Weekly Poll: What mode do you shoot in most often?

[Nathan deGargoyle]

A if I'm being Apathetic, M Most of the time, S for Special occasions!

[janef]

Full manual - because I'm still a novice and have dropped myself in at the deep end. I was once told that if I go up a notch in aperture, then go down in shutter (I think???!!!) - so I played, saw the results and stayed there! Anyway, I play, have fun and delete most.....................

[Nicole]

Originally Posted by Nathan deGargoyle

A if I'm being Apathetic, M Most of the time, S for Special occasions!

lol great response.

[cabrown]

As I slowly get back into photography, I've been using Aperature Priority mode while learning about my camera, though I really should be using Manual as I used to when I started learning on my father's camera. I think one of the main reasons that I've avoided full manual now is because I do not have a proper tripod.

[MarcoDJ]

Full manual, because that's the only thing that i have used so far hehe...

i got shocked with using the basic controls... i almost dropped my cam when the flash all of a sudden popped up, it took me by surprise

[photoshopabuser]

I leave my camera in Manual most of the time but will change if I don't have the time to make continual adjustments.

[Cuchulainn]

I use the following when shooting:

Program Mode for Urban Shooting. Travel, City Life, Street shots. The shot you are looking for might be there the instant you turn a corner or walk down an alley. Program Mode is awesome when you have no time to fidget with settings. You get the shot or you don't.

Aperture Mode: Great for landscapes. Lets you control depth of field. Provides artistic creativity in how you want to present your subject.

Shutter Priority: I often use this for sports where I want to maintain a certain shutter speed such as 1/125.

Manual Mode: When you have the time to tweak everything to perfection you can't beat manual mode. I definitely prefer this mode for portraits and product shots.

Personally I find that no single mode is best suited for all tasks. You can only benefit from spending time learning how to use each one and recognizing when the situation calls for one one over the other. If camera manufacturers thought the world could get along with either full auto or manual thats all they would include.

Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority are *not* dummy modes designed for people who don't know how to use manual mode. Thats what "scene modes" like sports, night etc. are for. Even Pro cameras that lose "scene" modes hold onto Program, Aperture, Shutter and Manual Modes.

They are *all* very useful tools in the toolbox.

[Quo Fan]

Full manual, full time.

For me, it's the only way to shoot. Sometimes I forget to change a setting and the picture comes out like crap, but that teaches me to look before I shoot.