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http://www.tipf.co.uk/forums/topic/46369-important~-the-forum-its-future-and-finances/

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https://www.tipf.co.uk/forums/topic/57184-202223-forum-finances-update-important-notice/

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https://www.tipf.co.uk/forums/topic/57184-202223-forum-finances-update-4th-july-2023/

 

A Giant Leap into the Unknown


David995031

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SInce I bought my DSLR in July I have clung desperately to the security blanket of the semi auto modes. Yesterday, with some trepidation, I went fully manual. Some of the results follow. Maybe nothing special as photos (chronically under exposed until I did some PP work) but they are quite ground breaking for me!

 

IMG_2195.jpg

IMG_2201.jpg

IMG_2210.jpg

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For me, manual shooting would be used just for tricky lighting situations or for still life shots in the studio spare bedroom. And even then.........

I use aperture priority for almost everything as I like the control it gives me, to be honest I've never seen it as a 'security blanket', it's just the way I use a camera.

It'll be interesting to see what others think.

Korky

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A very interesting topic both.....

For my daily  Street jaunts, I invariably rely on aperture priority, because it ensure almost a 100% success rate as far as lighting goes.

But, since learning about, then studying Zone Focusing whilst using fully manual vintage lenses, I can now revert back to faffing about to get best results.

The important bit, is to record shots that please both you and your chosen viewers .....how you capture them, really doesnt matter.

Digital, makes it SO easy to check as you co, so no real hassle.

FUJI

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I don't think the automatic modes - around since the 1970s - have ever been seen as a 'security blanket'? Like the KMeister - and possibly the majority of keen amateur and even pro photographers - I tend to use Aperture Priority mostly. It gives me all kinds of control, and usually the selected shutter speed isn't an issue unless I want deliberate blur. With EV up to +/- 3 stops that's as much manual control most of us would ever need.

The exception I'd say, is students of photography who really SHOULD use manual mode, but only in order to learn about the different aspects of photography.

Your tree shots are very pleasant, but do you think A mode plus judicial use of EV could not have achieved the same?

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19 minutes ago, ChrisLumix said:

I don't think the automatic modes - around since the 1970s - have ever been seen as a 'security blanket'? Like the KMeister - and possibly the majority of keen amateur and even pro photographers - I tend to use Aperture Priority mostly. It gives me all kinds of control, and usually the selected shutter speed isn't an issue unless I want deliberate blur. With EV up to +/- 3 stops that's as much manual control most of us would ever need.

The exception I'd say, is students of photography who really SHOULD use manual mode, but only in order to learn about the different aspects of photography.

Your tree shots are very pleasant, but do you think A mode plus judicial use of EV could not have achieved the same?

The rather unsatisfactory answer to your question is that I really don't know. As I said, they came out of the camera rather under exposed which they wouldn't have in Aperture Priority. All the above responses are making question whether I am making a rod for my own back but I think I will stick with manual for a while at least and see how it goes.

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The ONLY reason I switch to full manual exposure control from my almost universal use of Aperture Priority is if I NEED to - by which I mean when I know the camera won't get it right.

For example:

If I am shooting a panoramic series where I need all the exposure to match I will either lock the auto exposure or switch to manual when I know I'm going to be taking a significant number of images.
If I am shooting in low light and need longer than 30 second exposures.
If I am shooting interiors and need a large range of exposures to combine later using HDR software.
If I am shooting a macro stack where dozens of files are needed and they all have to be the same exposure.
If I'm in a studio with controlled lighting or flash.
...etc....etc

The vast majority of the time though I shoot AP and tweak the exposure with the compensation dial. 

If your images came out under (over) exposed I'm guessing you were picking a aperture and shutter speed combination you wanted for some reason and not the one that the camera indicated as being correct. Manual exposure doesn't give you free reign to set what you want, you still have to go by an exposure meter - either the one in the camera in which case you might as well use auto for most situations - or a hand held meter - assuming you know what to point it at or where to place it to read the relevant light conditions.

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Apart from specials (e.g. debunking the "No stars myth") I think I only really use manual on the film cameras -- the MF camera because that's all it has, and "Guided Manual" on the Minolta as there is no exposure comp setting and I prefer that to changing the ISO.

 

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44 minutes ago, Black Pearl said:

The ONLY reason I switch to full manual exposure control from my almost universal use of Aperture Priority is if I NEED to - by which I mean when I know the camera won't get it right.

For example:

If I am shooting a panoramic series where I need all the exposure to match I will either lock the auto exposure or switch to manual when I know I'm going to be taking a significant number of images.
If I am shooting in low light and need longer than 30 second exposures.
If I am shooting interiors and need a large range of exposures to combine later using HDR software.
If I am shooting a macro stack where dozens of files are needed and they all have to be the same exposure.
If I'm in a studio with controlled lighting or flash.
...etc....etc

The vast majority of the time though I shoot AP and tweak the exposure with the compensation dial. 

If your images came out under (over) exposed I'm guessing you were picking a aperture and shutter speed combination you wanted for some reason and not the one that the camera indicated as being correct. Manual exposure doesn't give you free reign to set what you want, you still have to go by an exposure meter - either the one in the camera in which case you might as well use auto for most situations - or a hand held meter - assuming you know what to point it at or where to place it to read the relevant light conditions.

Thanks for the reply .....  really useful.

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Aperture priority mostly 

With the fuji I can set my iso to auto and fix its upper limit to 1600 (my preference it does have many settings)  

I set my shutter speed to auto 
that way once ive decided the aperture the holy trinity of "Aperture shutter speed and iso" leaves the camera to sort out the SS and iso 
I can of course alter the SS and the aperture and watch the histo gram do its thing with the iso up to its limit till the correct exposure is sorted 
Just to head off the ar buts I have various custom settings with different iso levels for the black cat int coyle ole situations

Ive never been really sure what full manual is, as BP says you need to know the correct combinations of the holy trinity which is done by an exposure meter externally or in camera then you can do the fancy bits, 1 stop under 1 stop over etc 
I think manual is when you go away from programme 

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I must admit for the first 6 months of getting my DSLR I used the fully atomatioc Mode, the I began using Aperture Priority, mostly now I use Aperture Prority with plus/minus EV, if I'm shooting a bright scene I might keep the shutter speed the same but reduce the EV by -1/3 to 1 steps, if its dull or overcats I usually increase the EV  bp plus 1/3rd tp plus one. There are a few exceptions like when I'm using the Macro Ringflash and then I use all Manual Settings (Usually f11, iso 100, 1/200th). or if I'm trying to acheive something different.

To be honest there's no real right/wrong way to do something and it's always good to experiment with different settings - I know I did and still do

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12 hours ago, Black Pearl said:

The ONLY reason I switch to full manual exposure control from my almost universal use of Aperture Priority is if I NEED to - by which I mean when I know the camera won't get it right.

For example:

If I am shooting a panoramic series where I need all the exposure to match I will either lock the auto exposure or switch to manual when I know I'm going to be taking a significant number of images.
If I am shooting in low light and need longer than 30 second exposures.
If I am shooting interiors and need a large range of exposures to combine later using HDR software.
If I am shooting a macro stack where dozens of files are needed and they all have to be the same exposure.
If I'm in a studio with controlled lighting or flash.
...etc....etc

Nice list BP pretty much says it all, I will also flick between AP and SP depending on the subject.

But one thing I often say is DONT use full auto if you really need to make things simple use P mode, with P mode you can still adjust one of the most important parts of a camera - focus. I have seen many shots spoilt due to the focus point taking control on the nearest subject. P mode will set most things but still let you move the focus point and this I always try to convince beginners good focus is the starting point rather than full auto.

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All the above replies are really interesting and valuable. I remember feeling quite apprehensive when taking my first tentative steps in to the semi auto modes. I feel the same now about manual but I think I will stick at it for a while as, being a novice, continued use will make my understanding of the exposure triangle second nature. At the moment, I still have to think about it. I find I am tending to over compensate towards under exposure as these shots can be saved in PP while over exposure mean a ruined photo. 

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Well I am fairly new to this , I started off using Auto , then went to AP , and for most of the time had reasonable images, but then I switched to manual, and Auto ISO, and found my images improved for me a lot, my King fisher ones on here and Squirrel ones were on that setting, and I think I will stay on this ,

I think its a personal thing , what ever suites you best.

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1 hour ago, Rogerw said:

Well I am fairly new to this , I started off using Auto , then went to AP , and for most of the time had reasonable images, but then I switched to manual, and Auto ISO, and found my images improved for me a lot, my King fisher ones on here and Squirrel ones were on that setting, and I think I will stay on this ,

I think its a personal thing , what ever suites you best.

Did you notice and immediate improvement, Roger, or did you have to work at it? 

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One quick note - manually setting the shutter speed and aperture but having the ISO on auto still means the camera is automatically choosing the exposure - that is not manual exposure in its true sense.

Now in Rogers case it works (sports shooters often use this method too) as he requires a reasonably fast shutter speed and knows which aperture gives the resulting DoF that suits the image both of which are more important that actually controlling the resulting exposure - which the camera is doing by altering the ISO.

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As an experiment, I kept my GX7 on manual earlier today....a typical November Day....Aperture 1.7   S 800     iSO 200

Here is the result, after checking that all was well.

1: As taken ...cropped:

2: Processed Colour:

3: Processed Mono:

The exposure is right, the shutter speed has frozen the motion and the ISO has meant minimum noise:

The EXIF should be there but I don't know haw to see it on TIPF:

As stated above....usually I have my camera in Aperture Priority....but since using Vintage lenses I like the Manual Setting after doing checks:

FUJI

WHOOPS! please number from last shot first

SHOPPER TEST Processed mono.jpg

SHOPPER TEST Processed colour.jpg

SHOPPER TEST as taken  cropped.jpg

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27 minutes ago, Black Pearl said:

EXIF:

Camera: Panasonic DMC-GX7
Lens: LUMIX G 20/F1.7 
Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/640 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200

Thanks Robin....

Proof once again that numbers and I don't get on ;-))

It matters not.....1/640 sec froze the motion, just as I had planned.......it is obvious to me now,  that I had set the camera to 1/800 sec, then adjusted the shutter speed to grab a little more light.

FUJI

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8 hours ago, Black Pearl said:

One quick note - manually setting the shutter speed and aperture but having the ISO on auto still means the camera is automatically choosing the exposure - that is not manual exposure in its true sense.

And what's worse (at least on my camera) is that not only is it Auto ISO with manual to get a correct exposure, but the EV no  longer functions. To go "fully manual" I'd have to take it off Auto ISO and use the histogram or exposure meter to set it to a value that is a known variation away from the "correct exposure". All of which takes about 5 times longer than switching to A mode and using the EV.

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I keep my 7d in manual for 99% of the time. If light conditions are varied i use auto ISO.   I find when I walk around towns and cities this is particularly useful. With stable conditions I select my favoured ISO.  A few years back i was reluctant to use anything but the lowest ISO. Boy did things improve for me when I ditched this approach. I find results will be the same with aperture priority / shutter priority / manual.  I just feel the semi auto modes can be restrictive and it is quicker for me using manual. We all have a favourite approach I guess.  

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