Digital Photography

Full Manual Mode    -   fujifilm finepix

What it is:
A way of setting both the aperture and the shutter speed at the same time.

Where to find it:
Typically, on the dial on top of your digital camera. On most Olympus digital cameras, it is the M within the A/S/M mode. On most Nikon and Canon cameras, it is labeled by an M as well.

What it does:
The manual mode is a way for the photographer to control the digital camera’s exposure settings completely. In aperture and shutter priority modes, the digital camera is responsible for half the thinking. But after spending a while in these modes, photographers often realize that the digital camera is a lot less smart than it should be. Tricky exposure situations often throw the digital camera off, resulting in images with blown highlights or lost shadow detail.

Fujifilm finepix Z20fd - 10MP hot pink color

Manual mode is a way of ensuring more consistent results in these situations. The photographer sets both the shutter and the aperture, regulating both how long the sensor is exposed and how wide the lens opens. In this way, the exposure can be fine-tuned exactly to your specifications. Play around with manual mode and get an idea of what aperture and shutter speed combinations work in certain lighting situations. After a while, you’ll get an intuitive feel as to what works well, and your photographs will begin to have more consistent exposures.

What to watch out for:
There’s no hand-holding from your digital camera in manual mode. If you screw up, it’s your fault. The only way your camera helps out is by indicating its guess as to your exposure settings on the exposure compensation meter. If the arrow on this meter strays too far from the center, your chosen settings are probably not right.