Mostly Grouchy

[Bill Pierce]

I’m getting grouchy. I really don’t like aperture priority, shutter speed priority and, most of all, program. I know that really dates me in a world where the ability to just point and push lets you concentrate on the subject. But I really like to know what my shutter speed and f/stop are. Image stabilization may make shutter speed less critical, it still doesn’t solve the problem of moving subjects (and even rapidly moving cameras in the case of some fast breaking situations). And, yes, depth of field, background blur, whatever you see it as, that you control by choosing the f/stop, is a huge part of the esthetic of an image. And there are situations from fast breaking news to street photography where prefocusing and then stopping down to give an acceptable range of sharp focus is the intelligent way to work.

These days I’m willing to work with and take advantage of auto ISO. But I still like to pick my shutter speed and f/stop. In fact, in some situations, I consider it imperative. From your perspective, and it will change with the type of photographs you are taking, are you a grouchy person who is highly suspicious of program mode or any of those so called priority modes - or are you a free spirit who says, “Let the camera deal with the technical so I can concentrate on capturing the moment.” Who knows? I’m mostly grouchy, but you could be both.

 

[peterm1]

"I’m getting grouchy."

Bill.....how can you say that? You do not look a bit like him.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Wow, you're grouchy. Aperture priority has been around since like the mid-1970's. Get with the program old timer!!! 😉

Personally, I like aperture priority. I always set my ISO first, then my aperture, check to make sure the shutter speed is at an acceptable level, then shoot. It simplifies things. Never used Auto ISO, never used Program, rarely if ever use Shutter Priority (sometimes for fill flash outside during the day or in bright overhead lit rooms).

When I'm working on personal stuff, I'm usually using fully manual cameras from a bygone era, so then I set everything, but for digital, aperture priority.

Best,
-Tim

 

[xayraa33]

Being grouchy is part and parcel of being an old guy...live long enough and the modern world will make you grouchy.

Things are much different now, Bill and they will get more different as this decade progresses, maybe even down right weird. For camera gear geezers like us we can still find old world comfort with our Leica M3 and Nikon S2 and two rolls of Tri-X and some freshly made D-76 and a bottle of Rodinal.. while we dust off the Omega enlarger and go look for that 35mm film 24x35 film carrier that we misplaced.

 

[peterm1]

I, on the other hand, am happy enough to take advantage of most modern conveniences in photography. Though I do like to manually focus using vintage lenses. Which automatically demands I set more of my settings myself. But when I am say, travelling on holidays, and I can only carry a limited range of equipment and getting the shot is important to me, I usually use AF. But I find that doing this can get a little boring so around my home city, mostly it is MF for me which demands I use not only manual focus but manual aperture even if I let the camera handle ISO and shutter speed.

In many of the holiday / travel situations, though, I am more than happy to use full auto focus, auto ISO, and program shutter speed and aperture. Though if I do decide to manually set something it will almost always be aperture - if I have to set something myself, this is the one to set above anything else as I value the ability to manipulate depth of field in my shots. I am particularly pleased with modern cameras ability to vary ISO automatically (within preset parameters that I set of course - and I am always conservative about maximum ISO). That way if I want to shoot with a wider aperture on a bright day I do not have to think about what the ISO has been set previously - and similarly if I want to stop down.

I suppose to purists this is lazy, but it's a compromise I am willing to make.

PS My wife says I am getting grouchy too. But that's another story.

 

[RichC]

I only got into photography when digital cameras arrived. So, i was used to auto-everything: it was all I knew. As I began to learn my craft, I started to turn things off. Today, I always set aperture, shutter speed, focus and ISO manually. And my white balance is usually set to "sunny", to emulate daylight film (or at least keep the colour temp. the same).

In short, I want to be in full control of my camera, and by extension the photo.

I don't use film - as I mentioned, it pre-dates when I started taking photos! I've tried, but I don't see the attraction: it's slow, inefficient, expensive and digital is better in every way. So, using my camera wholly manually is a creative choice, not me yearning for some golden age of simpler cameras, as I never encountered it!

Despite ignoring automation and choosing manual controls, I'm far from a Luddite. I use among the best digital cameras, the Sony A7R series, because of its image stabilisation, built-in Wi-Fi and electronic viewfinder (in fact, I will never buy another camera with an optical viewfinder - EVFs are now superior, and, crucially, show exactly how your photo will appear).

 

[Vince Lupo]

I try my best not to be a grouchy person - there’s enough of that going on in the world these days, I don’t feel the need to add to it.

My ‘work’ cameras all have various forms of program this and program that, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I need to pay attention to any of it. Sometimes it is actually nice to have, but personally it doesn’t bother me one way or another. Actually I’m as interested about new features on new cameras as I am about features on old cameras I never knew about. For example, some of the glass plate stereo cameras I have can transform themselves into full-plate panoramic cameras by simply sliding the lens/shutter assembly. I think that is so amazing and doesn’t grouch me out in the least. Conversely, I don’t lay awake at night stewing about Nikon SnapBridge or follow-focus or normal versus sport VR or the various camera presets because, well, sometimes they come in handy.

I think there are way more things in the world to be grouchy about - program modes and new-fangled features ain’t any of them 🙂

 

[charjohncarter]

Grouchy Marks: 'If you are guilty, you will have to prove it.' But the first thing I do is select an aperture. So, that is what is important to me. If it isn't easy then sell the camera.

 

[kshapero]

Phew!! I have recently purchased an almost new Nikon Df. This rig begs to be shot manually. Yes I also let auto ISO do its thing, manual exposure is very lovely on the Df (all the knobs and dials are there) whether using a manual focus lens or an auto focus lens. Tons of fun and great value (I got a black Df for $845.)
And I must say, this whole thing makes me NOT grouchy. (Although I am still a great fan of the Marx Brothers).

 

[Darthfeeble]

Auto ISO unless I'm on a tripod. Aperture Priority nearly all the time. Rare moments of manhood and I go full manual.

 

[kbb]

Auto exposure works well in its Super-HDR incarnation on my iPhone. Alas, the ghastly iPhone sharpening artifacts drive me to a real camera.
I shoot with mostly manual focus lenses that can't be controlled by the camera, so I'll usually start out setting the aperture and letting the camera set the shutter speed. This usually produces generally underexposed shots with overexposed specular highlights (if such highlights are present). Soon, I tire of the imprecision, and return...as always, it seems...to full manual. I use the histogram to monitor the placement the tones of the scene onto the recording.

 

[Cascadilla]

I have yet to use any mode except manual on my DSLRs that have multiple choices. Most of my professional work is in a studio with flash where the camera meter is useless, and what I shoot for fun these days is mostly B&W film in Contax RF cameras from the 1950's where the light meter on my IIIa isn't even coupled to the shutter speeds, let alone the f/stops. I grew up in photography when TTL metering was the latest thing and I have used that heavily but have always been a late adopter of later technologies.

 

[Ronald M]

Around 2005 my boss named me Oscar after Oscar the grouch on TV. I still did a better job and got all the miserable jobs nobody else wanted so it is not a bad thing.

When I get a new DSLR , I turn dial to M and turn off everything. Pics are great. Fav is digital M which I use the same as my M6.

Do not feel alone

 

[back alley]

people tell me i was born grouchy...

 

[CMur12]

Bill, I'm a bit of a grouch, myself.

I don't use programmed auto-exposure. In fact, back in 1981-2, when Minolta introduced the X-700 SLR, I was offended that they would include program AE in a camera for serious photographers!

I do like manual exposure and aperture-priority AE, provided the latter includes an auto-exposure lock (AEL). In aperture-priority mode, I use AEL for almost every exposure. With no AEL, this mode is useless to me. And dial-in exposure compensation takes longer than just doing it in manual mode, so I've never used it, either. (Does this sound grouchy to you?)

I bought a used DSLR that I still need to learn to use, but I'm thinking that it will probably be easiest for me to use it in manual mode. It's also my first camera with auto-focus. I might go for the auto-ISO, however, like you.

- Murray

 

[Deleted member 65559]

Full manual. handheld meters. i think i used the meter on my Plaubel Makina once.... does that make me grouchy?

 

[RichC]

Full manual. handheld meters. i think i used the meter on my Plaubel Makina once....

That reminds me. Although I'm "full manual", I will be selling all my meters, including my top-end Sekonic L758 that cost me hundreds new.

With digital cameras having electronic viewfinders, you get what you see. Light meters are now obsolete and I haven't needed or used one for 5 years.

 

[jsrockit]

Choosing your shutter speed and aperture and then letting your auto ISO run up and down the range is a form of automation you grouches! Similarly, you can make all of your decisions still when using shutter or aperture priority when using auto ISO. I would say program mode is the only one where it makes it hard to make decisions for yourself.

 

[Godfrey]

I'm grouchy about a lot of things, but my cameras? no. I never use Program or Shutter priority automation, but I've been using Aperture Priority automation and Manual exposure control since the 1970s. AutoISO is new ... Only been using that since the advent of digital cameras about 20 years ago. I still don't trust Auto Focus, btw ... LOL!

There's a time and a place for everything. Most automation is a nice convenience when it's apropos to the shooting situation. It's never the right thing 100% of the time ... and the only times I get grouchy about it is when there are no other options with which to get what I want out of the camera.

Be grouchy, but pick your battles. You can't win them all: it's unwise to fight everything lest you have no energy to fight when it really matters.

G

 

[Dogman]

While I'm a grouch as well, I always use auto ISO and 99.9% aperture priority. Oh yeah--I also use AF 99.8% of the time. I can set my cameras to maintain a minimum shutter speed and I don't much care what ISO it chooses. When I stopped using film, I stopped being technical. Now I concentrate on subject, light and framing and the gazillion other things involved in taking pictures.

I guess I used to be even grouchier. Didn't like electronics in my cameras, didn't want nuthin' to do with that effin' digital stuff, Luddites forever! Now I'm older, wiser and my edges have been smoothed out and I'm more likely to accept, even embrace, new stuff I once avoided.