Canon 50D question

fracster

fracster

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Does it have an auto ISO function?

Thanks.
 
stupar said:
It does indeed!
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Great, a chap that comes out with me has one and, with me being a Nokin user, I have no idea how to set the auto ISO on a Canon. Also, as the camera is not mine, I can`t RTFM.

So could you please enlighten me as to how one sets the auto ISO functionality on the marvellous Canon 50D please?
 
Don't expect too much from it though .. mine seems to choose ISO 400 most of the time. :shrug:

Not sure if I am doing something wrong as I havent had it long but I don't think auto ISO is one of Canons best working features. Maybe better on newer models though.
 
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Mike.P said:
Don't expect too much from it though .. mine seems to choose ISO 400 most of the time. :shrug:

Not sure if I am doing something wrong as I havent had it long but I don't think auto ISO is one of Canons best working features. Maybe better on newer models though.
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Just don't use it, problem solved. :D I've never used it on mine, and can't think of any reason why I ever would. :thinking:
 
GrittyShaker said:
Just don't use it, problem solved. :D I've never used it on mine, and can't think of any reason why I ever would. :thinking:
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Can't say I've used it on mine either.
Handy though I guess if you forget to change it.
Assuming 400 serves your needs :lol:
 
Mike.P said:
Don't expect too much from it though .. mine seems to choose ISO 400 most of the time. :shrug:

Not sure if I am doing something wrong as I havent had it long but I don't think auto ISO is one of Canons best working features. Maybe better on newer models though.
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The 40D does too Fred.......
 
Mike.P said:
Don't expect too much from it though .. mine seems to choose ISO 400 most of the time. :shrug:

Not sure if I am doing something wrong as I havent had it long but I don't think auto ISO is one of Canons best working features. Maybe better on newer models though.
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Can't say I've ever found that on mine? It's on Auto ISO most of the time (unless I'm in the studio/very low light/want a specific ISO). It sets the ISO as low as it can taking into account lens length x crop factor. For example with my 17-55mm f/2.8 it will set 1/25-1/30 at the wide end with a suitable ISO and take it up to 1/80-1/100 at the long end, pushing the ISO up as it does so depending on conditions, trying to keep the ISO as low as possible but also maintain an acceptable shutter speed. It works as well as I could expect it to and probably does a better job than I could on the fly.
 
GrittyShaker said:
Just don't use it, problem solved. :D I've never used it on mine, and can't think of any reason why I ever would. :thinking:
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I use it a lot on my K-5 ... why? because it works. I can set the shutter speed on the front wheel, the aperture on the rear wheel, put the iso onto 100-3200 and the camera will pick the correct ISO all day long.

If it's offered as a function them imo it should work as advertised otherwise what's the point of it being there?
 
Mike.P said:
I use it a lot on my K-5 ... why? because it works. I can set the shutter speed on the front wheel, the aperture on the rear wheel, put the iso onto 100-3200 and the camera will pick the correct ISO all day long.

If it's offered as a function them imo it should work as advertised otherwise what's the point of it being there?
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Horses for courses, I suppose. :) 80% of the time I use Av, and the other 20 split between manual and Tv. How does it decide what ISO to use, based on the aperture I've chosen? :thinking: I keep an eye on the shutter speed when using Av, and adjust the ISO to make sure the shutter speed is acceptable. Same story with Tv, with the aperture the camera chooses.

Maybe I'm doing it all wrong. :bonk: Seems to work for me though. I don't know how auto ISO is advertised, so couldn't even begin to answer your question.
 
Mike.P said:
I use it a lot on my K-5 ... why? because it works. I can set the shutter speed on the front wheel, the aperture on the rear wheel, put the iso onto 100-3200 and the camera will pick the correct ISO all day long.

If it's offered as a function them imo it should work as advertised otherwise what's the point of it being there?
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Mine works fine too...the only time I change to a preset aperture is when I'm shooting in mixed light (shadows and sunlight for instance). In such cases the camera chooses a higher ISO based on the darker areas, which isn't always what I want.
 
So, if we are shooting,say, buzzards against the sky and then woodpeckers against a tree. The 50D won`t work like my Nikons in that, it wont max out at a certain ISO and shutter speed?

Sorry for the questions, I really don`t know.
 
Having just done a dummy run with mine in the living room, when pointing at a shaded area it set the shutter to 1/20 at 1600 iso and when I pointed towards the lights on the ceiling it gave me 1/50 at 100 iso.
Even in a virtually dark room the iso max's out at 1600

This was at f4

Does that help at all?
 
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fracster said:
So, if we are shooting,say, buzzards against the sky and then woodpeckers against a tree. The 50D won`t work like my Nikons in that, it wont max out at a certain ISO and shutter speed?

Sorry for the questions, I really don`t know.
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The 50D does not have a programmable auto ISO feature...if that is what you are asking.

In P, Av ad Tv modes, the camera chooses the best ISO according to the scene between 100-1600. In manual mode, the auto ISO defaults to 400.

Hope that helps...
 
Thanks for the help.

Am I right in saying that it maxes out at 1600 iso when set in auto then?

It won`t do what my D700 does by going right up to 6400? The owner would have to up the iso manually if he needed 6400?

How does the 50D handle noise, at what ISO does it get too noisy?

Thanks again for all the replies.
 
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As said above in av, tv and p modes the 50D wont go above 1600 ISO.
Any higher would have to be set specifically by the user.

As for noise handling I've found the 50D to be perfectly capable at shooting at 3200 ISO.
At 6400 images start to show horizontal banding.
I found noise control is also dependant on the lens being used and how the image is exposed.

The 50D likes to expose to the right slightly which assists noise control in the shadow areas.
 
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Great info Stuart,that will help him along, thanks
 
You!! Fracster inviting a Canon tog along with you :gag: You must be Very! Very! Drunk! :lol: Dont forget to wash your hands after touching that 50D Ade :D
 
Nah, not arsed about the brand warfare thing Rich, though I must admit I find the Canon system strange,simply because I don`t use it. Suppose long term Canon owners feel the same about the Nikon menu.
 
Decent Auto ISO is one of Canon's shortfalls when compared with Nikon; it's there, but 'not as you know it Jim!' :)

As for the menus, there are going to be some temporarily confused users when the 1Dx comes out; it's completely different!
 
canveen said:
In P, Av ad Tv modes, the camera chooses the best ISO according to the scene between 100-1600. In manual mode, the auto ISO defaults to 400.
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Ahhhh, there is my problem. With my Pentax I have TAv mode which is basically manual with programmable auto ISO .. this is the setting I use 99% of the time.

The 50D doesn't have this mode so I just use manual with auto ISO thinking it would work the same but obviously it doesn't (as it always chooses ISO 400).

Thanks for that anyway. :)
 
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Mike.P said:
Ahhhh, there is my problem. With my Pentax I have TAv mode which is basically manual with programmable auto ISO .. this is the setting I use 99% of the time.

The 50D doesn't have this mode so I just use manual with auto ISO thinking it would work the same but obviously it doesn't (as it always chooses ISO 400).

Thanks for that anyway. :)
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In 50D (all Canon's?), the Manual mode is truly 'manual'...:p
 
Mike.P said:
Then why even have the ISO capable of being set to auto in manual mode :thinking:
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For people who like to boast about using full manual but don't understand ISO or forget to set it. :D
Otherwise I have no idea :shrug:
 
Mike.P said:
Then why even have the ISO capable of being set to auto in manual mode :thinking:
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You cant. It just resets itself to ISO 400.
 
I have used auto ISO in Manual mode on the 7D when I need to have a smaller than max aperture AND a fast shutter speed but the light changes so much I can't keep up with full Manual.

It's not a bad thing to have even though I use it rarely.

I guess Nikon users have more control over the Program "envelope" but on a Canon I find myself too often on max aperture or too slow shutter speed when the light level dips.

For example in a party with the 35/1.4 it's useful to set f/2.5 for some dof and 1/100s to counter camera shake, then let the camera set the right ISO for the exposure... Yes I'm lazy when drunk :)
 
Mike.P said:
You mean you can ... (as it will actually select A in manual) and then it just resets itself. My K-5 wont even hint at auto anything in manual mode.

Anyway, no matter .. at least I know where I was going wrong, will just use fully manual with the Canon.

Cheers. ;)
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Whatever shutter or aperture you set the camera will set ISO to 400.
 
Mike.P said:
Yes the camera resets itself to ISO 400 as soon as you touch shutter speed or aperture but this has nothing to do with the fact you can set the ISO to (A) in manual mode which you said it was not possible.

Moving on now ....
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So how is it auto if it's always 400?
 
Splog said:
So how is it auto if it's always 400?
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Guess Fred's point is about being able to select 'A' in the ISO settings, which is not auto in the literal sense but 400...so not having that option would be more appropriate.

One might end up using the 'A' ISO mode in manual, hoping the camera would still pick the right ISO for the scene which doesn't happen.
 
The latest Canon's have auto iso you can set a maximum value for, pretty sure the 50D hasn't and quite disappointed the 7D doesn't either

The 550D definitely has it so fully expect the 600D and 60D have too, bit behind other makers with this one, Pentax K10D had that function and must be about four years old by now.
 
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I've never used auto iso. I can't think why I would ever need to TBH!
 
canveen said:
Guess Fred's point is about being able to select 'A' in the ISO settings, which is not auto in the literal sense but 400...so not having that option would be more appropriate.
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:thumbs:

odd jim said:
I've never used auto iso. I can't think why I would ever need to TBH!
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There are other threads discussing the pros and cons of using auto ISO ... Personally I can't think of a reason I would ever use video on my K-5 but it doesn't mean I am going to comment to that fact every time someone else says how great it is. ;)
 
Mike.P said:
:thumbs:

There are other threads discussing the pros and cons of using auto ISO ... Personally I can't think of a reason I would ever use video on my K-5 but it doesn't mean I am going to comment to that fact every time someone else says how great it is. ;)
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Who said auto iso was great?
 
I'm not one of them!
 
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