with. I've not really read the manual/s for my camera/s and maybe I should?

I've just had a quick scroll down all my raw images in Digital Photo Professional (canon software) and the Exposure Compensation for all my shots is 0

Reading manuals has never been my strong point..

[RobDickinson]

You only need exposure comp if the meetering mode is going to get it wrong.

Your camera will meeter in manual mode to help you too.

IMO manual mode is only realy usefull when you want to control both ap and shutter for a particular effect or if meetering just cant cope and exp comp isnt going to work.

But you have to work over RAW shots...

[Ordinary Bloke]

I don't read the manuals either.

M mode means you're going to adjust the aperture and shutter speed, based on the lightmeter reading. Why bother?

Why not pick one (aperture or shutter speed) and let the camera pick the other?

Take a few pics, one is normally enough, then see if you think it's to light or dark. Then use the exposure compensation button and dial in some less or more light.

But if you're using a low-cost lens, you'll always be disappointed if you compare yourself to people using 'serious' glass. A professional is using a multi-thousand pound lens. The camera body has relatively little influence. It's not easy to take good motorsport pics with a standard lens.

[hawkaye]

V6GTO said:

Your shot a bit sharper

Big difference mate!

RobDickinson said:

If your shooting in RAW you HAVE to sharpen after, and adjust levels/colour etc.

I always shoot in raw. You have to adjust each shot? I normally do some pp though. Man, this is not as easy as back in my day at high school, stuck in a dark room..

Ordinary Bloke said:

I'd say unless you are after a particular effect, Canon's P mode does the job 90% of the time. I'm a portrait photographer so if people aremoving around I use P or otherwise I'm in AV mode using f1.8-f3.5 to soften the background. For fast moving action (motorsport with frozen background, not blurred) try selecting a high shutter speed. Or close to the widest aperture you have (best performance of most lenses being 1-1.5 stops from widest aperture).

I wouldn't dream of using full manual on a Canon 350D, though. Why bother? Let it do the work. Before the cars come past, do some test shots, look at the histogram then dial in some compensation +/- 0.5 or 1 stop.

If you're not happy with your pics, I'd look at the lens. Or more specifically, look what other people are using. Those sport photographers have f2.8 Canon-L Series for a reason. Look at Sigma EX for a low-cost alternative. No substitute for glass...

Thanks for the advice! I have some pretty decent glass (17-40mm L, 100-400mm L), it's just the f2.8 bit that I'm missing