GH2 Auto ISO with Shutter Priority is faulty, thinking of Returning it ;)

dustinash said:
The reason it is like this is to keep noobs from sending the camera back to panasonic saying 'wtf, my camera looks worse then my phone its suxxors', after they take a 4000iso+ image.
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Mate, I did not read your entire message, I got the point you are making... you are very high up in terms of knowledge and I am very low down...

The kind of photography I do, the moment counts more than the technical quality. If I was after technical quality I would use a large format film camera, which has far more latitude than digital... but I am not. In the past (for my various one-person exhibitions) I have used Manual Nikon cameras only, and most the shots were taken when there was no time to take a light reading, so I lifted the camera, guessed the focus, exposure and pressed the shutter. I started doing that about 35 years ago... so... newbie? Hmmm

To address my one and only point, the ISO Limit should go right up to the maximum of the camera. It is something that has to be set manually, so any person who does not know what that feature does should not be messing in the menu. There are plenty of other ways for an uninformed person to screw things up in the menu, so this would not be unique in that.

I would like Panasonic to stop limiting the auto ISO limit being set manually. After all, you can set the ISO manually to 12800 and take hideously over-exposed shots in the sunshine... so there is no logic to your argument that newbies would spoil their images, as they could just as easily spoil their images if they set the iso to 12800 manually.

There is a danger when arrogance and ignorance meet, and your post is filled with inaccurate assumptions and judgements, and it is not aimed at being helpful, but rather to say something about yourself... so please learn to dispense with the personal attacks. As Bob says, don't criticise what you don't understand... you clearly did not understand my needs nor my experience.

Mark
 
Your camera is not an infrared hunting scope.

to see the ideal use of iso with low light photography check this vid.. watch from minute 6 to about minute 7.

http://www.nightclubphotography.tv/flash-exposure-compensation

Giving up iso is a compromise. If you really have to shoot "in the moment" a solid flash will produce 100x better results. Just make sure you shoot raw. A good flash can keep up with your cams autofire if your shooting close range. You want it to look grainy with no resolution, just like 4000+ iso? Just go in and increase all noise settings to the max... maybe drag the liquify tool around a bit and blanket it with a 10% gausian blur. Make sure to knock your color settings to **** first tho.

I maintain there is limited functionality to your proposed technique and in fact even the existence of iso 4000+ plus setting are more of a pissing match amoungst camera companies, offered because the other do.. Do they have a RARE use. yes. If you were using low exposure comp on your flash to light your subject while still wanting background with some real slow lens.. But then, who the f am i? its art and you may well become famous on noisy photos. it has a low-fi aesthetic thats for sure. Its coarse but i like punk rock too. Nonethless this technique should be intentional, not as a compensation for absent flash technique and/or slow lenses, otherwise its just sloppy. Which we all are, but low light photography requires.. light. a flash. Learn flash teqnique well and you will have the ability to capture low light candids at 100x the functionality of what you are doing.. low iso shooting might as well be done with a cel phone...

Oh and as a bonus you can do second curtain synching with a flash which is the goddam bomb when it comes to low light.

Just my humble oppinion, but on the same token I think most excellent photographers always aim at optimizing iso and giving it up should be like giving gold to the government.

shooting iso 4000+ is 90% non-functional.
That said am I opposed to your idea? not really. Like why the feck not let people make their own choices? its their art and who is a camera theorist to say how to use it? if you like it like that, that is all that really matters at end of the day.
 
dustinash said:
Your camera is not an infrared hunting scope.
Click to expand...

dustinash, i did not read your response, stopped at this line.
still have not had the time to call panasonic, but will.
i wanted to take a photo on the train, at dusk of another passenger... simple, the camera would not provide enough gain to do that... and IMO fails to provide the full ISO it can provide - for no good reason.
so i will take it further.
thanks for your input, I will now unsubscribe as i am not looking for advice or condescension.
Cheers, Mark.
 
you still missed the point. you still insist there is a camera defect.

i guess if it doesn't work the way you want, then it isn't the right camera for you and you should get something else. but it isn't broken or buggy.
we're just trying to help you not waste time and effort trying to complain to Panasonic about something that we all believe is not a problem you should be concerned about. you would be better off if the camera didn't lead you to believe you could shoot in the dark, then you'd be forced to take the standard tried-and-true approach of LIGHTING YOUR SCENE! or at least pop the flash out.

accept the limitations of the tool and learn how to work with it. you will never get the camera to change into something else that you want....that route will only lead to disappointment which we all keep trying to steer you away from.

good luck.
 
Hey Mark.. its ok if you don't read it..

I think eventually you may realize that the limits we are pointing out are not there because we are trying to restrict or belittle you, rather, to me its like seeing someone going for a walk in a feild that has a radiation sign :) The camera should not have such high isos on auto because one should really not be shooting that high iso regularaly and the auto iso, if that setting was available would be using it more often and ruining shots that could just use a slower shutter speed. It doesnt make sense, using isos higher then 3200 would be maybe one out of 1000 shots... they are that useless.

Get good at holding your camera steady.. I can understand how a train shot would be not workable with flash but steady hands go a far way.. and come to grips with the fact that you have to change settings ALOT in photography. Even though I shoot often in auto when im working (because i can change most things in post, such as WB, exposure) I still am flying on the controls changing flash exposure compensation, metering, etc. flicking to a higher iso is nothing on a gh2 because its right there.

Cheers and good luck in your journey.
 
I believe AUTO ISO setting should enable the GH2 make use of the entire ISO range of the camera, without limit.

If the user wants to limit the upper range of AUTO ISO, then the AUTO ISO LIMIT setting should do that.

As designed, it would appear that AUTO ISO + AUTO ISO LIMIT OFF is equivalent to AUTO ISO + AUTO ISO LIMIT 400. This might be a reasonable operation for the camera (i.e., prevent noobs from messing up shots), but the way Panasonic have implemented the UI is confusing. This is tricky because the LVF/LCD will show a properly lit shot (including histogram) when the picture is actually severely under exposed. The only saving UI feature for an under exposed shot is that when you half-press the shutter button, the screen will BRIEFLY change "AUTO ISO" display to "ISO <actual>" (showing the current ISO value) and the Shutter/Aperture values will flash red when the shot is severely under exposed. Over exposed shots are obvious at all times in the LVF/LCD.

From a UI perspective, the AUTO ISO LIMIT OFF value should allow AUTO ISO to make full use of the ISO range of the camera. It's current operation serves no purpose.
To achieve what the user wants - yet prevent the newbie from unintentionally ruining a shot - the AUTO ISO LIMIT menu should have a default value of AUTO ISO LIMIT 400.

Oh...and to be clear, you can get some impressive B&W video at ISO 12800. It really is an amazing camera.
 
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I have to agree with the OP. If there's no technological reason that the GH2 can't set an ISO limit above 3200, then it seems arbitrarily limiting the cameras function to some users. I can especially see the usefulness in B&W low-light street photography, which is exactly what the OP said he used it for.
However, I have a question for the OP. Are you shooting RAW? If so, wouldn't a photo taken at 3200 ISO in RAW, if it was pushed 2 stops in Lightroom or Aperture, produce the exact same results as a photo taken at 12800 ISO? Since above 3200 ISO (or maybe even 1600) it's all digital gain being added in the GH2 anyway? I'm not certain, just throwing that out there for discussion.
 
I hope this hasn´t been said already, I really tried to fly through all post before but damn, those are long ones, and I´m in a hurry. Seems you struck some nerve there.

But anyways, two things:

First, I don´t find it backwards-thinking if you set to "Auto" and the camera reacts within what many would describe as 'reason'. But if you wan´t to go beyond that you can set your own limit and let the AUTO mode AUTOmatically vary ISO within your set range. It makes perfect sense to me.

Second, have you tried hacks for this? The latest Driftwoods have unlocked ISO limits, maybe you could get more out of your way of shooting. Just a thought.
 
This is a pretty old thread, but in case others come by here looking for an answer to the Auto ISO question, I think I found the answer.

Although pretty convoluted, the manual does specify that when Auto ISO is used, and the ISO limit is set to Off, the limit is ISO400.

From Page 90, Setting the Light Sensitivity:
When the [ISO LIMIT SET] of [REC] Mode menu (P123) is set to anything except [OFF], it is set automatically within the value set in [ISO LIMIT SET]. It is set as following when the [ISO LIMIT SET] is set to [OFF].
• When [AUTO] is selected, ISO sensitivity is adjusted automatically depending on brightness within a maximum setting of [ISO400].
• When setting to [iISO], ISO sensitivity will adjust automatically depending on brightness within the maximum setting of [ISO800]. ([ISO400] when the flash is used)​


So, non-intuitive for sure, but apparently the documented way Panasonic designed the camera.

Therefore, if you want to use Auto ISO, and have the Auto ISO go beyond ISO400, you have to also specify a limit in the ISO Limit Set menu.

It appears that there is no way to let Auto ISO go beyond ISO3200.

(I found this thread while searching for why the Auto ISO wouldn't go beyond 400, so I'm at least happy to find how to up the limit to ISO3200 when desired.)

Cheers
 
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