EOS 90D Auto vs Manual Exposure

[Ramsden]

Hi Folks

I've been quiet for a while - working with my EOS 90D as a keen learner. A month ago I was in London at St Pancras Railway Station, indulging in one of my favourite topics. At the time, I was perseveering with M and Raw - then this other photographer approached me for a chat. Cut a long story short, he takes up to 600 photos on his days out and just clicks away, then edits back home. He said I shouldnt be fiddling around with M on days like this - its ok for the studio.

He gave me his card and he has a professional website! 

I like trying to work out compositions with M - and feel Auto is a cop out - but I could see his point as we spent an hour together and he was everywhere, clicking away while I worked out settings. ( I'm still learning, and its fun)

Ramsden

[Ramsden]

I think that’s the great thing about photography - you can just take your camera for a walk ( at least that’s what I do) and open your eyes. I now ‘see’ so much more when I’m out and about, and taking photos just adds to the enjoyment.

[zakslm]

Since this thread has taken on a direction and life of its own, FWIW, I'll comment again.

I'm going to make the assumption that most of us on this thread are hobbiests or shoot for our own enjoyment.  Sometimes for some of us,  that enjoyment includes controlling all parts of the process and shooting in M and other times its shooting in one of the automated mode or a A+ or a SCN modes letting the camera do some or all of the thinking for us. 

The 90D and similar cameras have so much technology and automation built into them its pretty difficult to know everything and every feature/control of the camera (the manual is over 600 ages long not including Supplemental Information).  In fact, just yesterday I discovered that the pressing the "Zoom Out" button usually used to decrease the size of the image on the preview screen if you are in shooting mode (not previewing an image) is a shortcut to quickly use the main dial to set the ISO.  Who knew?

My point is you don't have to shoot a certain way or in a certain mode or limit youself to a certain number of shots because someone tells you to do it that way.  You are free to accept good advice and coaching as see if it works for you and increases your enjoyment and/or improves your results.  If it does, great.  Enjoy!

[justadude]

I appreciate the feedback, Lee.  

Like you, I have been heavily into photography for close to 50 years.  I've been asking many others with years of experience the same question recently, just kind of my own little personal survey, mostly out of curiosity.  It's odd how many purists are these days that don't touch anything, and claim basic edits are all AI, and how many say combining 6 different images into one is still considered a photograph.  

What I've been finding (out of only asking 70-80 people so far) is the folks with many years of experience are most like your line of thought (and mine as well) where some editing is perfectly normal - AND have the "you do you" attitude where whatever you do is fine.  It seems like the ones with less experience are the extremists where if you don't do it their way, you are wrong.    

Again, it's just out of curiosity that I've been doing this.  Thanks for playing along!

[justadude]

ASA is outdated... but I still constantly refer to ISO on digital, and talk ASA when I am working with film.  Yes, I get teased about it.  lol

[ebiggs1]

One thing, a big thing, some of you are missing about using raw and Photoshop is, a camera sensor is not a human eye. Not even close and PS can help move it closer. I have mostly always subscribed to the less is more in PS. Some like to turn their photos in to cartoon images (some display them here on the Canon forum)  and that is fine if that is what they like but not for me. It is that live and let live thought; so calling their work something less than a photo isn't right. Is it? There is your way and somebody else's way  but there is no right and wrong way. 

[LeeP]

Good comment. I tend to get very impatient with extremists and "my way is the only highway" thinking, but I trust that their foolishness is seen by others for the intolerance of thought that it is. But sometimes though...LOL

The way photography is seen is VERY generational. Some oldsters--I am one--will say that an iPhone isn't a "real" camera, but my daughter who is 22 with a photography background would say it is. If I were teaching a class right now, I'd have students learn composition using their phones first before jumping to so-called "real" cameras.

[LeeP]

My daughter (22) was paging through the instruction manual for my Nikon F and asked how ASA for film related to ISO for digital. I explained. She thought it was silly and that ASA could just as easily have been declared the international standard. 🙂

[Waddizzle]

"You are contradicting yourself." Yes he is!

There is no difference between ASA and ISO in the context of photography..

——————

It should have been obvious that I was not referring to ISO/ASA. Nornadel was pointing out the light meters that had an ISO dial after I had said that light meters don’t have them. 

That was intentional.  As you pointed out, ISO pertains to the sensitivity of the metering system or film/sensor.  That has been my entire point.  

Av and Tv define the exposure.