My new camera has made my photography skills worse!

[pjm1]

I thought that title might attract a few of you

Right, The Sun headline aside, I have an interesting observation that I've made after using my D750 for a little over a week: it really is quite clever. The downside to this cleverness is it is easy to fall into the pit of technology and stop thinking for yourself.

What do I mean? Well, the incredible dynamic range, allied to Highlight Exposure mode has - for me - taken a huge amount of metering guesswork - and perhaps... thinking - out of my photography. In one sense, this is great - if I end up with a higher keeper rate because highlights aren't blown, that has to be a good thing. But conversely, I'm thinking less about exposure compensation and what the limits of my sensor are going to bump against than I did before. Coming from my old Pentax K5, I'd be thinking about the scene before raising the camera to my eye... a bit of sun poking through the dark clouds and I'd be dialling in -2EV almost straight away to avoid blowing out. Shooting away from the sun with lots of clouds and it might be +1EV to "correct" the meter. The graininess introduced by excessive shadow recovery meant I had to be careful to get this right and expose to the right as far as possible, avoiding blowouts.

The D750's highlight exposure does seem to err on the side of underexposure but it seems to be very good at avoiding highlight blowout. It's not perfect ETTR but in my experience of about a week or so (about 900 shutter actuations, mind ) I'm actually very impressed at its capabilities and general reliability. Those scenes where it's always going to get it wrong (often ones where you want to capture a strong lightsource as blown) are somewhat predictable and it's easy to swap modes for those.

But again, this takes me back to the "issue" if you will - of dumbing down photography. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one who thinks we should all be metering ourselves and shooting without AF (although I do have a fully manual camera without light meter) but I do think it's important to maintain the skills in order to be able to revert back to more manual means if necessary. A bit like my inability to remember phone numbers since the dawn of the mobile phone, will clever technology start to impair our ability to read light levels and think about the dynamic range in a scene?

So for me it's a balance - this clever tech is good in that it reduces the risk of me forgetting to set/reset my exposure comp and ruining an otherwise good "keeper". It is also partially good in that I don't need to spend as much time or thought in setting up for a shot which should mean I can spend that time thinking about other aspects of the capture: composition, quality of light, the precise moment of capture and perhaps other settings. Of course, it can also lead down the route of "point and spray" by further reducing the amount of input *required* before pressing the shutter. I can potentially have my camera on M auto iso where I set the aperture and shutter speed to what I think will suit the subject and scene, and just fire away... and probably get perfectly acceptable (and potentially good) results, especially with a quick exposure adjustment in post.

So, is this a good thing or is it the slippery slope to us losing essential photography skills?

I'm interested in your thoughts...

 

[GHP]

Just because your camera has a feature, doesn't mean you have to use it though.
I think you are right, it can be easy to rely on the clever tech, but on the other hand, the final image is the thing you need to concentrate on.
Using these features takes out the "guesswork", but for some, they wouldn't be able to get the image they want without them.
It wasn't all that long ago when people were saying the same about TTL metering, autofocus, etc etc.
" A lens which focuses for you? Pah, that will never catch on !"

 

[Ian W]

I know what you mean. My process is that I'll generally take a snapshot to see how the camera would take it (with zero adjustment) before making any myself (usually through what I see on screen coupled with the histogram).

I could ignore the tools there to help me, but then why make your job harder?

 

[Kodiak Qc]

So, is this a good thing or is it the slippery slope to us losing essential photography skills?

•


I guess the typewriter users had the same
thoughts when text editing software and
computers made their debuts.

If technology is permitting one to capture
greater DR, in higher resolution and close
to perfection and without any abberation, it
may imply the understanding of the bells &
whisles as photography has become the most
artistic technology or the most technical art.

 

[johnnypanic]

The advances, in technology are wonderful, but they are still only there to assist us. It's still the photographer making the image.

Even if you could get, a technically perfect image, each time you pressed the shutter it still won't necessarily mean you are a gifted photographer. There is so much more to it than just capturing an image.

Personally, I'll take all the help, I can get

 

[AJQS]

I thought that title might attract a few of you

Right, The Sun headline aside, I have an interesting observation that I've made after using my D750 for a little over a week: it really is quite clever. The downside to this cleverness is it is easy to fall into the pit of technology and stop thinking for yourself.

What do I mean? Well, the incredible dynamic range, allied to Highlight Exposure mode has - for me - taken a huge amount of metering guesswork - and perhaps... thinking - out of my photography. In one sense, this is great - if I end up with a higher keeper rate because highlights aren't blown, that has to be a good thing. But conversely, I'm thinking less about exposure compensation and what the limits of my sensor are going to bump against than I did before. Coming from my old Pentax K5, I'd be thinking about the scene before raising the camera to my eye... a bit of sun poking through the dark clouds and I'd be dialling in -2EV almost straight away to avoid blowing out. Shooting away from the sun with lots of clouds and it might be +1EV to "correct" the meter. The graininess introduced by excessive shadow recovery meant I had to be careful to get this right and expose to the right as far as possible, avoiding blowouts.

The D750's highlight exposure does seem to err on the side of underexposure but it seems to be very good at avoiding highlight blowout. It's not perfect ETTR but in my experience of about a week or so (about 900 shutter actuations, mind ) I'm actually very impressed at its capabilities and general reliability. Those scenes where it's always going to get it wrong (often ones where you want to capture a strong lightsource as blown) are somewhat predictable and it's easy to swap modes for those.

But again, this takes me back to the "issue" if you will - of dumbing down photography. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one who thinks we should all be metering ourselves and shooting without AF (although I do have a fully manual camera without light meter) but I do think it's important to maintain the skills in order to be able to revert back to more manual means if necessary. A bit like my inability to remember phone numbers since the dawn of the mobile phone, will clever technology start to impair our ability to read light levels and think about the dynamic range in a scene?

So for me it's a balance - this clever tech is good in that it reduces the risk of me forgetting to set/reset my exposure comp and ruining an otherwise good "keeper". It is also partially good in that I don't need to spend as much time or thought in setting up for a shot which should mean I can spend that time thinking about other aspects of the capture: composition, quality of light, the precise moment of capture and perhaps other settings. Of course, it can also lead down the route of "point and spray" by further reducing the amount of input *required* before pressing the shutter. I can potentially have my camera on M auto iso where I set the aperture and shutter speed to what I think will suit the subject and scene, and just fire away... and probably get perfectly acceptable (and potentially good) results, especially with a quick exposure adjustment in post.

So, is this a good thing or is it the slippery slope to us losing essential photography skills?

I'm interested in your thoughts...

It's obvious that you're thinking about these things waaaaay more than your average photographer is. I have my histogram displayed in the EVF, and use this as my basis for exposure, you could argue that this makes things easy - but you still have to go through the exact same thought process to set the exposure, And I can still do that by adjusting all 3 things on the exposure triangle if I so desire, but I don't. I have it set up in Aperture priority with auto ISO. I set the auto ISO to limit the shutter speed to a range based on what I'm shooting, select the appropriate Aperture for the depth of field I'm after and use exposure compensation to get the exposure where I want it. Is that easy? For me yes, because I still apply thought to arrive at those settings. Hand it to joe public are they going to get it right? Hell no! It would take weeks of explaining before they even vaguely understand!

In some respects it's a lot easier with a crummy small sensor camera with limited dynamic range, you only have to get an average metering on that and that is easy, the camera can manage that pretty well itself. Why? because it has no dynamic range, you only get the options of black, exposed well enough of blown out. There is no range of options from low key to high key, there's just OK or bin. These are the things that dumb down photography!

(I know I probably haven't explained any of that very well!)

 

[pjm1]

Yes, of course it was all a little bit tongue in cheek, but taking it to its logical conclusion... if you don't use it you lose it - in this case thinking about light and exposure. If I shoot with my ancient MF film camera, I use my sekonic lightmeter together with some thought as to what I want to lay down onto film (expose for the shadows/ETTL etc.) Very slow by comparison - partly because I don't use that camera very often and have to remind myself of all these things! But if we don't practice those skills I expect they'll wane and eventually we won't even remember how to do it.

It might be that over time using M auto ISO keeps me thinking about exposure anyway... outside in daylight hours where I perhaps want a large depth of field I'll be pushing shutter speed as fast as I want it because I won't be limited by available light, even at small apertures. Conversely, if I'm after a very shallow depth of field on a sunny day, I'll probably switch to A because 'll be more worried about maxing out the shutter speed at 1/4000. So maybe for me, it's just thinking about the problem in a different way rather than not thinking about it at all?

 

[juggler]

I tried the highlight weighted metering mode & couldn't work out what the exposure meter was trying to tell me. When it reads +2 in highlight mode what does it mean? That the subject under the spot will be +2 EV? That the whole scene will? Does that reading take the highlight weighting into account?

Maybe it'd make more sense in aperture or shutter priority, or with auto ISO. I don't really use those much.

 

[pjm1]

I tried the highlight weighted metering mode & couldn't work out what the exposure meter was trying to tell me. When it reads +2 in highlight mode what does it mean? That the subject under the spot will be +2 EV? That the whole scene will? Does that reading take the highlight weighting into account?

Maybe it'd make more sense in aperture or shutter priority, or with auto ISO. I don't really use those much.

That sounds to me as if you're in full manual or you were hitting the stops in terms of the exposure triangle? Not sure what body you have but if you're at 1/4000 and ISO 100 (because they're the limits) and the meter is still thinking you're overexposing then it'll flash the +/- EV alert (which will be showing a + EV). Similarly if you're in a dark environment and it's hitting the max ISO range you've set then it'll be showing a - EV alert. Is that what you mean? On full manual without Auto ISO you'll just get the standard EV assessment as to how far over/under it thinks you are.

That's how it works on my D750 but that's probably body and setting dependent?

Highlight metering simply becomes the chosen metering mode - a bit like either spot or matrix. It doesn't meter highlights in addition to the general scene, it's simply attempting to ETTR, albeit not perfectly (sometimes it leaves maybe a stop or so too much headroom, sometimes it doesn't!)

Not sure if that helps?

 

[Snapsh0t]

I think the real problem is that people going from a simpler camera to something like the D750 never develop the basic skills that you fear losing because they have no idea that they exist. And, instead of finding out how to do things for themselves, they just bleat for help here and on similar fora. I got in trouble in my earliest days here for saying the internet was making people stupid and a couple of people took it personally but we've all seen it....

 

[juggler]

That sounds to me as if you're in full manual or you were hitting the stops in terms of the exposure triangle? Not sure what body you have but if you're at 1/4000 and ISO 100 (because they're the limits) and the meter is still thinking you're overexposing then it'll flash the +/- EV alert (which will be showing a + EV). Similarly if you're in a dark environment and it's hitting the max ISO range you've set then it'll be showing a - EV alert. Is that what you mean? On full manual without Auto ISO you'll just get the standard EV assessment as to how far over/under it thinks you are.

That's how it works on my D750 but that's probably body and setting dependent?

Highlight metering simply becomes the chosen metering mode - a bit like either spot or matrix. It doesn't meter highlights in addition to the general scene, it's simply attempting to ETTR, albeit not perfectly (sometimes it leaves maybe a stop or so too much headroom, sometimes it doesn't!)

Not sure if that helps?

I've just bought a D750 too - I nearly always use manual aperture, shutter & ISO. I was trying to use the highlight weighted metering in this mode but couldn't work out what the meter was telling me. Is the reading it's suggesting the correct one to avoid clipping the highlights across the whole scene? Just in the centre spot? Or something else altogether?

 

[pjm1]

I've just bought a D750 too - I nearly always use manual aperture, shutter & ISO. I was trying to use the highlight weighted metering in this mode but couldn't work out what the meter was telling me. Is the reading it's suggesting the correct one to avoid clipping the highlights across the whole scene? Just in the centre spot? Or something else altogether?

I don't think the meter changes its function TBH... in manual mode (and manual ISO) the meter is just showing you how far off it thinks you are from ideal exposure. For highlight metering it's a bit vague as to how it works as the manual says it gives a bias to highlight areas to reduce the amount of clipping (or words to that effect) but it appears to ETTR with an additional safety margin in many cases. It's whole scene so not just centre - it's not a spot meter but potentially far more useful (as otherwise you can just use the spot meter itself!)

 

[Thrash]

I think there have been technological advancements which people aren't too familiar with, in terms of metering mode I only ever use spot but there are 2 other modes which i've tried and failed with - I don't really know how they work and have never bothered to learn. Whether they were 'technically' better or not I don't know, I just go on looks.
Ultimately the core settings are the same on every camera - aperture, shutter speed and ISO. I don't use histograms or any sort of measurement like that because I let my eyes judge for me; take a shot and see how it looks, I might end up taking three or four photos. I'm no expert though, thats just my style!

 

[Ed Sutton]

I've just bought a D750 too - I nearly always use manual aperture, shutter & ISO. I was trying to use the highlight weighted metering in this mode but couldn't work out what the meter was telling me. Is the reading it's suggesting the correct one to avoid clipping the highlights across the whole scene? Just in the centre spot? Or something else altogether?

It doesn''t appear to matter which focus point is selected the meter reads the bright part of the scene.

 

[chris malcolm]

It's not just cameras. My handwriting skills have deteriorated a lot. It's not just legibility. I've become addicted to text editors. I doubt if today I could prepare a neatly handwritten ten page essay without misspellings and scorings out in any amount of time.

 

[sep9001]

It's not just cameras. My handwriting skills have deteriorated a lot. It's not just legibility. I've become addicted to text editors. I doubt if today I could prepare a neatly handwritten ten page essay without misspellings and scorings out in any amount of time.

And I thought it was only me heading this way.

 

[stu.artd]

So, is this a good thing or is it the slippery slope to us losing essential photography skills?

I'm interested in your thoughts...

If the photographs can be taken without a requirement to use the skills are they essential ?

 

[spudey]

My D750 also has an 'auto' mode where I just need to point the lens and press the shutter and it makes a perfectly good exposure. No thought required, just compose and shoot. Do I use it? Never. I like to have creative control of aperture or shutter speed or both.

Did anyone worry about losing their photography skills when TTL metering and automatic shutter speeds were introduced? Probably, but here we are 40 years later still making decisions and adjusting settings to freeze action or adjust the depth of field.

Highlight metering is just a tool, same as a spot meter, autofocus or TTL flash. The key is you understand what it does, how to use it correctly, what it's limitations are and how to overcome them.

If you use highlight metering but can still make conscious adjustments to cope when the sun is in frame or you need to maintain shutter speed in a dark venue then your skills are intact.

 

[woof woof]

Right, The Sun headline aside, I have an interesting observation that I've made after using my D750 for a little over a week: it really is quite clever. The downside to this cleverness is it is easy to fall into the pit of technology and stop thinking for yourself...

So, is this a good thing or is it the slippery slope to us losing essential photography skills?

I'm interested in your thoughts...

Yes, of course it was all a little bit tongue in cheek, but taking it to its logical conclusion... if you don't use it you lose it - in this case thinking about light and exposure.

My Gosh. You'll be talking about sunny 16 next

Cameras are better than ever and I suspect you're viewing the past through rose tinted glasses. Of course cameras aren't dumbing down. The kit is enabling ever better results but you can still guess and over or under expose and produce Lomo like results if that's what you want.

To me you're like a typist who's used to big old typewriters complaining that word processors have taken the art of typing the bosses letters but even further back there was someone using a quill bemoaning the first pen. No. What's happened is that technology has moved on and enabled more people to get better results but the best of the best will still and always be able to get that little bit more... So stop the naval gazing and be happy

 

[pjm1]

My Gosh. You'll be talking about sunny 16 next

Cameras are better than ever and I suspect you're viewing the past through rose tinted glasses. Of course cameras aren't dumbing down. The kit is enabling ever better results but you can still guess and over or under expose and produce Lomo like results if that's what you want.

To me you're like a typist who's used to big old typewriters complaining that word processors have taken the art of typing the bosses letters but even further back there was someone using a quill bemoaning the first pen. No. What's happened is that technology has moved on and enabled more people to get better results but the best of the best will still and always be able to get that little bit more... So stop the naval gazing and be happy

I think I made a joke to someone recently about sunny 16 being more like "driech 2.8" here in the west of Scotland

I reckon I might have explained myself poorly - I'm all in favour of this new tech and I absolutely love the lightning fast AF, this funky highlight meter mode and far wide dynamic range. I'm embracing it fully and snapping away like a crocodile in a swimming pool. It's great. But... I was just wondering whether I was going look back in 12 months and realise I'd slid down that slope, trying to remember what exposure compensation was and the like.

As for naval gazing, when's that been a bad thing

Happy Paul.

 

[frod]

I feel like it takes months and months to learn how a camera will react in various situations. The smarter the camera just means the subtleties are less predictable. I really do love EVFs though, they help a great deal when seeing what the cameras AE and WB are doing.

 

[woof woof]

As for naval gazing, when's that been a bad thing

When you do it so much it takes over and you can't see the world beyond your naval anymore.

Maybe it's because I'm a bit of a fan of technology but I do think there's (always?) the option of turning it all off and then the only difference between the new stuff and the old is that you change the settings that matter (aperture, shutter and ISO) with a little plastic wheel rather than a knurled metal knob.

The first thing I normally do when I get a new camera is go through the menu and turn anything I don't want or don't understand off. The bells and whistles are there if I want them or for the next happy user if I sell the kit but I'm not going to lose sleep over it or think that any skill or ability I might have had on my best day has been exorcised forever.

I do sort of see your point but... I still believe that the old skills such as tweaking exposure are still valid and will enable those with superhero qualities to get that little bit extra quality out of the gear even if the kit is so good that you'll need to pixel peep at 250k% or print the size of the moon to see it. But it'll be there and we'll know

 

[pjm1]

To be fair, my shots would be better if I improved my composition and appreciation for the quality of light... so maybe I need all the tech help I can get to automate the "easy" stuff

 

[Livin The Dream]

Hmmm, I actually don't shoot like this at all, blown highlights aren't always an issue for me. For people especially, I'm exposing for the skin, most of the time. In a HDR situation exposing for the highlights would give you muddy, grey skin tones. Highlight priority is great for an instant silhouette but I've rarely used it, it's just another tool to get what you want, quickly. If it works for you then fine.

I love the DR of my D750 but I don't rely on its shadow recovery all of the time. I always consider the scene, think about what's important, then select the metering to get me what I want, they all serve a purpose. Matrix is as good as any of them at times and once you get to know the meter, you'll realise how it reacts in certain situations.

Most of the time I shoot in manual these days and spot meter, it serves two purposes: slows me down a little, and makes you assess the scene a little more. Since doing this, I find myself moving sliders around less. Aperture priority was always my go-to outdoors, but the metre can jump around a bit at times and change during a sequence of shots. It's actually sped up the PP workflow process. If I do want to retain the full DR throughout then it's so quick to bracket a sequence of shots and LR's new merge feature is pretty simple to use. My new mantra is all about getting it closer in camera first, it's surprising how much you can reduce your PP afterwards.

My last point about aperture priority and guessing the ECV, is that you tend to round up to the nearest stop. Not overly important with the DR of today's cameras because you can pull the file, if you have the time at the capturing point, get it right there instead of faffing around later with the file.

 

[pjm1]

Hmmm, I actually don't shoot like this at all, blown highlights aren't always an issue for me. For people especially, I'm exposing for the skin, most of the time. In a HDR situation exposing for the highlights would give you muddy, grey skin tones. Highlight priority is great for an instant silhouette but I've rarely used it, it's just another tool to get what you want, quickly. If it works for you then fine.

I love the DR of my D750 but I don't rely on its shadow recovery all of the time. I always consider the scene, think about what's important, then select the metering to get me what I want, they all serve a purpose. Matrix is as good as any of them at times and once you get to know the meter, you'll realise how it reacts in certain situations.

Most of the time I shoot in manual these days and spot meter, it serves two purposes: slows me down a little, and makes you assess the scene a little more. Since doing this, I find myself moving sliders around less. Aperture priority was always my go-to outdoors, but the metre can jump around a bit at times and change during a sequence of shots. It's actually sped up the PP workflow process. If I do want to retain the full DR throughout then it's so quick to bracket a sequence of shots and LR's new merge feature is pretty simple to use. My new mantra is all about getting it closer in camera first, it's surprising how much you can reduce your PP afterwards.

My last point about aperture priority and guessing the ECV, is that you tend to round up to the nearest stop. Not overly important with the DR of today's cameras because you can pull the file, if you have the time at the capturing point, get it right there instead of faffing around later with the file.

Hi Kris, well that's precisely where I'd like to end up with my photography and without wanting to put you up on a pedestal, you're clearly skilled to such a degree that these sorts of things now come naturally.

As I mentioned, my OP was somewhat tongue in cheek, but I guess I was wondering whether relying too heavily on the technology would result in me / other users not being able to keep or acquire those skills that Kris mentions. I do think, on reflection, I'm still thinking as much about the shots - just differently.

The other thing I'm really enjoying is using an 85mm prime as my "go to" lens for walkabout. It's rather restrictive but I find it really forces me to look for compositions that can work, rather than see a landscape and think "pretty shot" and try to capture what's in front of me with our massive natural field of view (unsuccessfully). Shooting the kids outdoors is great though - having to take those extra couple of steps back leads to far greater compression and I know full well if I still have my zoom on, I'll just be standing still pulling back to 35mm...

 

[Ed Sutton]

My D750 also has an 'auto' mode where I just need to point the lens and press the shutter and it makes a perfectly good exposure. No thought required, just compose and shoot. Do I use it? Never.

I'm not a mode snob. I use it occasionally. The less boring technical stuff I have to bother about the better. And some times it makes a better job of things than I do.

 

[DG Phototraining]

I'd been a photographer nearly 30 years before someone mentioned the Sunny 16 Rule to me, I'd never heard of it then and I still had to look it up just now too !!! When also found...

• The snowy/sandy F/22 rule.
• The overcast F/8 rule.
• The slightly overcast F/11 rule.
• The heavy overcast F/5.6 rule.
• The sunset F/4 rule.

All had a point in their day I guess, but at what point do you ignore such things and go with the tech you have to hand? My first camera, Zenith EM, had a meter sat on top of it so I never needed any of those exposure rules, I just got on with taking photos

My current cameras are D7200s, lots of clever stuff in there that allows me to just get on with taking photos

I don't give a toss what the techie stuff is doing or how its doing it, I just want the best it can be to allow me to just get on with taking photos

Dave

 

[FlyTVR]

As a Canon bod, I really am envious of the DR these Nie-kon cameras seem to be belting out. I was talking to an experienced Nikon wedding shooter the other day. He told me a story about a wedding ceremony where the bride was bathed in window light, but the groom happened to be in shadow, Nikon to the rescue! An example of technology making his life easier.

Anyway, I think for those shooting on a hobby basis, it doesn't really matter. Use the features / don't use the features. For those shooting professionally in time pressured situations, the technology is great. However, I guess it does take some of the skill out of photography and allows those with less skills to bag keepers where they possibly couldn't before.

In summary, technology moves on. Is that a good thing..... yes and no

 

[MartynK]

It's not just cameras. My handwriting skills have deteriorated a lot. It's not just legibility. I've become addicted to text editors. I doubt if today I could prepare a neatly handwritten ten page essay without misspellings and scorings out in any amount of time.

The solution to this is the same as it always was. Develop a neat but slightly 'ambiguous' handwriting style that looks good but defies anyone to spot the spelling errors...it worked for me right through university, long before PCs and laptops were available.

 

[Byker28i]

OP - for the highlights, can you not turn off the auto and turn on highlight warning?

 

[THIRTYFIVEMILL]

Because most of my work is macro I simply render all camera help functions useless by using manual only lenses. Problem solved.

 

[spudey]

I'm not a mode snob. I use it occasionally. The less boring technical stuff I have to bother about the better. And some times it makes a better job of things than I do.

It's another tool that's there for us when we want it, which i guess was my point. You're not going to lose any skills by switching to auto now and again, just use what works for you.

I actually have my own version of 'Auto' mode saved as the custom U2 preset on D750, so i can quickly switch to it and have matrix metering, Aperture priority, RAW files(is auto .jpg only?), auto iso etc. I can just set it to f5.6 and snap away but still make quick adjustments if required. It also disables back button focus so i can hand the camera to someone else to shoot with without having to explain BBF.

 

[Jayst84]

I think most of it is creating more work for you. I'm far too lazy to use most of the weird things like highlight tone priority or whatever it is some of the Canons have. You have to work out what the camera's trying to do, decide if you want it to do that for this particular shot, then compensate, or not, for it, then take the shot.

Much easier to just meter the scene (or not even that, if the light hasn't changed) and take the bloody photo.

Same reason I don't get on with things like aperture priority and auto ISO. Way too much work, I'd rather not have to think about those things.

 

[adrianday]

To be fair, my shots would be better if I improved my composition and appreciation for the quality of light... so maybe I need all the tech help I can get to automate the "easy" stuff

I think you've hit the nail on the head. It's sometimes too easy to get wrapped up in the technology. Learning how to use the gear you own in a way that you're entirely comfortable with will allow you to concentrate on the most important aspect, the composition.

 

[Ed Sutton]

It also disables back button focus so i can hand the camera to someone else to shoot with without having to explain BBF.

U2 is my 'hand camera to idiot' mode. I use it quite a lot myself.

Full auto uses whatever file format you've set yourself.

 

[Livin The Dream]

I think you've hit the nail on the head. It's sometimes too easy to get wrapped up in the technology. Learning how to use the gear you own in a way that you're entirely comfortable with will allow you to concentrate on the most important aspect, the composition.

Agree. The first step to taking good pictures is working out how your camera works, the next bigger phase is working out light, composition and the things that make the picture. There's more latitude in files today, should you get it a little wrong in camera, but the aim should always be to get as close as possible. The point at which it becomes second nature, so that you are not constantly thinking about settings is important, so that you can get on to thinking about the more important aspects as mentioned.

 

[simonkit]

Less time worrying about clipping highlights = more time to think about composition, looks like win/win to me

Simon

 

[viewfromthenorth]

I'm pretty well versed in exposure, but am more than happy to let the camera sort it out when necessary. When I'm out taking pictures I'm far more interested in the scene in front of me and thinking about how to capture it in the best way possible. Sure, I check the result in the telly on the back of the camera after, and sometimes check the histogram as well, then adjust and retake if required.
But the technical nuances bore me, and while I wouldn't say they're unimportant, I don't recall anyone ever complementing my photographs for being properly exposed.

 

[DG Phototraining]

But the technical nuances bore me, and while I wouldn't say they're unimportant, I don't recall anyone ever complementing my photographs for being properly exposed.

This

Dave

 

[pjm1]

I don't recall anyone ever complementing my photographs for being properly exposed.

And therein lies the holy grail... the lack of complaint about clipped highlights, grainy shadow detail or poor contrast. It's not about getting plaudits for doing it correctly, it's about avoiding criticism for getting it wrong

So, going back to my OP - if the camera allows me to get it more or less right (at least acceptably right) far more then it's a good thing?

Especially since I'm able to spend that valuable time thinking about composition and the precise moment of capture instead of dial-twiddling.

Is that the sound of consensus?