Well, just matching the needle and using auto exposure is exactly the same thing. Now intelligently adjusting for different lighting, say back lighting, is easier with a manual camera than with an automatic camera. With a manual camera you just change the f-stop or shutter speed a couple of stops. With the auto camera you have to go to a fourth control to override the camera. Of course with most advanced auto cameras today you can select manual control, but the fact that you do not use that normally makes the adjustment that comes automatically to you after awhile on the manual camera something you have to think about with the auto camera.
Skills do require constant practice to be something you do almost without thinking. Only using them sometimes, if you learn them at all, does not work as well.
As for auto focus, anyone who gets a higher percentage of in focus shots with auto focus simply does not know how to focus his camera. It is a skill easily learned if someone shows you, but hard to figure out on your own.
Of course most snapshooters do not have any desire to learn how to be a photographer they just want pictures of their kids and vacations. Amateur photographers on the other hand are interested in photography and should learn everything about it they can. Gadgets do have their fascination and most modern multi-mode auto cameras cater to that with a vengeance. I do not think it helps in learning photography however.
graywolf http://www.graywolfphoto.com "Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof" -----------------------------------
Kostas Kavoussanakis wrote:
On Fri, 6 May 2005, William Robb wrote:
Before automation, you had no choice about learning the technical end of photography. It was part of the game. You learned how to adjust an aperture and shutter speed to match a needle in the viewfinder.
<snip>
Automatic exposure does not necessarily give correct exposure, it gives a best guess exposure, that guess coming from a rather retarded brain.
I cannot see how these two differ, assuming the same metering algorithm behind the needle reading/auto exposure. Actually, the auto exposure has a higher chance of being consistent for a learner on the same scene (assuming that the learner bothers to change the aperture or speed setting).
Kostas
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