Manual mode in the camera: how to work with it correctly and in what cases? Officials were instructed to restore order in the field of social support for the population - thousands of people have already received social benefits
I assume that most photography readers know what exposure, shutter speed, and aperture are. In this article, I will not cover the basics, focusing instead on the specifics of the practical use of the "P", "Tv", "Av" and "M" modes.
Mode "P" - "Programm", "Program". The camera itself selects the desired exposure pair, based on the lighting. This exposure pair can be moved in the direction of faster / slower shutter speeds, larger / smaller apertures using the wheel (on some cameras - with buttons).
In this mode, you never know in advance what aperture you will have and, accordingly, the depth of field. Don't know about endurance either. So the element of "Russian roulette" is present. However, this mode is useful when shooting with flash. The camera thinks that the flash in this mode is the most important, and that it is necessary to highlight the scene as it should. Therefore, it tightly controls the flash output, highlighting the object you are aiming at and leaving the background dark. Convenient for reportage shooting.
The mode is also useful when lighting can jump unpredictably over a wide range of brightness. If you "lock" the aperture on a small number in the "Av" mode, there is a risk that even at the fastest shutter speed there will be too much light for the camera, and the frame will be overexposed. To some extent, this problem is solved by the "Safety shift" option - "Safe shift". If you turn it on, the camera, in case of overexposure / underexposure, will spit on your aperture (and shutter speed) settings and clamp it tighter to save the frame.
Note. Canon has a strange mutant "P" in the new cameras - the "CA" mode ("Creative Automatic"). In fact, this is the same "green" mode, in which you can additionally control the depth of field and something else - indirectly, through the sliders on the LCD. This mode has never come in handy anywhere for me, it is clearly “user-friendly” and is designed for a soap audience.
Mode "Tv" (on Nikon "Sv") - "ShuTter Value", "Shutter Priority". For some reason, the majority does not favor this regime and does not really understand it. I myself belonged to this majority for a long time, but now I have tasted it, I got a taste and you can’t pull it by the ears. In it, you set the desired shutter speed, and the camera, cursing quietly, tries to choose such an aperture so that the frame is normally exposed.
There are two subtleties of this mode. Firstly, setting "Safety Shift" (see above) in this mode in most cases is meaningless and destroys the whole idea. Secondly, in this mode, the Auto ISO function turns out to be unexpectedly useful - automatic ISO setting. Unfortunately, Canon (compared to Nikon) implemented this function quite badly - for example, in 50D ISO does not rise above 1600. So on dark scenes you have to set ISO 3200 and send beams of happiness to Canon, in the hope that they will come to their senses in the following models .
A few situations where it is useful to control shutter speed:
Mode "Av" - "Aperture Value", "Aperture Priority". One of the most used modes, in which the aperture value is set, and the camera suffers, sets the appropriate shutter speed. An obvious use is to control depth of field, i.e. how far the zone of sharpness will extend from the point you focused on. A non-obvious application is to achieve maximum sharpness from the lens - each of them has its own aperture, on which the picture is the clearest. The specific number for many lenses can be found on SLRGear, the general trend is this: Canon, Panasonic, Sigma, Zeiss, Tamron have peak sharpness at f / 8.0, Nikon, Tokina - at f / 5.6.
For portraits, when you need to blur the background, the aperture is usually set in the range from f / 4.0 to f / 5.6. There are plenty of exceptions, a lot depends on framing. All photo stocks adore exaggerated portraits with a very open aperture and blurry not only the background, but also part of the front.
In landscapes, when all objects are far away, it is better to clamp the aperture to the “peak of sharpness” or a little more. If there are near objects in the scene, there's nothing to be done - either “focus blending”, or clamp the aperture so that both distant and near objects turn out to be more or less sharp.
"Safety Shift" can be useful here, especially in bright scenes. If you open the aperture and aim at the sun, the shutter speed will instantly jump out of the range available to the camera (usually 1/8000 s). And then, if "Safety Shift" is set, the camera itself will clamp the aperture.
Mode "M" - "Manual", "Manual mode". Fully manual setting of shutter speed and aperture. "M" are afraid, they run him, they do not understand him. But in vain: this mode can be extremely useful in a number of cases.
Firstly, difficult shooting conditions with an extremely heterogeneous scene and unpredictable lighting. Do you think this happens rarely? No matter how it is, this is almost any shooting of concerts and discos. The metering of many cameras often simply does not cope with scenes when the entire background is dark, and the central object is highlighted by a spotlight. Even spot metering does not always save here. So you set the aperture wide open, the shutter speed to catch the movement (start at 1/125 and experiment in both directions) and the ISO so that the scene is properly lit.
There will be a separate post about shooting discos, for now I will only remind you about stroboscopic lighting, which is popular on dance floors.
Also difficult shooting conditions - when you shoot with wiring and turning the camera from the sun or into the sun. Here you can use the manual mode, setting it in advance according to the illumination of the longest and most interesting section of the path of the object being shot. And you can “fix” the exposure - on all cameras there is a button for this. If you press it, the camera keeps the exposure for a few seconds, no matter how you shoot, as it was at the time the button was pressed. I chose the scene - fixed the exposure, quickly took a few frames, re-fixed the exposure, took a few more frames.
Secondly, during studio shooting. If you're working with flashed light, your shutter speed range is limited to the top 1/320s in most cases. And you control the light output with flash power, ISO (usually equal to 100) and a clamped aperture. In addition, the camera does not know in advance how much the scene will be illuminated, so you select all the values in advance - manually or with a light meter. All these ETTL are not for a serious studio. It is probably possible to make really high-quality light with the help of four or five "native" low-power SpeedLight flashes. For a small stage. But the price of the issue is such that it is cheaper and easier to set up conventional flashes and use the "manual mode".
Spotlights are much easier, you can use any shutter speed and any mode.
Thirdly, when working with a light brush. This case is somewhat similar to studio shooting with spotlights, with the difference that the shutter speeds here are very long. A minute, two minutes is normal. Therefore, an external remote control is usually used for the light brush, which allows you to set such shutter speeds. The camera is set to "M" mode, shutter speed to "Bulb", aperture - as you like. Nikon for this couple of years and then bypassed Canon - at least in the D300 I saw the built-in ability to set shutter speeds longer than 30 seconds without having to buy a remote control.
Fourth, when shooting panoramas. Not always, but it happens. Especially when part of the panorama is well lit, and part is dark. In addition, it is useful to do bracketing in several steps. Canons are able to two steps and three frames, older Nikons - much more, and not three frames, but five to seven (well, you understand who I wanted to kick).
Fifth, when shooting lightning, fireworks, etc. Especially when shooting lightning. The camera on a tripod is set for a long exposure and waits. As the lightning puffs, the lens closes. I've seen flash sync options, but haven't tried it myself yet.
At sixth, as I wrote, when working with flash on a camera, manual mode can be very useful to give a guaranteed shutter speed at an acceptable aperture. Set it to 1/320 (or higher, with "high-speed sync" enabled), set the aperture to f/4.0, and go shoot reports with faces.
It is possible that I have not listed all the features of each of the modes. But, I hope, I gave an idea and an impulse to explore the topic myself. Each of the modes can be useful in some way and a good photographer must understand and be able to use the advantages of each of the modes.
I will update this article as I come up with new ways and remember new features.
Each camera has a bunch of modes, so you look at them and don’t understand anything, but you want to understand something ...? If - "YES", then I will try to introduce them to you as simply and interestingly as possible. Well, if “no”, then pick up the instructions (although it will not help you much).
I want to say in advance that the camera has 4 main modes and a favorite “Auto” mode (expensive professional DSLRs have only 4 main modes). Of course, you will tell me now, but what about my favorite night mode or portrait, or some other that you use so often. But no way, this is just a husk, which is done mainly for those who understand little about the camera, and often do it quite poorly, the highlight is the modes P, S, A, M.
The first and most popular mode, which is used by 70% of people, is the mode codenamed Auto, or auto whoever is more comfortable. A mode for those who don’t particularly bother with what they can do, just press the button and that’s it. In many cases, this is correct, I'm talking about those situations if you don't understand anything about your camera at all, or you just bought it, etc. But sooner or later, I hope, you will get tired of constantly popping up flash (if you accidentally forgot to turn it off), or you will just want to know what more your camera is capable of. If you choose the path - “do not bathe”, by the way, which is also quite likely, then well, you can stop reading this topic at this very place.
We go further, very close and dear to the regime Auto- mode "P"(programmed automatic mode). In this mode, the camera automatically selects the required and by default. You can control this ratio, if possible, of course (in low light, you won't be able to fix anything). This mode already makes you think about what you are doing, therefore, for those who take pictures back in Auto I advise you to urgently switch to the regime "R", it won’t get worse, but it’s better - I hope!
Mode, which is indicated by a Latin letter "S"(priority mode). This mode you need to know when to use it, it is intended, judging by its name, to control your shutter speed, it is. You control and the camera sets automatically, depending on the selected shutter speed. This mode is useful if you are not satisfied with the shutter speed that the camera imposes on you. For example, if you are shooting handheld in a dark room and don't want to blur the frame, you can set the shutter speed you need using the mode "S".
Mode "BUT"(priority mode).
This mode is the exact opposite of the previous one. Those. in this mode, you set the value and the camera controls automatically. As for me, this is the most convenient mode, 90% of all the photos that I photograph are taken in this mode! Why, yes, because controlling the aperture is much easier than controlling everything, or controlling the shutter speed! For example, you are photographing a portrait of a person, in mode "BUT" quickly set the one you need, and then you want to photograph the landscape, without switching anything you just change the aperture value. Simple, comfortable? Yes!"M"(manual) or manual mode. You have to set both the shutter speed and the aperture, and still control the . My advice to you, if you hear from someone - take pictures only in mode "M" and you will be a cool photographer, run away from this person, this mode should be used extremely rarely, and in certain situations, for example, if you (I still take pictures in it when I attach old Soviet lenses to the camera, but not because I want to but because there is no other way). Why am I so negative about this, because I have met very, well, just very few people (or rather, I have not met any) who can do it faster and better than a professional DSLR, into which the developers have invested all their experience , and not small. Yes, you can choose the parameters you need, while spending a lot of time on it, do you need it? You have a SLR camera in your hands, you are in the 21st century, if you want thrills - pick up a film camera, exposure meter and take pictures the way my father did, who took pictures on film for 20 years, developed it and took it during sleepless nights Photo.
Bonus: “video” mode, everything seems so clear, rejoice those who have it, and rejoice even more those who do not have it! Although sometimes, very rarely, I regret that I don’t have it on my cameras.
to learn how to take really beautiful and enticing photos, you definitely need to understand shooting modes on the camera. Try not to stay too long Auto mode, because pictures taken in this mode do not differ much from good soap dishes, which raises the question: “Why then do you need a SLR camera?”.
This article is a logical continuation of "", in which we will analyze shooting modes, such as : Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, Manual.
Auto mode
This is the most popular mode among beginner photographers. Many, after buying their first DSLR, look with horror at mode dial and see nothing more suitable on it than green Auto mode. And one / two weeks after the acquisition, they climb onto the forums and complain that the photos are not juicy, gloomy, and most importantly, smeared and fuzzy. The whole problem lies in the fact that a person simply could not figure out the shooting modes, and stopped at the simplest, Auto mode, where the camera does everything for him.
Modern SLR cameras have learned how to choose the right exposure, but to get the maximum result, you need to learn at least to correct it. It is possible to trust a picture to automation only at the first stages of studying the apparatus. After a month, you simply have to forget about this mode, and switch to something more suitable :)
Mode P
It stands for and is not much different from Auto, but if you decide to switch to it, this is already step forward. In this mode, the camera, just like in Auto, selects the shutter speed and aperture itself, but at the same time a number of options become available to you, such as choosing your own or, as well as several other less important parameters. I advise you not to linger on it for a long time, tk. this mode is intermediate in mastering mode dial filming.
Mode S
Indicates mode shutter priority and is most often used when shooting sports or fast-moving subjects such as children. This mode has a limitation - the camera itself chooses the appropriate aperture, i.e. you will not be able to make the background blurry, because it will already be decided by your device. And also, since shutter speeds are much larger than aperture values, this can lead to a dark or, conversely, overexposed frame.
Mode A
Most popular among photographers aperture priority mode. In this mode, you are given the opportunity to control the aperture, and hence the degree of background blur. Ideal for portraits, macro photography, and for everyday life.
The camera itself sets the desired shutter speed for each frame, you just have to watch the aperture. This is the most convenient of the modes and I highly recommend it to everyone.
Mode M
manual mode, i.e. manual shooting mode. Here you exhibit yourself and endurance And diaphragm. For me, this is the second most important mode (in the first place, of course mode A), and I use it only in some cases, for example, when shooting at night with a tripod, or when I need to photograph children (fast moving objects, i.e. set a fast shutter speed) and at the same time monitor the aperture so that it is as open as possible , because there is always a lack of lighting in the premises.
Exposure compensation
In all shooting modes, you are given the opportunity to correct exposure, i.e. change the value suggested by the camera. It is not the main value that changes, but the secondary one, for example, in aperture priority mode, exposure compensation changes only the shutter speed, and if you are photographing in shutter priority mode, the aperture.
You can adjust the exposure compensation in the range from "-5" to "+5". If you drive the value to minus, the photo will be darker, if you drive it to plus, it will be lighter. For example, I provide a photo that was taken in aperture priority mode:
But the exposure compensation is -5 Ev
But the correction in +5
We have reviewed shooting modes for mirror Nikon cameras. At Canon they differ only in name, for example, aperture priority mode - Av, shutter priority mode - Tv. Program and manual modes are called similarly to Nikon's - P And M.
Every novice photographer knows about scene shooting programs - in fact, they are created in order to save the beginner from a headache. You shoot a person - you choose “portrait”, you shoot a village - “landscape”. Everything is simple, and most importantly, it has long been thought out by a large number of photographers, programmers and marketers. By the way, if you are a beginner and have not yet studied the subject programs, it is better to stop reading right here and go shoot and practice them.
Difficulties begin when a person who is interested begins to have questions and disputes with the camera - when it is already crowded within the framework of these same programs, you want more, and the camera continues to stupidly shoot at the same settings. Here, 4 program (“creative”) modes are recalled, for the incomprehensibility of which it was decided to “temporarily” forget them.
There are no more than 4 of these modes in a conventional camera. There are fewer, but for some time now manufacturers have come up with 5, so the figure is not fixed. Let's consider them in more detail:
- P- simply program mode. The camera itself chooses the minimum shutter speed and aperture value (“exposure”) required for a clear picture in given conditions. You can conditionally equate it with the “auto” mode, with the only exception that you can usually adjust a number of parameters, in contrast to the scene programs or the “auto” mode (i.e. white balance, sensor sensitivity, jpeg settings, etc.). The mode is absolutely mindless and therefore having dubious usefulness.
- A(or Av) - mode aperture priority. The user sets the required aperture value, and the camera sets the shutter speed, in accordance with the exposure meter data. The most favorite mode for most photographers, in which it is possible to fully control the depth of field (an open aperture, for example, 1.8 or 2.8 corresponds to a shallow depth of field and is often referred to as a “big hole”, closed, for example, 16 or 22, on the contrary - large). The only drawback of the mode is that the shutter speed range with which it works is limited from below, namely, at shutter speeds longer than, for example, 4 seconds, it will not work in a number of cameras, although more is indicated in the camera specification - it is simply considered that for more than 4 seconds the frame will still be smeared if you hold the camera with your hands. It is also convenient when you want to achieve “maximum sharpness” for a particular lens - if it is believed that glass is soapy at 2.8, and gives better sharpness at 4-8, then you just need to set 5.6 and forget about soapy shots.
- S(or Tv) - mode shutter priority. The user sets the desired shutter speed, and the camera sets the aperture. The mode is quite limited and is usually used when shooting sports events, when the need to capture the moment is much more important than working out the background. By the way, children fall under sports events, which can sometimes be “grabbed” only for 1/250 sec. “Then he certainly won’t run away.” You can use long exposures - for example, at.
- M - completely manual mode. The user manually sets all parameters. Usually automatic sensitivity can be set in the first three modes, but not available in manual ... the answer is simple: this mode is chosen by those who experiment or know exactly what they are doing. The mode completely removes the restrictions on night shooting, because. allows the user to set absolutely any shutter speed and aperture at any sensitivity value. You can also take deliberately underexposed or overexposed pictures, shoot with lenses that are not designed for this camera, etc. the picture is dark and the shutter speed is infinitely increased - for which a limitation was introduced in the aperture priority mode), you can stand near a tripod for a long time with different exposure parameters to achieve the desired effect: smearing water or car lights at a slow shutter speed, the appearance of stars in the sky at a very slow shutter speed or shooting falling water drops at a very short distance.
- sv-mode sensitivity priority, similar to program mode (P), but in addition to shutter speed and aperture, the camera selects sensitivity, with the possibility of quick correction by the user
- TAv- aperture and shutter priority mode when the user sets the required aperture and shutter speed, and the camera sets the required sensor sensitivity
- A-Dep- aperture priority mode with depth of field control, is used to work out both the foreground and the background - while the camera measures the distance to both and sets the aperture (and shutter speed) accordingly.
The two penultimate modes exist, on this moment, only in the latest Pentax cameras, and the latter only in Canon - it’s hard to say whether other manufacturers will implement them, and it’s only possible to understand how justified it is to move the automatic or semi-automatic setting of the matrix sensitivity to a separate mode (modes). It is still difficult to say under what conditions it is justified to use these modes, so for now we will not dwell on this.
To finally decide which mode of the four should be used under what conditions, we have compiled a small plate:
If you have comments or clarifications, please let me know.
By the way, this was another article from a series of “articles on demand”, ordered by our regular reader, Vasily Yakovlev for which many thanks to him. You still do not know something from the photo? So hurry - it's free.
To be a truly creative photographer, you need to switch your camera from auto mode to program mode, shutter priority mode, aperture priority mode, or manual mode. These four modes give you full control over the camera settings that determine exposure settings: aperture, shutter speed and sensor sensitivity (ISO).
Of these four modes, the main “glory” went to aperture priority, shutter priority and manual mode. But what about program mode? It can be quite useful in many situations, so it should not be overlooked.
What is program mode?
Program mode is abbreviated as P on mode dials on Nikon cameras. This mode is called Program Auto on Sony cameras, or Program AE on Canon, Fujifilm and Sigma cameras. On Olympus cameras - Program shooting (Program photography) and Hyper-program (Hyper-program shooting) on Pentax cameras. Users of Pentax cameras should refer to the instruction manual for more details on this mode, as its settings are slightly different from other manufacturers' similar functions.
The program mode selects the camera settings almost independently, but still allows the photographer to override the set parameters as desired.
In program mode, you set the image sensor sensitivity (ISO) value, and the camera independently determines the aperture and shutter speed in accordance with the light level of the scene being shot. If your camera has an automatic sensitivity setting (Auto ISO) function, you can give it control over setting the ISO value as well.
The advantage of program mode over fully automatic mode is that there is no limit to the choice of camera settings. In full auto mode, you won't always be able to adjust the sensor sensitivity (ISO), set the white balance, apply exposure compensation, choose a metering mode, or even use the RAW format. The exact list of possible restrictions depends on which of the automatic modes you are in, as well as on the type of camera you have (you can find all the details related to this in the camera manual).
Correction of automatically set parameters.
At first glance, Program mode may not seem as effective as Shutter Priority or Aperture Priority. Program mode is more suitable for working with average settings rather than extreme ones, such as using a wide aperture to achieve a shallow depth of field.
However, if you don't like the camera's selections, you can override them using the main command dial. To use Program Shift mode, press the shutter button
half shutter. In this case, the aperture, shutter speed and sensitivity (ISO) values will be displayed in the viewfinder window. If you don't like your chosen aperture and shutter speed settings, just turn the command dial. They will change in tandem so that the exposure of the frame remains correct.
For example, if the camera selects f11 and you would prefer to shoot at f4, simply rotate the main command dial until f4 is selected. The camera will then automatically set the appropriate shutter speed.
Note: This feature is called Flexible Program on Nikon cameras and Program Shift on cameras from other manufacturers.
Using Program Mode.
When can program mode be useful? In general, this mode will prove to be very useful when taking photographs, when you need to reset the aperture or shutter speed for each subsequent frame. The photographs presented in this article are typical examples of such photography. If you're using a prime lens and you're shooting everything at f1.8, for example, then aperture priority mode makes more sense. But if you're photographing a variety of scenes while choosing different settings for each scene you shoot, then the program mode is the best choice.