We asked, you told us: Manual camera controls are nice, but only sometimes get used

Whether you spend $300 or $1,000 on a smartphone, chances are you will be able to capture decent-looking photos. Of course, there will likely be a quality difference when using auto settings.

One way to improve images is by using manual camera controls found on some handsets. By learning how to properly set the ISO, shutter speed, and other settings, users can typically squeeze a better-looking frame from whatever phone they have in their pocket.

So we decided to ask you, do you use manual mode? Here’s what you had to say.

Do you use manual mode on your smartphone’s camera?

Results

Averaging out the roughly 30 thousand votes across the website and YouTube, most of this week’s poll participants say that they only sometimes use manual mode. As multiple people went on to comment, the primary reason why they do not use more frequently is that it takes time to set up. Relying more on auto allows them to take out their smartphone and snap a photo quickly.

Following the top answer, with 29.5 percent and 24 percent of the votes respectively, we have “Rarely” and “I’ve never used it.” These results appear to follow in line with the reasoning that voters gave for the same answer. Either it’s just much more easy to take their phone out to grab a photo, or in some cases, their handsets do not offer a manual mode option.

Noteworthy comments

Here are some of the best comments from last week’s poll explaining why they voted the way that they did:

• Most of the time, the only time I tend to use auto mode is one when I need to take something quickly.
• Samsung galaxy s9 plus here and I use it occasionally for some shots that might benefit from the extra settings.
• Despite me having a P20 Pro, I don’t actually use Pro mode much at all.
• I am a horrible photographer. In my case, the best camera is the one my friend has on him / her. But i do try to improve Auto shots by adjusting professional settings. Maybe i’m getting better, but i wouldn’t bet on it.
• Pixel 3 here. So never.
• I use pro mode when I want to get the absolute best shot that my phone can get. In great lighting I’ll use auto when just snapping a quick photo here and there, but when I want the best output Pro mode is what I turn to.

That’s it for this week, everyone. As always, thanks for voting, thanks for the comments, and don’t forget to let us know what you thought of the results below.