Position:Home>Visual Arts> Camera auto setting question.?

In the camera's Auto setting, the camera makes all decisions about shutter speed, aperture, etc!.

But what if the camera chooses a setting of say 1/125th @ f 5!.6, and you're taking pictures of something moving very fast in front of you!? The 1/125th will be too slow, and the fast-moving thing will be blurred!.

BUT !.!.!. if you chose the S (shutter priority) and manually set the speed to 1/250th, or even 1/500th, then you would be able to stop action and the moving thing would be sharp!.

This is just one example!. Each of the non-automatic offers a different set of options!.

It's okay to shoot in Auto for while, but if you do I'd suggest that you choose P instead of A - simply because it's still automatic !.!.!. but, well, it's better!.

Best thing you can do right now is to learn something about the various settings and how they work!.

This forum is a great place to ask questions as you go along!. And there are books, other websites, other forums!. You could take a class at the local college, or join a camera club!.

There are all sorts of options!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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the quick answer is that although the auto setting automates things such as shutter speed and aperture (and many other settings), at times the camera makes the "wrong" choice, or takes a type of picture you don't want!.

for example, controlling the aperture manually means you have direct control over things such as depth of field (how much is in focus) and how much light gets let into the camera!. or controlling shutter speed directly will allow you to freeze fast moving action with a short time, or the opposite with a longer time, creating motion blur - all depending on how you want the picture to come out!. doing things manually will give you complete control over your camera, and therefore also the pictures you get out of it!.

the camera does not know exactly what you want, and usually compromises between the two on auto mode!. in fact, since everything is automated, you have very little control over the camera, and therefore very little control over how your picture will turn out!. this turns your d40 dSLR into not much more than a point and shoot, which kind of defeats the purpose!.

the more you manually control settings such as shutter speed, aperture, white balance, ISO, etc!., the more you will learn the importance of being able to control them!. just take some pictures, start experimenting and you'll quickly learn to appreciate it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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The answer is rather easy!. No computer can replace the instinct of a human being!. Auto exposure modes, either full auto or programmed auto, use computer driven algorythms to average grid weighted exposure values into a neutral value to give the proper exposure!. For the most part, these averages work just fine, and in some cases better than semi-auto and manual exposure modes!. Either way, they are all based on the same light meter (and EV chart), only different auto modes average differently, and manual mode doesn't average at all!. The difference is instinct and skill of the photographer to outsmart the computer in the camera (which tends to be right more than we are)!. There are certain effects that can be created with different combinations of camera settings that the light meter and computer can't duplicate unless told or programmed to!. That represents an advantage of programmed auto exposure [mode P] over full auto [green box on mode dial]!. In P mode, you have the ability to shift the program!. This means the camera chooses the exposure, say for the sake of argument f/4 @ 1/250, but if you require more depth you may shift the program to f/11 @ 1/30 and still get the right exposure but a different effect of more depth (increase your ISO 3 stops and you can keep the same shutter speed you had)!. Both settings result in a proper exposure, but both can have vast differences in the look of the photograph!. It's an auto exposure mode, but you can still change it, the computer simply calculates the proper exposure for the change you made!. The other exposure modes like aperture priority and shutter priority work in the same ways, only different priorities are set to depth or speed control!. When you use manual, you are 100% in control over the exposure!. You can photograph a scene, with settings that your light meter tells you is a good exposure and have it look very different from what P mode can do becuase of averaging and metering techniques, which vary depending on the dynamic range of that scene!. Experience can help a person decide for themselves what settings will arrive at a proper exposure, or the computer can calculate it!. That's the basics!. You need to have a strong knowledge of exposure values and techniques to venture away from your auto and programmed auto modes!. Read the onwer's manual for you camera, it will help!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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auto is like saying -"i dont care for my images so i will let a stupid camera decide the movement and depth for me" or "my camera is smarter than me"

i only ever shoot on manual, i want to control my movement or lack of, i want to control the depth in the image, i want to control the focus, i want to control the exposure,

so if you want to make better images learn the manual way, get a grey card! - http://www!.digitalartsphotography!.com/in!.!.!.

aWww@QuestionHome@Com

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