Who uses auto iso and why

do you use auto iso

  • yes

    Votes: 111 56.6%

  • no

    Votes: 85 43.4%
  • Total voters
    196
Damn shame I can't change my vote now!

This week I have been using auto ISO in AV mode while out walking in the peaks. Love it, didn't feel like I wasn't in control as I had set a suitable maximum, but my shutter speed never dropped too slow.

I am a convert - when the situation is right.
 
RichardtheSane said:
Damn shame I can't change my vote now!

This week I have been using auto ISO in AV mode while out walking in the peaks. Love it, didn't feel like I wasn't in control as I had set a suitable maximum, but my shutter speed never dropped too slow.

I am a convert - when the situation is right.
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As long as the camera can do it in certain modes it will can be a top feature.
 
I use it occasionally for action stuff in Manual mode on my canon. This effectively makes manual mode more of an ISO priority mode. I can dial in the minimum acceptable shutter speed, the desired aperture and let it do the rest (up to a maximum i set in the menu).

Comes in handy when people are running from shade to sun and so on where the exposure can change quite drastically during a single series of shots.

Only downside is you cant set any EV bias on it.

I don't use it in other modes as i dont often agree with its choice of shutter speed and/or aperture in the priority modes.
 
I think I have just sussed another use for it.

Gig photography is all about protecting the highlights for me. So tonight I am going to try auto ISO at a show. I generally shoot manual at gigs and accept that occasionally I will blow some highlights.

Plan is, set manual mode with my shutter and aperture and my favoured settings. Set the max ISO to 3200 which is where I usually set it, but this then gives it scope to drop if needs be. Since I use centre point AF I will spot meter... and just see what happens!

Although thinking about it now, maybe I would be better in shutter priority so I can use exposure compensation properly...

Decisions

(I've shot the band a lot, and also a few gigs in the venue, so no worries about missing shots here. I can experiment :))
 
Do you really use automatic exposure of any kind for a gig?

I know I don't!
 
desantnik said:
Do you really use automatic exposure of any kind for a gig?

I know I don't!
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Currently, no I don't. I guess had you read all my post you would know that though ;)

But it can't hurt to explore the capabilities my camera offers to improve my hit rate now, can it?
 
But you'll get the same effect as any other form of metering, the thing trying to make everything look like daylight, destroying the atmosphere.

There is nothing magical about auto iso....
 
No, I won't.

As I said in my post above, I will essentially be dialling in the same settings I use at that venue when shooting manual (By way of a maximum auto ISO matching my usual ISO). The ONLY difference is if needs be the ISO can be dropped by the camera.

I'm not expecting magic, just experimenting with a tool to see if it can help out.
 
Let us all know how you get on.... my guess is fail (y)
 
i all ways have used manual ISO, but tried auto ISO earlier on my 7D and it was bang on for what id normally set it to (bright and dull shots) i was quite impressed with it lol might start using auto ISO more tbh lol i just set my auto max ISO to 3200 so it wont go above that :)
 
I use it because I know no better! Back in the old film days, I used to pay attention to ISO but digital cameras made me lazy and I have ended up pointing and clicking on auto everything. Hopefully this will change.
 
I was no professional, but I remember seeing 1600 and 3200 as the high ISO 35mm films. Never bought anything above 400 myself though.
 
tingting44 said:
i have never been in to film photography, just wondering what was the highest ISO you could get up to back in the film days?
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People used to push the film though into theoretical iso levels.

In my folder of old magazine clippings, there's an article where they shoot black and white film at something ludicrous like iso 80,000. Grainy is not the word, it's like someone tried to mimmick a halftone pattern whilst sat on top of a washing machine.
 
No for me.

Why would you want to?
 
Every time I've used it it has often picked something inappropriate for me. I hate that it thinks ISO 400 is more suitable when to be honest, I could have just as easily shot at ISO100.

I hate relinquishing control to the camera unless absolutely necessary.
 
I NEVER used the auto ISO setting on my Canon 400D as a) I wanted to learn how it worked and b) the results were never very good on the 400D.

HOWEVER, since I've upgraded to the 60D I use auto ISO regularly on days out and 9/10 the results are fine :)
 
Browny(UK) said:
HOWEVER, since I've upgraded to the 60D I use auto ISO regularly on days out and 9/10 the results are fine :)
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That's my problem with it. If I turn it off the results are fine 10/10. Why let the camera decide to ruin 1/10 of your shots?
 
Pookeyhead said:
That's my problem with it. If I turn it off the results are fine 10/10. Why let the camera decide to ruin 1/10 of your shots?
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nikon auto iso is one of the best on the market and i use it 99% the good thing with it is in manual mode is you can set the apature and shutter and let the camera do the iso and you still have exposure compensation,, would you use manual iso for everything like weddings and sport.
 
desantnik said:
Let us all know how you get on.... my guess is fail (y)
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joescrivens said:
I reckon it will be a big fat pass.(y)
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You will both be very disappointed to hear my well though out plan worked exactly as I had hoped.

The ISO stuck rigidly to 3200 (which I had set as maximum) for 90% of the shots, only dropping when it was clearly an over exposure situation that I had not anticipated.

So, far from the failure you predicted, I call total success. (y)
 
RichardtheSane said:
You will both be very disappointed to hear my well though out plan worked exactly as I had hoped.

The ISO stuck rigidly to 3200 (which I had set as maximum) for 90% of the shots, only dropping when it was clearly an over exposure situation that I had not anticipated.

So, far from the failure you predicted, I call total success. (y)
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Why would I be disappointed? I predicted a big fat pass and it was by the sounds of it:shrug:
 
If you set the auto ISO to a level you are happy with then I don't get the comments about shots being ruined because they were at ISO 400 when a manually selected ISO would be 100.
If your camera is very old or for some reason noticeably different at 400 then fair enough I suppose but I admit with my camera and my eyes I cannot tell the difference.

Auto ISO doesn't have to mean letting the camera go to 3200 or higher, it is still within the users control to a large extent. You could even use auto and let it choose between 100 and 200, it is still auto...
 
scottthehat said:
nikon auto iso is one of the best on the market and i use it 99% the good thing with it is in manual mode is you can set the apature and shutter and let the camera do the iso and you still have exposure compensation,, would you use manual iso for everything like weddings and sport.
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Half the time I shoot I don't even use the camera's meter, let alone it's auto ISO feature. Sports I can see why because half the time, if not more, you don't even want to take your eye from the viewfinder, but weddings? I'd say it's hardly essential.
 
Another yes vote from me! Not to be confused with Nikons "Easy ISO" though which I found to be a pain in the bum as it overrode the auto ISO function.
 
I think changing ISO is one of those things with digital that's become a bit of a 'cottage industry' As I take my camera out of the bag I choose an ISO. On selecting shutter / Aperture for the first shots I might realise I got it wrong, quick adjust and off I go, I can see a couple of stops change in light with my eyes, adjust ISO if necessary (BTW this is quite rare running around early morning / late evening.

All this 1/3 stop increments on ISO makes me giggle; mine's set at 100, 200 (rarely) 400, 800 or 'I can't believe I'm still able to shoot in these conditions'.
Again I giggle at people complaining at a modern camera's 1600 ISO output, because you're actually taking pictures in a situation that was impossible only a few years ago - and then pixel peeping for all the ugly 'noise'.

Just look at low light (always B&W) sports images on film - grain the size of golfballs, but some awesome photography - which was impossible at lower ISO's so people lived with the technical limitations and film manufacturers worked to improve things - but even an entry level DSLR knocks the best 35mm film into a cocked hat for high ISO IQ.

From cameras which some people would call impossible to use at 1600 ISO I've got A3 prints. Of course the prints would look better at 400ISO but I didn't have that much light available to me :bonk:
 
joescrivens said:
Why would I be disappointed? I predicted a big fat pass and it was by the sounds of it:shrug:
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My apologies Joe, my head cannot have been working right when I read your post as I thought you were agreeing with desantnik. I should really just go to bed after a night out rather than go on the internet. :|:wacky:
 
I use it 90% of the time now adays,aswell as shooting in apature priority.

I find it funny that people still think that they are better photographers and can produce better picture just because they use manual everything.
 
Pookeyhead said:
No for me.

Why would you want to?
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I thought I'd already explained when I why I use it. Oh, well it must have got deleted.

When shooting video your shutter speed is fixed. I could shoot in Av, but changing light would change the aperture, and I like to shoot with a wide DoF (because I'm not very good at manual focusing). Having the DoF drop to near-nothing because I'm shooting in Tv mode would be a real pain.

So I shoot in M mode. And to cater for changing light I use auto-ISO to keep the exposure close to optimum.

It may come as a huge surprise to you, but not everybody shoots exactly what you shoot in exactly the same way. Perhaps if you bothered to actually read a thread rather than spouting forth after having just read the thread title you might some to understand this.
 
hollis_f said:
When shooting video your shutter speed is fixed.
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No it's not. Not on my camera anyway (D800).

However, having ANYTHING set to auto when shooting video is really bad. All settings should be manual and set or the effects of the auto change can be visible, including ISO. Changes in noise level dynamically in particular. Also.. you may wish to have a scene remain dark as a camera pans from light to dark.



hollis_f said:
So I shoot in M mode. And to cater for changing light I use auto-ISO to keep the exposure close to optimum.
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If this is video you are referring to, then the changes to ISO can be visible as the camera adjusts.

hollis_f said:
It may come as a huge surprise to you, but not everybody shoots exactly what you shoot in exactly the same way. Perhaps if you bothered to actually read a thread rather than spouting forth after having just read the thread title you might some to understand this.
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I fail to see why being rude is necessary. I have read the thread, but I still feel I can voice my opinions as to why I do what I do if I feel there's value in those opinions. Is this how new members are customarily greeted? :)


[edit]

There's a skimlink insertion on the word noise.. does this forum use skimlinks? It's nothing I've done.
 
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The problem is David, you don't just voice an opinion. You come across as telling everyone who does things different to you as being wrong. Bit of a difference and possibly why you get folks back up a bit.
 
RichardtheSane said:
The problem is David, you don't just voice an opinion. You come across as telling everyone who does things different to you as being wrong. Bit of a difference and possibly why you get folks back up a bit.
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Folks, plural? I've only been here 5 minutes LOL. Apologies.. must be my writing style or something. I just wanted a chat about auto ISO and why I don't use it, and compare that with others that do. You know.. like a chat in a pub about what car is best etc.. :)
 
My "Why" was rhetorical. I was more interested in gaining feedback to my own opinions. Why are you escalating this? I've already explained my intention were not to stir anything up and that it's probably a misunderstanding of my forum writing style. I've even apologised for it.
 
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