All the small things

[koffiejunkie]

I just read dpreview's Nikon D7000 review. Two things annoyed me (yes, I've ranted about this before):

With regards to metering:

• Spot: Meters 3.5 mm circle (about 2.5% of frame) centered on active focus area (on center focus point when non-CPU lens is used)

With regards to Auto ISO:

• Maximum ISO (100 to Hi2)*
• Minimum shutter speed (1 to 1/8000 sec)

Grrrrr Canon. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

 

[bwana]

With regards to Auto ISO:


Grrrrr Canon. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

 

[koffiejunkie]

Confused about what? You know what I'm on about!

 

[nakedpeanut]

/backs away slowly.... then.. RUNS!!!

Lol no idea.. care to elaborate for a camera noob like me

 

[koffiejunkie]

Lol no idea.. care to elaborate for a camera noob like me

So, you can set a minimum shutter speed, for example, if you're shooting with a 50mm prime, and you know you can't hold the camera steady enough to drop below, say, 1/20 shutter speed, you can set the minimum shutter speed to 1/20, and the camera will then push the ISO up as soon as it hits that minimum shutter speed. This might seem like not much of a deal at 50mm, but I shot at a music festival with a 70-200mm lens, and in Av mode the camera constantly dropped down to 1/50 and sometimes lower. This makes no sense at all. I'm a pretty steady guy, but not even I can do shots at 200mm hand-held (and without IS) at 1/50. In this situation, it would have been incredibly useful to set the minimum shutter speed to, say, 1/320 to ensure I get sharp images, and let ISO make up the difference.

Nikon does this on the D7000, which is a mid range body. In Canon land, this is only provided on the top end bodies - the 1D series. On the 50D, which is in a comparable class to the D7000 (albeit older), you have no option to set a minimum shutter speed. You also cannot use Auto ISO across the entire ISO range. No, that would be too good. It can go between 100 and 1600, but 3200, 6400 and 12800 have to be set manually.

The other thing I mentioned is spot metering. Spot metering bases the exposure on a very small area of the image - about 3% or so. On the D7000 (and the D90 before that), the area metered will be the 3% of surface around the focus point that is being used. In other words, if you're shooting in portrait mode, and you set the AF to use, say, one focus point to the right of the frame (i.e. on your subjects, if it's a head-and-shoulders or full body type shot), the camera will base the exposure on the area where you're focusing on. That's sounds sensible, doesn't it? No, not in Canon land. On the 50D (and even the 7D and 5DmkII), spot metering is always on the center focus point, even if you're using a different focus point. This means that you have to aim the camera so that the area you intend to focus on is under the center focus point, lock metering, then recompose so that your chosen focus point is over the subject, focus, shoot.

 

[noxibox]

On the D7000 (and the D90 before that), the area metered will be the 3% of surface around the focus point that is being used.

As I recall even the D5000 and D3000 do it.

 

[bwana]

Nikon does this on the D7000, which is a mid range body. In Canon land, this is only provided on the top end bodies - the 1D series. On the 50D, which is in a comparable class to the D7000 (albeit older), you have no option to set a minimum shutter speed. You also cannot use Auto ISO across the entire ISO range. No, that would be too good. It can go between 100 and 1600, but 3200, 6400 and 12800 have to be set manually.

According to the manual the 60D has auto ISO (between 100-6400, which is better than the 7D) as well as Safety shift. I'm not sure what else you want.

 

[noxibox]

Does the D7000 still have Nikon's poor implementation of the zoom feature in Live View? As far as I know Canon has it right on this one.

 

[koffiejunkie]

According to the manual the 60D has auto ISO (between 100-6400, which is better than the 7D) as well as Safety shift.

I'll admit I haven't studied the 60D too closely. But the camera can go to 12800 ISO. Why can't the Auto-ISO? Why can't they let you and me choose the upper limit? Granted, every next camera is little better in this regard, but why do they have to drip feed features that other manufacturers just do right every time?

I'm not sure what else you want.

Configurable shutter speed limit. Like I said earlier, 1/50 at 200mm or 300mm is no good to me. Especially not without IS.

 

[bwana]

Configurable shutter speed limit. Like I said earlier, 1/50 at 200mm or 300mm is no good to me. Especially not without IS.

Switch to TV. It's just one little click of the dial.

 

[koffiejunkie]

Switch to TV. It's just one little click of the dial.

Then you have no control over aperture. That's the point. You should be able to control both and let the camera handle the rest.

 

[bwana]

Then you have no control over aperture. That's the point. You should be able to control both and let the camera handle the rest.

In the scenarios you've depicted your aperture is going to be wide open anyway

But you say you want to control both? Then you put the camera in Manual mode with auto ISO, set your aperture and shutterspeed and the camera will set a ISO.

 

[koffiejunkie]

But you say you want to control both? Then you put the camera in Manual mode with auto ISO, set your aperture and shutterspeed and the camera will set a ISO.

Which brings me back to Canon's Auto-ISO implementation. On the 40D and 50D, if you're in M, Auto-ISO means 400 ISO.

 

[bwana]

Which brings me back to Canon's Auto-ISO implementation. On the 40D and 50D, if you're in M, Auto-ISO means 400 ISO.

Times have changed and so has how canon implements their auto ISO.

 

[koffiejunkie]

OK, I checked. 7D can do 100-3200 in M, and 60D can do 100-6400. We're still missing 6400-12800 on the 7D and 12800 on the 60D. At least, on the 60D, you can now set an upper limit.

Maybe by the time my 50D is ready for backup-body duty, Canon might have gotten this right.

 

[bwana]

OK, I checked. 7D can do 100-3200 in M, and 60D can do 100-6400. We're still missing 6400-12800 on the 7D and 12800 on the 60D. At least, on the 60D, you can now set an upper limit.

Maybe by the time my 50D is ready for backup-body duty, Canon might have gotten this right.

Considering how "well" the 7D handles high ISO it might be a blessing in disguise.