Jock Elliott
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Troy, NY
When it comes to my photography, I am often – intentionally – a witless dolt. Typically, I shoot in P mode, letting the camera make a lot of decisions for me. Why? For two reasons: first, because whoever designed P mode quite often gets it right, and second because I really enjoy wandering around, discovering whatever catches my eye, and taking pictures. Messing with the camera falls way down the list when it comes to the pleasures of photography. I thought I would enjoy the easily-accessible manual controls of the LX100, but in actuality, I rarely use them.
An aside (and please, please don’t send disgruntled villagers to my door with burning torches and pitchforks when I say this): I think Henri Cartier-Bresson was like this. From what I have read and seen in interviews with HCB, I think he really liked finding intriguing scenes and capturing them and was content to let others handle as much of the technicalities of photography as much as possible. As I understand it, he didn’t develop or print his own images; other folks did that for him.
Back to the main thread: there are two tiny buttons on the top deck of the LX100. One is the FILTER button, which allows the user to select from among a number of artistic filters like expressive, retro, monochrome, and the like. The other is for “iA” mode, which stands for intelligent Auto. When iA mode is invoked, the user points the camera at a scene, presses the shutter halfway down, and the camera decides which kind of scene it is – choosing from portrait, scenery, macro, night portrait, night scenery, handheld night shot, food, baby, and sunset. The camera makes the choice, adjusts its settings automatically, and makes it all happen when the photographer presses the shutter all the way down.
One of these scenes I find particularly useful for the kind of stuff I do – it’s called handheld night shot, and it is only available through the iA mode. It makes six quick exposures and then stacks them inside the camera to reduce movement and noise. And it works pretty darned well, although, as you might imagine, some attempts work better than others, depending upon how much the photographer is wiggling around.
I arise most days before dawn, and two days ago, I am “taking care of business” when I notice three bright lights in the very dark sky outside the bathroom window. I grab the LX100, trot outside, invoke iA mode and attempt to capture the scene overhead. The camera recognizes this as a handheld night shot and does its thing. The result isn’t bad, but I can see that I have moved too much while the six exposures were being made.
On the second attempt, I press the shutter button halfway down, and the LX100 decides it is ambivalent about what kind of scene this is and begins cycling among various options. I try releasing the shutter button and pressing halfway down again, with the same result. And again. And again. I begin trying to reason with the camera: “Look, these are the same stars or planets that were there a minute ago! The sky is just as dark! Can’t you tell this is the perfect time for a handheld night shot? What are you – a moron?!”
At this point, the camera relents: “Well, if you insist, maybe it is a handheld night shot. Let’s do that.” But at this point, I am quivering with frustration, and I still get a crappy result.
If anyone knows how to force the LX100 to choose a scene in iA mode, I would be grateful for the knowledge. Maybe I can get this vein that is pulsing on the side of my temple to settle down.
Cheers, Jock
An aside (and please, please don’t send disgruntled villagers to my door with burning torches and pitchforks when I say this): I think Henri Cartier-Bresson was like this. From what I have read and seen in interviews with HCB, I think he really liked finding intriguing scenes and capturing them and was content to let others handle as much of the technicalities of photography as much as possible. As I understand it, he didn’t develop or print his own images; other folks did that for him.
Back to the main thread: there are two tiny buttons on the top deck of the LX100. One is the FILTER button, which allows the user to select from among a number of artistic filters like expressive, retro, monochrome, and the like. The other is for “iA” mode, which stands for intelligent Auto. When iA mode is invoked, the user points the camera at a scene, presses the shutter halfway down, and the camera decides which kind of scene it is – choosing from portrait, scenery, macro, night portrait, night scenery, handheld night shot, food, baby, and sunset. The camera makes the choice, adjusts its settings automatically, and makes it all happen when the photographer presses the shutter all the way down.
One of these scenes I find particularly useful for the kind of stuff I do – it’s called handheld night shot, and it is only available through the iA mode. It makes six quick exposures and then stacks them inside the camera to reduce movement and noise. And it works pretty darned well, although, as you might imagine, some attempts work better than others, depending upon how much the photographer is wiggling around.
I arise most days before dawn, and two days ago, I am “taking care of business” when I notice three bright lights in the very dark sky outside the bathroom window. I grab the LX100, trot outside, invoke iA mode and attempt to capture the scene overhead. The camera recognizes this as a handheld night shot and does its thing. The result isn’t bad, but I can see that I have moved too much while the six exposures were being made.
On the second attempt, I press the shutter button halfway down, and the LX100 decides it is ambivalent about what kind of scene this is and begins cycling among various options. I try releasing the shutter button and pressing halfway down again, with the same result. And again. And again. I begin trying to reason with the camera: “Look, these are the same stars or planets that were there a minute ago! The sky is just as dark! Can’t you tell this is the perfect time for a handheld night shot? What are you – a moron?!”
At this point, the camera relents: “Well, if you insist, maybe it is a handheld night shot. Let’s do that.” But at this point, I am quivering with frustration, and I still get a crappy result.
If anyone knows how to force the LX100 to choose a scene in iA mode, I would be grateful for the knowledge. Maybe I can get this vein that is pulsing on the side of my temple to settle down.
Cheers, Jock