Learning to shoot in manual mode

[KerryG]

One of our newer tutorials is on shooting in manual mode. We explain the different setting options and how they affect the image.

Learning to shoot in manual mode tutorial

[Bunyip]

In the turorial it said "underexpose" for film & "overexpose" for digital: I always understood that it was the other way around, as digital is susceptible to "lost" highlights (a la slide film).

[kevgermany]

Digital gets hit by noise in the shadows made worse by underexposure. Trick is to use the histogram and expose so that the right edge of the curve is at or fractionally below the right limit. Gives max shadows without blown highlights. Adjust to taste post exposure.

Incidentally if you're exposing slide film for scanning, then don't underexpose - this really only applies to projection - dark shadows come out very noisy on a home scanner. Trick here is to use a spot meter to assess the level of the highlights and set the exposure 1-2 stops over the meter reading for max dynamic range. Slides'll look thin, but they'll scan well and you can adjust later.

[AF_is_for_sissies]

Looks like a good solid introduction to manual mode. Due to the fact that photojournalism is my main focus, manual mode plays a huge role in helping me dial in just the look I want. At least from my experience, I can never trust automatic modes to be as accurate as my eye is. Nice job.

[generic]

A quote from the article:

"The aperture setting is expressed in f stops with the largest opening having a smaller number so a wide open aperture is going to have an f-stop of around f/1.4."

..... sigh..

obviously a younger fella than I.

gene

[kevgermany]

All you ned to know about f stops:

It's a way of getting identical lighting from one lens to the next without even more complicated maths.

Gaps between the stops are set to match the exposure increments on the shutter speed. It's more obvious on shutter speeds, but the relationship of one stop to the next is to multiply or divide the amount of light by two. So it's obvious that going from a shutter speed of 1/30th sec to 1/60th sec halves the amount of light, but going from f4 to f5.6 also halves the amount of light...

Smaller numbers let in more light cos the f stop is the ratio of the aperture size to the lens' focal length and is more correctly stated as f/8 - i.e the aperture is 1/8th of the focal length. This is why faster lenses are fatter than their slower counterparts of the same focal length.

Smaller stops (higher numbers) give more depth of field because you're approaching a pinhole camera design, where light coming in through a very small aperture is always in focus, irrespective of distance.

It's worth learning the main values and getting a feel (by using them) for the depth of field they give. Depth of field varies with lens focal length AND image/sensor size - it's not an exact science, just approximations.

1.0 1.4 2.0 2.8 4.0 5.6 8 11 16 22 32 are the standard whole stop values.
Note the sequence - each one is double the one two positions before.
You can see that f32, the last I've quoted, is double 16, with 22 sitting between. Makes learning them much easier.

Lens aperture rings generally click from one stop to the next. On older cameras that's it, although many will work in between the click stops. Newer lenses generally have click stops at each half stop interval for finer tuning. The DIN exposure scale had 1/3rd stop increments, which is where the 1/3rd stop settings on modern cameras come from - probably overkill now, but was useful (sometimes) for slide film.

[generic]

Originally Posted by kevgermany

Smaller numbers let in more light cos the f stop is the ratio of the aperture size to the lens' focal length and is more correctly stated as f/8 - i.e the aperture is 1/8th of the focal length. This is why faster lenses are fatter than their slower counterparts of the same focal length.

I'm glad you included this part. It's so important. We often neglect to make this clear. Too often (i read it all over the net) posters will imply (without realizing it) or a beginner will assume that going to a 'higher' number means actually going to a larger size when in fact its not. It indicates a ratio which defines a relatively smaller physical size.

Lots of beginners nowadays pick up their first dslr never having owned a slr and have no idea that this number represents a ratio and fumble along wondering why the result they get seems opposite of what they intended Some of it is due to getting the wrong idea about what direction to move the dial when they 'want' larger or smaller apertures.

Instead, unless I'm telling someone to use a particular f/stop I never use 'higher' or 'lower' with the word 'numbers'. I'll say goto a larger aperture or smaller aperture. It only takes once or twice that way for them to see the difference but it sinks in nicely.
It seems so easy to say higher or lower numbers but for me it seems to either confuse or lead to more questions that are hard for them to understand at that point. So when the questions come I try to keep it simple by the "each move cuts/or adds the amount of light" idea. Then I tell them to make sure they read and re-read that in the book. Of course I'm talking about 'informal' discussion w/newbies here.

Thanks, I kinda like your explanation.

[pop]

I shoot nearly all my pics in manual mode, but sometimes this ol' brain of mine still gets the "f" stop going backwards to that intended..

[Montec]

If you understand that the f stops are measured in fractions then you should realize that f/4 is a larger number than f/8. It is elementary math. Anyone who gets this backwards is just not thinking about it.

[kevgermany]

Originally Posted by Montec

If you understand that the f stops are measured in fractions then you should realize that f/4 is a larger number than f/8. It is elementary math. Anyone who gets this backwards is just not thinking about it.

This is the key to it. However most beginners - and guys who never went into it when they started - have so much to handle at the same time, that the ratio aspect gets forgotten.

Then as well, there are many people for whom this 'elementary math' is a challenge in itself - often these people are artistically gifted, but not numerically, and we need to understand their difficulties in dealing with things that may be second nature to others.

[abigailrachana]

Shooting in manual mode explained very clearly and was understood very simple.....

But we have to give full concentration........

[00silvergt]

Originally Posted by abigailrachana

Shooting in manual mode explained very clearly and was understood very simple.....

But we have to give full concentration........

Now that I truly consider DOF just as important when determining which F-Stop to use when trying to nail the exposure. I tell newbies to think about the F-stop has the larger the number the longer the DOF which means a smaller opening.