Most over rated feature

[alanrockwood]

I was reading the thread discussing DOF preview buttons, and it gave me an idea for another, somewhat related but more general discussion.

What would be your vote for the most over rated feature in a camera?

To me it would be the instant return mirror found in virtually all modern SLR cameras.

My first serious camera was an Exakta VX iia, and at first I found the black out when firing a shot somewhat disconcerting. However, after I got used to the idea I came to rely on it as a kind of feature. Basically, the last thing my eye would see prior to the blackout would be sort of imprinted in my mind and would be pretty close to the actual shot. When I got a more modern camera with an instant return mirror I was at first I liked it, but then I noticed that I was less able to visualize the shot at the instant of taking than when I had the old Exakta.

Now, I have obtained some Kiev 60 cameras, and the advantages of the mirror blackout seem to be coming back to me, along with the idea that the instant return mirror is an over rated feature.

Oh, one more thing: another advantage of the non-instant return mirror is that it is very easy to tell if the film needs to be wound to the next shot.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Autofocus.

Program mode.

High frame rates (except in very few specialized situations).

 

[bobwysiwyg]

Autofocus.

You must have great/youngster vision.

 

[Rick A]

Auto anything.

 

[bobwysiwyg]

My vote goes to full-program mode on modern 35mm cams. [points thumb down]

 

[Jeff Kubach]

I agree with David, autofocus is overrated. I have a little digital bridge camera and it's autofocus kinda bothers me! I geuss I'm just an oddball.

Jeff

 

[keithwms]

Yes, AF is the most overrated feature for me as well. I do like focus confirmation, however.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

You must have great/youngster vision.

No, I'm just in denial. At some point, I think I'm going to have to have my nose lengthened to read with my current prescription, but I practically don't need a loupe to focus my LF cameras any more. I just look over my eyeglasses and it's like having a 2X loupe.

 

[wiltw]

AF is great for us older (past 40) photographers whose eyes do not focus well at the 30-36" apparent reading distance that the focusing screen is made to appear to be in the SLR!

What is highly overrated, in addition to the DOF preview, is the Auto ISO function in Canon dSLRs.
Also, the AF auto zone selection automation is overrated.
And the digital SLR eTTL/iTTL/dTTL auto flash, compared to the film camera TTL.

And in current auto zoom head flash units, the power output is seriously overplayed, but are actually less powerful than flash units like Metz 45 or 60.

But apart from DOF Preview, in film cameras there are not a lot of other things that are overblown.

 

[zk-cessnaguy]

My vote goes to full-program mode on modern 35mm cams. [points thumb down]

it does have its place though... "hey mum, can you just take our picture? Ta..."

 

[Darkroom317]

Autfocus doesn't focus where I want it to. I enjoy watching the plane of focus shift slowly.
Fast frame rates are good for sports but sadly I have to put my A-1 down and grab my 5D Mark II for sports.
I never use Program Mode on any of my cameras

 

[2F/2F]

In-camera reflected light meters. IMHO, these being treated as gold is the number one hindrance to well-exposed film.

Auto focus only stinks if it is foolishly expected to be a true auto focus...which it never, ever will be until the camera is wired into our brains. When you use it within its sensible limits, as motorized focus, it is an OK feature, IMO. This means that you tell it what to focus on, at all times, and the only thing the feature does is do the actual focusing for you. I do not see how any use of it that involves automatic focusing point selection would be worthwhile.

 

[Sirius Glass]

AF is nice to have on a 35mm slr. I switched to it because my girlfriend won an AF 28mm to 300mm zoom lens when it first came out. Since it would not work on my Minolta X-700, I bought a Nikon. It is especially good for fast moving targets. On the other hand when it cannot find enough contrast I switch to manual focus. Rarely, rarely have I had a problem of loosing a photo because the AF selected the wrong object and I did not catch it.

On my Hasselblad, I do not have AF and I do not miss it.

The most overrated feature available for the Hasselblad is the d-back. They are too expensive, they do not cover the color gamut like film, and did I mention that they were too expensive. Do you know how much film I could shoot and have custom processed and custom printed for $30k to $50k US? Plus a new computer, a raid memory system, software, lots of time, crappy ink jet printers, ...

Steve

 

[wclark5179]

Sometimes the photographer is over rated.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Sometimes the photographer is over rated.

It is okay to speak for yourself. Don't be shy.

Steve

 

[elekm]

Face detection. Multi-segment metering (which somehow gives the impression that different parts of the scene can be exposed differently). Program mode, which in many ways is similar to the early trap-needle autoexposure systems.

 

[Rol_Lei Nut]

Another vote for autofocus, program mode and high frame rates...

Yes, it also depends greatly on the kind of photography I do and am interested in (though I think program mode reallly has no redeeming qualities)....

 

[2F/2F]

Silly me! I forgot to specifically mention TTL flash metering! However, it goes without saying based on my previous answer. Any time a directly-read in-camera reflected meter is used as the primary way to establish ones exposures, it is bad news in my book.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

I think multi-pattern metering is the most over-rated feature.
I would prefer people use CWA or spot before moving to evaluative/multi-pattern or whatever else it is and can be called.

 

[Existing Light]

I think auto anything is overrated. I've noticed a lot of photography students where I used to go to school relied on their autofocus and auto exposure and were lost without them. One time in my studio photography class, a couple of the students were working by theirselves and used the pictures on the LCD screen of their digital cameras to adjust the lighting instead of using the handheld light meter. Later, I found out they used the lcd screen because they didnt know how to use the handheld meter...

I think film can be overrated, too, but that's a bit of a subjective observation. "X film is superior to Y film because of {enter arguments about film curves and resolution and whatever}" arguments were the first thing that came to my mind as I read this thread

*prepares for backlash about the film can be overrated statement*

 

[MattKing]

Fitted ever-ready case

 

[5stringdeath]

DOF Preview Buttons

I have a Canon Elan7e ... the "eye tracking focus" system is just absurd ... but the camera is damn quiet.

I don't have anything against auto * features, as long as they can be turned off. The exception being my Contax G1 ...

and +1 on fitted cases of any kind. hate them.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Oh God, you're going to get your hide tanned mentioning that eye tracking focus is absurd. A few weeks back a thread went off like firecrackers with that single most irritating subject. But, ah, I too, as an ex-user of all of those ECF cameras (EOS 5, 50E), thoroughly agree — now let's go run and hide!! .

 

[5stringdeath]

Oh God, you're going to get your hide tanned mentioning that eye tracking focus is absurd. A few weeks back a thread went off like firecrackers with that single most irritating subject. But, ah, I too, as an ex-user of all of those ECF cameras (EOS 5, 50E), thoroughly agree — now let's go run and hide!! .

I'll have to look for that, I like a good read

 

[tkamiya]

Continuous auto focus, multi-point focus, and matrix metering.