Most over rated feature

John_Nikon_F · May 6, 2010

For me, program mode is overrated. Granted, the only film body I own that can do P mode only does it with AF lenses, and I only have MF lenses. Aperture-priority comes in handy for when I need to grab a quick shot of something, like when I've been driving along a country road, seeing a thunderstorm cell ahead with sunlight in the foreground, and didn't want to pull off the road. Set the F3 on A mode, set the aperture to f/8 on the 50f1.4 with the focusing ring set on infinity, then hit the MD-4's firing button.

With respect to in-camera meters, people seem to forget that, yes, you do have to compensate some, if you're not shooting a middle-toned subject. Otherwise, everything *will* come out looking gray. It's not always convenient to walk over to the subject, point a Gossen Luna-Pro back at the camera, then walk back to the camera and transfer the settings. I know that with the weather we've had recently, I would've missed out on many of the photos that I was able to get, using the 60/40 centerweighted meter in my Nikomat FTn (or whichever body I'm using). I admit, I've forgotten the Sunny-16 rule somewhat, so I need to freshen up my skills. That way, I can use my SV without having to grab one of the Nikons (or purchasing a hand meter) to achieve proper exposure.

-J

alexmacphee · May 6, 2010

I thought the Canon eye controlled focussing was amusing to play with, but I've never really used it. I like better the Contax N system, which has a tiny thumb-operated joystick which lets you select one of the five usefully placed 'rule of thirds' focussing points.

benjiboy · May 6, 2010

The eye controlled focusing technology was an offshoot of the sight switches developed for helicopter gunships in the Vietnam War to aim their munitions at the ground, I could never make it work for me in the days I used to sell the Canon cameras that had this feature, I always was thankful I wasn't a gunship pilot in that conflict I would have killed half of Vietnam !

telyt · May 10, 2010

Rol_Lei Nut said:
Another vote for autofocus, program mode and high frame rates....

Same for me, and I've been using reading glasses for 17 years. Get a diopter correction lens for the camera's viewfinder and being over 40 years old isn't the problem many people think it is.

telyt · May 10, 2010

ralnphot said:
I challenge each and every one here to put away ALL gizmos and gadgets, and find a plain jane simple box, folder, view, field, or whatever type of maybe set the aperture, maybe set the shutter speed, look through the finder and shoot a photograph. Judge the light for yourself (no light meter)and step out on faith that you are capable of producing a quality photo without help. Then, take a step back, and tell everyone, "I did this".

I performed this experiment on myself... keep in mind my results are only valid for myself... and I found that the features beyond adjustable focus, aperture & shutter speed that I consider useful are the instant-return mirror, auto-diaphragm, and TTL viewing and metering.

benjiboy · May 13, 2010

It's to my mind a question of do the ends justify the means, I have all singing all dancing SLR s but sometimes personally feel that I haven't taken the picture the camera has, I feel that the camera has taken the decisions and it's like painting by numbers, I quite often switch all the automation off and just use the camera on manual with a hand held meter which I find much more satisfying if I have taken a good picture, because I have contributed much more to its creation.

TSSPro · May 13, 2010

Eh...math isnt my strong suit. It can take me a while to think through things when I want to be accurate. (The second guessing doesnt help, neither does not practicing)

So I appreciate the auto-exposure for most instances when I'm shooting a smaller format and accuracy is not THE priority, photographing the moment is.

Thinking about which feature I could live without, or what I consider overrated, would have to be the amount of autofocus points in modern SLRS, even my trusty Nikon F5 has more than it needs. A reliable central focus point is fine by me. I think that it would encourage shooters to focus and then recompose. Along with the benefit of cleaning up the viewfinder some. (Or maybe just cleaning up the viewfinder could be accomplished via changing the focusing screen)

Pumal · May 13, 2010

That's why I stick to my Nikon F or F2 many times.
I even have 5 Nikkormats.

benjiboy · May 13, 2010

It strikes me that it depends on the sort of work you do, if you shoot fast moving subjects like sport or wildlife etc. matrix metering and multi-point autofocus and a five fpc drive would be useful, but for me personally who am mainly a portrait shooter they are as much use as an ashtray on a motor bike, and are just something else to go wrong.

telyt · May 14, 2010

benjiboy said:
It strikes me that it depends on the sort of work you do, if you shoot fast moving subjects like sport or wildlife etc. matrix metering and multi-point autofocus and a five fpc drive would be useful.

99% of my photos are of wildlife and I don't use AF, matrix metering or a fast motor drive.

Rol_Lei Nut · May 14, 2010

telyt said:
99% of my photos are of wildlife and I don't use AF, matrix metering or a fast motor drive.

And if Telyt is who I think he is, he's a true master of wildlife photography...

(though I do use a motor drive with a shoulder stock, otherwise advancing film would be awkward).

olleorama · May 14, 2010

to be different I say I like most new features. As long as they can be turned off. Oh wait, I just remembered, only iso settings via DX coding and no manual override is really overrated. Compensating isn't ideal as you loose the ability to compensate for other things.

Fleishman · May 14, 2010

Hi there,
I am new at this forum, but let me vote for Autofocus, everytime I try to use my only autofocus camera, I usually come back and take one of the several "all manual" bodies and get faster focus with my eye. I can stilll remember just a week ago trying to focus a white wall...autofocus became crazy and the worst thing, I also became crazy for that. Affortunately, I think I am on the way again.

FiatluX · May 14, 2010

Auto flip up flash! Yuk..

Lee L · May 14, 2010

Rol_Lei Nut said:
And if Telyt is who I think he is, he's a true master of wildlife photography...

Check the link to his web page. He's who I thought he was, and used to sign with his name here. And yes, he's a great wildlife photographer.

As fast as some motor drives are, I don't think they produce better images through 'spray and pray' than an experienced photographer can get with impeccable timing and knowledge of his subject, be it sports or wildlife. Often fine timing is the key to getting the perfect shot, which would likely end up between frames with a whirring motor drive and random chance. I can see the value of a winder/drive to have the next film frame in position quickly.

I tried autofocus for the first time shooting soccer a couple of years ago, Nikon cameras and lenses given to me by a generous person who when digital. I learned in about 2 minutes that I wanted to use AF with the focus lock button, not in continuous/tracking focus, as tracking focus blew two good shots in the first two minutes. Shots that I would have gotten with my manual focus bodies. I also knew from experience that the matrix metering provided me with less knowledge of what was happening, and therefore less control over the results than my a more standard TTL selective or center weighted averaging meters, or a handheld spot or incident meter. I could learn from experience how to outguess the matrix meter in odd circumstances and get what I want, but why jump through mental hoops trying to outguess the camera meter?

Lee

Worker 11811 · May 14, 2010

olleorama said:
to be different I say I like most new features. As long as they can be turned off. Oh wait, I just remembered, only iso settings via DX coding and no manual override is really overrated. Compensating isn't ideal as you loose the ability to compensate for other things.

A piece of aluminum foil tape and some nail polish is all you need to create new bar codes for DX sensor.

Just go to this site: http://www.imageaircraft.com.au/DXsim/

Then you figure out the bar code you want to trick the camera into using and paint it on a piece of aluminum foil tape. Stick the tape over the old code and you're ready to go.

Also, if your new code can be created by scraping some of the paint off the existing cartridge you can do that. It should be possible to scrape off one square on the code and make the camera think that 100 ASA film is 200 ASA.

Ken N · May 14, 2010

Back to the original question...

To me, the most overrated feature that has been added to cameras in the past 20 years is red-eye reduction which either flickers the flash or blinds the people getting photographed with this red/orange light blasting into their eyes.

removed account4 · May 14, 2010

i find that most features on a 35mm camera are over rated.
all we NEED are shutter speeds and an aperture and a viewer ..
everything else is just frosting on the cake.

after it is all said and done if i had a 35mm camera that just
used 1 shutter speed and 1 wide-open fstop i would be content.

Jeff Kubach · May 14, 2010

Just give me a good basic camera, and I'm a happy camper!

Jeff

Existing Light · May 14, 2010

jnanian said:
after it is all said and done if i had a 35mm camera that just
used 1 shutter speed and 1 wide-open fstop i would be content.

That's what I have a Holga for

I like being aable to adjust shutter speed an aperture. Anything more than that and manual focusing is just a convenience for me, although I do think TTL metering and on camera flash is adequate for most family snapshots. BTW, even with family snapshots, I use manual focus and an incident meter and/or the sunny 16 rule mostly

Rol_Lei Nut · May 15, 2010

The most over rated feature is any feature Canon EOS owners brag about... ;-)

Greg Campbell · May 17, 2010

AF has already been beat to death, so let me mention my other pet peeve: Fast Lenses. Everyone thinks they just HAVE to have the fastest version of any given lens. Why? C'mon people, how often are you going to shoot a 24mm at f1.4? :rolleyes:

2F/2F · May 17, 2010

Greg Campbell said:
\Everyone thinks they just HAVE to have the fastest version of any given lens.

No, they don't.

Greg Campbell said:
Why?

Because they can let in more light than slower lenses (both to the film and to the ground glass) and/or allow more shallow depth of field (which also makes focusing easier, BTW), and, very importantly, because they allow faster shutter speeds at the same EV as a slower lens.

Greg Campbell said:
C'mon people, how often are you going to shoot a 24mm at f1.4?

As often as I feel f/1.4 is called for, which, if I am getting the lens in the first place, is probably a lot.

For what I shoot a lot of the time, there is no such thing as too fast a lens. If I was a sunny happy flowers daylight type shooter, I would use slower lenses, as long as they were sharp.

Do you really think that people who go out of their way to procure fast lenses are not using them wide open?

Greg Campbell · May 17, 2010

2F/2F said:
Because they can let in more light than slower lenses (both to the film and to the ground glass) and/or allow more shallow depth of field (which also makes focusing easier, BTW), and, very importantly, because they allow faster shutter speeds at the same EV as a slower lens.

Golly gee! Thanks for the Optics 101 lecture. I never knew.... :rolleyes:

As often as I feel f/1.4 is called for, which, if I am getting the lens in the first place, is probably a lot.

For what I shoot a lot of the time, there is no such thing as too fast a lens. If I was a sunny happy flowers daylight type shooter, I would use slower lenses, as long as they were sharp.

:confused: Is 'sunny happy flowers type' supposed to be some sort of zing?

Whenever I'm planning to shoot overcast depressed rocks, I bring a tripod, regardless of the lenses I plan to use. In my experience, when shooting overcast depressed rocks, an extra stop of lens speed will almost never be of any benefit.

Do you really think that people who go out of their way to procure fast lenses are not using them wide open?

Doh! Yes, I do. I see it all the time. It's a freaking status symbol. Gear Dweebs with irrational Specification Fixation Syndrome are not unique to the Pixelbrain crowd. Gear Snobbery is alive an well here at APUG, and I'm calling BS on it!

Sirius Glass · May 18, 2010

Greg Campbell said:
Doh! Yes, I do. I see it all the time. It's a freaking status symbol. Gear Dweebs with irrational Specification Fixation Syndrome are not unique to the Pixelbrain crowd. Gear Snobbery is alive an well here at APUG, and I'm calling BS on it!

Greg speak for yourself. It is all about the glass and the conditions one is shooting. I use the fast lenses when I do night photography and too long an exposure will have too much subject movement.

If you want to face the real problem, get up, go to the bathroom and take a look in the mirror.

Your remarks and insults are out of line with the defacto standards of APUG.

Steve

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