MK III Auto ISO

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Archive 2007 · MK III Auto ISO

DixPix
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p.1 #1 · MK III Auto ISO

I got my Mk III yesterday and can hardly wait to shoot the dog agility trial with it this weekend. In a recent thread several people said they would like Auto ISO in a mode similar to Tv and Av. I guess you'd call it Iv. I'm one of those who would love it.

Well! With the Mk III you can approximate it! Custom Functions allow setting upper and lower limits for shutter and apperture and the Safety Shift function allows for shifting the ISO to avoid bad exposures. This will get a test run at the agility trial this weekend.

Yep! I'm excited!!!

Dick

May 31, 2007 at 12:53 PM

602crew
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p.1 #2 · MK III Auto ISO

Why not shoot manual or just pay better attention to your settings?

May 31, 2007 at 12:59 PM

dcmiller
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p.1 #3 · MK III Auto ISO

I don't get it either, but I suppose someone will come up with a real use.

I would find it most useful when lending a dslr to a novice. The camera can be set up to keep them out of trouble.

But if I'm shooting DSLR I'm constantly thinking about exposure and fractional fstops. I don't see how I would suddenly need an automatic ISO boost. An unusually fast and unexpected eclipse? What?

May 31, 2007 at 01:06 PM

CMOS
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p.1 #4 · MK III Auto ISO

I can see how the Auto ISO would be useful.

While you always want to keep the ISO as low as possible, it's not always feasable or convenient to be switching between ISO settings.
There are times when I've taken a shot at 1/2000 at ISO 400 when I didn't need that speed, but changing the ISO would have caused me to miss the shot.

It would be great if I could set the camera to Av mode at f/2.0 and then have the camera try keep the shutter speed above 1/200 while the camera automatically sets the ISO where it needs to be for correct exposure.

Honestly, I think this is where it is going.
Your primary creative control is aperature, then shutter speed. I wouldn't really say that ISO is much of a creative control (although a film grain effect can be desirable at times). Auto ISO would allow the user to focus on what really matters.

Imagine if all ISO settings on DSLRs were equally sharp as ISO 100. How would you use the camera? You would just manually set aperature and shutter speed and then let the camera pick any ISO, since it wouldn't matter.

As high ISO performance improves on cameras like the IDmkIII, we are headed closer to that.

May 31, 2007 at 01:33 PM

DixPix
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p.1 #5 · MK III Auto ISO

602crew & dcmiller,

I photograph dogs running at any speed from 4 feet/second to 30 feet/second. I do this indoors with very little light and some occasional windows to vary the light levels within a single run. The net result is substantial variation in EV within a single 30 second run. My pictures need to capture the dog at the peak of a jump over an obstacle. I need the fastest shutter and smallest aperture I can get. Setting those to selected settings and letting the camera vary the ISO to get the exposure right seems like a valuable feature to me. I'll know more after this weekends agility trial.

Dick

Check out what I do at www.dvh-photo.com

May 31, 2007 at 01:46 PM

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p.1 #6 · MK III Auto ISO

CMOS wrote:
It would be great if I could set the camera to Av mode at f/2.0 and then have the camera try keep the shutter speed above 1/200 while the camera automatically sets the ISO where it needs to be for correct exposure.

.

Well I think that's available now on the mkIII. I believe you can limit the shutter range with cfn 1-12 in AV mode and set the ISO shift on to account for any exposure requirements past the limit of the shutter range you specified. There was a detailed post on one of the other threads recently here about that. Also works in TV by setting the aperture range cfn. Sounds like a useful feature to me.

May 31, 2007 at 03:03 PM

602crew
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p.1 #7 · MK III Auto ISO

why not get a reading from the better lit parts of the course vs. the dimly lit parts and take the middle of the 2. The just keep the camera in M and make sure your shutter speed is fast enough to stop action. (or show movement)

May 31, 2007 at 03:26 PM

DixPix
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p.1 #8 · MK III Auto ISO

602crew wrote:
why not get a reading from the better lit parts of the course vs. the dimly lit parts and take the middle of the 2. The just keep the camera in M and make sure your shutter speed is fast enough to stop action. (or show movement)

I end up with a couple hundred keepers on a good day and they virtually all need to be cropped. If I can keep all other post processing to a minimum in preparing my proofs to go on the web, this saves me a lot of work. When I have to shoot a white Poodle followed immediately by a dark brown Irish Water Dog I want the camera doing exposure adjustments. But, I still need a minimum shutter speed and aperture setting. It's all a constant trade-off and I welcome a new variable to try.

Dick

May 31, 2007 at 04:06 PM

pixelman
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p.1 #9 · MK III Auto ISO

Dull old example I run into all the time, presenter in lecture hall, wide open, 1/125 to stop the movement, the light varies a stop or so across the area. Prefer to shoot at 800 rather than 1600 say. It would be an easier and handy thing to have. Worth $5,000 no but they keep adding a bit of improvement here and there then out flys the money.

May 31, 2007 at 04:20 PM

old shooter
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p.1 #10 · MK III Auto ISO

I don't shoot with a Canon (my wife shoots a 30D), but my D200 has auto ISO. It really is a life-saver (photo-saver). We often photograph dressage at an arena that has intermittent portions of it in deep shade and other areas exposed to intense sunlight - until late morning. You either have to adept to swithing ISO on-the-fly (very difficult to do) or sit back and relax while your camera body does it (instantaneously) for you.

Larry

Edited by old shooter on May 31, 2007 at 04:28 PM GMT

May 31, 2007 at 04:22 PM

ovredal73
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p.1 #11 · MK III Auto ISO

I think this sounds like a great, very useable feature, especially in the OPs given situation. Why deliberately make the frames under or over exposed when a camera feature can help you get it dead on...

Now the camera has a third variable exposure control for ISO, almost equal to the Av or Tv settings.

May 31, 2007 at 04:27 PM

Nill Toulme
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p.1 #12 · MK III Auto ISO

I'm really excited about the ISO shift feature, because I think it will automate (and idiot-proof) the way I shoot late afternoon/evening outdoor sports — which is to shoot Av, ratcheting the ISO up as necessary to keep the shutter speed up as it gets darker, then switching to M at 1/400 once ISO maxes out at 1/400. If I doze off, I inevitably blow a few shots when I let the shutter drop to 1/320 or less. If it works, Auto ISO should save those shots for me.

Nill
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May 31, 2007 at 04:35 PM

jvarszegi
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p.1 #13 · MK III Auto ISO

dcmiller wrote:
I don't get it either, but I suppose someone will come up with a real use.

Done. Rapidly-changing light conditions. Have a nice day.

May 31, 2007 at 04:35 PM

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p.1 #14 · MK III Auto ISO

602crew wrote:
why not get a reading from the better lit parts of the course vs. the dimly lit parts and take the middle of the 2. The just keep the camera in M and make sure your shutter speed is fast enough to stop action. (or show movement)

A good-enough exposure may be far different from an optimal exposure. For just a couple of problems, your approach would result in horrible noise in the dimly-lit shots and the increased chance of blown highlights in the better-lit parts. Why do you try to expose properly? (Or do you?)

May 31, 2007 at 04:38 PM

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p.1 #15 · MK III Auto ISO

Nill Toulme wrote:
I'm really excited about the ISO shift feature, because I think it will automate (and idiot-proof) the way I shoot late afternoon/evening outdoor sports — which is to shoot Av, ratcheting the ISO up as necessary to keep the shutter speed up as it gets darker, then switching to M at 1/400 once ISO maxes out at 1/400. If I doze off, I inevitably blow a few shots when I let the shutter drop to 1/320 or less. If it works, Auto ISO should save those shots for me.

Nill
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www.toulme.net

You could just set the minimum shutter to 1/400.

But you are the first person I know that doesn't shoot field sports in manual mode unless there some funky light/shade on the field.

May 31, 2007 at 04:40 PM

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p.1 #16 · MK III Auto ISO

jvarszegi wrote:
dcmiller wrote:
I don't get it either, but I suppose someone will come up with a real use.

Done. Rapidly-changing light conditions. Have a nice day.

Like a disco? You didn't give an example. You described a lighting situation. I can artificially make up a lighting scheme in which auto ISO would work great. But useful is real world.

May 31, 2007 at 04:45 PM

jvarszegi
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p.1 #17 · MK III Auto ISO

dcmiller wrote:
jvarszegi wrote:
dcmiller wrote:
I don't get it either, but I suppose someone will come up with a real use.

Done. Rapidly-changing light conditions. Have a nice day.

Like a disco? You didn't give an example. You described a lighting situation. I can artificially make up a lighting scheme in which auto ISO would work great. But useful is real world.

That's the example... any time there are rapidly-changing light conditions. Done and done. If you've never encountered such a situation, you've been lucky to say the least.

May 31, 2007 at 05:01 PM

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p.1 #18 · MK III Auto ISO

pixelman wrote:
Dull old example I run into all the time, presenter in lecture hall, wide open, 1/125 to stop the movement, the light varies a stop or so across the area. Prefer to shoot at 800 rather than 1600 say. It would be an easier and handy thing to have. Worth $5,000 no but they keep adding a bit of improvement here and there then out flys the money.

Although bringing the underexposure up in post would be about the same. I do think "near the limit" will be more real world than rapid extreme lighting changes. AV at 2.8 but don't go under 1/60th. that sort of thing.

May 31, 2007 at 05:01 PM

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p.1 #19 · MK III Auto ISO

DixPix wrote:
602crew wrote:
why not get a reading from the better lit parts of the course vs. the dimly lit parts and take the middle of the 2. The just keep the camera in M and make sure your shutter speed is fast enough to stop action. (or show movement)

I end up with a couple hundred keepers on a good day and they virtually all need to be cropped. If I can keep all other post processing to a minimum in preparing my proofs to go on the web, this saves me a lot of work. When I have to shoot a white Poodle followed immediately by a dark brown Irish Water Dog I want the camera doing exposure adjustments. But, I still need a minimum shutter speed and aperture setting. It's all a constant trade-off and I welcome a new variable to try.

Dick

A white and dark dog in the same light have the same exposure. Your adjusting your metering. Not the same thing. Unless you want the poodle and the black flat coated retriever both gray.

May 31, 2007 at 05:05 PM

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p.1 #20 · MK III Auto ISO

jvarszegi wrote:
dcmiller wrote:
jvarszegi wrote:
dcmiller wrote:
I don't get it either, but I suppose someone will come up with a real use.

Done. Rapidly-changing light conditions. Have a nice day.

Like a disco? You didn't give an example. You described a lighting situation. I can artificially make up a lighting scheme in which auto ISO would work great. But useful is real world.

That's the example... any time there are rapidly-changing light conditions. Done and done. If you've never encountered such a situation, you've been lucky to say the least.

I have been in a disco. They do flash those lights in unpredictable ways. And the mirror ball, I don't even want to think about it.

May 31, 2007 at 05:08 PM

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p.1 #21 · MK III Auto ISO

dcmiller wrote:
jvarszegi wrote:
dcmiller wrote:
jvarszegi wrote:
dcmiller wrote:
I don't get it either, but I suppose someone will come up with a real use.

Done. Rapidly-changing light conditions. Have a nice day.

Like a disco? You didn't give an example. You described a lighting situation. I can artificially make up a lighting scheme in which auto ISO would work great. But useful is real world.

That's the example... any time there are rapidly-changing light conditions. Done and done. If you've never encountered such a situation, you've been lucky to say the least.

I have been in a disco. They do flash those lights in unpredictable ways. And the mirror ball, I don't even want to think about it.

Okay. I haven't shot in a disco, which sounds tough. But much more commonplace in my experience is shooting indoors when strong sun is streaming through the windows. Even shooting a panel of sitting people where I must switch rapidly from one to the next, the situation can change rapidly. I've also experienced this problem with events outdoors where people walk into and out of shade, etc. I agree that most of the time it is just a convenience... but it is a great convenience. Especially when night is falling, you can concentrate more on shooting and check your exposure less often.

May 31, 2007 at 05:17 PM

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p.1 #22 · MK III Auto ISO

Oh, there also the situation at night where I'm shooting pics of the kids at home. The cops break down the front door. We run out the back door, and BAM, safety shift kicks in and I can continue with the christmas pics out behind the house. Done and done.

May 31, 2007 at 05:21 PM

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p.1 #23 · MK III Auto ISO

jvarszegi wrote:

Okay. I haven't shot in a disco, which sounds tough. But much more commonplace in my experience is shooting indoors when strong sun is streaming through the windows. Even shooting a panel of sitting people where I must switch rapidly from one to the next, the situation can change rapidly. I've also experienced this problem with events outdoors where people walk into and out of shade, etc. I agree that most of the time it is just a convenience... but it is a great convenience. Especially when night is falling, you can concentrate more on shooting and check your exposure less often.

You should probably stop now before you hurt yourself.

May 31, 2007 at 05:24 PM

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p.1 #24 · MK III Auto ISO

dcmiller wrote:
jvarszegi wrote:

Okay. I haven't shot in a disco, which sounds tough. But much more commonplace in my experience is shooting indoors when strong sun is streaming through the windows. Even shooting a panel of sitting people where I must switch rapidly from one to the next, the situation can change rapidly. I've also experienced this problem with events outdoors where people walk into and out of shade, etc. I agree that most of the time it is just a convenience... but it is a great convenience. Especially when night is falling, you can concentrate more on shooting and check your exposure less often.

You should probably stop now before you hurt yourself.

You've already hurt yourself.

May 31, 2007 at 05:37 PM

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p.1 #25 · MK III Auto ISO

I think it's a good new feature to have. Why would people be opposed to having this feature?

Sometimes, it seems like photographers pride themselves on doing everything manually. I like that we have full control over the parameters; if Canon was to take that away in favor of having it automated, I would have an issue. However, this is simply an extra feature to have, one that still allows us to go full manual if we choose to. Some may find this new feature useful for their style of shooting.

May 31, 2007 at 06:13 PM


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