Going Manual and Forgetting Auto Completely Changed My Perspective on Photography

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So, I gotta be honest here.  I've always been a creative at heart (or at least always needed a creative outlet), but the way that creativity has manifested in my life has mostly been through dabbling.  Dabbling in singing. Dabbling in art. Dabbling in theater.  Dabbling in video production.  Dabbling in DIY projects around the house.  I'll go all in on something for a while and then move on to the next thing.  A function of my ADD I guess? 

Anyway, photography has always been something that I've dabbled in, at times with more focus than others.  But because I'm a dabbler, it means that I don't always really know or understand what I'm doing.  When I was little, if you gave me a Lego kit, I would just start building without ever looking at the directions! Dabbling means you don't need directions or need to know what you're doing.

MY HISTORY WITH PHOTOGRAPHY AND CAMERAS I'VE OWNED

An Early Start with Film

Over the years I've had a few different, mostly entry-level cameras.  A couple of point and shoots in there.  My first true SLR back in the day was a Nikon N65 film camera with a cheap kit zoom (which can be had for around $30 today). My older sister had taken up a modest interest around that time, and so I was somewhat inspired by that.  I had no idea what I was doing, and the images I captured were largely forgettable.  It was mostly for taking pictures with friends, at summer camp, etc.

My First DSLR

After my wife and I got married we received a Pentax K7 as a wedding gift, and this was my first real experience with a DSLR.  It was a great camera generally speaking, and was built like a tank, making it perfect for a few more adventurous trips we made to Fiji and Peru.  Still, no clue what I was doing. Left the thing on auto half the time.  And I wasn't confident enough in either myself or the camera to start investing in additional lenses.

The Switch to Mirrorless and Continued Reliance on Auto

After our first child was born I wanted something that was smaller, lighter, and more practical to carry around  The best camera is the one you have with you, and I couldn't imagine lugging the Pentax K7 around on a regular basis.  So it ended up getting sold.

So, after a friend showed me her new Sony mirrorless camera, which was absolutely tiny, I decided to move over to a Sony NEX 5r.  I captured some pretty great pics with this camera, and it served our growing family well.  But again, no real clue what I was doing.  And this camera seemed like it was built for auto with tons of different scene modes and very limited manual controls. Plus, the menu was a bit of a maze to navigate. 

Ultimately, with our second kid, the auto focus proved too slow to keep up, and I hated the lack of a viewfinder over time.  Most of the time we were taking pictures outdoors, and with all the glare on the LCD screen, it made composing shots something of a guessing game. 

Fuji and My Journey to Manual Photography

Self portrait with Fuji XT-2

Self portrait with Fuji XT-2

When looking at what camera to upgrade to, I knew I still wanted something on the smaller side that was practical for carrying around as a parent.  I also still was foolishly aspirational in that I wanted an interchangeable lens camera that I could grow into over time.

After reading and watching tons of mirrorless camera reviews (I get analysis paralysis pretty quickly), I settled on the Fuji X-T2.  I almost landed on the Sony a6500 since I was coming from the NEX series, but ultimately was swayed by what I had read about the Fuji ergonomics and color science.  The XT-2 was incredibly highly regarded by photographers, and, well, I thought it looked cool.  It just seemed to occupy that space of hipster retro trendiness! (Although now I am lusting a bit after the latest full frame Sonys).

What I discovered after receiving it was that this camera was highly regarded by photographers because photographers know what they're doing.  Gone were many of the auto and scene based crutches that I used on my Sony.  In its place were a lot of very tactile dials and knobs for me to use.  I still had auto focus of course, but for the first time, I had a piece of equipment that was basically forcing me to finally learn how to manually control for exposure, motion, depth of field. Forcing me to internalize how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings actually work together, when before all I had was a passing understanding at best.  It was painful for maybe 2 weeks, but then I couldn't even fathom how I'd gone so long just coasting by on features aimed at making even a toddler a passable photographer.  With just a small amount of knowledge, my ability to truly create rather than simply compose/frame a shot grew exponentially.

That was baby step number 1.  

Down the Rabbit Hole of Vintage Lenses

The biggest evolution in my photography journey though had yet to happen. Not long after purchasing the X-T2 with the excellent included XF 18-55mm kit lens, I decided I needed a portrait lens. The problem is, Fuji lenses are both sparse and expensive.  

As it happened, I knew my dad had some old vintage Nikon lenses buried away in a closet somewhere, so I went digging for them the next time I visited my parents.  My grandparents had bought a batch of these lenses while visiting Japan back in the 70s.  A Nikkor 105mm f2.5 (same lens that shot "Afghan Girl" for National Geographic), 135mm f2.8, and 200mm f4.  After mounting the 105mm to my Fuji using a cheap Nikon to Fuji adapter, I was just blown away.  The rendering had an almost 3D like quality.  The build quality of the lens itself was durable, tactile, and precise. And each of these lenses was, quite frankly, imperfect. Each had its own unique "flawed" quality.

And as I started using these lenses over the next few weeks, I started to get good with them. Instead of cranking off a million shots at a time just because I can, going all manual forced me to slow down, take my time, think through my shots.  As a result, I was much happier with what I was capturing, I knew it was me (and not the camera) getting the shots, and I actually started to love the process itself.

Most of my lens collection

Most of my lens collection

After that I went a bit crazy for a few months, acquiring and selling old vintage lenses through friends and on eBay.  I now have a collection of about 20 various lenses (purchased for less than half of what the initial Fuji portrait lens I wanted cost), all with their own unique character.   One that I quite like was a Minolta 50mm f2 that I got for $10. That's insane for the quality.  In fact, it's so insane that we recently got my 5 year old daughter, who'd been showing a strong interest in photography, her own mirrorless camera with that exact same lens for her birthday.  And, considering her age, she takes pretty amazing pictures and is already learning all this business about exposure and focus!

What does it all mean?

So, I share all this partly to give you a glimpse into the journey I've had, particularly since I've started to get quite a few friends, family, and coworkers who ask me about taking up photography as a hobby. Going manual has given me more passion than a new piece of gear could ever give me.  Plus, vintage lenses specifically bring a piece of history and authentic character into your images that you simply can't replicate (easily at an rate) in post production.  And my advice to anyone looking to get into photography is to do the same.  Rather than getting an auto-centric camera because you're currently less comfortable or confident with your ability, instead go out of your way to start manual.  Even start with film if you're up for it.  (I've borrowed a friend's vintage Pentax Spotmatic to retry my hand at film, and it's fun, but I can't handle the lack of immediate feedback).  Learn what you're doing, and grow from there.  And when you actually truly need to use auto, you'll know how to get the most out of it.  Otherwise you'll never be able to escape those crutches.  Oh yeah, and it's cheaper!

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Photography JouneyRussell Bloodworthmanual photography, auto photography, photography, cameras, film camera, nikon n65, dslr, slr, mirrorless, pentax k7, sony nex5r, sony mirrorless, fuji mirrorless, fuji xt2, nikon lenses, nikkor 105mm, nikkor 135mm, nikkor200mm, adapted lenses, vintage lenses, vintage lenses on mirrorless4 Comments