ISO Auto Question

[ernie.grimes]

Please give me your thoughts on pros & cons on using the "ISO-Auto" feature

Thank you for your feedback

Ernie

[michelle a.]

Number one reason for using "Auto" anything on your camera......

 

You don't have control. You don't have control. You don't have control.

 

I seriously can't think of any pro's other than I suppose it's good for someone who is just learning or is forgetful of checking settings.... but really don't see it as a good thing. But even then I would think that it would be better for the user to select the appropriate ISO for the situation and then use either shutter or aperture priority instead.

[michelle a.]

And that should say Number one reason for <b>NOT</b> using "Auto" anything....

[jfr]

I don't use it, but don't see the harm in using it. If I remember correctly it only works from ISO 100-400 so could be useful for when the light is changing rapidly. With modern DSLR's there is hardly any difference in noise for the wedding shooter between ISO 100 and 400. But can you use this in M and Av mode as well?

[kevin cook - stratford upo]

Now if feel like an fool (I tried the i*iot word but for some reason it refused it lol).

 

There's an Auto ISO? I have a 20D and a 5D and I've never noticed it. Why would you need to use it? Don't you need to know the ISO 'up front' to set the other parameters?

 

 

Confused.

[frank_skomial]

We do not know what camera you use. Some automated modes on some cameras would not allow you to tun the Auto ISO to Off.

 

As already pointed out by othersin another post, using Auto mode in a wedding could be possibly done by a non-professional, and not getting paid photographer.

[steve_hovland]

On the other hand, don't be a "manual maniac."

 

I was at a wedding recently where a young photographer was manually focusing every shot even though her N90 could have done just fine with autofocus on most of her shots. I suspect someone told her that real pros focus manually. The real effect was that it slowed her down and caused her to miss shots.

 

A couple of years ago I took pictures at a wedding using an old N70 with a small ttl flash. I put it on program and just banged away. The lab was very happy with the density and consistency of the negatives.

 

In small cameras the auto ISO will tend to use the lowest rating it can, and these days dslr's produce very quiet images at quite high iso's.

[kevin cook - stratford upo]

I guess we should also bear in mind that non pros also use this forum.

[ryan_brenizer]

I use ISO-Auto all the time when shooting professionally; it's a great tool. When you need to shoot everything manually, than do so. Otherwise, the reaction against ISO-Auto is merely a sign of calcification, sticking to rules held over from shooting with film. With a digital camera, you have three scales you can modify from shot to shot for an exposure -- aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Sometimes you know what aperture you want but don't care too much about shutter speed. Sometimes you know what DoF and shutter speed you want, but don't care too much about how much noise is in the image -- that's where Auto-ISO comes in. Any time you can reasonably trust the camera meter, it's no less a viable tool than Aperture or Shutter priority.

 

For the folks scratching their heads, Auto-ISO is mostly a Nikon feature, and the later pro models, such as the D200 and D2Xs, offer excellent control over it.<div></div>

[robbie_caswell]

The manual is a little vague, but from what I gather you can select the ISO parameters (ISO 200 up through 1600) as well as the minimum shutter speed and the camera does the work......

[ernie.grimes]

Sorry I for to tell you what camera...

D200

Thanks, Ernie

[picturesque]

I hate auto ISO. I didn't even know it existed, and when using a borrowed D100, it automatically raised the ISO on a shot where I was using portable studio type lights (no modeling lights) because it saw the "dim" conditions. I couldn't figure out what was going on with my overexposed results. It raised the ISO to 1600. From then on, I religiously shut off auto ISO.

[Ed_Ingold]

I think most people prefer to use <i>aperture priority</i> and constant ISO for better control. These two parameters have a large effect on the appearance of the image - DOF and noise, respectively. If the subject is sports or action, then shutter priority might be preferred, although a wide aperture (for minimum DOF, hence isolation) still works better for me.

<p>

As a professional (or amateur with aspirations), you tend to cultivate consistency. Nobody is "great" all the time, but you should strive to do well - consistently.

[ernie.grimes]

Nice responses everyone... good stuff

Thanks Ernie

[albertdarmali]

I always use lowest ISO as possible, unless it's really really necessary.