Why are photographers who use Auto modes so mocked by others?

Panoz wrote in post #14322501
OHMIGOSH. This is the discussion that never stops. I've seen it over decades about photography, but the near-identical discussion occurs in cars, watches, calculators, etc. Just about any place one human tries to look superior to another human, there will be this behavior and companies that market to that behaviour.

I'm old enough to remember the "I would NEVER...." discussion in photography for:

1) Meters; PROS could guess the proper exposure
2) Meters inside cameras; PROS used hand-held meters
3) 35mm cameras; PROS used 120 film at a minimum
4) Automatic exposure; PROS just have to override the settings
5) Automatic flash; PROS manually calculate the flash exposure
6) Autofocus; PROS focus their own cameras
7) Digital; PROS use film

Alas, this is the human condition. And companies sell products with features meant to differentiate them from lesser products just to prey on this attitude.

Some good examples there!

Panoz wrote in post #14322501
OHMIGOSH. This is the discussion that never stops. I've seen it over decades about photography, but the near-identical discussion occurs in cars, watches, calculators, etc. Just about any place one human tries to look superior to another human, there will be this behavior and companies that market to that behaviour.

I'm old enough to remember the "I would NEVER...." discussion in photography for:

1) Meters; PROS could guess the proper exposure
2) Meters inside cameras; PROS used hand-held meters
3) 35mm cameras; PROS used 120 film at a minimum
4) Automatic exposure; PROS just have to override the settings
5) Automatic flash; PROS manually calculate the flash exposure
6) Autofocus; PROS focus their own cameras
7) Digital; PROS use film
8) RAW; PROS use RAW, JPEG is for amateurs

Alas, this is the human condition. And companies sell products with features meant to differentiate them from lesser products just to prey on this attitude.

Alas, another person who has completely missed the point.

1) Meters; PROS know when and how to adjust the exposure away from what the meter says, and they also know when to trust the meter.
2) Meters inside cameras; PROS know how and when to use a handheld meter, and they know when a handheld meter is just a waste of time.
4) Automatic exposure; PROS know how and when to override the camera settings, and they know when to let the camera do the work.
5) Automatic flash; PROS know how and when to manually set the flash power settings, and they know when to let ETTL do the work.
6) Autofocus; PROS know how and when to focus their own cameras, and they know when to let the camera handle that.
8) RAW; PROS know how and when to select raw over JPEG, and they know how and when to get things good enough in-camera that a JPEG will be good enough.


It's not about what is used, it's about knowing how to use each of the available options so that you can make an educated decision about which options are best for a given situation. Choosing P because you know it will be good enough in a given situation is fine. Choosing P because you don't know how or why to use M, Av or Tv is evidence that you lack the necessary skill to produce a quality product for your customers.