Is it best working with the Auto or Manual settings on your camera?

Question

I have a fuji finepix S5800, it's a decent camera, it's main strength is it's zoom capability, how do I get the most from it? I am no expert in photography I have to say. Thank you.

Answer 1

Auto vs. manual is a question of who knows best what the settings should be to achieve results, you or the experts that designed the camera. After you answer that question you can increase your knowledge by experimenting with various settings.

Answer 2

If you leave your camera on auto all the time you learn nothing.

Person riding a bike or a pitcher pitching you'd want a fast shutter speed like 1/250, 1/500, or say 1/1000 not left on auto. If you're taking a close up and want background blurred out you'd want your aperture set about F/2.8

Best to do is fiddle around and experiment.

Answer 3

If you're no expert, then you definitely want the Auto mode or one of the half-auto modes: Aperture-priority (A) or Shutter-priority (S). Here, you can pick the Aperture that you want (for depth of field) or the shutter speed (for the amount of blur) and the camera compensates for the rest. It's pretty nice. If you want to go completely manual (M), you will just need a lot of practice and to develop some skill at reading light and knowing what to plug in. Still, you might miss some shots because you weren't ready for that exposure.

I usually use A or S. That way I can pick the effect that I want, but I'm still ready for any shot.