Many photographers who are just starting out with a serious camera look at the M mode on the mode dial with a certain sense of awe. “M mode? That must be for professionals. I’d better stay away from it until I’ve taken a course…”But is that really true? Is shooting in M mode really that magical?
Adjusting exposure, which is sometimes necessary to find the right settings, is often quick and direct in M mode.
What Is M Mode?
In M mode, you control both aperture and shutter speed. You use the light meter display in the viewfinder as a guide. When the indicator is at zero, you have the exposure recommended by the camera’s metering system.
If you work that way, however, you soon become a slave to your camera, dutifully following its instructions. It should be clear that this will not automatically lead to better photos.
Why Adjust Exposure?
There are two reasons to use M mode to control exposure manually. The first is that you can play with light and dark quickly and easily. The scale below or beside the viewfinder shows how far you are deviating from the exposure the camera considers ideal. A quick turn of the shutter speed or aperture dial lets you take another shot at a different exposure very quickly.
The catch is that you need to know what you’re doing.
It is therefore best to turn off multi-segment metering. This intelligent metering mode tries to interpret the scene, but that is precisely what you want to do yourself. Instead, choose one of the two “less intelligent” metering methods: center-weighted or spot metering.
With center-weighted metering, the camera measures an average across the entire frame, and you decide whether to expose more or less. Spot metering measures one or more small details. Conveniently, the light meter remains active even in M mode.
The exposure scale in the viewfinder shows how far your current settings differ from the light meter’s recommendation. This lets you make precise adjustments to light, dark, and contrast. On modern cameras you can usually see immediately in live view how your settings affect the exposure, giving you a realistic preview of the final result.
Locking Exposure in M Mode
The second advantage of M mode is that the exposure remains constant when the light changes. Suppose you are photographing a cyclist riding past while panning the camera to follow them. There is shrubbery in the background, but then the cyclist suddenly passes a white wall lit by the sun.
But a technically correct exposure does not always produce the most attractive result.
If you let the camera decide, the cyclist will very likely be rendered darker for a moment. Lock the exposure, and it cannot adjust. M mode is ideal for that.
You cannot rely on your camera to arrive automatically at the desired exposure here. M mode is well suited to making subtle, precise adjustments.
You can also quickly lock the exposure in P, A, or S mode by pressing the AEL button. On some cameras, this locks focus at the same time, but you can usually disable that link.
When Does Automatic Mode Work Just as Well?
Do not underestimate the sophistication of modern camera technology. It is genuinely surprising how often automatic mode gets the exposure just right.
But a technically correct exposure does not always produce the most attractive result.
With high-contrast scenes in particular, you have to help the camera choose: should the dark areas of the image look good, or should you leave them as they are and expose for the bright areas? That is when you have to show who is in charge, and a manual approach can quickly provide the best solution.
Bracketing (taking a series of exposures) is another option, of course. But not every camera lets you activate and configure that function quickly. In those cases, M mode is astonishingly simple and effective.
Conclusion
M mode gives you creative control, but automatic modes are often surprisingly good. The key is understanding which option to choose and when.
