63 replies to this topic

[IanB]

I'm thinking a lot of this is getting down to confidence, experience and lots of practice, all of which i could do with more of.  Must find more time     

[Merco_61]

My reason for not liking Matrix is that I don't know if the software has identified backlighting correctly or not. It mostly gets things right, but not always. With centre-weighed metering and occasional spot I know where I am.

[Thumper]

When I first got the camera that I have now, I shot in P. I wanted to learn my way around the camera for a bit to get a grasp of some of the basic features and controls. Then I shot for a short time in A and S. Then I forced myself to stop using any of the auto settings except focus. I kept using it as a crutch, and I wasn't learning how to use my camera the way I wanted to be able to use it. I miss shots from time to time, or I blow them out, or botch them some other way. But I make a point to go and figure out what I did wrong so that I can learn, fix it, and have a stronger skill set moving forward. I am not a professional photographer, I don't do photography for an occupation or have to depend on it for my living, so I have the luxury of doing it this way.

I use M almost exclusively. I set the aperture, shutter, and ISO manually. Every once a while, I will backslide a bit and let myself go off of M to get a shot, then I scold myself for doing it. I want to be more proficient in making better calls in manual setting more quickly on the fly. Missing shots and/or botching shots can be frustrating for me, but I enjoy the challenge. I have so much to learn, but I am enjoying the journey.

I'm thinking a lot of this is getting down to confidence, experience and lots of practice, all of which i could do with more of.  Must find more time     

Same here.

[Ron]

For me it depends on what I'm shooting. When I'm out walking with the camera I usually default to Aperture Preferred with center weighted metering. If I'm working in a studio setting with off camera flash the camera is always on full manual. 

 

Occasionally I will shoot fully manual out in the field. I have rarely shot with Shutter Preferred auto but have on occasion used full auto or program (when I didn't want the on camera flash popping up unexpectedly). 

 

--Ron

[TBonz]

My first SLR required me to shoot manual - it had a match needle meter...the meter read the lighting through a view port near the lens and you changed the shutter and / or aperture until the circle matched up with the needle - or to one side or the other if you wanted to under or over expose.  It was far from the most acurate meter I've seen .  I've gotten a pretty good feel after all the years of when I need to tell the camera what to do and what it is I need to tell it to do...Translated, I have a pretty good idea if the lighting will fool the meter or not and with a quick meter read I know what I want to do.  Auto ISO allows me to concentrate on the game and what I'm shooting vs the settings when I'm in variable light conditions.  I have everything else under manual control, so I know I've got the speed and aperture I want.  It makes it easier to be involved with the subject rather than the camera.  That is especially important to my when one of my sons is in a game.  I am covering the game, but I also am watching my son so the less I have to worry about, the better! 

 

One other thing that I do frequently - I check my images before the game and during breaks to see if anything has drifted outside of what I want...It is something that lots of people don't do, but most every pro I've seen does it.  Heck, I sometimes even begin editing in camera during breaks to get rid of the shots I know I'm not going to use.  If you want to try manual, it is easy to do - stick everything in manual, move your settings around to see what the meter says and shoot one or two frames of the subject...look at those for exposure, movement, etc. and then make corrections...if you do that as your first step when you're shooting, you will soon know the situations where you will want to stray up or down from the meter reading. 

[alden]

Does anybody here remember the old days when you got a roll of 35mm film, and in the box was a sheet from Kodak that told you which shutter speeds and apertures to use, depending on the ASA, and the lighting situation? Like, for 100 ASA film in bright daylight you were supposed to set your camera at 100 shutter speed and f/8 and just hope for the best!

 

I used to follow the guide without a meter sometimes, and it was usually right.

[iNYONi]

I have my U1 setting with Auto iso, I also shoot in P mode most of the time.

[Ron]

Does anybody here remember the old days when you got a roll of 35mm film, and in the box was a sheet from Kodak that told you which shutter speeds and apertures to use, depending on the ASA, and the lighting situation? Like, for 100 ASA film in bright daylight you were supposed to set your camera at 100 shutter speed and f/8 and just hope for the best!

 

I used to follow the guide without a meter sometimes, and it was usually right.

 

Ah, the sunny 16 rule. Once you learn it, you can pretty much shoot with no meter at all and still manage to bag a fairly high percentage of usable images. Of course, if you were shooting negative film your chances of success were higher because of the film's latitude. 

 

The rule was for front lighted subjects your standard exposure would be f16 at the reciprocal of the film speed you were using. For example, for ASA (ISO) 100 film you would have used f16 @ 125th of a sec. 

 

Side lighted subjects required a stop more exposure. Say, f11 at the same film speed reciprocal.

 

Back lighted subjects required even more exposure. F8 at the same film speed reciprocal.  

 

Of course you could also exchange aperture and shutter speeds to obtain the same results depending on your objectives. 

 

It's surprising how well these standards work but the Great Yellow Father had thousands (millions?) of hours and rolls of film invested in that little sheet of paper. They were nothing if not sticklers for accuracy.

 

--Ron

[Merco_61]

My first Cds light meter even had the same info on the back of the meter, so that you wouldn't be stranded if the battery died... Gossen didn't trust batteries after making the world's best selenium meters for decades.

[alden]

Ah, the sunny 16 rule. Once you learn it, you can pretty much shoot with no meter at all and still manage to bag a fairly high percentage of usable images. Of course, if you were shooting negative film your chances of success were higher because of the film's latitude. 
 
The rule was for front lighted subjects your standard exposure would be f16 at the reciprocal of the film speed you were using. For example, for ASA (ISO) 100 film you would have used f16 @ 125th of a sec. 
 
Side lighted subjects required a stop more exposure. Say, f11 at the same film speed reciprocal.
 
Back lighted subjects required even more exposure. F8 at the same film speed reciprocal.  
 
Of course you could also exchange aperture and shutter speeds to obtain the same results depending on your objectives. 
 
It's surprising how well these standards work but the Great Yellow Father had thousands (millions?) of hours and rolls of film invested in that little sheet of paper. They were nothing if not sticklers for accuracy.
 
--Ron

That's it! You have an amazing memory! You get extra credit points for accuracy.

[IanB]

That does Kinda ring a bell from my old Minolta days.  I remember taking ISO400's to some concerts and getting really good results.  More by luck than good judgement probably 

[Ron]

That's it! You have an amazing memory! You get extra credit points for accuracy.

 

Haha... thanks. I guess it is amazing that I can still recite stuff like that but I can't remember where I put my glasses when I set them down. LOL

 

--Ron

That does Kinda ring a bell from my old Minolta days.  I remember taking ISO400's to some concerts and getting really good results.  More by luck than good judgement probably 

 

I used to shoot Minioltas too. SRT's XK's and XD's mainly. I basically learned photography on an SRT with match needle metering and using Tri-X pan film.

 

--Ron

[TBonz]

I loved Tri-X...shot for high school and the college newspaper with it and did lots of my own stuff - mostly concerts...Occasionally we'd push it to 800 or 1600...fun stuff...My shooting was with Pentax MX bodies though...only choice with them was manual!

[B Grace]

I think the first important factor for me in choosing a camera mode is controlling the flash.  The main reason I don't use the smart function modes available on most of the amateur grade Nikons is they will pop up the camera flash regardless of whether you want it or not.  I would guess I shoot in Program mode perhaps 75% of the time, aperture priority 20%, and shutter speed priority the remaining 5%.  The right tool for the task, in other words.  If I'm not satisfied with the values a camera is selecting I change them.

 

The flexible program mode mentioned here has been available in modern Nikon cameras since the '90s and it's handy for shifting the shutter speed + aperture value to another combination with a similar exposure value or EV outcome.  It's pretty easy to see when you've picked a combination that falls outside the range for a given shot.  Oddly enough, I'm just not a fan of Auto-ISO but rather I prefer to determine my desired aperture + shutter speed combos aren't available with a given ISO setting and then pick an appropriate ISO value.  I learned shooting manual cameras during the film era.

 

I think we just need to develop a solid feel for the reasons to use each of the available settings on our cameras.  Truth be told, we can achieve exactly the same results with all of the settings including the auto modes provided we understand the necessary accompanying inputs required.  The "running track and field man" auto mode can be used in place of shutter priority provided you're interested in exerting more control over the shutter speed than the aperture value and you need a faster shutter speed.

 

My last point would be full manual mode must be used (or is vastly easier to use) when a set aperture + shutter value is required for several shots such as for a stitched multiple image panoramic during daylight conditions or if you just want to capture the effect of the sun setting over several photographs.  It's next to impossible to guesstimate exposure comp settings for getting a desired changing EV for multiple images to match the changing lighting of your shots when the camera is constantly adjusting your settings back to an average EV.  When the sun dips below the horizon you want that photograph in your setting sun sequence to be dark and not "properly exposed"!

[K-9]

I mostly shot transparency film where exposure had to be spot on.  I always had a gray card with me and would take a spot meter reading from that.  98-99 out of every 100 slides I shot would be perfectly exposed.  The finality of slides definitely helped me become a better photographer.  This was also one of the reasons I dreaded a move from film to digital.  Post processing was an extra step I never need to go through before.  

[Ron]

I loved Tri-X...shot for high school and the college newspaper with it and did lots of my own stuff - mostly concerts...Occasionally we'd push it to 800 or 1600...fun stuff...My shooting was with Pentax MX bodies though...only choice with them was manual!

 

Same deal with the SRT. Fully manual with match needle metering. Love that camera! LOL 

 

--Ron

[nbanjogal]

Man, I'm coming to this conversation late, but I will say that my camera is always in M. Just a habit with me. I did go through a phase a couple years ago where I shot everything in aperture priority.

And I started photography with my dad's old Minolta with that needle meter. Awesome. I wonder if he still has it somewhere...that would be a kick.

I'm wondering how many of you use a handheld light meter...thinking about getting one...

[Merco_61]

Man, I'm coming to this conversation late, but I will say that my camera is always in M. Just a habit with me. I did go through a phase a couple years ago where I shot everything in aperture priority.

And I started photography with my dad's old Minolta with that needle meter. Awesome. I wonder if he still has it somewhere...that would be a kick.

I'm wondering how many of you use a handheld light meter...thinking about getting one...

The Minolta SRT (all models) had one weakness, the silk line connecting the controls to the meter is fragile after all these years. If it breaks the repair can be expensive if one can't find an old repair person who still knows exactly how... OTOH it is not neccessary to use the built-in meter.

 

I still use my Sekonic 358 for tricky ambient light, for flash and for medium format while I get to know the quirks of the meter in my Rollei.

 

/Peter

[TBonz]

And I started photography with my dad's old Minolta with that needle meter. Awesome. I wonder if he still has it somewhere...that would be a kick.

I'm wondering how many of you use a handheld light meter...thinking about getting one...

 

When my Dad passed away a few years ago, I inherited all of his photographic equipment.  Other than it having been his gear, some of it wasn't really worth much - old Minolta and Pentax cameras and lower end zooms, but some had some real value - his late 40s, early 50s Leica gear.  I sold most of the gear as part of the estate sale, but hung onto the Leica gear.  I sold it a little over a year ago as I found that I wasn't using it and didn't want do it harm from lack of use.  I did keep his light meter...don't use it often, but I have pulled it out a few times.  I will be keeping that - it was a running joke that I could shoot a roll of film of quality photos in the time it took him to shoot one or two with his Leica / light meter combo!  Can't ask for more than that - a great memory and a quality tool combined!

[morticiaskeeper]

I bought a Weston Euromaster meter last year. Before that I used an old Jessops light meter that I bought secondhand.

These days, I've a pretty good idea of what I need just by looking up, but I'm still more likely to take an incident reading than us the inbuilt meter.