Aperture Preferred Poll

Aperture Preferred Poll

  • Zeiss Ikon ZM

    Votes: 19 13.4%
  • CV Bessa R*A

    Votes: 13 9.2%
  • Nikon FM3A

    Votes: 17 12.0%
  • Leica M7

    Votes: 27 19.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 74 52.1%

  • Total voters
    142
I find your attitude towards the menu system of DSLR's refreshingly realistic Nick. Everyone uses a PC these days and most of us use them fairly competently ... if you can't navigate your way through the menu system of a DSLR then you don't belong in this century! 😀

Thank you very much, Keith... Call'em as I see'em.

Really, regarding the menu thing - you set up the metering the way you want, autofocus options, ISO settings, and color options what have you - then leave them alone. They're "preferences", and there's no need to fool with them too much as some would have you believe, which is why it's okay to have them buried in a menu system as long as it's reasonably intuitive.

On to myy next technological conquest - texting! 2011 resolution - de-Luddite myself 😉
 
Interesting view Nick.
I only own a point and shoot digi but must admit I don`t enjoy the menu approach.
However ,what you say makes a lot of sense.
Some people like to continually adjust...fair enough.
That view informs much of the comment regarding menu systems.
Texting ...well I`m still on predictive most of the time.
 
The aperture ring on the lens barrel is archaic, and the aperture ring is obsolete on lens barrels now. Glad Nikon (not sure if others are too - assume so) are doing away with them on newer lenses.... Shoot at desired aperture without having to blindly futz with the aperture ring on the lens barrel, or take your eye off the scene to set aperture - all the info is right in the VF. Less futzy.

Blasphemy 😡

Removal of the aperture,focus scales and depth of field legend are all just ways for manufacturers to cut manufacturing costs - and remove lens calibration.

Glad it's all still there on rangefinder lenses - because you can scale focus, set aperture and estimate depth of field without having to futz around and look through the viewfinder or look at menus on the LCD.
All the information is right there on the lens. Less futzy 😉
 
On one hand, Nikon has a great auto-ISO function regardless of which DSLR. Set the slowest shutter speed you want (say 1/30) and the maximum ISO (say 1600) and done. Never touch it again, or at least not very often.

On the other hand I'm not a fan of Nikon "G" lenses. No aperture ring or display of aperture on the lens, no focus scale or display of the focus distance. These "features" are all about minimizing cost, not maximizing the lens user's ability to make photographs.

Cheers,
Rob
 
Back on topic, I'm surprised at how low the ZM is scoring on this poll. Is that because there are so few of them out there? Or is there something else about the other options that I'm missing?
 
Back on topic, I'm surprised at how low the ZM is scoring on this poll. Is that because there are so few of them out there? Or is there something else about the other options that I'm missing?


I don't think I've used my Ikon on AE much at all ... from memory it wasn't that great when I did.
 
Apologies, in advance, for going off topic:

@ JSU - D5000 functions the same way as these, based on your description.
@ Michael Markey - my take is the DSLR menu system is like any other electronics equipment I own. Take my DVD player (not Blueray'd yet...). It has lots of menus to tweak loads of stuff. I set it up the first time to my liking, rarely fool with it after that - maybe for sub vs dub (prefer subs unless it's some 70's Euro exploitation flick, where the bad English dub is part of the fun). Same with DSLR. Set it up to your preference intially, then just shoot - usually on A priority. In fact, I even rarely move it out of that setting. I'm a weird DSLR user - I only shoot with a prime, hardly ever fool with settings other that aperture, almost never chimp, and keep the LCD folded inward and go by the info in the VF. I shoot it just like as if it's a film SLR.
@JSU - I don't tweet (but have an inactive account). I do FB though...
@Frozenintime - I agree with you on distance scale. Disagree with you about aperture ring. I can see the aperture setting in the viewfinder and control it with the thumbwheel on the camera body. It's easier to control, and my eye never has to leave the VF when composing to set aperture. That said, I absolutely LOVE the plastic fantastic Chinese-made 35/1.8 that's permanently attacked to the Nikon. Best "50" (crop factor) I've ever owned. I think excluding the distance scale along with the aperture ring is a reasonable compromise to keep the cost down. As long as they don't cheap out on the coating or the glass - which they didn't. If I want to spen more money to have those things, there are other options - which cost over twice what I paid for comparable performance.
@robbeiflex - completely agree. Nikon implemented this perfectly. Takes a little getting used to at first to figure out what the camera is doing with ISO but it gets it right every time.
 
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... I'm a weird DSLR user - I only shoot with a prime, hardly ever fool with settings other that aperture, almost never chimp, and keep the LCD folded inward and go by the info in the VF. I shoot it just like as if it's a film SLR. ...
Yep, same weirdness here, and same with the dRF too. 🙂
 
Back on topic, I'm surprised at how low the ZM is scoring on this poll. Is that because there are so few of them out there? Or is there something else about the other options that I'm missing?

I had some time off today and I mindlessy wandered to a photo shop and I leasurely took a black shiny ZI in my hands.

BIG MISTAKE!

Now I can't get that thing out of my mind. Oh my.. oh my...
 
Hexar RF. And Other: Olympus OM10, Pentax LX and MZ-5, Fuji GA645, all with some form of AE-priority auto exposure. And one of those undesirable dSLR things too. All good.
 
Back on topic, I'm surprised at how low the ZM is scoring on this poll. Is that because there are so few of them out there? Or is there something else about the other options that I'm missing?

It's "Other": there are hundreds of cameras that have an Aperture Priority function. I don't think the poll was worded correctly to reflect the original intent of the poll.

For example, I like the Lumix GF1's Aperture Priority setting: good metering, good auto-focus. But I don't "prefer" it over my Leica M8 or Canon 5D, or Canon 50D, or Nikon F2M. I like it differently.

I think he meant to say "film rangefinder (or manual-focus) camera that has an Aperture Priority mode". But he didn't. 😱
 
Geez, you missed a lot of choices! Since this is RFF here's the straight-up classic RF AP cameras that come to mind:

Olympus XA
Yashica Electro series
Minolta made a Hi-Matic or two that were AP

Here's the kinda-sorta RF AP cameras:
Contax G and T series camera
Nikon 28/35Ti

and of course the Hexar...

New poll!

I'm sure there are others...
 
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