# Shooting in M mode



## TommyBoyNasty (Jan 5, 2014)

I know as a beginner photographer that Manual mode is generally a good thing to use as it allows a lot of creative freedom as well as learning experience in regards to exposure. I also know that low aperture numbers make for higher exposure, slow shutter speeds make for higher exposure and that high ISO leads to more light sensitivity and thus, higher exposure.  However I'm still having a hard time getting anything but dark, under exposed shots.  It might be because I'm apprehensive when it comes to using high ISO and slow shutter speeds in what I feel like, should be well lit situations.  I'm currently using the lens that came with my Canon T3i with ISO around 1600-3200 (That's pretty high right?) Aperture at 3.5 (The lowest my lens goes) and shutter speed at 1/100 (Is that a low setting? I'm worried about motion blur, what's a low setting that does well in avoiding motion blur?)  

A lot of questions I know.  Also, I'm brand new to this forum so if there's a better place to post this thread let me know!

Thanks!


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## Juga (Jan 5, 2014)

What are you subjects? For people I wouldn't shoot anything less than that and as ISO is concerned I'd rather capture the image with less blur and more noise than less noise and more blur.


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## Robin Usagani (Jan 5, 2014)

You need to look at the light meter on your camera.  It will tell you if you are under or over (plus understanding how the metering works).


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## amolitor (Jan 5, 2014)

You should be watching the meter in the viewfinder, to see what the meter thinks. The meter generally has a pretty good idea of what it's going to take to make a good exposure, and you should pay attention to it. You should disregard its readings in a controlled fashion, generally speaking. There are a couple methodologies you can use for disregarding it.

- you may decide shot by shot that you should be such and such over or underexposed based on what you can see in the scene, relative to the meter and then make your adjustments to shutter, aperture, ISO, until the meter reads the right degree over or under. You might use this for tricky lighting situations, like backlighting, or a large area of light sky.

- you may decide that you want a standardized exposure based on lighting conditions. In this case you'll "zero the meter" by making adjustments, then take a couple test shots, and make perhaps some more adjustments. Then you ignore the meter, until lighting conditions change. Then dark things will show up dark, light will be light, but all will be consistent. This is useful for things like shooting a football game, where the light will be much the same for 10-20 minutes at a shot, and you want the shots to all "look" the same.

In all cases, though, start from the meter and adjust from there. Your adjustments from there will be ham fisted at first, but you'll get better at it. Trying to nail the exposures by pure guess is tough, and usually wasted effort. Use the meter, but intelligently.


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## CaptainNapalm (Jan 5, 2014)

Strange how your images are under exposed under the settings you mention in well lit conditions.  Just keep lowering your shutter speed until you achieve the correct exposure.  1/100 is rarely necessary unless you're shooting moving subjects.  If your still having issues, set your camera to AUTO mode, snap a few shots under conditions you find challenging, then check what settings the camera chose to get the correct exposure, this will give you an idea what to shoot for next time.


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## limr (Jan 5, 2014)

TommyBoyNasty said:


> I know as a beginner photographer that Manual mode is generally a good thing to use as it allows a lot of creative freedom as well as learning experience in regards to exposure. I also know that low aperture numbers make for higher exposure, slow shutter speeds make for higher exposure and that high ISO leads to more light sensitivity and thus, higher exposure.  However I'm still having a hard time getting anything but dark, under exposed shots.  It might be because I'm apprehensive when it comes to using high ISO and slow shutter speeds *in what I feel like, should be well lit situations.*  I'm currently using the lens that came with my Canon T3i with ISO around 1600-3200 (That's pretty high right?) Aperture at 3.5 (The lowest my lens goes) and shutter speed at 1/100 (Is that a low setting? I'm worried about motion blur, what's a low setting that does well in avoiding motion blur?)
> 
> A lot of questions I know.  Also, I'm brand new to this forum so if there's a better place to post this thread let me know!
> 
> Thanks!



This is the first thing that you are learning: light does not appear to a camera the way it does to our eyes. It looks well-lit to you, but less light is hitting the camera's sensors than you think.

To expose properly indoors even during daylight hours can require much more light than you think, and getting a good exposure with only artificial ambient light would require wide apertures, slow shutter speeds (likely slower than 1/100) or flash. Even outdoor light can be less powerful than you think. Slow shutter speeds can cause motion blur, yes, though it depends on what you are shooting and how you are shooting it (how fast is it moving, are you using a tripod, are you panning...). 

It would help if you posted some examples of pictures to make this a less abstract sort of a discussion.

Don't be afraid of experimenting with higher ISOs than you're currently comfortable with. I mean, it's digital - what is really going to happen if you just go crazy testing every setting you have in Manual mode and taking a crap ton of pictures? Well, you get a better sense of how different settings affect the image, and then you delete all the shots that didn't work. There's no risk so just test things out and see what they do!


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## TommyBoyNasty (Jan 5, 2014)

Robin Usagani said:


> You need to look at the light meter on your camera.  It will tell you if you are under or over (plus understanding how the metering works).



Honestly, I didn't even know how to utilize that as a reference.  Big improvements! Thanks


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## TommyBoyNasty (Jan 5, 2014)

CaptainNapalm said:


> Strange how your images are under exposed under the settings you mention in well lit conditions.  Just keep lowering your shutter speed until you achieve the correct exposure.  1/100 is rarely necessary unless you're shooting moving subjects.  If your still having issues, set your camera to AUTO mode, snap a few shots under conditions you find challenging, then check what settings the camera chose to get the correct exposure, this will give you an idea what to shoot for next time.



I didn't know auto mode displayed it's settings for reference. Definitely an excellent tool! Thanks


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## Robin Usagani (Jan 5, 2014)

Read this website.  

Cambridge in Colour - Photography Tutorials & Learning Community


Once you understand everything, you should be able to look at a subject, set your camera, take 1 shot and you will have almost perfect exposure.


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## TommyBoyNasty (Jan 5, 2014)

Getting WAY better results now! Thank you all! I think my problem was my apprehension to use low shutter speed, my ignorance as to what is actually a low shutter speed (given my situation and subject) and my lack of reference.  I didn't realize how much feedback my camera could provide.


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## TommyBoyNasty (Jan 5, 2014)

Robin Usagani said:


> Read this website.
> 
> Cambridge in Colour - Photography Tutorials & Learning Community
> 
> ...


 Seems like this site is an excellent resource. I'm on it!


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## KmH (Jan 6, 2014)

I found it very helpful to think of lens aperture in terms of lens opening size as it relates to the fraction that f/number is.
The fraction f/3.5 is a bigger number, and a wider lens opening that lets in more light, than f/5.6 is - as long as the focal length stays the same.

I found it helpful to think of exposure in terms of brighter and darker rather than higher or lower.

Because of the way digital photographs work we try to control the exposure of the highlights, and let the shadows take care of themselves.
That's exactly the opposite of the way to control exposure when shooting on film.

The concept of exposing to control the highlights is codified in the concept known as Expose-To-The-Right, or ETTR.
The TTR part refers to the right side of the image histogram. See pages 226-228 of your T3i Instruction Manual.

Tones & Contrast

Understanding Histograms, Part 1: Tones & Contrast
Understanding Histograms, Part 2: Luminosity & Color
ETTR
Optimizing Exposure


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## keethjon (Jan 6, 2014)

Make sure you are familiar with the "Exposure Triangle". That is a term for how the lens aperture, lens shutter and ISO settings work together to help you obtain a correct exposure. Knowing when to change one or the other will make life easier when making decisions about which is the best exposure to use. Take a look at http://easybasicphotography.com/Camera-Exposure-basics for more on how each part of the exposure triangle works.


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## cynicaster (Jan 7, 2014)

I know that low ISO's being preferable when possible is not exactly a  revelation, but at the same time, sometimes I think folks get too  obsessed with keeping the ISO at rock bottom and end up duffing lots of shots  unnecessarily as a result.  

With that out of the way, OP, I have the same camera as you, and I'd recommend staying away from ISO 800 and higher unless doing so is the absolute _only_ option you have to avoid getting a blurry or underexposed shot.  I've had the camera for about a year and have used ISO 800 and higher from time to time, but apparently not enough to have it sink in just how disappointing it can be.  Over Christmas when I was out of town visiting family I forgot my extra batteries at home so I decided to set my ISO to 800 to prolong the battery life in my 580EX-II flash (which I was using on camera in bounce mode).  I was pretty disappointed with the noise levels in most of the shots.


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## Philligan (Jan 7, 2014)

I didn't see anything posted about this yet, but there's a trick to figuring out how slow you can set your shutter speed without getting shake/blur. On a full frame camera, the shutter speed shouldn't be any higher than the number of the lens focal length. Everything from the Canon T3 to the 7D are crop sensor (sorry if you know this already). On a crop sensor, the sensor is smaller, so it basically crops the image coming into the camera, like this.





Because of this crop, it makes the lenses effectively longer than they actually are (i.e. it looks zoomed in). The basic math for this is x1.5. So, if you have a 50mm lens, it would look like the full image above on a full frame, and the crop sensor image would actually end up looking like about a 75mm lens. 

Anyway, on full frame, to not get camera shake, they say the shutter speed shouldn't be any slower than the lens length. So with a 50mm lens, you shouldn't go any slower than 1/50th of a second. On a crop, since it's 1.5, you'd go 50x1.5=75, and the closest shutter speed would be 1/80th. Do that for whatever focal length you're at.

Another trick for manual, if you're shooting handheld in low light, is to max out the aperture, set the slowest shutter speed you can without getting shake, and set the ISO to auto (so if the lighting changes and you don't have a lot of time, you don't have to worry about figuring out a new ISO setting). If it's really dark, the shot might come out underexposed, but an underexposed image is better than a blurry one from camera shake. 

Hope that made sense.  I'm pretty bad at explaining things haha.


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## Solarflare (Jan 9, 2014)

Honestly how you have to arrange the shutter speed depends upon the camera model.

Just today I read reports that the new Sony A7r has problems with vibrations from the (infamous loud) shutter. Which means you have to actually set 3x focal length on this camera.

While others, like the Olympus OM-D, have a good builtin sensor-side vibration reduction and will allow you much better shutter speeds much below focal length, easily.

I would love to make a link to a YouTube video of Matt Granger explaining how to get really slow shutter speeds, but this Z§Z§)("&/!!!!!! forum doesnt allow to set links to youtube without making them into inlay videos.

Just search "HOW TO Get sharp images at slow shutter speeds " on YouTube.


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## minicoop1985 (Jan 9, 2014)

One of the key things I've found in getting sharp (ish, as close as my Olympus will allow) low shutter speeds is this trio: Sturdy tripod (mine isn't when extended, but I'll be upgrading soon), mirror lock up (My Oly does this for live view, as much as I hate using live view), and a remote/2 second timer. This is from experience, and if other, more experienced people have better methods, I'd try those first, though I've found this works for me.


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## Solarflare (Jan 9, 2014)

minicoop1985 said:


> One of the key things I've found in getting sharp (ish, as close as my Olympus will allow) low shutter speeds is this trio: Sturdy tripod (mine isn't when extended, but I'll be upgrading soon), mirror lock up (My Oly does this for live view, as much as I hate using live view), and a remote/2 second timer. This is from experience, and if other, more experienced people have better methods, I'd try those first, though I've found this works for me.


Well OK thats the "perfect" method.

Only needed for things like Macro, though. Or if you (a) have the time and (b) have the ability to transport all that gear (tripods are heavy and bulky).


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## minicoop1985 (Jan 9, 2014)

Or are shooting things that don't move in a dedicated area. I do agree it's not practical for a great deal of shoots, but environmental things can be used to steady a camera. I've used benches, the ground, rocks, dams, my car, other cameras, all sorts of things to steady a camera, though there isn't always an easy environmental solution.


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## weepete (Jan 10, 2014)

Philligan said:


> I didn't see anything posted about this yet, but there's a trick to figuring out how slow you can set your shutter speed without getting shake/blur. On a full frame camera, the shutter speed shouldn't be any higher than the number of the lens focal length. Everything from the Canon T3 to the 7D are crop sensor (sorry if you know this already). On a crop sensor, the sensor is smaller, so it basically crops the image coming into the camera, like this.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



1.6 for canon mate, 1.5 for Nikon


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## robbins.photo (Jan 14, 2014)

filmphoto said:


> Quick rule of thumb, shutter speed should be equivalent or faster than the focal length you are shooting at.
> 
> So if you are shooting at 150mm zoom or prime, then you need a shutter speed of 1/150s or faster.
> 
> ...



Macho posing?  You say that like it's a bad thing.. lol.

Ok, well with VR/IS or some other form of image stabilization you can actually shoot at slower shutter speeds, but I prefer not to - in fact if I can I prefer higher shutter speeds because you get sharper photos that way.  I do use aperture priority mode, but I have found in some situations manual mode is actually the better option as it gives me a little more control.  The thing about Aperture priority is that the camera is going to choose the shutter speed based on the ISO for proper exposure, so while I can change the shutter speed by increasing or decreasing the ISO it will always be based on an end result that will give me the correct exposure.  I don't always want the correct exposure, and even if I do there are times when I would rather have a specific ISO/Shutter speed/Aperture that will give me an under or overexposed shot knowing that I can fix the exposure in post - but I chose that combination on purpose. 

Generally this is when I'm in pretty poor lighting conditions, I need a higher shutter speed and a specific aperture setting to get the DOF I want.  Granted I wouldn't call this a "common" situation but it does happen so knowing how to use manual mode can be a handy thing.  There are also those times when for artistic reasons I don't necessarily want the shot to be perfectly exposed, though these again are not common and generally if I need to underexpose or overexpose a shot for artistic reasons this is normally something I can do easily enough in post.


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## xj0hnx (Jan 15, 2014)

limr said:


> TommyBoyNasty said:
> 
> 
> > Don't be afraid of experimenting with higher ISOs than you're currently comfortable with. I mean, it's digital - what is really going to happen if you just go crazy testing every setting you have in Manual mode and taking a crap ton of pictures?
> ...


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## Imasphere (Jan 16, 2014)

Solarflare said:


> Well OK thats the "perfect" method.
> 
> Only needed for things like Macro, though. Or if you (a) have the time and (b) have the ability to transport all that gear (tripods are heavy and bulky).



One of the ways I found to get a steady shot but to cut down on the bulk is to carry one of those miniature tripods with an attachment which allows it to be strapped to an object like a pole or tree branch. I have a small mirrorless camera with a small frame but my daughter has used it with her dslr and her rather light kit lens and it sometimes does miracles. It's one of these things that can easily always be kept in a small camera bag.
 I use this model which I really like.:

UCO Ultrapod II Large Tripod


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## SwampDude (Jan 18, 2014)

Most folks here know far more about fundamentals than me, but I'll share my learning process from many years ago with a simple 35mm SLR. 

Whatever film was loaded into the camera determined the light sensitivity; using 100 ASA (equivalent to 100 ISO) film fixed that adjustment component, leaving only aperture and shutter speed to be determined by the photographer. For a hand-held shot in daylight, 1/60th second or faster was considered safe for a beginner to avoid blurring from camera movement. Aperture setting then became the only variable to be decided by the novice. 

With the film speed and shutter speed pre-set, f-stop was determined by moving the aperature ring until a needle in the viewfinder meter lined up with a circle that moved with different aperature settings. When the needle was centered in the circle, the shot could be taken. One quickly learned that different combinations of shutter speed and f-stop produced acceptable photos with 100ASA film.

My early experience has served me well over the years, and much of what I learned with 35mm is transferable to digital. Thus, my advice is to set ISO to 100 or 200 and leave it there for a while. Experiment with trying different shutter speed and aperature combinations to learn about image differences that result from varying these settings. Your camera's meter will show you how aperature setting changes when different shutter speeds are selected and how shutter speed varies with different aperature settings. Fixing one variable (ISO) will greatly simplify learning about shutter speed and aperature dynamics; once you have a good understanding of these two variables, experimenting with ISO can begin.


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## glun (Apr 3, 2014)

TommyBoyNasty said:


> I'm currently using the lens that came with my Canon T3i with ISO around 1600-3200 (That's pretty high right?) Aperture at 3.5 (The lowest my lens goes) and shutter speed at 1/100 (Is that a low setting? I'm worried about motion blur, what's a low setting that does well in avoiding motion blur?)
> 
> A lot of questions I know.  Also, I'm brand new to this forum so if there's a better place to post this thread let me know!
> 
> Thanks!



The ISO you are using is pretty high and even with adequate light a f3.5 lens should be able to take decent picture. With the shutter speed of 1/100 that's pretty much the average range for a shot and if you don't want motion blur, you would want this to be even faster like 1/200. Hope this helps!


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## jewleeanne (May 17, 2014)

It seems you know most about manual mode, but you should check out this blog post, it really helped me, and what setting to use: How to Shoot in Manual Mode-The Basics - Click it Up a Notch

Also, your photos may under-exposed/dark because of poor indoor lighting. Try to shoot in your brightest room. You can make a chart showing which rooms are brightest at different times, the brightest rooms still may not give the best lighting, because it's fake, but it will improve the quality of the image.


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