Most over rated feature

timk

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Over-rated features:
-program exposure
-auto focus
-motor drives
-double-exposure levers
-built-in flashes

also, definitely not over-rated but quite useless none-the-less is:
-flash bulb sync
 
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hoffy

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I am a little dismayed on the number of people who find Auto Focus as a useless option. OK, maybe its because I do a bit of sports shooting (even on film), but I find Auto Focus to be one of the best functions of my camera. The only time I don't use it is in bad light OR macro. Yes, AF on older models can be a bit hit and miss, but on a Modern Film SLR (such as the Maxxum 7 I use), AF is extremely good (IMHO). I am seriously wondering if quite a few of you have tried it once, found it hard and never tried it again.

For me, the most useless function that I have ever seen on a Film SLR is the panaramic function as found on some cheap Minolta's in the mid 90's. Basically, it was a mask that would crop the top and bottom of the frame.
 

5stringdeath

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hoffy said:
For me, the most useless function that I have ever seen on a Film SLR is the panaramic function as found on some cheap Minolta's in the mid 90's. Basically, it was a mask that would crop the top and bottom of the frame.
Click to expand...

That's why god invented the XPan
 

karthik

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- Program modes (I know they can be turned off, but wouldn't any camera be better without them? Probably cheaper to manufacture as well.)
- Data-backs. (I'm stuck with a MF-26 for my F90x)
- Power wind/rewind
 

darinwc

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+1 on the double exposure.. "1: rewind the film until it is tight. 2: while holding the rewind lever, press the rewind release button. 3: wile continuing to hold the rewind lever, advance the shutter cocking lever"
Um, how many hands do I need to do this?
 

Darkroom317

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What are you shooting with? I love the multiple exposure feature on my Canon A-1.
 

wotalegend

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1. VR (vibration reduction). I have a time-honoured solution which renders VR redundant - a tripod.
2. Auto focus. Yes, I am a baby boomer, I wear glasses, and most of my cameras have either built-in or a +1 diopter attached. And I still trust my own judgment more than auto focus.
3. Matrix metering. Surely it's better to have the main subject correctly exposed than the corners/background. You can't have both. IMHO centre-weighted is adequate.

I guess what really p***es me off is the whingers (mostly Gen Y digi-shooters, I think) who go on about how indispensable the first two are, and how they couldn't operate without them (thankfully, not in this forum).
 

2F/2F

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I would say the mask for panoramic pix, except that this is geared toward mini-lab users. For them, it makes getting panoramic prints a very straightforward matter. They'd have to get custom reprints and give exact cropping instructions if the mask was not there.
 

darinwc

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Darkroom317 said:
What are you shooting with? I love the multiple exposure feature on my Canon A-1.
Click to expand...
Actually, the A1 is one of my main cameras right now, and I've never used the multi exposure function. "double exposure prevention" used to be a feature in itself.

I wonder if "auto de-focus" will ever be a feature that will have to be added back into cameras.
 

2F/2F

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I totally disagree about IS and VR.

They are not designed for situations in which you can use a tripod anyhow, so the "just use a tripod" argument makes no sense. It goes without saying that the tripod is a better option. They serve different functions.

Additionally, while I said my piece about AF, I should also say that I think 90% of the problems with it can be taken care of by simply: 1. Using one-point focusing instead of automatic point selection, and 2. separating the AF command from the shutter button. I do not understand peoples' desires to not use the AF this way, or the fact that this is not the default on all AF cameras. When you do this, all you are doing is using the AF as a motor. You are still making all the decisions, and the thought process is exactly the same as it is with manual-focus. At this point, all it is is a convenience...which is all it could ever hope to be until the aforementioned brain hookup is invented. The closest thing to the brain hookup so far has been Canon's ECF, and though I do use it in some situations, it is pretty clunky, with focus/compose usually being faster IME.
 
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darinwc

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Auto-focus was made for photographers with wives.

"Honey, can we go now?"
"Almost done!"
"We've been here an hour."
"I just have to wait for the wind to calm for 2 seconds"
"How many shots have you taken?"
"This will make 1."
"@#$!"
 

wotalegend

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I'll defer to your better judgment on VR, 2F/2F. I don't own any VR lenses and have never used one (and never missed them either). Maybe I have a subconscious envy of people who do have them.

And I totally agree with you on AF. When you can fix one focus point and operate it with a manual button press without a later auto change it is a very useful tool. But not when the camera presumes to think for you.
 

Poisson Du Jour

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I had the misfortune of falling for Canon's "revolutionary" 75-300mm f4.5-5.6 image stabiliser lens in 1996, which turned out to have very poor optical performance, secondary to an nasty appetite for power. Fast-forward a decade-plus, and I see this IS feature being banged-on about on Canon's L-series lenses, so I presume considerable optical groundwork has been done in terms of performance. All the same, image stablisers/vibration reduction features are pretty darned good at siphoning off power from an already over-taxed battery source.

2F/2F: AF on my EOS1N is initiated with the AE-lock button, but with my prime TS-E 24mm it only serves to illuminate the point I have selected and lock the exposure there prior to recomposing. I'm bored of shutter buttons...
 
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Rol_Lei Nut

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On my favorite cameras, I can easily manually focus using the corner of the screen if I want...
No need to recompose, press a memory button, ect, ect.

Apart for some fast action, I really find AF a PITA when present.
 

zk-cessnaguy

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Most over-rated feature? The "nikon" logo or the "canon" logo on the front.
 

Denis R

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camera straps &c

camera straps are more trouble than they are worth

special modes other than the basic P-SAM

talking camera

message imprint



really useful features

"auto" focus, works great for finding a vertical line on a white wall while using f1.8 or constantly changing subject distances, .......

multi function back that does AEB, exposure imprint, foucu trap, long eposure, interval exposure, .....

"drive" modes & auto winders

motorized rewind
 

Steve Smith

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alexmacphee

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I'd put program mode on my list of over-rated features. Whenever I've tried it, I invariably find myself becoming frustrated and putting it back to Av or M. It feels a little strange saying that, because one of my favourite take-anywhere cameras is the Yashica T5, which only has program mode.

Autofocus used to be on my ORF list, until I bought a Contax N1 ; I like the Contax system of five AF points strategically placed in rule-of-thirds positions, and the thumb-operated joystick control to switch from one to another (I prefer it, to my slight surprise, to the technologically slicker eye-operated focus point selection on my Canon EOS 5/A2). I suppose my view on autofocus with this camera is influenced by how stunningly beautiful and sleek it is. I ought to add that most of my photographic interests don't need autofocus, so in many respects, it solves problems I don't particularly have.

Like a few members here, I was brought up in an era when the over-rated feature list probably only had double-exposure prevention in it, so manual-everything is default mode for me. I've a camera that has more ORFs than I know what to do with : modes for taking pictures of fireworks, taking pictures of fish tanks, taking pictures of people with ice creams at the beach, that sort of thing.

There are times when I've had enough of everything, and take out my old Box Brownie No.2 Model F. (Even that's got a swing-out lens for portraits!)
 
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