[Closed] DSLR features what do you actually use?

I have a 20D. I can tell you the features I DONT use. A-DEP. And the DoF preview.

I have a nikon D80. Wireless flash is the single bestest feature of the camera.

I also use all the spot and matrix focusing modes, in fact most settings appart from bracketing.

Actually, I don't use DOF preview either.

mine has a button you press and it goes click-click-click-click. There are a lot of other dials and buttons but they can be safely ignored 🙂

LOL, I am with Simon on this.

Pretty much everything, except in camera editing, gets used.
A lot of the options though are for custom stuff you won't normally change, or will only change once to suit you- the size of the area used for spot metering, for example, the size of the ev steps used in bracketing, info and grids through the viewfinder, that sort of thing.

thanks, SFB and vinnyeh what cameras do you have thanks

Whats the point in having an SLR and using it in automatic mode - you might as well have a compact - surely an SLR should be in manual mode as standard.

AV mode - I'd use nothing else except my 20d decide to break in New York and now AV mode doesn't work at all - you can only select shutter speeds! Manual mode doesn't work at all - it is like the mode dial is fubard. Hey ho - an excuse for a new 7d......

[I]Whats the point in having an SLR and using it in automatic mode [/I]

Same as having a 6" travel full sus and mincing round trail centres on it.

I bought a DSLR as I planned to learn how to use it but having a baby took up my free time. But I have it now for when I do have time.

surely an SLR should be in manual mode as standard.

I only use my D300 for taking photos, not obsessing about settings. No compact can approach the handling and operational ability of a proper SLR, and the suggestion that they can seems to betray ignorance. Manual mode might be fun if you have plenty of time and nothing better to do. I don't.

Whats the point in having an SLR and using it in automatic mode - you might as well have a compact - surely an SLR should be in manual mode as standard.

Why not? A dslr has a lot bigger sensor, normally will have higher quality lenses, so will inherently capture a higher quality image, all other things being equal. It takes more pictures, faster, and for longer, than a compact. It will give you greater scope as you learn. Automatic, and most scene modes, are pretty sophisticated and do the job well in most normal circumstances.

Mostly use mine in aperture-priority to control depth of field.

Occasionally use shutter priority for fast-moving subjects in good light.

Sometimes use manual for night shots.

Never use Auto or Program or Scene modes - I prefer to tinker with settings myself.

Frequently use exposure compensation (generally set to -1/3 as a hangover from slide film days to boost saturation)

Making more use of RAW and post-processing but I'm still learning

Haven't bought myself a proper flash yet - that'll be next

Manual white balance

Manual ISO

Occasionally bracket for exposure

Frequently change the metering mode from matrix to spot

Focusing settings get a workout too as well as switching to MF for macro shots

In summary - pretty much everything. It makes me think about what I want the picture to look like on screen/in print.

bangaio - want to forward the dead 20D to me? I'll pay postage... 😀

mine has a button you press and it goes click-click-click-click. There are a lot of other dials and buttons but they can be safely ignored

If all you're doing is happy snaps, yup. Mine stays in "green square" most of the time in family gatherings and such, in case those with no knowledge of the buttons want a go. The rest of the time it's stuck in full manual, especially with my manual focus lenses.

I'm with stuartie_c. Aperture Priority mainly, I like a shallow depth of filed and use(d) my dslr in the same way i did with my old F4 and the minolta and practika I had before that too. Now i'm on the look out for a decent priced D70 so I get back to using a big camera again, I can't afford to re-buy the D200 I sold when made redundant last year.

I use all the modes, depending on the situation (apart from 'green' or 'P' for 'Professional' mode).

The feature I access most often is probably the flash menu - handy when you're controlling two or three flashes from an onboard one.

I agree that the wireless flash (CLS) is the best thing about Nikons - pity it's so unreliable.... And yes, I use Nikons!

SFB, i can't understand why you would buy a D300 & then only use it in auto mode....I can see your reasoning to get a DSLR & leave it in auto, but why not just get a D60/D3000 etc...? D300 only in auto seems like a waste.

I use most features of my camera (Nikon D80) although it doesn't have Live View so I don't know if I'd use that or not....
I don't use exposure/flash bracketing much, if ever & DOF preview doesn't do much for me.
I also haven't used the wireless flash stuff yet, but plan on buying a flash next month so will be using it soon!

One of the best things that Nikon offer (that Canon didn't when i was considering between the two) was that most of their bodies (in recent yrs) have a built in IR receiver for their remote shutter release. And it only costs £15 for the remote. Bargain....I use that lots.

SLR stays at home because I cant be arsed to carry on a ride.

Use the IXUS 970is for everything including all my published work 🙂

D300 only in auto seems like a waste.

I had a D60 as well, but it was a slug in comparison. And to be honest I do fiddle with the other controls a bit, though I'm not sure it always improves the situation, and I use P not A, I'd hate it to turn the flash on by mistake!

The D3000 has poorer autofocus, half the frame rate, mirror prism, 1/2 the screen resolution, non-100% viewfinder coverage, different sensor (at first look). I wouldn't be happy with it.

Quite a few especially the customised settings, but my best find has been the "AF lock" so I can back button focus
So much better than having the AF on the shutter button, lock on and then recompose to your hearts content

I have a Canon 400D and very rarely use any of the atomatic modes, I just can't see the point, that's why I bought it in the first place: So I could experimnet and faff and learn. Leaving it in auto would produce the same picture every time. I like blur, so I faff with shutter speeds. I like to pre-focus, so the AF goes off sometimes too, I like a shallow DoF sometimes so I faff with the apeture. I like the way I can change th settings so quickly now. That's the other advantage, the speed a DSLR can respond.... 🙂

I'm enjoying using bracketing just now and post-processing the images using Photomatix to give some pretty cool High Dynamic Range shots. Quite often use camera just on P mode but just as often using all the other dials and buttons as well...

SFB, is the D300 miles ahead of the D200 you used to have?

Leaving it in auto would produce the same picture every time

it depends what you point it at...

Use all of them apart from programme exposure and in camera processing of JPEGS (always shoot in RAW).

SFB, is the D300 miles ahead of the D200 you used to have?

it's better, but not hugely. I was happy with my purchase, but there are no "must have" improvements I could point to.

simonfbarnes - Member

SFB, is the D300 miles ahead of the D200 you used to have?

it's better, but not hugely. I was happy with my purchase, but there are no "must have" improvements I could point to.

Have to disagree here - yes, it depends on how you're using the cameras, but when I made the same leap, I was astonished. Most especially in low light / high ISO situations, where the difference is huuuge.

A lot of my work is in dark wedding venues - the D300 simply blows the D200 out of the water in low light photography. The noise is almost non-existent (comparitively, and Noise Ninja deals very well with it in PP anyway - less so with the 200).

it depends what you point it at...

I meant the same 'feel' or possibly style. Auto settings want to freeze motion and standardise exposure.

Try doing this on auto! 🙂

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I never use A-DEP, Picture modes / auto modes, and 99% of the time it's in AV mode.

I do use DOF button pretty frequently - very useful indeed!

Canon 30D, but shortly to be a 7D.... unless the rumoured 60D is any good...

What do you use DOF preview for? Or rather, how do you use it exactly (I may be missing a trick!!) Always found it did nothing more than darken the image - the viewfinder is small enough that I can't see any difference in DoF in there.

my DOF with flash gives me a guide to where it will go, especially useful in remote flash. Not as useful as taking the picture itself. I do use the white balance occasionally use programme App. but not shutter priority modes. Single and constant auto focus modes. Don't usually use anything other than Matrix metering. Most of the buttons get used daily though.

Coffeeking - DOF preview sets the aperture (I think) to the value set in the camera for that particular exposure (that's what the clunk is as you press the button), so should allow you to see the DOF...
....however, as you say - it will generally darken the image, making it hard to make out the DOF & the viewfinder is so small anyway that it doesn't really help - well, I have never found it of any use...

Perhaps in bright studio light it's useful?

sfb so you have/had a D60/D200 & now a D300!! Yikes, that's a heap of cash on bodies!! Fair play, but no way I could justify that for a camera kept mainly on P....I still feel that the D80 was an extravagance!

Leaving it in auto would produce the same picture every time

Often quite the opposite, by the time you've let auto focus, white balance and exposure make their mind up you can end up with something pretty different. If you want really consistent pictures it's manual all the way.

Camera mode snobbery is bizarre. In Program or Shutter/Aperture Priority the fancy jiggery-pokery in your camera is designed to give you combinations of shutter speed&aperture that work well in the current light... this is a good thing... lets you concentrate on composition which surely is more important?

sfb so you have/had a D60/D200 & now a D300!! Yikes, that's a heap of cash on bodies!! Fair play, but no way I could justify that for a camera kept mainly on P....I still feel that the D80 was an extravagance!

it's OK, I have far more money than sense :o) To date I've had FIVE Nikon DSLR bodies!

If you want really consistent pictures it's manual all the way.

heaven forfend! - I want contrast and surprise 🙂

DOF let's you preview the Depth of Field (which bits are 'fuzzy'). Useful when taking photos of bikes as you can work out how wide an aperature you can go (to get a faster shutter speed) and still get the entire rider in focus.

Does darken your view finder, but it's not too bad most of the time. Very useful, but took me a while to work out why I should use it!

I keep mine in P mode most of the time. If I don't like what the camera suggests I override it by twiddling the rear wheel to get what I want. If I genuinely want to over/under expose then I can still do this in P mode by using the +/- control.

I'll use Aperture or Shutter priority if I have to but most of the time the combination of P mode and the nudge wheel work just fine.

antennae - Member
Camera mode snobbery is bizarre. In Program or Shutter/Aperture Priority the fancy jiggery-pokery in your camera is designed to give you combinations of shutter speed&aperture that work well in the current light... this is a good thing... lets you concentrate on composition which surely is more important?

No - your statement is bizarre. Program mode is totally different from Apperture Priority or Shutter speed priority.

If I want a large apperture to isolate the subject from the background, I'll use apperture priority and set a large apperture.

If I want to photograph a rider flying down a mountain, I'll likely choose shutter priority and set it to a suitable speed.

If I want to walk around a war zone dodging bullets, I suppose I might think about program mode, but I doubt it...

Absolutely nothing to do with "snobbery" and everything to do with choosing the right mode for the right situation.

If I want a large apperture to isolate the subject from the background

yeah, people always go on about this, but it's very unrealistic. Everything your eye sees is in focus, unless you need glasses 🙂

Hmmmm - not quite true - your eyes have a pretty small DOF. Look at the closest object on your coffe table from a distance of three inches - everything three inches or so away from that object is out of focus.

All that happens is that your eyes move around constantly, giving the (false) impression of f64 (unscientific guess, based upon the tiniest apperture of my large format camera lens).

Also, it's all about aesthetics, not reality!!

EDIT: coffee table test performed whilst wearing glasses and under the influence of beer goggles.

You have very odd eyes if everything in your vision is always in focus simon. On Earth us pathetic [URL= http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-number ]humans have eyes that go from around f/8.3 to about f/2.1.[/URL]

Mind you, if you want everything in focus on your camera then you'll need to set a tight aperture and calculate the hyperfocal distance - which is tricky on Green Auto mode. :p

Everything your eye sees is in focus, unless you need glasses

Simply not true at all, I'm focusing on my laptop screen here and my feet being behind are very OOF. The reason you think that is because you can't actually concentrate on areas that are not in focus with your eyes, they auto-focus wherever you look and you can't see in sufficient resolution outside about 2 degrees to notice if it's in focus or not, but it won't be. Obviously it's better at distance.

Thing is, not everyone is trying to use the camera to recreate exactly what they see anyway.

The reason you think that is because you can't actually concentrate on areas that are not in focus with your eyes

yes I know, but nevertheless, what you [b]perceive[/b] is everything sharp 🙂 And I think the foeva is 1/2 a degree...

giving the (false) impression of f64

I disagree, the visual system arrives at a dynamic gestalt of remarkable fidelity given that it's achieved with 2 blobs of jelly!

I suppose one might say that the shallow DOF thing simulates the mental focussing of attention on some particular subject, though in that circumstance, you don't see the other stuff blurred, you just don't notice it at all unless it moves or becomes a threat...