# Weekly challenge - Manual vs Auto  2/24 - 3/2



## SquarePeg (Feb 23, 2018)

Do you ever use Auto mode on your camera?  I don't.  I pretty much shoot in full Manual at least 80% of the time.  The other 20% I'm either using Auto ISO, Aperture priority or Shutter priority.  

I admired a photo the other day in a Facebook photo sharing group and asked for the settings and was surprised to get an answer that they "just use Auto" all the time!  What????!!!!???  Did they get lucky?  Am I missing out on using my camera's technology to it's fullest?  Are there some circumstances when Full Auto is a good option?  

For this week's challenge, let's see what Auto mode on our cameras can really do.  Take a photo in your usual style (M, A, S, P mode) and then put your camera on full auto and take another.  Let's see how the camera's brain does in figuring out the shot.  Post both with your settings and the Auto settings.  If you have any fancy modes like "nighttime" or "macro" or "portrait" and you want to use those, I would consider those in the Auto category.  I'm going to aim to shoot some different types of photos - portrait, macro, action, landscape etc.


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## Dean_Gretsch (Feb 23, 2018)

I met a lady at a local lake and was amazed at the quality of photos she had gotten with her P&S. She beamed happily when she told me her camera was a gift from her work. I didn't give her a lot of details when she asked what a body and lenses cost


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## SquarePeg (Feb 23, 2018)

Dean_Gretsch said:


> I met a lady at a local lake and was amazed at the quality of photos she had gotten with her P&S. She beamed happily when she told me her camera was a gift from her work. I didn't give her a lot of details when she asked what a body and lenses cost



Lol.  I don't usually answer anyone when they ask how much my gear costs unless they are a fellow hobbyist and I know they will understand and not do the "shocked face" when I tell them!  If asked by a friend or relative, I'll usually respond with a  non answer like "more than my first car" or "not as much as you spend on golf every year" or, my personal favorite response when anyone asks a question that I think is none of their business... "Why do you ask?"  That tends to stop them in their tracks.


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## SquarePeg (Feb 23, 2018)

My usual victim.

Manual mode:  f/4, 1/125, ISO 3200






Full Auto:  f/2.4, 1/60, ISO 2000




I wish I had thought to also change the AF from single point.  Next time. 

Auto mode chose the widest aperture even though it wasn’t all that dark in the room.  The whites are blown out in his fur and the slower shutter speed is, for me, not great as I’m a wobbler.  I rarely shoot below 1/125.  In this case I feel like the auto mode didn’t take into account how good the XT-2 is in handling higher ISO. 

Winner - Manual


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## Gary A. (Feb 24, 2018)

For outdoor sports in fading light I often will shoot in Aperture Priority. But with EVF's ... I rarely look at the meter.


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## snowbear (Feb 24, 2018)

I  like the contrast / darker backgound in the manual shot.

Edit:  I haven't done the math but on second look, it seems the auto overexposed it; blown the hair on on pup's chest.


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## Peeb (Feb 24, 2018)

I would've shot this aperture priority, wide open:




In 'auto' mode, the pop-up flash popped:




WINNER (to me):  Automatic.  Check out the eyes (thru the fur!).  The shot with the flash just looks sharper to me.


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## zulu42 (Feb 24, 2018)

I don't have a full auto setting on my camera...but...maybe I need one!


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## SquarePeg (Feb 25, 2018)

zulu42 said:


> I don't have a full auto setting on my camera...but...maybe I need one!
> 
> View attachment 154258



I don’t have an Auto mode but I can set up for Auto ISO + Auto SS + Auto Aperture which is essentially the same thing.  Still not full auto since I’m setting metering mode and AF point.  I don’t know that there’s any auto setting for metering?  Or if that even makes sense?  I use spot metering.


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## Destin (Feb 25, 2018)

SquarePeg said:


> zulu42 said:
> 
> 
> > I don't have a full auto setting on my camera...but...maybe I need one!
> ...



In a Nikon DSLR the metering defaults to “matrix” mode in full auto; which generally sucks in anything but flat, boring light.


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## zulu42 (Feb 25, 2018)

I have been using center weighted metering since I got my camera. Yesteryday I spent the day spot metering. There was a bit of a learning curve at the beginning...


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## DanOstergren (Feb 25, 2018)

Let's use Auto mode!

Me:





I haven't used Auto mode in 8 years.


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## zulu42 (Feb 26, 2018)

How about a comparison of Lightroom auto mode. Here's a shot where I did a quick edit in LR. Set WB, adjusted exposure, some targeted saturation, etc. Just made some small adjustments until it looked acceptable to me.




Here's the same photo, but in LR, I selected auto WB and auto tone. 

 


I have to say: I think LR won this one. Left to my own devices, I always mix everything too dark.


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## ceemac (Feb 27, 2018)

SquarePeg said:


> My usual victim.



Is he actually a real dog. He's so clean and sits still. We used to have a papillon and the lower 6" was usually a different colour from the upper 6".


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## SquarePeg (Feb 28, 2018)

ceemac said:


> SquarePeg said:
> 
> 
> > My usual victim.
> ...



In winter he’s an indoor dog so he stays pretty clean.  Other than the beach, where he loves to dig and roll in the wet sand, he’s not much into getting dirty/muddy. The sitting still is only the past couple of years. He still does his “crazy circles” once in a while.


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## waday (Feb 28, 2018)

Agh, I've been meaning to post for this week's challenge, as I have something in mind. Hopefully I can take a picture this afternoon.


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## CherylL (Feb 28, 2018)

The first one is Manual raw with edits in ACR & Nik filters



The jpg Auto mode version


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## CherylL (Feb 28, 2018)

The first one is Manual raw with edits in ACR & Nik filters.  I underexposed when shot and lifted the shadows in ACR   Maybe too dark?  That is what it looked like thru sunglasses 


This one is in Auto, but I forgot to change to jpg in camera.  Too many distractions  Edited in ACR using the Auto function


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## BrentC (Mar 1, 2018)

SquarePeg said:


> zulu42 said:
> 
> 
> > I don't have a full auto setting on my camera...but...maybe I need one!
> ...



If you used matrix/evaluative metering, whatever your camera calls it, instead of spot you would not get the overexposure.  I think you should try it again.


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## zulu42 (Mar 2, 2018)

Thanks Brent. Yeah it took me a few shots to get the hang of spot metering. Figuring the right zone to meter from.
I got a better exposure a few clicks later, with no weenie dog.


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