Who uses auto iso and why

do you use auto iso

  • yes

    Votes: 111 56.6%

  • no

    Votes: 85 43.4%
  • Total voters
    196
ernesto said:
While that works you are still not fully in control of your exposure, which was the question I think. The camera is deciding the exposure for you by changing the ISO. To be really in control and 'fix' the exposure you cannot leave ISO to change as the camera sees fit.
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I'm not sure what point you are making This is true if you allow the camera to choose your aperture or your shutter also, so what exactly do you mean?
 
It wasn't my point but the point is that you cannot be in full control of your exposure while using auto ISO even if manually setting aperture and shutter as exposure can still be changed by camera via ISO.
And yes it is clearly true of aperture or shutter priority too.

- note to self, do not start debating others points for them. I have enough trouble with my own. :)
 
ernesto said:
It wasn't my point but the point is that you cannot be in full control of your exposure while using auto ISO even if manually setting aperture and shutter as exposure can still be changed by camera via ISO.
And yes it is clearly true of aperture or shutter priority too.

- note to self, do not start debating others points for them. I have enough trouble with my own. :)
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100% agree. Sometimes you want absolutely full manual exposure for whatever reason and if the camera is doing auto anything there is always a chance something will confuse the meter and change your exposure.

I float between auto iso on and off depending on what I'm shooting. It drives me a bit mad that there is no switch or quick access control on my D700 to turn it on and off. It's the one thing I always have to dip into the menu to change and it drives me a bit mad! Same on my X100.
 
ernesto said:
While that works you are still not fully in control of your exposure, which was the question I think. The camera is deciding the exposure for you by changing the ISO. To be really in control and 'fix' the exposure you cannot leave ISO to change as the camera sees fit.
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How am i not in control.
 
ernesto said:
It wasn't my point but the point is that you cannot be in full control of your exposure while using auto ISO even if manually setting aperture and shutter as exposure can still be changed by camera via ISO.
And yes it is clearly true of aperture or shutter priority too.

- note to self, do not start debating others points for them. I have enough trouble with my own. :)
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gad-westy said:
100% agree. Sometimes you want absolutely full manual exposure for whatever reason and if the camera is doing auto anything there is always a chance something will confuse the meter and change your exposure.
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this is for another thread though surely for arguing whether we should be using the camera metering at all or going full manual?

Its confusing me because here we are talking about auto ISO in the context of allowing the cameras metering, the points are applicable to aperture and shutter also, so it's muddying the water
 
not me - like to make all the decisions on the slr - it's part of the fun
 
joescrivens said:
this is for another thread though surely for arguing whether we should be using the camera metering at all or going full manual?
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I don't find it confusing, irrelevant maybe but not confusing :)

It sort of goes without saying that if using 'Auto' anything that factors into exposure then the camera will change the exposure as it sees fits meaning you are not 100% in control of all the exposure criteria.
As simple as that really.
 
I said yes as I do but not all the time. When I do I've got the 5D3 at 12,800 and the 7D set at 1600 and I know I can be sure to get nice and clean photos at those settings. Most of the time I have it set to the lowest I can to get the SS I need but if I'm shooting with a constantly altering light I put it on.

I've now lowered the max of the 7D to 800 as the photos were too noisy, although I usually try and shoot no more than 400 to get the best out of it.
 
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ernesto said:
I don't find it confusing, irrelevant maybe but not confusing :)

It sort of goes without saying that if using 'Auto' anything that factors into exposure then the camera will change the exposure as it sees fits meaning you are not 100% in control of all the exposure criteria.
As simple as that really.
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That's kind of the idea of using auto iso in that if the light changes the iso will giving the correct exposure.
 
ernesto said:
I don't find it confusing, irrelevant maybe but not confusing :)

It sort of goes without saying that if using 'Auto' anything that factors into exposure then the camera will change the exposure as it sees fits meaning you are not 100% in control of all the exposure criteria.
As simple as that really.
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yes irrelevant, thats a better word!
 
scottthehat said:
That's kind of the idea of using auto iso in that if the light changes the iso will giving the correct exposure.
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Yes, that is why I use it. Beginning to wish I had just voted as such as walked away :)
 
I use it on my D300.... in one particular scenario...

Using TC's and with motorsport. In motorsport you need to control shutter speed, so normally shoot in shutter priority. When you add a TC you need to control the aperture to make sure you don't go too wide or you will get soft images, you need to be down at least one stop from max.

So, use manual mode to control both shutter speed and aperture, leaving the exposure to be controlled by auto ISO.... which obviously has some limits, you need to tweak your aperture settings to get you in the right ball park to start with, but as long as its not too wide - thats all thats critical to get a nice shot.

NEVER use auto ISO with flash on a D300/D700!!!!
 
No never-I prefer to use fully manual setting - Im a control freak :nuts::nuts:



Les :D
 
hmmm always gets totally screwed whenever I do it...
 
desantnik said:
hmmm always gets totally screwed whenever I do it...
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I guess there are loads of different ways of shooting with flash. After your post I did a quick google and read of a few anomalies (I sure there is method in the madness somewhere) but I've never personally run into any of them.
 
I had a play with the auto-iso function on the Nikon D40, thought it was pretty nifty, and then never used it.
I ought to really, as pushing my luck with shutter speeds in low light is probably my worst habit.
 
gad-westy said:
I guess there are loads of different ways of shooting with flash. After your post I did a quick google and read of a few anomalies (I sure there is method in the madness somewhere) but I've never personally run into any of them.
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I should have expanded my comment, aperture mode and ttl was what I meant. I think giving it three things to work out does it....two is fine, three means you the photographer loose too much control over the result
 
I use auto ISO in situations where I haven't got time to think for long about what I need to adjust to get a good shot. Normally use it with aperture priority mode.
 
Same as above, use it as default and limit at 1600 on d90 sometimes 3200 if feel crrrazy :)

Av for me 99%, will manual iso for certain things - nightshots of my girls sleeping, get nice low iso, little gorillapod on bed :) let camera pick only the one variable left for shutter as i dont care then how long it decide to expose for here. In this case aperture then iso then shutter way down the list.

Tend to be M for flash stuff, quite often for above example actually (do almost low key), i like to know what the camera is doing with subtle light (ambient with my flash) etc and i dont really need variable (or fast) shutter speed - running around the park is a bit different (just my method might not suit everyone) just depends what i'm doing i suppose and a lot is how much time i have to think as well. Think a lot depends on how you think about things at a personal level. I know people who use Tv for their kids ALL the time (just seems silly in my mind!?)

IMO iso will be the main advance in this game fot the next decade...think what we have now is just the start
 
I use it occasionally if I'm setting aperture and shutter to something for a reason, and set the ISO in a reasonable range - just for varying light so I don't have to keep manually changing it, usually with 800 or maybe 1600 as a max. Mostly useful though in situations the camera is likely to get the exposure right.

Not used it for ages but I'm sure I will again.
 
mark1616 said:
Nope, nearly always manual everything as when working I need faces exposed correctly and anything auto will keep changing settings as I adjust framing, composition etc. If I do go for anything auto it will nearly always be Av mode but that's pretty rare.
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that's what AE-L is for

Jackal said:
No, because I don't use any auto mode in my camera, I like to learn and think.
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lol, good for you :)

Adam_M said:
No, never. How on earth can you really be in control of your exposure with auto iso?
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I work in shutter priority most of the time as I work low light events so I like to keep the shutter high enough to freeze motion, and fix the apperture for depth of field preference and let auto iso do it's thing- it's pretty much the most useful feature of this camera

I only use auto iso when working in really low light where the shutter speed might drop below 1/focal length- on my 1d it's called safety shift rather than auto iso, because it's not really auto iso- it just adjusts a variable to get proper exposure when your current settings cannot adjust enough give the correct exposure- for example if I'm in Tv mode and the apperture is already wide open and still isn't enough. I use it all the time for events as you just don't have time to change settings.

I don't ever use it when not shooting events tbh

I think with the newer cameras you can set a minimum shutter speed and then work in AV mode, but my camera can't do that so I have to use TV, it's not ideal but it works
 
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I voted yes, but only use it occasionally.

When I'm on holiday, in a city for example, I maybe walking down a dark street or alleyway, and the into a bright open square, stopping every couple minutes to change the ISO to a value I would have set anyway seems like a waste of time to me. Venice is the extreme example of this as it is so compact, and you could be walking down a very dull alley, which may open into canal, or a square, and it happens so quickly that you could be constantly be changing the ISO.

I only started to use Auto ISO when I got the D300. The D300 allowed me to set the shutter speed when the ISO changed from its lowest value, rather than the default 1/60th sec that most Auto ISOs kick in at. It also allowed me to set the maximum ISO which I think, beyond which, it is probably not worth going past because the quality is so bad imho.

Auto ISO is just another option available. I wouldn't use it by default, and I wouldn't use it without some control over when it kicks in, and some limitations. :shrug: But that's just me. ;)

I would much prefer the option for the Auto ISO to take into account the focal length of the lens as on some of the newer DSLRs such as the Nikon D4/800, as it seems something so obvious and easy to implement. Maybe for my next camera. :shrug:
 
I chose no, I'm still relatively new to the game, so want to throw myself into the deep end as much as I can. I do use Av mode from time to time though.
 
I use it from time to time its useful on one particular type of job I do where its a series of quick images in varing lighting conditions where I need a fixed speed and ap with no flash. Saves having to think too much.
 
markmullen said:
With the 5D3 I can fix aperture and shutter speed and let the ISO take care of itself, within brackets that I fix. With the high ISO being as good as it is I don't worry about shooting even at 6400.
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Pretty much the same for me. When out and about I normally fix shutter speed and apeture. Only having a little 550d though I limit to 1600 but that still takes care of most situations and you just learn to look at the meter more, especially with black and/or white subjects. I manly fix for difficult lighting where I want full manual control or to over/under expose.
 
gad-westy said:
100% agree. Sometimes you want absolutely full manual exposure for whatever reason and if the camera is doing auto anything there is always a chance something will confuse the meter and change your exposure.

I float between auto iso on and off depending on what I'm shooting. It drives me a bit mad that there is no switch or quick access control on my D700 to turn it on and off. It's the one thing I always have to dip into the menu to change and it drives me a bit mad! Same on my X100.
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On the x100 there's a sort of shortcut.

Long press the fn button, then you can go left and down to get quickly to the auto iso menu.
 
I don't use it very often which is why I voted no.

It does come in handy though and I see no reason not to use it when the situation would require the iso to be altered constantly. Out and about in the local forest is usually when I switch it on.
 
There are a lot of people posting saying they Want to be in control of the camera so always use manual and never anything on Auto?... These people have obviously never used there camera in situations where manual mode is useless.. You need to open your minds more :)

Unfortunatly as much as I like using manual I am often in a situation where manual simply wont get the shot.

On canon 1d bodies (dont know about other models) using auto ISO in Manual mode does not offer exposure compensation thus making it too auto and pretty usless. However the workaround is to say put in Tv mode.. then in the custom functions set max/min aperture and set the shutter to desired and iso auto.. this then works like nikon cameras in Manual and auto ISO and you can use exposure comp.

To answer the OP ... A situation for me would be a sunny day at a football ground with a large stand casting a dark shadow over half the pitch.. players running in and out of bright sunshine and dark area... Using Av or Tv and the changes would be too extreme as I require fast shutter and open aperture... so auto ISO is a godsend in this situation.. Manual would be useless.

I tend to use all setting on my camera at some time or another rather than stick to one... Av Tv Manual and even P (when using flash) all have there uses.... sticking to manual or any other all the time is very small minded IMHO :)
 
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