Scotty wrote:
It's the same metering. If the scene messes up the meter in AP, it'll do the same in manual. That's why I depend on histogram and I don't think you'll disagree with me there.
Yeh exactly, except AP will mess up when light changes. Manual mode can do the same I guess. Also, the meter (as I have said over and over) is just a guide in Manual mode, in AP it's your god! It must be obeyed!
Here's why I shoot manual when doing events. I do use the meter, but only as a rough guide. The rest in up to my eyes and knowledge.
1. Light in the rooms or particular areas are fairly consistent and I can usually set the camera to give me a good middle exposure and keep my shutter speed high. Often I'll have a setting for the stage (say ISO 1600, 1/300, F4) and another for the audience (say ISO 1600, 1/150, f/2..
2. Because the settings are constant, when I edit in light room, I can synchronize the settings over a group of photos (say I took 10 photos of a particular table and the light was a little bit darker there, so I boost exposure on the first one till it's right, then I can synchronize over the entire set of 10, knowing that the settings are exactly the same and I won’t be getting weird differences. This is a MAJOR time saver.
3. Constant white balance lets me adjust and synchronise over large batches (sometimes all the photos) for perfect white balance in seconds.
4. If I'm shooting the audience and the stage is in the background, I know the bright lights of the stage aren't going to affect the exposure on the audience member (by audience I mean people who are not giving speeches usually), so I don't have to mess about with EC for varying backlight.
5. I know that I'll constantly have enough shutter speed for my particular lens.
6. Because I'm super cool.
So Manual saves me a lot of time, where EC and AP would get me way too much variation.
Hassner wrote: My lighting situations change too quickly for me to not to shoot MM.
I will forget to change my over/under settings.
I do not look at my shots after every frame taken, so I might end up with flops.
Today I had to snap a lot of interiors. (Snap = point and shoot.)
Pointing the camera towards windows will underexpose the interior with 1-2 stops.
So MM makes sense to me.
Our topics differ. Whatever works for the individual.
yeh exactly, when your image is going to affected by backlight (or lack there of) then manual is superior.
There is another topic here that affects this debate....how is you metering set? I often switch between matrix, centre weight and spot depending on what I want to be metering in the scene. I would shoot in manual when I take e camera off matrix otherwise I would get some pretty bad exposures on PAS modes
With my Canon I find that the various metering modes work the same in the PAS modes as in Manual. Seems like a very odd distinction to me. Of course the PAS modes do require EC sometimes. Is there something odd about Nikon's version of EC???
Alan Nunez wrote: There is another topic here that affects this debate....how is you metering set? I often switch between matrix, centre weight and spot depending on what I want to be metering in the scene. I would shoot in manual when I take e camera off matrix otherwise I would get some pretty bad exposures on PAS modes
Well that is a valid point, as each of the metering modes does affect the programmed modes. But even in matrix I still find that Nikons over expose to some degree, and that is dependent on the type of light you are dealing with. I never use CW metering myself, but I do use Spot if I have a very high range scene to deal with. That way you get a better idea of how much of a difference each part of it is from the other. Then I can go back to Matrix, and decide how far I need to go from the exposures from light to dark. For a later HDR conversion of course. But I find that to be fairly rare.
KCook wrote: With my Canon I find that the various metering modes work the same in the PAS modes as in Manual. Seems like a
very odd distinction to me. Of course the PAS modes do require EC
sometimes. Is there something odd about Nikon's version of EC???
Kelly
They work the same in all of the Nikon modes as well, but it is just that Matrix/Evaluative mode works better in the programmed modes, since it measures the over all scene, and applies a solution to attempt to expose it all correctly. EC is just to adjust the exposure that the camera formulated to the users taste, or what the user thinks is the right exposure. So that is why I would rather do it in MM by adjusting my shot by tweaking the meter. Also with Nikons you can offset your meter with the EC so when it is in the center it is exposure compensated. I found that out the hard way when I was playing with the other modes, and using EC, and then forgetting to set the EC back to zero. My shots were far too under exposed.
Stealthy Ninja wrote: Manual mode and aperture priority with the same settings, the needle in the middle will expose the exact same.
This is true. If AP by some chance gives you the exact same settings as M, then it will be exactly the same... The point is, will AP give you the correct settings or will something in the scene confuse it?
As I said in the old thread (or something similar at least):
If your using EC, why not just go all the way and get full control with MM?
EC can change when light changes, therefore your settings get messed up (say you know that faces in the audience need X settings, then some strong back light comes behind them, maybe from the stage, using EC would make your setting way too dark for your subject (stupid camera).
EC might work for one shot, but don't expect it to be constant. If you want to have your settings to be constant, then manual is the only way to go.
Not saying auto modes and EC can't work, but they don't know light so well. Also, I only use the meter as a rough guide. I adjust according to my eyes, not what the dumb camera thinks is right.
It's the same metering. If the scene messes up the meter in AP, it'll do the same in manual. That's why I depend on histogram and I don't think you'll disagree with me there.
Why Yes Adrian you are correct. If you keep the metering centered then they will be the same settings. But since I know my D300 will blow highlights with the suggested exposure value, it is never centered. And the amount of under exposure I put in is determined by what light I am working with. Something that is more of a PITA in Aperture Mode to work out.
I do not even use my histogram, never have. Once I learn how a camera exposes there is no need for it. The one thing I love about digitals is that they are consistent, as where in the film days every film had its own little way of being different. That is why there is no love lost with film being gone.[/quote]
Um, you just drop EC down a few notches....
When the last candle has been blown out
and the last glass of champagne has been drunk
All that you are left with are the memories and the images-David Cooke.
You mean Scotty. I'm sure I'm correct too, just in this case you meant Scotty.
Scotty wrote: Um, you just drop EC down a few notches....
Sure, then the background lighting changes and you're screwed.
Same applies to manual? They both change your meter the same.
When the last candle has been blown out
and the last glass of champagne has been drunk
All that you are left with are the memories and the images-David Cooke.
You mean Scotty. I'm sure I'm correct too, just in this case you meant Scotty.
Scotty wrote: Um, you just drop EC down a few notches....
Sure, then the background lighting changes and you're screwed.
Same applies to manual? They both change your meter the same.
No, in manual the subject will remain correctly exposed despite the background light changing. In AP the camera will adjust and you'll lose the correct settings for the subject.
Say I'm shooting in a room, the correct exposure is X (for people in the room). So I set it manually to X. AP (or AP with EC) does the same. Someone goes in front of a window. Manual keeps the exposure correct for the subject at X. AP sees all that extra light and speeds up the shutter, making the subject darker than the current USA president.
Allen D wrote: Frankly I think shooting in Auto works the best
Sometimes i do this too when i need to just get some quick pictures. Or i do the most horrific thing and use my Iphone
lol sinner!
When the last candle has been blown out
and the last glass of champagne has been drunk
All that you are left with are the memories and the images-David Cooke.
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