Auto mode

Should camera manufacturers remove the "Auto" mode to encourage people to experiment with other modes & learn about their cameras & photography? When I got my first camera, I used it in Auto mode almost exclusively & feel I was learning nothing about what the camera was actually doing.

No. Not from their point of view anyway. Auto-mode sells cameras. If they were all manual only, they'd probably sell 1/10th as many*.


*numbers pulled out of a hat full of rabbits.

No way. What Master of Defenestration said, but also because sometimes in an emergency it's better than nothing. There have been times when my brain hasn't been capable of getting the shot any other way. Admittedly my usual emergency mode would be Av (I normally shoot in manual) but very occasionally Green Box mode has been necessary.

In any case, why the assumption that it's necessary to know how your camera works? Just because there are enthusiasts who like to get technical doesn't mean everyone should be forced to, or that it's not possible to get decent photos in auto. My mother has a micro four thirds camera and doesn't know how to shoot in any mode but auto, but she recently won a FIAP gold medal.

Do you think cars should only be made with manual gearshifts?

Redser wrote in post #12243762
Do you think cars should only be made with manual gearshifts?

Yes.

I'll be round tomorrow morning to remove the OS from all of your computers. That way you'll be forced to learn how they really work.

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hollis_f wrote in post #12243865
I'll be round tomorrow morning to remove the OS from all of your computers. That way you'll be forced to learn how they really work.

I'll just dust off my TI 99 4/A and blow up the BBS with my 300 baud modem. I could write some butt-kicking stuff in Expanded Basic.

It makes keyboards simpler as well - http://mthruf.files.wo​rdpress.com/2011/03/jo​b-fails.jpg

hollis_f wrote in post #12243865
I'll be round tomorrow morning to remove the OS from all of your computers. That way you'll be forced to learn how they really work.

That reminded me of this joke:

http://r3dux.org …ng-systems-were-airlines/

Heck no. that was the whole reason i bought my camera. I wanted something fast and easy to take pic's of my newborn. Learned the rest of it later

No. How else am I gonna be in some of the pictures? (I need to switch from M to Auto before handing the camera over).

That is just a plain silly suggestion. We fail to remember that the people on this forum and other photography related forums are well interested in photography and as such we learn more about our gear. For every person that belongs to one of these forums there are probably hundreds of camera owners that pull out the camera for vacation, birthday parties or other significant events. They don't live, eat and breath it. If a person wants to shoot in Auto or P mode then who are we to tell them not to. If they get what they want who are we to tell them not to.

Quite frankly I like the electronics that the manufacturers have provided us in the cameras these days. When I started photography it was a handheld light meter and then set your camera. Now some say if you don't shoot in manual you are not a real photographer,that there is some sort of rite of passage that you must shoot manual. I think these same people should be using manual focus as well.

Let people use the technology the way they want to.

To add sometimes its also nice to slip a small lens on the camera - kick it into auto mode and go out with friends/family and not have to always be worrying about behind the camera - to just be able to point - press and shoot and know that the exposure is - most times - going to at least give a clear shot. It also comes in really handy when handing the camera to someone to take a shot or two.

In the end it costs nothing - really does not get in the way - and generally adds a level of functionality to the camera even if you only use it once or twice. Camera's are full of those kind of features (eg I've never used auto bracketing ever - nor a good number of custom functions).

no they shouldn't remove it. some people want and need auto mode and don't care if they ever learned how to get the most out of their gear.

hollis_f wrote in post #12243865
I'll be round tomorrow morning to remove the OS from all of your computers. That way you'll be forced to learn how they really work.

I'll dust off my books on Assembly.