Need help. What did I wrong in the manual settings?

[AdamTheHiddenOn]

Please help. I made a few pictures. And don't know what I did wrong in the manual settings. 

Is the 5,6 aperture worse here, then the 8.0 aperture ?

That is why the manual picture has a worse color and is less sharp ?

I am new in here. Thanks in advance.

The 1st picture is manual mode

The 2nd picture is automatic mode

[Ray-uk]

In Program mode you have white balance set to Auto, in Manual mode you have it set to Sunny.

[Waddizzle]

Your images will never be better than you “glass”, or your lenses.  The kit 75-300mm lens is not the sharpest card in the deck.  I think your images are just about as good as that lens gets.  The design is nearly 20 years old.

But, I think the most immediate problem is using “AI Focus” mode.  It is recommended to never use the focus mode.  Also, AF point selection can have a great impact on how well the camera/lens combo focuses.

Most photographer use “AI Servo” focusing mode for wildlife photography.  One problem with AI Servo mode, is that it does not wait for the camera to lock focus before firing the shutter, which it does in “One Shot” focus mode.  This behavior becomes most acute when you use “Continuous Drive” shooting mode.

There are a lot of settings in the camera, which can have subtle to significant impact on the final result.  I suggest using {P] shooting mode to learn the camera’s features.

[ebiggs1]

When all or even most all your settings are different, you really can't make a valid comparison.  For example, f5.6 is going to make a different photo than f8 does using the same lens and the same camera.  If you have one of the lesser zoom lenses the smaller aperture is likely going to make a better picture. What camera and lens do you have?