Mostly Grouchy

[Dave Jenkins]

The assumption underlying automation in cameras is that by allowing the camera to make the technical decisions, the photographer is then free to concentrate on the picture itself.

How then, do we account for the fact that most of the photographs we consider "great" were made by photographers who had to make all those technical decisions for themselves?

As the great Fritz Henle wrote: "...seeing pictures is always tied up with technique...it is important to decide things like sharpness or unsharpness and not let them happen accidentally. It is equally important to command the techniques that get the effects you want."
-- from A New Guide to Rollei Photography, The Viking Press, 1965

 

[jsrockit]

The assumption underlying automation in cameras is that by allowing the camera to make the technical decisions, the photographer is then free to concentrate on the picture itself.

How then, do we account for the fact that most of the photographs we consider "great" were made by photographers who had to make all those technical decisions for themselves?

As the great Fritz Henle wrote: "...seeing pictures is always tied up with technique...it is important to decide things like sharpness or unsharpness and not let them happen accidentally. It is equally important to command the techniques that get the effects you want."
-- from A New Guide to Rollei Photography, The Viking Press, 1965

I’m of the opinion that great photographs are still being made and will continue to be made. People even make great photos on phones. Great content and framing is way more important than technical perfection. And to those who think you aren’t making decisions if you are using aperture priority or shutter priority, I’d say think again. One directly affects the other. It’s not hard to figure out. People choose the wrong combination of shutter speed and aperture in manual mode too. There are no absolutes in photography.

 

[zuiko85]

Old fart here and for most of the time I’ve been of a similar opinion.
However.....
Even old dawgs can learn new things. Recently bought a ‘modern’ digital mirrorless. Mostly so I’d have something to use my little Pen F half frame Zuikos on. With a fully manual lens on this type of camera I usually leave it on aperture priority, if I can. By choosing the optimal lens opening, most often one to one and one half stops down from wide open, and let the shutter speed fall where it will, within acceptable limits of course.
I know what aperture is set all the time, and work from there.

If I run out of exposure room then, finally, I’ll change ISO.

 

[PaulDalex]

In all my cameras (let alone the old ones that are only manual) the mode wheel is glued on M.
Auto ISO? NEVER!
I choose all parameters by myself.
NO EXCEPTIONS!

 

[css9450]

These days I’m willing to work with and take advantage of auto ISO.

Interestingly, or not, that is the only one of those "automations" which did not exist back in film days.

 

[BillBingham2]

I like to think of myself as a curmudgeon. Like Mr. P, I prefocus,

I hate that as we move down the road of larger and LARGER MP and better Auto-focus, they add confusion as a result of feature bloat. Most of those features are loved by marketers, loved, loved, loved, but not often used by most photographers.

Prefocusing or zone focusing is a pain as we move to focus by wire, have to have your eye in the viewfinder.

Old curmudgeons will eventually quiet down, same way they did when leaf shutters and electronic flash and cameras went to focal plain cloth/metal shutters and sync was limited to 1/60 of second or so.

B2 (;-<

 

[icebear]

Manual focus M lenses leave you no other choice than picking your aperture yourself, don't they?😀
I choose ISO and mostly work with "A" but checking the histogram and dial in a manual correction for the scene.
The old girl MM is a little finicky with exposure.😉
You have to put in a little work to get it right - I love being a little grouchy myself 😎

 

[agentlossing]

I'm fairly comfortable with aperture priority, but I get what you're saying. I really enjoy shooting with my Bessa-T, which is full manual with Cosina's excellent LED meter that's visible looking down at the camera. But then, I'm taking advantage of the wide exposure latitude of B&W film.

Digital sensors are much more finicky than the kind of films I use. For instance, two stops over or under means nothing with HP5 or Fomapan 100, but do that with most digital sensors and you'll often get either blown highlights (which I hate) or noisy shadows. Which, by the way, I don't mind nearly as much as bad highlights. I hate that bright band of color right next to the blown highlight. I'm finally using cameras which have a decent ISO range for auto-ISO, so I often stick to that now and M-mode, or else aperture priority.

 

[das]

I require two features in an SLR: a program mode (ideally, a program, program high, program low) and at least a 1/4000 top shutter speed. One does not have to use P, but it is really convenient to have a camera capable of all four shooting modes. (P/A/S/M). For non-pros, sometimes getting the shot is more important than the ideal aperture/shutter combination. My two cents.

 

[Dogman]

...How then, do we account for the fact that most of the photographs we consider "great" were made by photographers who had to make all those technical decisions for themselves...?

Many--certainly not all--of the greatest photographs of the past are pretty technically poor. Off focus, under/overexposure, sprocket holes in the image area, dust spots, blurred subjects, etc. Doesn't make them any less great but reminds us that great photographers often make technical mistakes.

Zone focusing was mentioned previously. That's a technical decision of choosing not to get precise focus. So why not let the camera do the focusing, especially if it's more capable of obtaining sharp focus than using imprecise zones? Use a handheld meter or read the film box to determine exposure? Why not let the camera decide the exposure if it's capable of better exposure decisions. It's all technical decisions you are making, isn't it?

Personally, I could care less about perfection. Too many young photographers place too much emphasis on getting the sharpest lenses, the highest resolution sensors and most striking color science. They forget how to translate emotion.

 

[Ulophot]

Manua;

Manua;

I guess auto ISO is what's called AGC (automatic gain control) in audio and video. I'm manual. Never owned a DSLR. But I'm happy anyway.