Do you leave your Camera on Auto all the time ?
Discussion
Ok I’ve just finished reading the manual for my new Camera. All 320 pages of it. Probably after 3 more reads it will start to mean something. Hopefully.
At the weekend I took some test pics and I’m overjoyed with them but one thing has become painfully apparent.
I know #uck all about how to operate a ‘proper’ camera.
Take it off auto and I may as well be in the Twilight Zone. For example. Took a picture of a flower with camera on auto. Decided to take same flower and play with manual settings. Outcome = flower taken at midnight.
Weather permitting a week on Friday I’m going out with a mate to hopefully get some aeroplane shots. Historically with my bridge cam I’ve taken pics of aircraft in the air and the underside has always been dark ( is this underexposed ? ). I was hoping to maybe improve on this with my vast knowledge of Photography and a fancy new camera.
I really don’t want this to be a camera that’s left on auto all the time but where to start ?
Is it possible that the camera on auto could do a better job at making sure the aircraft are exposed properly even if I had the slightest idea what I was doing ?
At the weekend I took some test pics and I’m overjoyed with them but one thing has become painfully apparent.
I know #uck all about how to operate a ‘proper’ camera.
Take it off auto and I may as well be in the Twilight Zone. For example. Took a picture of a flower with camera on auto. Decided to take same flower and play with manual settings. Outcome = flower taken at midnight.
Weather permitting a week on Friday I’m going out with a mate to hopefully get some aeroplane shots. Historically with my bridge cam I’ve taken pics of aircraft in the air and the underside has always been dark ( is this underexposed ? ). I was hoping to maybe improve on this with my vast knowledge of Photography and a fancy new camera.
I really don’t want this to be a camera that’s left on auto all the time but where to start ?
Is it possible that the camera on auto could do a better job at making sure the aircraft are exposed properly even if I had the slightest idea what I was doing ?
nick heppinstall said:
Historically with my bridge cam I’ve taken pics of aircraft in the air and the underside has always been dark ( is this underexposed ? ). I was hoping to maybe improve on this with my vast knowledge of Photography and a fancy new camera.
That's right. The problem with shooting planes when it's bright is that the camera is likely to, by default, meter the entire frame - so if the sky is bright then your plane is going to be underexposed. Easiest way to sort this is to increase the exposure compensation by 1 or 2 stops. You may do well to increase the ISO a bit.I've tried to experiment with settings after reading the manual and trying to see the difference. I've done on-line tutorials but it's just not clicking. I do leave it on Auto now until I gain more knowledge, to that end...I've enrolled in a localish digital camera course that starts just after Easter - so hopefully that will make things become easier. 
Don't go from auto to manual.
I keep my camera in auto, 'cos if I suddenly see something, I need to pick up and shoot...
But when I'm out taking pics, I'm either in 'S' (Speed Priority) or 'A' (Apature Priority) mode. This will let me alter depth of field, and sharpness of subject, but will always give me some sort of result.
Here is the best tip (easy dodge) you'll get: After you are bored with auto... change to speed priority, and if you want to take a shot of a fast moving object you want in focus, or a portrait of a person you'd like to 'stand out', make the shutter speed fast (try 1/1000). If however, you want a landscape with the foreground and background in focus, make it slow (try 1/60).
See the results!
I keep my camera in auto, 'cos if I suddenly see something, I need to pick up and shoot...
But when I'm out taking pics, I'm either in 'S' (Speed Priority) or 'A' (Apature Priority) mode. This will let me alter depth of field, and sharpness of subject, but will always give me some sort of result.
Here is the best tip (easy dodge) you'll get: After you are bored with auto... change to speed priority, and if you want to take a shot of a fast moving object you want in focus, or a portrait of a person you'd like to 'stand out', make the shutter speed fast (try 1/1000). If however, you want a landscape with the foreground and background in focus, make it slow (try 1/60).
See the results!
Edited by GetCarter on Tuesday 30th March 19:13
nick heppinstall said:
Ok I’ve just finished reading the manual for my new Camera. All 320 pages of it. Probably after 3 more reads it will start to mean something. Hopefully.
At the weekend I took some test pics and I’m overjoyed with them but one thing has become painfully apparent.
I know #uck all about how to operate a ‘proper’ camera.
Take it off auto and I may as well be in the Twilight Zone. For example. Took a picture of a flower with camera on auto. Decided to take same flower and play with manual settings. Outcome = flower taken at midnight.
Weather permitting a week on Friday I’m going out with a mate to hopefully get some aeroplane shots. Historically with my bridge cam I’ve taken pics of aircraft in the air and the underside has always been dark ( is this underexposed ? ). I was hoping to maybe improve on this with my vast knowledge of Photography and a fancy new camera.
I really don’t want this to be a camera that’s left on auto all the time but where to start ?
Is it possible that the camera on auto could do a better job at making sure the aircraft are exposed properly even if I had the slightest idea what I was doing ?
At the weekend I took some test pics and I’m overjoyed with them but one thing has become painfully apparent.
I know #uck all about how to operate a ‘proper’ camera.
Take it off auto and I may as well be in the Twilight Zone. For example. Took a picture of a flower with camera on auto. Decided to take same flower and play with manual settings. Outcome = flower taken at midnight.
Weather permitting a week on Friday I’m going out with a mate to hopefully get some aeroplane shots. Historically with my bridge cam I’ve taken pics of aircraft in the air and the underside has always been dark ( is this underexposed ? ). I was hoping to maybe improve on this with my vast knowledge of Photography and a fancy new camera.
I really don’t want this to be a camera that’s left on auto all the time but where to start ?
Is it possible that the camera on auto could do a better job at making sure the aircraft are exposed properly even if I had the slightest idea what I was doing ?
Welcome to my world Nick ! Nice to know I'm not the only one who is struggling. Can I ask what Camera you have ? Accepted advice seems to be that 'Auto' is nothing to be ashamed of and even the good guys use it - no need to deviate unless you encounter a problem (such as you describe above). I usually start on auto - keep a mental note of what shutter speed and aperture it allocates - then try buggering around with the settings using the auto ones as my starting point.
The boys on here will keep you right - they are very patient with beginners
Here you go dd :-)
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxkx/
My Dad was a Press Photographer for near enough 40 years and I was pretty into Photography when I was a kid. Even had my own Darkroom. The I was using an old Pentax 35mm SLR and a hand held exposure meter. I had hoped it would all come back to me !
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxkx/
My Dad was a Press Photographer for near enough 40 years and I was pretty into Photography when I was a kid. Even had my own Darkroom. The I was using an old Pentax 35mm SLR and a hand held exposure meter. I had hoped it would all come back to me !
GetCarter said:
I keep my camera in auto, 'cos if I suddenly see something, I need to pick up and shoot...
Pretty much the same for me. I made the mistake of leaving it in another mode and took a s
t picture of something I wanted to capture! Never again!!Beyond doing that I mostly use manual and Av.
nick heppinstall said:
Here you go dd :-)
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxkx/
My Dad was a Press Photographer for near enough 40 years and I was pretty into Photography when I was a kid. Even had my own Darkroom. The I was using an old Pentax 35mm SLR and a hand held exposure meter. I had hoped it would all come back to me !
That looks nice (that's the limit of my critical knowledge !) I was given a Canon 450D for Christmas but had done very little photography before that so you will be miles ahead of me in the important bit - ie how to compose a nice image http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxkx/
My Dad was a Press Photographer for near enough 40 years and I was pretty into Photography when I was a kid. Even had my own Darkroom. The I was using an old Pentax 35mm SLR and a hand held exposure meter. I had hoped it would all come back to me !
I have totally gone in at the deep end with the technicalities and basically disappeared up my own arse but after some good advice from the PH photography Gods have gone 'back to basics' and am trying to focus (
) on composition.Keep us posted on progress
Has your camera got a "P" or program mode? It's worth a try. On my D80 it's almost the same as auto but the flash and ISO are under your control. It's my standard "walking about mode" and most stuff seems to come out ok.
At the end of the day it's the output that matters and if it works for you on Auto then that's great.
At the end of the day it's the output that matters and if it works for you on Auto then that's great.
GetCarter said:
But when I'm out taking pics, I'm either in 'S' (Speed Priority) or 'A' (Apature Priority) mode. This will let me alter depth of field, and sharpness of subject, but will always give me some sort of result.
This. You control the bit you want, the camera fills in the rest. What Felters said about P is also useful - I use it sometimes outdoors for fill-flash when I can't wrangle the other settings fast enough.For now, don't use manual exposure, don't shoot RAW, don't use AutoISO. Do concentrate on exposure, focus and composition.
Edited by Simpo Two on Tuesday 30th March 20:53
Hairy Cornflake said:
GetCarter said:
Nick... I bracket ALL my photos. It won't do you any harm (It'll just take up more card space)
Bracket to what 0, +/- 1 or less? Your photos are always stunning.But if light is difficult (bright/lots of contrast) I'll do 5 or 7 frames at .3 up and down.
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