What To Do With Manual Mode

The most mysterious feature on BirdCam, to my sense of things, is Manual Mode. Manual mode is selected with Setup Mode and activated with the shutter button on the left side of the camera. Given how the camera is marketed and generally used, Manual Mode just does not seem to be a particularly helpful feature. That is, in taking photographs of birds, Manual Mode is hardly the first feature I would use. But I am intent to find a use for every feature of the camera. Here are two applications. (1) For those who do not have a digital camera, Manual Mode allows your BirdCam to serve as a good substitute in a pinch. Admittedly, it’s not as easy to hold and aim as a pocket digital camera, but it provides a facility whenever needed (say, for a family portrait, using a tripod and the delay setting!). (2) If you can get close enough to the bird (at least within eight feet unless one can get into a blind) you can keep the camera at hand, either on a full or table top tripod, and shoot the picture yourself. This is probably not as good as using the remote control but if that feature was not purchased, you’re your own remote anyway. Perhaps you can find another great use! that's the fun of BirdCam: stretch the envelope to get outstanding photography.