Most over rated feature

[thisismyname09]

That's true. I never thought to take that into account because I've never used a lens longer than 200mm or so.

 

[darinwc]

I dont understand why people dont like program mode but are ok with priority auto-exposure.

There are times when I want to specify a shutter speed or aperture, but other times when I just want a good middle ground, with some depth of field and a fast enough shutter speed to use handheld.

 

[2F/2F]

I dont understand why people dont like program mode but are ok with priority auto-exposure.

There are times when I want to specify a shutter speed or aperture, but other times when I just want a good middle ground, with some depth of field and a fast enough shutter speed to use handheld.

It is because A or T mode are really not that different than manual exposure. The thought process is exactly the same, in fact. Only the mechanics are different. When you expose manually, you [hopefully] favor either shutter or aperture being at a certain value, and adjust the other to achieve the desired exposure. You [hopefully] don't just move shutter and aperture settings to whatever values happen to make the meter read in the middle of the scale. However, Program mode does just this. It takes away all interpretive control in the shooting of the picture, aside from composition and timing. It is truly like using a point and shoot camera. A and T modes do not do this. They take away nothing.

The only thing I have against A and T modes is that they mean you are deciding your exposures with a directly-read reflected light meter. I am also just used to using manual exposure, so A and T seem a bit clunky to me.

 

[Existing Light]

The nail on the head. 'Digital' is one of those adwords now, like 'sexy' and 'new' and 'improved'. Cokin filter holders are now 'digital' too. A recent camera bag buy is for 'digital', and it has left me extremely worried that my film camera won't fit. You can buy a digital tripod now. I'm just waiting for a film version of it to come out.

I used to have a Canon Rebel Xti, but I sold it on Ebay to buy an enlarger and other darkroom stuff. I kept the neckstrap and now use it on my K2. I like seeing the "what the hell?" faces of people that see me load film in to a camera that has a neckstrap that has the word digital on the side of it. Every once i na while someone will see me load film in to it and then come over and ask if it's a film or digital camera. As Bill Engvall would say: "Here's your sign!"

One of my photography instructors told me one time that one of her students called and asked how to load film in to a digital camera.

 

[Worker 11811]

I will often set aperture and focus then check the viewfinder to see what shutter speed the camera reports. If it is acceptable I will shoot. If it is not, I will either change aperture, bump the exposure compensation dial or else I will put the camera in manual mode and adjust the shutter manually.

Regardless of whether I am in manual or some semi-automatic mode I will often bracket exposures so the settings will change. I don't stay stuck in one mode all the time. Otherwise, why would I need to have different manual/semi-auto modes on the camera in the first place?

 

[alexmacphee]

One of my photography instructors told me one time that one of her students called and asked how to load film in to a digital camera.

... A 'bit' at a time!

 

[alexmacphee]

I dont understand why people dont like program mode but are ok with priority auto-exposure.

There's no independent control in P mode, but in Av or Tv, you control both by setting one and letting the other follow, making it marginally easier than Manual mode, provided you're not worried about compensation.

For a long time I was put off using the Nikon EM, a thoroughly nifty little camera, because it only had AE mode and your only control was setting the aperture ; but in practice, if you want a particular shutter speed, you just turn the aperture ring till the speed you want shows in the viewfinder.

I love my little Yashica T5, but I've no idea what shutter speed it chooses and what aperture it uses.

 

[Stew]

Autofocus, and the eye controlled focus on the Canon Elan 7E.( I wear glasses and it doesn't work very well.)

 

[Paul Goutiere]

About 1966 when I got my Pentax Spotmatic I showed it to a pro photographer I knew. I told him the camera had a built in TTL light meter.
He was unimpressed.
I'm sure he said something to the effect that TTL metering was an entirely overrated and unnecessary feature.

 

[lxdude]

About 1966 when I got my Pentax Spotmatic I showed it to a pro photographer I knew. I told him the camera had a built in TTL light meter.
He was unimpressed.
I'm sure he said something to the effect that TTL metering was an entirely overrated and unnecessary feature.

Which it is!

 

[2F/2F]

...TTL metering was an entirely overrated and unnecessary feature.

Not to mention a feature that it is a feature that is actually harmful to ones results most of the time, when it is read directly.

 

[Ed Sukach]

Tied, miserably, between :Red Eye Reduction; Automatic Pop-up Flash - that takes hours of study to turn OFF; and any "auto" function buried beneath eight layers of screens.

 

[SilverGlow]

About 1966 when I got my Pentax Spotmatic I showed it to a pro photographer I knew. I told him the camera had a built in TTL light meter.
He was unimpressed.
I'm sure he said something to the effect that TTL metering was an entirely overrated and unnecessary feature.

Perhaps the single most awesome feature ever is TTL metering, and focusing. Too many macho shooters here that poo-poo really awesome features.

I suppose real men only shoot in manual, no AF, and no TTL either :rolleyes:

 

[2F/2F]

Perhaps the single most awesome feature ever is TTL metering, and focusing. Too many macho shooters here that poo-poo really awesome features.

I suppose real men only shoot in manual, no AF, and no TTL either :rolleyes:

Not "real men", but people who prefer ideal exposures most of the time, as opposed to passable exposures most of the time...and those of use who do use TTL meters to achieve ideal exposures do not read them directly. There is nothing wrong with TTL meters if you apply tonal placement to your readings, but reading them directly is a sure way to almost never get the best exposure. I don't know why so many people are so eager and willing to decide their exposures based on composition instead of based on light. If you shoot in the same light shot to shot, your exposure should not change. However, following a TTL meter, it does.

 

[darinwc]

Not "real men", but people who prefer ideal exposures most of the time, as opposed to passable exposures most of the time...and those of use who do use TTL meters to achieve ideal exposures do not read them directly. There is nothing wrong with TTL meters if you apply tonal placement to your readings, but reading them directly is a sure way to almost never get the best exposure. I don't know why so many people are so eager and willing to decide their exposures based on composition instead of based on light. If you shoot in the same light shot to shot, your exposure should not change. However, following a TTL meter, it does.

TTL Metering is a tool. Like any tool, you have to know how to use it properly.
A properly used TTL meter can be just as accurate as an incident meter.

An incident meter is more fool-proof than a TTL meter for many subjects.
But there are other subjects where an incident meter is harder to use or completely unusable.

 

[brainsalad]

TTL Metering is a tool. Like any tool, you have to know how to use it properly.

Yup.

Anyway, photography is not One Thing All The Time. There are situations that prompt you to take off one hat and put on another, think a different way, maybe have a different objective. There is nothing wrong with that.

 

[food goes in my mouf]

Hey all, I'm a long time lurker, first time poster.

I can't believe this thread went out 12 pages without someone mentioning these three things (forgive me if they have):

1) Compactness. I bought an Olympus OM-1(n) a long time ago off of ebay based on it's rave reviews that it's a full blown system camera that can fit anywhere - making it the perfect street camera. I dreamed being super stealthy pro with it, like Henri Cartier-Bresson while it was being shipped (don't laugh!). And then I got it, put it to use, and slowly started to hate it.

Now don't get me wrong, it really is an impressive camera, but it hurts when I'm holding it longer than a few minutes. For some reason, Olympus put it's large plastic timer lever at grip level, and the lever's sharp edges dig into the side of my middle finger. Curling up my fingers more makes my right hand cramp up even faster than it already does using my natural position with this camera, so I made the best of it and covered the lever with a few layers of duct tape. God help me if I want to use the timer...

But even with the duct tape, the camera felt too small for me, and my hands aren't even that big (more wide than long). I really think Olympus designed this camera around a 5 foot tall woman's hand. Next time if I see a compact camera for sale I'll definitely make sure that it fits my hand before buying it. Until then, I'll stick with painting my SRT black/flesh colored and being quicker and much more aware of my surroundings.

2) Built in "gun shaped" grips (as seen on every camera past 1985). They help with longer lenses, but I usually use a 50mm/decent posture/breathing techniques everyday, so for me it's really extra bulk I don't need. But the biggest thing that makes me think they're overrated is that the design enforces 3) right-handedness. I like shooting with my left eye and holding the camera right hand on the bottom using my thumb as the picture taker for vertical shots, and the gun grip puts the shutter button too far out on the tip making it really hard to use my original style.

Come to think of it, almost every camera past 1985 is overrated.

bonus:
4) LCD readouts. I prefer physical dials, knobs, and guages. Simple, easy to read, and not flashy.

 

[Nikon Collector]

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

I have on occassion found uses for all of those. There are many features you may not use for years and then one fine day, it's exactly what you need like the built in intervalometer on my Ricoh XRP

 

[SilverGlow]

Not "real men", but people who prefer ideal exposures most of the time, as opposed to passable exposures most of the time...and those of use who do use TTL meters to achieve ideal exposures do not read them directly. There is nothing wrong with TTL meters if you apply tonal placement to your readings, but reading them directly is a sure way to almost never get the best exposure. I don't know why so many people are so eager and willing to decide their exposures based on composition instead of based on light. If you shoot in the same light shot to shot, your exposure should not change. However, following a TTL meter, it does.

Ok, but when I'm shooting a fast paced wedding, and subsequent reception, I heavily rely on TTL metering, auto-focus, and TTL flashing (with body in manual mode). Without these features, too many shots will be missed. And because of film's very wide DR, it seems to me that exposure does not have to be perfect....being a bit off either way should never pose a problem....now if I was shooting digital, this could be a real issue. Without these features one would struggle to get the same shots, and in the time frame that make many weddings a challange.

Having said all that, I do realize and accept the fact that TTL metering can be fooled and can vary. However I love that a focus point can be tied to evaluative metering, and is given more weight in the calculation....I often apply exposure compensation because I do realized TTL metering can lie. Still, it often provides a very good starting point.

 

[Nikon Collector]

Yup.

Anyway, photography is not One Thing All The Time. There are situations that prompt you to take off one hat and put on another, think a different way, maybe have a different objective. There is nothing wrong with that.

YUP! If you read this entire thread, We have a consnsus. "The most overated feature is the one that I din't use"

 

[Worker 11811]

4) LCD readouts. I prefer physical dials, knobs, and guages. Simple, easy to read, and not flashy.

The thing about most manual cameras that beats most digital cameras is user interface. On older cameras, the designer spent more time designing the thing to match the way a person uses them. On newer, digital/electronic cameras the designer spends more time developing software than on the camera, itself. In fact, I bet the software engineers never even see the camera for more than a brief few minutes until much of their work is already done.

Whereas one can hand a person a K-1000, give them a two minute run through of its features and they could be making good photos with it, practically one handed and in the dark, the first time they use it one has to read the manual and understand a dozen different menu-driven options to use a digital camera today.

It has less to do with "manual vs. automatic" or "film vs. digicam" than it does with the care that the designer put into it in the first place.

 

[R gould]

Autofocus and program modes, plus any form of automation,most of the cameras I use everyday are over fifty years old and completely manual, without even metering,so I rely on my weston master V Richard

 

[Black Dog]

Likewise!

 

[Rick A]

Lenses

 

[darinwc]

The thing about most manual cameras that beats most digital cameras is user interface. On older cameras, the designer spent more time designing the thing to match the way a person uses them. On newer, digital/electronic cameras the designer spends more time developing software than on the camera, itself. In fact, I bet the software engineers never even see the camera for more than a brief few minutes until much of their work is already done.

Whereas one can hand a person a K-1000, give them a two minute run through of its features and they could be making good photos with it, practically one handed and in the dark, the first time they use it one has to read the manual and understand a dozen different menu-driven options to use a digital camera today.

It has less to do with "manual vs. automatic" or "film vs. digicam" than it does with the care that the designer put into it in the first place.

Thats a pretty bad comparison. Modern cameras do much more than older cameras. So of course if there are more features, it will take much more time to learn them all and the interface for those features will be much more complicated.

With older cameras, you need to buy an accessory for anything you do. Focus closer than 1 meter? Buy an extention tube or +1 diopter. Motor drive? Buy the 1.5 fps or the 5 fps accessory. Intervalometer? Buy the accessory. Spot meter? Buy the accessory. Shooting in tungsten? Buy special film.

Photography itself is as complicated as you want it to be. Modern cameras pack in more features so you dont have to buy as many accessories. You dont have to learn all the features just as you dont have to buy all the accessories.