ISO setting - My one complaint/firmware request

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stevedocmaker

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The fact that I have to guess what three ISO speeds might be useful to me and then assign them to the gain switch is very inconvenient. I find that I end up going to the menu more often that using the gain switch. I would prefer if the "Shutr/F.Rate" dial could also be set to also change the ISO. Many users will keep the frame rate at 180.0d at all times anyway, so this dial is really not doing anything for the user who work this way.

If someone from Panny is listening, how about making this feature part of the next firmware update?

Other than this I am extremely pleased with the camera after a couple weeks of testing.
 
stevedocmaker said:
The fact that I have to guess what three ISO speeds might be useful to me and then assign them to the gain switch is very inconvenient. I find that I end up going to the menu more often that using the gain switch. I would prefer if the "Shutr/F.Rate" dial could also be set to also change the ISO. Many users will keep the frame rate at 180.0d at all times anyway, so this dial is really not doing anything for the user who work this way.

If someone from Panny is listening, how about making this feature part of the next firmware update?

Other than this I am extremely pleased with the camera after a couple weeks of testing.
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Three easily accessible ISO speeds combined with manual iris and built-in ND filters really don't give enough control of the exposure?
 
Thanks for joining the chorus on this, stevedocmaker. It's been discussed in several other threads, and Jan has stated that she would ask Panasonic for this upgrade, though she wasn't optimistic that it was technically possible.
 
I might be thick headed or something , which is why I am not able to understand why the ISO on a dial is so in demand. Can some one please explain to me why this feature is so important? Is it because its a hold over from shooting with a DSLR, which I will admit I didn't do much of on purpose.
In the software settings you can assign your ISO in 1/4 - 2/3rds increments or multiple stop increments with several in betweens. Typically I do 1 stop increments 200, 400, 800 which works well for me.
Is it that you are trying to dial in the magic iso that lets you shoot at wide open on the iris?
 
You are being thick headed :P But being able to keep your ISO and shutter fixed is a big thing for me a lot of the time.

as someone who shoots weddings, and typically has RADICAL changes in lighting that can happen in an instant, I need quick and easy access to changing ISO settings without having to go through a menu

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Mark Smith said:
I might be thick headed or something , which is why I am not able to understand why the ISO on a dial is so in demand. Can some one please explain to me why this feature is so important? Is it because its a hold over from shooting with a DSLR, which I will admit I didn't do much of on purpose.
In the software settings you can assign your ISO in 1/4 - 2/3rds increments or multiple stop increments with several in betweens. Typically I do 1 stop increments 200, 400, 800 which works well for me.
Is it that you are trying to dial in the magic iso that lets you shoot at wide open on the iris?
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Exactly - although not always wide open. In many cases I would like to set the aperture and shutter speed first, then dial in the ISO for correct exposure. It's cumbersome to do this with the current setup.

I suppose the work-around is to keep the gain switch's settings at the high end of the ISO range, and then use the ND filters to cut the light. This means, of course, that I'll be fighting noise in post all the time.

Panny billed this camera as a depth of field monster, but they forgot to make that feature fully accessible - sigh.
 
PaPa said:
You are being thick headed :P But being able to keep your ISO and shutter fixed is a big thing for me a lot of the time.

as someone who shoots weddings, and typically has RADICAL changes in lighting that can happen in an instant, I need quick and easy access to changing ISO settings without having to go through a menu

1+
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ENG cameras designed to shoot in rapidly and radically changing lighting conditions are designed in the similar way, they also usually have "only" 3 gain settings (assigned values can of course be altered in the menu - just like in AF100) . If it has been enough and practical in ENG camera why is it not enough in AF100? Because it is not an ENG world that AF100 was designed for, you might say? Ok, guess what - in film world you would have to have 3 different film stocks with different ISO speeds, change the mags and reload the camera. Do you still feel like 3 ISO settings within a reach of your finger are limiting and (if needed) having to re-assign the ISO speeds a hussle?
 
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I would like to set the aperture and shutter speed first, then dial in the ISO for correct exposure.
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That seems a very odd way of doing things. Ideally you'd want the ISO as low as it can go and still get a proper exposure (to reduce grain or noise).
 
broughtonfilm said:
ENG cameras designed to shoot in rapidly and radically changing lighting conditions are designed in the similar way, they also usually have "only" 3 gain settings (assigned values can of course be altered in the menu - just like in AF100) . If it has been enough and practical in ENG camera why is it not enough in AF100? Because it is not an ENG world that AF100 was designed for you might say? Ok, guess what - in film world you would have to have 3 different film stocks with different ISO speeds, change the mags and reload the camera. Do you still feel like 3 ISO settings within a reach of your finger are limiting and (if needed) having to re-assign the ISO speeds a hussle?
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I don't care that it's not typical of ENG cameras. The point is simply being made that it would be a good feature to have. Point finale.
 
PaPa said:
I don't care that it's not typical of ENG cameras. The point is simply being made that it would be a good feature to have. Point finale.
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Understood. The question is does cluttering one wheel with multiple functions really speed up your work?
 
Jim Simon said:
With this camera? I'd love to hear about that. (Or better yet, see some footage.)
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Haven't done so yet, but shot tons with DSLRS, and this would make a great addition to the arsenal. Especially for the slow motion aspect of things.

folks, honestly, please screw off with your opinions whether or not you think our reasoning is justified in your glorious view. No one is interested in hearing all about why you don't think it's important or not worthwhile. All we are getting at is if it's possible to have this feature, please add it. If not, fine. Sigh. This place is can be annoying with it's continual bickering of questioning people's logic behind their requests.

I'm growing tired of people asking questions or perhaps trying to find a ways to implement new features without being bombarded for their logic behind their requests. If you don't particularly need it, change the channel and divert your attention elsewhere in the forum. If you support it, then voice your opinion. This should not be a topic open for argument.
 
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It is obvious that people asking for this come from a DSLR background.

I have been shooting since the 70's professionally (then it was film, and some absolutely huge video cams with tubes) and never really thought that the standard 3 gain settings was not enough. That is because that is all I ever had.

I have shot quite a bit with the 5DmkII and 7D as well, and there you just push the ISO button and then use a wheel to set to any ISO the camera is capable of. This is actually very nice. And I have no objection to this feature being added to video cameras, I think it would be quite nice. I would still want the standard 3 setting switch though, because I am so used to it and it is a video standard, and I use a lot of other cameras that have it.

The ideal would be if whatever setting the gain switch is on is the one you would change with the wheel. Though I bet I would not use it often, it would be nice. Some video cams also have a separate "hypergain" switch as well for very high and usually very ugly gain setting (so those really have 4 gain settings). Though for news this can be great.
 
olof said:
It is obvious that people asking for this come from a DSLR background.

I have been shooting since the 70's professionally (then it was film, and some absolutely huge video cams with tubes) and never really thought that the standard 3 gain settings was not enough. That is because that is all I ever had.

I have shot quite a bit with the 5DmkII and 7D as well, and there you just push the ISO button and then use a wheel to set to any ISO the camera is capable of. This is actually very nice. And I have no objection to this feature being added to video cameras, I think it would be quite nice. I would still want the standard 3 setting switch though, because I am so used to it and it is a video standard, and I use a lot of other cameras that have it.

The ideal would be if whatever setting the gain switch is on is the one you would change with the wheel. Though I bet I would not use it often, it would be nice. Some video cams also have a separate "hypergain" switch as well for very high and usually very ugly gain setting (so those really have 4 gain settings). Though for news this can be great.
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Absoluteyl, that would be nice to have.

And yes, many of the users do come from DSLR backgrounds, that's the early stages that lead to the development of this camera. Seems only natural to me.

Started with a dvx, with L M and H gain. Moved to the XH A1 which had something similar, then to the DSLR that allowed quick adjustment and now on the the af100. Just seems like a natural progression to implement the 3 knob switches while adopting the a successful feature of the DSLR. If it's possible, great. If not, then we continue to work around it and learn to adapt.
 
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I have no DSLR background, but agree that more control over the ISO would be nice. I too find myself going into the menu more than I'd like. In my recent cases, it's because I'm shooting location training stuff where the background needs to be blurred so as not to show faces. I'm always trying to shoot wide open, which often requires ND and then adding some gain, often in increments of more than my 3 presets. It's not a big deal, but I do agree that I'd rather have gain on the dial than VFR. I'd much rather have to go into the menus for VFR.
 
Mark ...I was also puzzled about this until it eventually dawned on me (and was confirmed).

Many of these users do not have aperture rings on their lenses. They are using electronic lenses from still cameras. They have no other way of setting an exposure as quickly as they need to , so they want access to the ISO so they can dial it in.

The other issue some are working around is their lenses have variable aperture across the range ... so they need to adjust for that as well.

Next...some have electronic lenses that they can control from the camera...but it lags.

Effectively all they can do is monitor their waveform and adjust the ISO to set the exposure.
 
Shooter said:
Mark ...I was also puzzled about this until it eventually dawned on me (and was confirmed).

Many of these users do not have aperture rings on their lenses. They are using electronic lenses from still cameras. They have no other way of setting an exposure as quickly as they need to , so they want access to the ISO so they can dial it in.

The other issue some are working around is their lenses have variable aperture across the range ... so they need to adjust for that as well.

Next...some have electronic lenses that they can control from the camera...but it lags.

Effectively all they can do is monitor their waveform and adjust the ISO to set the exposure.
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All true.

I would say don't get an electronic lens unless you absolutely have to. The aperture lag on electronic lenses is about the worst issue. Because of the lag and infinite spinning ring it is just plain hard to dial in an aperture as you could just so easily on a manual lens. With a manual lens most of these issues don't come into play.
 
id prefer a USER button for the ISO menu.
userbutton, joystick, confirm
its simple.
 
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folks, honestly, please screw off with your opinions whether or not you think our reasoning is justified in your glorious view. No one is interested in hearing all about why you don't think it's important or not worthwhile.
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So when did you become the "hall monitor" and your opinions have any more worthiness that any others.

Last time I looked...this forum was democratic and anyone could learn from others viewpoints.
 
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