Auto ISO in manual = Shutter and Aperture priority.

[ruifo]

Don't forget that, at least in newer Nikon bodies, you can set an upper limit for your auto-ISO, according to your comfort level, to each specific situation, and it will never go beyond that limit. Depending how you do it, you may see some underexposed images sometimes, if you don't balance out with your aperture and your shutter speed. There's always a compromise, but it's a great feature to have anyhow, for the right situations.

 

[cynicaster]

I was using shutter priority with auto-ISO just this weekend to get some action shots of a friend’s kids playing baseball. I wanted to lock the shutter at 1/1000 to ensure frozen action, but I did not want to get caught fiddling with camera settings when something cool happened, so I switched on auto-ISO as a safety net. Worked like a charm, and I was quite pleased with the results. Obviously not all of the shots were keepers, but even the crappy throw-away shots were at least exposed properly.

 

[DarkShadow]

I use Auto ISO all the time and use my exposure compensation as needed.

 

[Derrel]

I used auto ISO to shoot action sports, but if you use aperture priority be sure you keep an eye in the viewfinder what shutter speed the camera is choosing. To slow a shutter speed can cause subject motion/camera shake blurring.

I think you must be referring to a camera made 12 or 13 years ago. The USER programs IN the desired minimum shutter speed. You're talking about the old, mostly useless typoe of Nikon AUTO ISO implementation. We're talking abiut the way it is done on "the NEW Nikons" and "Pentax" d-slr cameras. AUTO ISO in Nikon is not done the same way it used to be; it's now truly useful.

 

[Derrel]

Don't forget that, at least in newer Nikon bodies, you can set an upper limit for your auto-ISO, according to your comfort level, to each specific situation, and it will never go beyond that limit. Depending how you do it, you may see some underexposed images sometimes, if you don't balance out with your aperture and your shutter speed. There's always a compromise, but it's a great feature to have anyhow, for the right situations.

Yet another example of now the NEWER Nikon cameras have a different, improved AUTO ISO implementation than what Nikon used to use. There's a persistent undertone of people who have not used the "NEW" Nikon's with their newer AUTO ISO system capabilities, and implying that a bit of an ISO boost is going to cause noticeable quality loss when shooting 12-bit uncompressed or 14-bit uncompressed RAW...you know, that the very BEST sensors in the world, the ones with the best dynamic range, and the best color depth, and the best low-noise/High-ISO performance, are going to cause noticeable picture quality loss. Uhhhh...welcome to 2014. It's no longer 2005. Or 2002.

I'll tell you one thing: if you have a NEW Nikon, with 24 to 36 megapixel capture size, you have so much dynamic range capability, and such deep color that you can throw away two stops' worth of either DR or color depth, and be in the same range as the "other" cameras can offer at their best...so...take the warning of those who have not tried the new Nikons and AUTO ISO with a grain of salt.

This is,again, NOT the auto ISO we had a few years back: this is an entirely better animal. Being used on the industry's BEST sensors, with the MOST shadow recovery potential, widest scene DR, and richest color. And you're capturing in 14- or 12-bit RAW...then making, eventually, 8-bit files for "actual use". The implementation is different, and the sensors are vastly better as well.

 

[astroNikon]

It's all in your methodology and what you're willing to compromise with.

if you're picking the shutter and aperture, it's for a specific reason and then you're saying: okay camera, use your meter and exposure based on my settings the best you can using only the ISO. Any changes is light will only be handled by changes in the ISO. This could easily ramp up to ISO 6,400 if it needed just 3 more stops of light at a base of 800.

But what happens if you're trying to shoot at say 1/250 on a bright day, and f/2.8, and a base of ISO 100...The camera is wont be able to auto-adjust down if the meter is saying youre over exposing shots. And even if you decided to look at a histogram between shots, and then dial in any EV really fast, nothing would happen, you'd have to dial up the shutter speed or aperture on your own in order to remove more light.

at least if you were shooting just aperture priority it could be limited to 1/250 at the lowest shutter speed, and then it could ramp all the way up to 1/8000 if it had do while still keeping ISO 100 as a base first and foremost, only then sacrificing ISO in order to achieve the exposure.



To me, every shot is different. Last night I used auto-iso, shutter priority, and spot metering in order to shoot the hawk in my backyard.

I went with spot metering because I knew there'd be times where I might be shooting towards the sun, or with trees in the background that could influence the overall exposure.

I went with auto-iso for similar reasons. I wanted to make sure that the hawk stayed exposed regardless of the on-the-fly changing lighting conditions. I was using a lens with a 4.5-5.6, so if I needed more light, there wasn't going to be much on setting sun as far as aperture stops anyways.

I went with shutter priority because it was most important that I stop motion/shake first and foremost.

...a few hours before that I was using manual mode and manual iso taking flash portraits.

...a week before that I was using aperture mode with auto-iso and taking indoor flash portraits.

I learned last week how nice Shutter Priority is ... trying to shoot scattered flying butterflies .. I first tried manual .. instant changing lighting conditions in an inside building. Then Aperture Priority .. shutter got way too low for those fluttering things.
Shutter priority was the only thing that made sense .. with AUTO ISO.

by then though they drove me batty with an excessive failure rate related to the non-linear flying patterns.
My camera needs a Butterfly mode.

 

[hombredelmar]

Auto ISO works great for me !!!

 

[Robin Usagani]

Auto ISO is nice especially if you can tell the camera the minimum shutter speed on AV mode. The one bad thing about Canon Auto ISO is that you cant have exposure compensation with M and auto ISO.

All that said... auto ISO is pretty much a semi automatic mode. You are still telling the camera to set the exposure for you.

 

[Derrel]

FIRST time I used AUTO ISO was the first month I had my D3x. I had never shot skim boarders in my life. Late in the day, ocean sun very low, intense backlight. I KNEW that I ewanted to absolutely FREEZE as much water as I could, to get a true stop-motion effect. I also knew I wanted shallow depth of field, so I used my 85mm 1.8 G lens at f/2.2. As this kid went from right to left, the exposure shifted WILDLY, and i mean a loooong ways. I wanted to be able to shoot 5 frame per second sequences, and let the camera adjust, on the fly....but in EITHER S or A priority, my shutter would slow wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy down and then speed wayyyyyyyyyyyyy up,and then slow wayyyyy down depending on is he was 30 degrees north, in front of me, or off to the south of me. I knew that in Shutter priority, I would go from f/2.2 at the SUN-strip, and would literally "run out of range" when he was 20 degrees north or south of the sun-strip.

ANd to top it off, I really could not predict WHERE the best action would be...but I KNEW I wanted to be at f/2.2 and 1/8000 second, so I went to AUTO ISO. Gol' durn AUTO ISO gave me 140. Yup, ISO one-hunneert n forty...at the EXACT 1/8000 speed I wanted and at the exact shallow f/2.2 DOF I wanted to make sure the droplets were well-focused but the background dropped way out of focus,very fast. I made about 5 really great pictures out of 25 frames or so. Here's one as a B&W. This shot was literally made possible by AUTO ISO use in Manual mode.

[ _D3X8857_1400_screen-3.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com ]

THis is EXACTLY the kind of situation where I now think "Auto ISO, manual mode, get it exactly the way I want it to look, even as the light shifts a ridiculous amount in 1- to 2- seconds' time." ANy guesses on the degree of fall-off of the light as the sun-strip moves out of the frame and the silhouetted effect needs to be against less-intense light, which you can see at the side of the frame in the direction he will be headed in about .4 seconds?

 

[Robin Usagani]

You can have exposure compensation on the Nikon with M and auto ISO, right derrel?

 

[Derrel]

You can have exposure compensation on the Nikon with M and auto ISO, right derrel?

Yes, you can dial in + or - comp in Manual mode, and it will adjust the brightness up or down from the meter's reading, while moving the ISO to get the settings in synch with the lighting.

 

[DarkShadow]

Yes nikon allows compensation in M and Canon only does bracketing on M which sucks.Why in the world would I need bracketing if I know what value I want to dial in.What a joke.I love my gear but should have stuck with nikon long ago.

 

[Robin Usagani]

Yeah.. Canon cant do that. No exposure compensation in Manual Mode + Auto ISO. It sucks. Only on AV and TV you can have the compensation with auto iso.

 

[Derrel]

AUTO ISO in manual exposure mode with +/- comp option is an idea that Nikon STOLE directly from Pentax. Pentax was the ONLY company that offered this, and it was an actual, on-the-top-deck-mode-dial exposure mode. Pentax considered AUTO ISO in Manual to be an actual, separate,distinct exposure mode.

 

[JacaRanda]

Birds in flight. Will drive you nuts without it.