First, you need to select the Manual Mode at the camera Mode Dial. You might found your Dial looks different, but I'm sure you can find the M icon ( In red circle) at the Dial :)
So, what does Manual Mode do? Let's begin. These are the setting for my camera, but it will be about the same as yours as well. Do not worry ^^
Aperture = Selectable
Shutter Speed = Selectable
Exposure = Cannot be Set
ISO Speed = Selectable
Picture Style = Selectable
White Balance = Selectable
AF Mode = Selectable
AF Point Selection = Selectable
Drive Mode = Selectable
Metering Mode = Selectable
Built-in Flash = Selectable
Most of the settings are selectable in Manual Mode, it is about the SAME as Program AE Mode. I would say there is no more honeymoon for user who choose this Mode. There are many things to aware and you need to try different setting in different situation, Manually :)
The Shutter Speed and Aperture are selectable. Therefore, the Exposure will indicate the result according to your Shutter Speed and Aperture setting. Do you remember the chapter "How does Exposure work"? Let's see the steps below.
1) Set your desire Shutter Speed
- Depends on what you want to shoot and style you want to create in your picture. Blur or Freeze motion. Please refer to chapter "Shooting in Shutter-Priority Mode".
2) Set your desire f-number. Do you still remember the chapter "Controlling the Depth of Field" ? I think I should repeat it again, simple one.
- If you higher the f-number, the Depth of Field will be wider. Therefore, both in front and back of the subject will be focus.
- If you lower the f-number, the Depth of Field will be narrower. Therefore, only the subject is sharp and clear, most photographers like to create a soft background for portraits.
3) Set your desire ISO Speeds.
-If you found you can't get a satisfy result because of the dark environment, set the ISO speeds higher in order to increase the Shutter Speed to freeze the motion.
4) Pay attention in your Exposure
- As I mentioned above, the Shutter Speed and Aperture are under your control. Therefore, the camera will indicate whether you have a correct Exposure.
If you are underexposure or overexposure, the Exposure bar will blink (in Green Circle). Therefore, you can create your own style, dark or bright, blur or freeze, it all depends on the user now.
- You are advised to skip directly to Step 11 because the AF Point, AF Mode, Metering Mode, Drive Mode, White Balance, Picture Style and Built-in Flash are about the Same as Exposure-Priority Mode.
5) Set your desire AF Point.
- You can select your desire AF Point in this Mode. Unlike Auto Mode, Portrait Mode, Landscape Mode and etc, you can now choose the point you want to be focused. The Red Square shows the selected AF Point.
6) Try to focus with Manual Focus.
- I strongly recommend the user who choose Aperture-Priority Mode use Manual Focus. All you need to do is push the button from AF to MF.
Well, although Auto Focus is very convenient in most of the time, you need to try Manual Focus in order to improve your skill. Also, Manual Focus save more battery than Auto Focus. If you do not have a Battery Grip ( I only use it when I attach the External Flash ), you can use Manual Focus so your battery can last for the whole day.
7) Set the AF Mode.
- I'm sorry to tell you that you are not allowed to use AF Mode if you are using Manual Focus. It is because once you selected Manual Focus, all the AF Mode selection will not works. Switch back to Auto Focus to capture moving objects. :)
8) Try different Drive Mode for continuous action.
- There are 5 different Drive Mode for my camera, which are Single, Low-Speed continuous Shutter, High-Speed Continuous Shutter, 2 seconds Timer and 10 seconds Timer.
The first thing you need to aware is light source. If the environment is too dark, you can forget about the Continuous Shutter because you will not get a sharp and clear picture. Please refer back to chapter "How to Freeze Motion?".
9) Set your desire Metering Mode.
- Please refer back to chapter "How does Metering Mode work?"
10) Set your desire Drive Mode
- Please refer back to chapter "How does Drive Mode work?"
11) Manual Mode in dark environment
- Most photographer use Manual Mode in dark environment which difficult to get Exposure. Since Shutter Speed is under your control, you can even shoot starlit sky now.
Although Shutter-Priority Mode can select your desire Shutter Speed ( or even open with BULK whole night for starlit sky), but you can't control the f-number. Therefore, you might not get the result you want. What you see with your eyes is different with the camera at night.
You might feel difficult at first because you do not know the Exposure level. But you can look at the Exposure level indicator in the LCD Panel or viewfinder. Once the Exposure reach your desire level, close the shutter immediately before it overexpose.
No comments:
Post a Comment