Who uses iA Intelligent Auto Mode?

[stagor]

I am old enough to remember when the Canon A1 came out, first SLR with a P mode.
All the Fleet Street hacks loved it, they said it had an A mode for aperture priority, a S mode for shutter priority, and a P mode for Pi$$ed, never miss a shot even after a liquid lunch.

 

[SkiHound]

I've never used till I read this thread. Mostly aperture priority. Occasional use of shutter priority. Generally manual when using strobes or working slowly. But this thread prompted me to try iAuto+. My initial thought is that it has a place in my toolbox. Seems to do a pretty dang good job when doing run and gun photography. Initial results at least have me planning to play with it more.

 

[Cederic]

I never use iA. I rarely don't use P.

On the EM1.2 the rear dial changes the shutter speed and aperture while retaining the same exposure. The front dial changes the exposure (i.e. exposure compensation).

I could put the camera into A or S mode and achieve the same thing but it's quicker and easier to just keep it in P.

I do use A, S and M when I'm trying for specific things, but for most photography they're just a less convenient way to achieve a shot I can more easily capture in P.

 

[Petermfiore]

I use M and set shutter and aperture. I also set AUTO ISO....Works very well with both GX85 and G9.

Peter

 

[Macroramphosis]

I have a G6 and P mode is a useful tool for me as it turns the G6 into a twin control camera. I can do the simple thing and just change exposure using the zoom lever on the easy (auto) side of the program, yet a click in of the rear dial means I then have aperture control on the rear dial, and shutter speed on the top lever. I can leave the ISO where I want it and basically be in M while in P mode. Brilliant!

 

[turbodieselvw]

I used to use A exclusively but have switched to using M and S these days. I know a retired press photographer, who now leads photo tours (not workshops) who just tells everyone to set everything on auto and let the camera do the work.

 

[Rusty69]

I don't discuss it anywhere but here (and even then it causes a stir sometimes) but I use the Program mode with my Panasonic's almost exclusively. Anyone who says that you can't control the camera in P mode simply has not experimented with it on a modern camera. With P mode I have one dial to get the exposure exactly where I want it (well 2 dials if I disagree with the metering). Nothing could be easier and I still have full control of my depth of field and shutter speed with the added bonus of if I simply don't have time to dial anything in before taking the shot the camera usually does fairly well (certainly better than pulling a camera out of my bag that is set on Manual).

Yes, I admit it. I use Program mode and I am not ashamed of it!

Yes, I totally agree with you. I tend to leave my G2 on Program mode, unless I am taking florals and want to expand my bokeh via aperture control. I must also confess to using iA more often than not, when operating in what I term "snapshot" mode. Too lazy to mess with multiple settings when collecting memories of Brighton Beach, etc. for my friends and family.

 

[Brownie]

Interesting that someone should revive this thread today because I've been thinking about it for the last few weeks. I did exactly as I said and set up a P mode on my camera with EC assigned to the front dial. I used auto ISO and set the limit at 1600 for a bit, then changed it to 800.

After spending some time with it I would give it a B, maybe a B+. One thing of note is that when you hit the limits based in the ISO setting you cannot take a photo. It doesn't like extreme shutter speeds at either end, nor does it like aperture settings that are outside of what it thinks are best. I can use the EC to change the exposure to some degree. If I give the camera carte blanch to do what it wants with ISO it can end up in the stratosphere.

What I've learned is that by the time I roll the back dial to set the shutter/aperture where I want it, then roll the front dial to set EC if needed, I am just as far ahead to leave the camera in M and roll one dial for shutter and one for aperture. I can over/underexpose if I want, and the camera doesn't give me any grief if I force it to do something it doesn't like. Each time I've used the camera in P I end up back in M, or sometimes going back and forth.

I'd welcome any advice from those of you who regularly use P. It seems intuitive when you want to switch on the fly, but the limitations are aggravating.

 

[ToxicTabasco]

I use a video feature called HS 4K 60p a lot, and it uses auto exposure and manual focus of the camera while shooting the HS or high speed. However, the WB, photo style and iResolution can be adjusted and used while shooting the HS mode. So not fully Ai.

 

[Daniel J. Cox]

I don't discuss it anywhere but here (and even then it causes a stir sometimes) but I use the Program mode with my Panasonic's almost exclusively. Anyone who says that you can't control the camera in P mode simply has not experimented with it on a modern camera. With P mode I have one dial to get the exposure exactly where I want it (well 2 dials if I disagree with the metering). Nothing could be easier and I still have full control of my depth of field and shutter speed with the added bonus of if I simply don't have time to dial anything in before taking the shot the camera usually does fairly well (certainly better than pulling a camera out of my bag that is set on Manual).

Yes, I admit it. I use Program mode and I am not ashamed of it!

I use Program Mode almost 100% of the time. Nikon pioneered Progam Mode with Variable Program which means you can easily change either Shutter Speed or Aperture. Lumix followed this brilliant path as did Olympus, Sony, and possibly others. The exception being Canon. Canon does the same thing in Progam Mode except when the camera goes to sleep when it's reawakened the camera resets to what the camera wants as opposed to where the photographer set it. For Canon shooters, I highly suggest Aperture Priority. Program Mode for the rest is like having Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority all rolled into one. You can read more at Photography Using Program Mode

 

[Petrochemist]

Only by accident!
On my GF2 (which is IR converted) the button is annoyingly easy to catch by mistake. It's NEVER managed a reasonable photo, and has caused me to swear at it several times.

 

[wjiang]

iAuto for handing over to other people.

As for P - I never use it.

P is not fast. There is no way I can reliably use it quickly, since I always have to spin the dial or at the very least eyeball the shift amount for every single shot. Neither my E-M1 Mk II nor my GX850 remembers the shift amount if I power it down. I simply find A and S a lot faster to use, and it's a lot more reliable since I know the primary setting will be set exactly how I left it.

P also has some odd limits. No matter what I do, I cannot convince it to use a high shutter speed by raising ISO, when I know I need the shutter speed to freeze motion, for instance.

 

[Brownie]

P also has some odd limits. No matter what I do, I cannot convince it to use a high shutter speed by raising ISO, when I know I need the shutter speed to freeze motion, for instance.

This is similar to what I mentioned in post 48. I have a problem getting the camera to do what I want it to since it's doing what it thinks is best. Using auto ISO can help, or not...depending on the situation. Still, I continue to try and typically end up wandering back and forth from M to P. I really need to take some the settings I put in C1 and save them in C2 with M instead of P. That would be a 1:1 test.

 

[Ross the fiddler]

iAuto for handing over to other people.

As for P - I never use it.

P is not fast. There is no way I can reliably use it quickly, since I always have to spin the dial or at the very least eyeball the shift amount for every single shot. Neither my E-M1 Mk II nor my GX850 remembers the shift amount if I power it down. I simply find A and S a lot faster to use, and it's a lot more reliable since I know the primary setting will be set exactly how I left it.

P also has some odd limits. No matter what I do, I cannot convince it to use a high shutter speed by raising ISO, when I know I need the shutter speed to freeze motion, for instance.

I set the Stylus 1 to P for my wife to use as it can have just one AF point in the centre (if last left there) whereas iAuto has all AF targets & then they can't focus on specific subjects.
I can understand a journalist finding P OK though.

 

[archaeopteryx]

P also has some odd limits.

P, A, and S are just curves in EV space (blue in the figure below, marked up from Panasonic's manuals). Eventually some camera manufacturer will realize they can put the curve on a touch screen LCD and let photographers drag to where they want instead of fussing with program shift (black arrow) or other indirect and comparatively restricted controls. Until then, I mainly use aperture priority and compensation as P + shift doesn't really offer control of DoF or diffraction.

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[Bushboy]

I use Aperture or Program. I like the art jpegs, the scene modes and the movie mode, and sometimes I use the story telling 3 pic thing for fun too! Especially on the absolutely awesome M5ii
IAuto, shutter and manual, never get used, yet anyways... I think I used M once, when I took a pic of the Milky Way.
If I could only choose one...
It would be P/shift.

 

[Sleepy Capybara]

A, S or M for me. This thread has inspired me to go check with iA is. I never tried it!
S is my favorite on D500 and M and A on Olympus because I have been doing mostly macros on it.

 

[ralf-11]

I use P as my "carry mode"

I switch to A for some landscapes; to S for fast moving subjects...

I was curious about iA & iA+ and wanted to see if they had much advantage over P. I do use iA for the iNightshot capability

 

[Daniel J. Cox]

I can see for events & reportage, P could be the best option, but....... (see below)



I agree, if I want a 'particular look', then I would be wanting more control than iA or P too & why we have the options of A, S & M.

So please explain how P does not allow you to create the vision you want? Why is it worse than A or S which Program combines both in one setting. Not to mention the minute you intervene with Exposure Compensation, to get a "particular look" you've now basically gone into Manual. So why does P not allow you to get that particular look?

 

[Ross the fiddler]

So please explain how P does not allow you to create the vision you want? Why is it worse than A or S which Program combines both in one setting. Not to mention the minute you intervene with Exposure Compensation, to get a "particular look" you've now basically gone into Manual. So why does P not allow you to get that particular look?

So now I have to justify a comment I made back in May!?
Simple! I generally use Aperture Priority. I can quickly adjust the aperture with the rear wheel, knowing it is consistent until I change it & as quickly adjust exposure compensation with the front wheel, plus I use Auto ISO most of the time too. It suits me fine.