Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/06/09

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Subject: [Leica] FF sidewalk flower pot f 1/125 s at f/8.0 and be there
From: mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)
Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 00:55:30 -0400

If you think an Auto setting makes things out of your controll in your
shooting then you've not even thought about trying to master your camera and
modern shooting techniques.

That pros would not shoot at an A or P setting has long been a fallacy
propaged by rich camera collectors as they study their bids on their eBay
screen.
When the A setting first came out photographers were reluctant at first to
admit they'd use it. But its been a long time since its been out in the open
that most do and the P setting as well.

I'll use a P setting when I know I don't need to be stopping down to
specific f stops and lighting is changing fast and I'm ok with shooting wide
open at various shutter speeds. Or I'll also use it with a quite high
minimum iso plugged in so it gets stopped down more quickly. Like I set the
minim iso to 500 to 800 which for most use are totally viable iso' s. High
rez even.
In other words I'm shooting so fast I really don't have time to dial in
various f stop options. And just need to seeing the subject through the
finder and shooing. Not turning dials. And im not just talking me.
You see a group of photographers shooting they're never turning dials.
They're just shooting.

I think what warmed up a lot of photographers to an auto setting was
surprisingly the thyristor driven Vivitar 283 and 285's flashes not cameras.
And that was the early 70's. 42 years ago.
We all used them at an auto setting. The blue one.  Making our photography
in effect auto exposure. It was not long after that we'd also have the A
setting on the camera as well and we'd certainly use it. When the P settings
came out there resistance was futile.  We all used it and few of us were too
ashamed to admit it.
The P setting functionality is totally usable if not near necessary in a
serious or professional  fast breaking situation. I cant think  of a
photographer I've ever met who would simply ignore such a basic boost of
functionality built into their camera. Maybe not all the time but then again
plenty do.

Yes it can be lived without.
One can use manual focus Leicas with more low tech options and be
competitive with how we shoot and the results we get.

A few years ago before the M7 and M8 we all said any kind of A setting at
all on a Leica was unnecessary. But when it happened it was widely embraced.
If the P ever hits Leica M I'm sure it will not be ignored any an more than
any technology advance which is put into the camera. Like video.
You guys act as if its beneath you. If you were doing it for a living you'd
be singing a different tune.

Digital photography has made things much less a crap shoot.
We can go back a few as we are shooting and crimp and see how the camera is
handling the situations we are putting it through at the settings we have it
set at. And if the settings are not quite right we can alter them and shoot
some more.
The P setting in most cases makes for faster shooting with more
concentration on the subject and not the camera.

So I'm NOT talking BOTH the F stops and shutter speeds are automatic
I'm talking ALL the settings, aperture, shutter and ISO are automatic.
Three count'em. Guess what? You don't die!
I'd seriously deal with it as the vast majority of pictures you see everyday
from the media are done that way.




On 6/9/13 9:33 PM, "Jayanand Govindaraj" <jayanand at gmail.com> wrote:

> No shooter I know is EVER on Program Mode!
> Cheers
> Jayanand
> 
> 
> On Sun, Jun 9, 2013 at 11:37 PM, Mark Rabiner <mark at rabinergroup.com> 
> wrote:
> 
>> I think you'll find that most, make that pretty much all of the known
>> shooters if they're not at P they are most certainly at A.
>> A 35mm camera is all about speed... Shooting very fast.
>> 
>> Photography fortunately is not philosophy or theoretical physics.
>> Its tangible results. And those results are photographs which you can hold
>> in your hand or look at on the wall or a Bing or Google contact sheet
>> search. They are a matter of public record.
>> You really think when you see a shot of anything on the news or street
>> shooting you are looking at a photographer whose set the shutter speed and
>> f
>> stop for that particular picture. And iso?
>> And my photographs and the photographs of the vast majority of shooters 
>> all
>> using various auto modes are matter of record. All you have to do is look
>> at
>> them. And do to that you by contact sheet Binging  or Goggling them.
>> 
>> Shooting a camera  it in the foot by disabling its main features is only
>> smart a  vast non majority of the time...
>> Even when you're shooting a thing standing still you're in a fast moving
>> situation because YOU are fast moving.
>> If you're slow moving use a Rolleiflex or a view camera. At full manual.
>> 
>> Oh and its great John  turned off the auto ISO the minute he got his new
>> camera we'd not want to have him confused dealing with something new.
>> 
>> On 6/8/13 2:21 PM, "Lottermoser George" <imagist3 at mac.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> On Jun 7, 2013, at 9:51 PM, John McMaster wrote:
>>> 
>>>> One of the first things I did with my M is turn off auto-ASA, why do I
>> want
>>>> to not be in control of my photos?
>>> 
>>> most especially if one disdains any sort of "auto-post-process" ?
>>> 
>>> Personally I don't like or use auto anything
>>> unless I'm feeling lazy or shooting extremely fast action sports,
>> events, etc.
>>> (which has become fairly rare)
>>> 
>>> different strokes for different folks
>>> 
>>> Regards,
>>> George Lottermoser
>>> george at imagist.com
>>> http://www.imagist.com
>>> http://www.imagist.com/blog
>>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/imagist
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Leica Users Group.
>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Mark William Rabiner
>> Photography
>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lugalrabs/
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information




-- 
Mark William Rabiner
Photography
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lugalrabs/




Replies: Reply from jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj) ([Leica] FF sidewalk flower pot f 1/125 s at f/8.0 and be there)
Reply from john at mcmaster.co.nz (John McMaster) ([Leica] FF sidewalk flower pot f 1/125 s at f/8.0 and be there)
In reply to: Message from jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj) ([Leica] FF sidewalk flower pot f 1/125 s at f/8.0 and be there)