Thanksgiving Celebration - I am so glad I am not a turkey today! Auto ISO thoughts

[Randy Stout]

I was out this AM before the cooking started, and was experimenting with Auto ISO in manual mode. I can see where it could be handy, but often find the metering makes choices for the ISO value selected that don't agree with what I would choose!

It keeps you fairly close, but not good enough for my tastes under difficult lighting conditions or with very dark or very light birds.

D4 600VR f/5.6 1/500 ISO 250 Gitzo/Wimberley SB900 with beamer

Post: Added canvas left and above. Cleaned up a few spots in the BG, selective sharpening

Advice and comments always appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[dankearl]

The exposure looks fine here, but the iso is really low.
I experimented with auto iso for a bit, but it is too easy to not get the exposure right.
I think it has its place, for instance, if you are just out hiking or walking in a refuge and get
the occasionally grab shot, but for most instances, manual just works better.
A very attractive Swan!
With the D800 and the D4, I just set the iso at 1600 or even 2000 if I am out just walking
looking for something, the iso will be manageable even if it is not ideal.

[Raymond Lee]

Nicely exposed Randy! The details are fantastic!
I tried auto ISO on my 7D back then and it didn't work as well as I liked...it's still automatic after all and the exposure will be based on the metering.

[Dan Brown]

Randy, lovely shot, nice exp.

Auto ISO -here's a recent thread with much auto ISO discussion. http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...brown+auto+iso

For Canon users, auto ISO is not as simple as with Nikon, as Canon does not allow exposure compensation in a straight forward method. I believe the Canon method is outlined in the above thread.

With Nikon I have used auto iso much lately with nice results. But, I am using it less and less, going back to good old manual! If a situation seems to lend itself to auto iso, I use it, but I like to always be ready for the surprise BIF, so I switch back sooner than later! BTW, with the D800 it is easy, just press the iso button down and rotate the sub-comand dial, DONE!

The good points for me have been the ability to keep my SS high for lots of action, and if the subject is not moving much, I can dial the SS down and the camera dials the iso down, which is a good thing as long as the SS doesn't get to slow. I have used EC as I would in aperture priority, handling the contrasty situations that you mention.

The big negative with auto iso, IMO, is for BIF where the BG is variable. One can't compensate for this as the bird is flying by! I did have good luck with auto iso with some kites this past summer, but I always had blue sky as a bg, so I just set my ss at 2000, f7.1, EC +1 and just fired away with lots of good results.

[PhilCook]

Very lovely Randy...seems Angels do swim, maybe a bit tight in the frame, but that's a personal choice I think, lovely wing form.

Interesting talk on auto ISO, something I have only just began to use in the last cou8ple of weeks, works well much of the time, but not a cure all, but I think I find the 7D noise level is more under control in auto ISO

[Satish Ranadive]

Randy Sir:
Wonderful pose captured.Great exposure.Love the wing position,beautiful details in whites and beautiful composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Randy, you have really nailed the whites on the swan - excellent exposure. You have also brought good detail, and I like the displaying pose. Did I mention how I liked the angle too.

[Nick Palmieri]

Nice exposure, nice low angle, I like the dark BG.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose, exposure, details and low angle. Well done Randy.

[arash_hazeghi]

Nice pose and good details, the exposure values are not optimal for your subject tho, 1/500sec is too slow if action happened, perhaps you can set the ISO floor to 800 or 1600? Even then why let camera decide for you?

I'd stick with manual exposure!

[Shawn Zierman]

The pose is sweet, and again, that bill is something else!
I think the high contrast water ripples and the amount of them,
at this shooting angle, distract from your subject.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks for the input guys:

I wanted to try out auto ISO, since it has been quite a popular concept recently. Even shooting in manual mode, it does not give the type of control to consistently produce top notch photos under the conditions and with the subjects that I shoot. I am glad I tried it, but it is not for me! Perhaps I should have been more specific in my original post!

Cheers

Randy

[Karl Egressy]

Love the pose but mostly love the great details in the white, Beuty shot, Randy.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

I think the exposure came out pretty good. excellent pose and shooting angle. Good job on canvas addition. I would have not guessed.