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| Guerneville, California. I love these ‘throwback’ establishments. (click to enlarge) |
I find I don't use my digital cameras the way I typically had been using them over the past 20 plus years. To me, this change caught me by surprise as I didn't realize this fact.
In the old 'film' days, most of my cameras were manual exposure only. The typical routine was you first decided whether you wanted prints or slides. Then color or black and white (yes, there was black & white slide film, a very specialized product). Then you chose which film to load into your camera by what 'speed' you thought you would need depending upon what conditions or subject movement you thought you would encounter. Also, slower speed films had more dynamic range and less grain than higher speed films. That was another consideration. Film choice also could depend upon if you wanted natural color or vivid colors. Lots of decisions to make even before loading the camera.
Shutter speeds and apertures were then dependent upon the light conditions and the film speed you chose. Generally, you were stuck with the film speed you chose. If you misjudged conditions or something changed dramatically, you had the option to 'rewind' your partially exposed film back into its canister (still inside of the camera for those who may not know) to be able to use the rest of the roll at a later time rather than waste the rest of the unexposed roll. Cost was an issue. After rewinding the film, you marked on the canister how many shots you made for later reference so you didn’t double-expose over the ones you already shot. Then you most likely loaded faster film into your camera. Ah. Those wonderful 'film' days. Good riddance!
I did own some cameras that had aperture priority (mostly Nikons) and others that had shutter priority (mostly Canons) and I used those features when light or conditions were changing rapidly. It helped a lot. During the majority of my digital years I've used primarily aperture priority as a carryover habit.
Now I find myself to have reverted back to manual selection of both shutter speeds and apertures, but with Auto ISO engaged. Of course with Auto ISO, I depend on exposure compensation to fine tune my exposures. Kind of the same but different.
Primarily, for the kinds of photography I mostly practice, I’ve found that it is most beneficial to directly select both my shutter speed and aperture. In the past, I’ve found that in times of stress, a fast changing situation or quickly varying light light levels and using aperture priority, that my shutter speed became too slow and, in the heat of the moment, I failed to notice. Not good. To remedy that, my habit now is to set both parameters so as to ensure I have the desired shutter speed as well as depth of field that fulfills my vision of the end result.
So, with all of the automation and features available on my digital cameras, I still find the basic (but a bit modified) method I used decades ago still works best for me. I now don't have to worry that my shutter speed will drift too low for the subject or my aperture will give me inadequate depth of field. I now let the ISO do the majority of the work and I stick with final adjustments using exposure compensation. Perfect!
As I have said many times in the past, “Ain’t technology wonderful?”
How about you? How do you normally configure your camera for the kinds of photography you do? I even know a couple experienced photographers who set their camera to “P” for Program mode and don’t worry about specifics.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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Memories of "the good old days". My Mother, who grew up in the Depression used to say "There was nothing good about them". When I think about it, there was a staggering amount of knowledge and preparedness just to go out and make photographs. Color film, positive and negative, black and white film, filters, handheld meters, exposure factors, and on and on.
ReplyDeleteI use an old LL Bean waistpack for one of my Olympus outfits. I have a distinct memory of being in scenic Colorado with 4x5 film holders in that waist pack, my Minolta Autometer IVF, gelatin filters, cable releases, and more all stuffed in there. I remember having this grand thought that one day there might be a camera, sized like a Nikon F, that could provide a competent original so I would not need those film holders and a 4x5 on a tripod. My imagination could not have been broad enough to encompass the future 30 years distant. Now, there is such a camera, with unlimited "film" in color, black and white, at about any speed, in that same pack along with a lens coverage (in FF terms) of 15mm-600mm, along with a macro lens. And there is room to spare.
All the film era gear and expertise necessary on site to make photographs paled with what was necessary for dedicated darkrooms for processing and printing black and white and color.
Back to Colorado, there is a photograph around here of me with the 4x5 pointed at a terrific mountain vista. The backstory is that I paused, before inserting the film holder, to take in the absolute beauty, then in an instant I realized that a jet was leaving contrails diagonally across that perfect sky. My pretty wife noticed that before I did, and I had a glimpse of her holding her hands over our son's ears before the vocal tirade reached them. Now in such a situation I would just smile knowing the Remove Tool would undo the unsightly contrails. Truly "Technology is wonderful!"
Many years ago I stood at “Tunnel View” looking at the beauty of the Yosemite Valley. My Pentax 6X7 was mounted on a tripod and, like you, I was a bit distracted but by the masses of other visitors around me. I managed a couple exposures just before a jet with its contrail crossed the sky. No tirade that time. Lol. Thanks for your comment. ~Dennis
DeleteIn response to the question:
ReplyDeleteI use the C1-C4 dial settings. There is one for active subjects, another for static subjects, another for macro, another for flash, respectively. All are based on Manual selections with Auto ISO. There are other sub-customizations for AF target, exposure compensation, and so on. But, it has to be simple or I will make even more errors than I do now.
I didn’t mention it either, but I have the Custom settings programmed as well. Mine for perched birds, birds-in-flight, birds-in-flight but with Pro Capture and the last for fast trains. But I only use them for those specific conditions. ~Dennis
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