Sam Hassas wrote:
I never done anything other then manual. I had a second shooter who used auto ISO and when when looking through his set there were shots that were set to 1600 ISO in broad daylight. The shots sucked.
I have used Auto ISO with parameters set, to contain how/what it can do (Nikon - when not using flash).
I like this for shooting portraits au natural when the light I am working with is nice. If someone shoots auto iso and their shots suck, its the shooter, not the auto iso. That is the same as saying a program sucks because of the computer or the language used.
BTW, to those of you who use ANY automated mode (Av, which I know many of you use) on the camera, ISO is a similar function if used within your acceptable limitations.
Very simple, Dan - when You are shooting in varying available light without flash. And You want as low ISO as possible without thinking about it in every photo. Just set the ISO limits, set the longest acceptable shutter speed and start thinking about the images, not the settings. Camera will use lowest ISO until the shutter speed gets too long - then camera raises ISO - but not more than You want. If useable ISO limits are wide enough (and current full frame DSLRs have such) - this function is highly usefull. One more thing - auto ISO settings must be easily accessible to change the longest acceptable shutter speed fast.
P.S. seeing the results of voting I must say - guys, You should study Your cameras better. They have some very usefull tricks that You still don't know
I suppose I need some clarification from some of you guys that shoot manual ISO. For the ceremony, do you shoot full manual exposure then?
Maybe it's due to my inexperience, but if I'm frequently facing multiple directions during the ceremony to capture multiple scenes, each in different lighting, I find full manual to be a terrible mental strain when you're also trying to concentrate on composition and making sure to be steady-handed and fully aware of your surroundings.
I personally shoot with a fixed shutter and aperture and let the camera decide ISO, based on my exposure compensation setting. If my camera gives me any exposure errors, it's rare, and it's usually within one stop. And one stop is easy to correct.
DubiousDrewski wrote:
I suppose I need some clarification from some of you guys that shoot manual ISO. For the ceremony, do you shoot full manual exposure then?
Maybe it's due to my inexperience, but if I'm frequently facing multiple directions during the ceremony to capture multiple scenes, each in different lighting, I find full manual to be a terrible mental strain when you're also trying to concentrate on composition and making sure to be steady-handed and fully aware of your surroundings.
I personally shoot with a fixed shutter and aperture and let the camera decide ISO, based on my exposure compensation setting. If my camera gives me any exposure errors, it's rare, and it's usually within one stop. And one stop is easy to correct....Show more →
These are my thoughts exactly. Unless a photog shoots all manual all the time, there is no reason to knock auto ISO. If you ever shoot aperture priority or shutter priority, you are making one decision and allowing the camera to make others. I have more control over my image by setting aperture, shutter, (and flash if applicable), then letting the camera choose ISO. If my metering is accurate, all is well. If my metering is not accurate I can either re-meter or EV+/-
If you're shooting with a fixed ISO on aperture priority, then your shutter speed (and possibly flash intensity) revolves around the aperture and ISO. I'm doing the opposite, having my camera's decision (ISO) revolve around the aperture and shutter.
Yeah, yeah, I know you'll say "I'm smarter than my camera" and all that. I am too, but I can't make those decisions as quickly as the camera can. And unless you are shooting manual EVERYTHING, you can't either. For those of you who shoot all-out manual, that's great! Like the dude above said, I don't have the brainpower to compose, move around, AND give each shot full, technical, manual customization (at least not yet). Bottom line, IF you do not take every single shot in M, maybe you should stop pointing and laughing and check it out.
Whew. I feel better. If my logic above is faulty, please let me know. Thanks.
I had auto ISO on a camera last year I believe (was it a 40D?) and it didn't go above 800 or 1600 or something, pretty useless. And I remember too something about it setting the shutter speed also at 1/focal length? The problem with auto almost anything is that as a photographer you should usually know better than the camera what settings you need to achieve your desired effect for any given photograph. Besides, it just takes a little bit of experience to intuitively know that when you walk into a darker room etc to turn the ISO up. I do this now hardly without a thought.
I never use auto iso, but a friend of mine uses auto iso on a nikon and almost all the time it gives 1600 ... and like sam said, those pics are horrible.
But don't you see? Av Priority is a form of auto. That's the kind of thing a lot of us are doing.
I'm pretty sure none of us are talking about putting our cameras into Green mode when we say we use auto ISO. Like I said before, I personally shoot with a fixed aperture(usually wide open in a dark church), and a fixed shutter (I try not to wander below 1/200th, but sometimes I have to). The camera decides the ISO, yes, and in a dark church, it's often up at 1600 or 3200, but what else can you do? My manual control comes in the form of the exposure compensation (like you), which I will crank up a stop or two for when people are entering the room from the bright doorways.
It works well. I don't see why there's such a stigma about it.
Sam Hassas wrote:
I had a second shooter who used auto ISO and when when looking through his set there were shots that were set to 1600 ISO in broad daylight. The shots sucked. sethphoto wrote:
I never use auto iso, but a friend of mine uses auto iso on a nikon and almost all the time it gives 1600 ... and like sam said, those pics are horrible.
I understand it now. People dislike Auto ISO because it's badly implemented in the bodies they have been using. I suppose I take it for granted, but despite the bad noise performance of Pentax bodies, at least they get this mode right.
None of the Pentax bodies I've ever used would have been in anything other than the lowest possible ISO for a daylight shot. Not ever.
I understand it now. People dislike Auto ISO because it's badly implemented in the bodies they have been using. I suppose I take it for granted, but despite the bad noise performance of Pentax bodies, at least they get this mode right.
None of the Pentax bodies I've ever used would have been in anything other than the lowest possible ISO for a daylight shot. Not ever.
Yes I had a K20D whose implementation of Auto ISO actually made sense, it was actually as if a photographer designed it. Too bad they haven't figured out the low light performance and focusing yet, otherwise I would have stuck with it.
froda wrote:
Where are the Nikon people to chime in with "our auto ISO is amazing"
Right here
I use it in certain situations, something like a situation where you're moving in and and out of shadow but want to maintain a certain shutter speed range to freeze subject motion and a certain aperture for DOF. It's very nice in situations like that. I can shoot in aperture priority at f/2.8, set my minimum shutter to 1/200, my min ISO to 200, my max ISO to 1250 (or whatever) and concentrate on interacting with my subjects.
For me, it also works well with flash. Normally, if I'm shooting with flash during a reception I'm in manual mode with auto-ISO enable (depending on the situation). This lets me shoot at my base ISO (say 400) until my SB-800 can't keep up anymore. Instead of getting a dark frame, I get a well exposed frame at ISO 1600 and a shot that I otherwise would have missed.
bryanlindsey wrote:
Do folks just see the word "auto" and say "I'm too macho for that!"?
Yep, it's a matter of pride for many photographers.
Personally, I'm a big fan of using whatever works and gets me what I want. Auto ISO opens up a faster way of working in changing conditions and affords me a nice alternative to aperture priority.
