Who needs all these modes in a camera?

[Codebreaker]

From time to time I give talks on Digital Photography and I can't resist taking a poke at all the stupid (to me) features that manufacturers put in their cameras in an effort to have a longer feature list than the other guys.

Two I take a particular swing at are Pentax and there Food Mode and HP with their Slimming Mode. I just can't or at least couldn't imagine why people would want to use a Food Mode ('quote' -Lets you take appetizing pictures of prepared food). (OK maybe McD need one because you never seem to get a bun that looks crisp and has sesame seeds on it - rather it looks like a piece of soggy cardboard - and I confess I'm a vegetarian anyway, so haven't seen the insides of McD for decades :-) )

Well I take some of it back - not all though. On some recent trips I've seen people in restaurants actually taking pictures of their meals. The only thing in my defense is that I can guarantee that even if they had one they wouldn't have used the Food Mode. By the time they'd navigated the menu structure the food would have gone off.

Now is anyone going to own up to using the Slimming Mode. :-)

Colin

[Inspeqtor]

Colin,

I must say I have been in the dark here. As most of you know I own a Canon, and I had no idea what modes the Pentax has. I must agree that the Food Mode and Slimming mode do seem quite odd to have on a camera.

I admit I did own a Pentax 35mm one time in my life, but that was decades ago!

[Codebreaker]

Here's some more for you straight from the manual :-)

1. Pet mode - Lets you take a clear picture of pets to fit the hair color (it doesn't say who's hair).
2. Flower mode - Let's you take brightly colored flower pictures
3. Surf and Snow Mode - Lets you take photos againstdazzling backgrounds like beaches or snow-covered mountains.

Some seem reasonable others duh!

Colin

[lowbone]

It's all marketing. When a prospect moves up from a totally automatic P&S camera to a DSLR they are usually overwhelmed. The more automatic modes a sales person can rant about the more attractive the DSLR seems to the novice. Granted as a person takes the time to learn the camera these modes become unused and of course on a pro body the automatic modes are eliminated. Food and Slimming really do seem over the top though even for a total novice.

[Mack]

Hey I could take picture of the food I eat in the slimming mode and convince myself that I am eating smaller portions.

[baycruisers]

I would like a camera with "Youth Restoration Mode." The Admiral and I could take pictures of each other. She'd love it.

[genevh]

Marketing and hype.....two similar animals. Lets make dSLR's as simple to use as a P&S so we can sell more and convince people that by purchasing a better, more expensive camera, you will start taking better pictures using a dSLR just as easily as you can using a P&S. :rolleyes:

[1access]

I'd like to put slimming mode vision in people who see me!

[Inspeqtor]

I'd like to put slimming mode vision in people who see me!

I 2nd that request!! :eek:

[Jeff Perry]

Colin, just out of curiosity, which Pentax and HP camera model(s) are you referring to? Are they D-SLRs (I assume the HP is not) or P&S cameras. I'm familiar with the "normal" scene modes that most entry-level P&S and D-SLRs come with, like landscape, portrait, nighttime, action/sport, etc., but this new crop you have discovered is a bit too much for me to take.

Jeff

[robpendragon]

ahhh, one of the best things about getting a new pro camera...no silly modes, not even an automatic mode!:D

[Not4wood]

I agree, thats why I was surprised and curious when I first got my D80 that I do have some of the Auto Modes. I was curious becuase I felt that how is this setting going to limit me when I'm rushing around trying to capture the moment. My second thought was how is this going to be different from when I set my camera to the more normal Semi Auto Modes Shutter-Priority and Aperture-Priority and then the really Normal Fully Manual Mode?

I just ignore them and haven't even gotten around to testing them to see what limitiations the onboard computer will place on my creativity. As is I've taken the Camera Settings off of Auto-White Balance and I've ended up fighting with this more then I do with my ISO Numbers.

[Codebreaker]

The models I refer to are probably ancient by now - that is a least 6 weeks old.



Pentax Optio S6
HP Photosmart M22


I have a life long rule called the 80/20 rule which you can apply to almost any situation.

1. 20% of the functions get used 80% of the time.

2. 80% of people only read about 20% of the manual

3. 80% of shots never get looked at more than once.

and so on.

Colin

[bobmielke]

From time to time I give talks on Digital Photography and I can't resist taking a poke at all the stupid (to me) features that manufacturers put in their cameras in an effort to have a longer feature list than the other guys.

Two I take a particular swing at are Pentax and there Food Mode and HP with their Slimming Mode. I just can't or at least couldn't imagine why people would want to use a Food Mode ('quote' -Lets you take appetizing pictures of prepared food). (OK maybe McD need one because you never seem to get a bun that looks crisp and has sesame seeds on it - rather it looks like a piece of soggy cardboard - and I confess I'm a vegetarian anyway, so haven't seen the insides of McD for decades :-) )

Well I take some of it back - not all though. On some recent trips I've seen people in restaurants actually taking pictures of their meals. The only thing in my defense is that I can guarantee that even if they had one they wouldn't have used the Food Mode. By the time they'd navigated the menu structure the food would have gone off.

Now is anyone going to own up to using the Slimming Mode. :-)

Colin


It's a good thing you don't write artices for a living as your grammer sucks.

[Inspeqtor]

It's a good thing you don't write artices for a living as your grammer sucks.

Bob,

This is a friendly forum. You are not being very friendly. You have some misspelled words, so you are not perfect either.

[Danudin]

It's a good thing you don't write artices for a living as your grammer sucks.

I love these friendly exchanges and hope one day to understand manual well enough to take shots with some degree of confidence. Anything you guys write gives me VALUABLE information! Keep going

Ron

[Not4wood]

It's a good thing you don't write artices for a living as your grammer sucks.

Sorry, Bob. There are enough Hostile Photography Forums out there already and we are here to help each other and learn by example. We do C&C each others images so we can understand how to improve ourselves, our Art and help each other at the same time. No one here pretends to be anything in the likes of an Author and we frown upon any Hostile Intent.

[JulieM]

Can I point out that Bob has never been anything but friendly and supportive here? His reply to Colin may have been off-base but there's no reason to continue chiding him for it. Let's move along...

[bobmielke]

I apologize for my rudeness. No excuses. It won't happen again.

[Not4wood]

Bob,

I noticed that in your Sig File you list a lens that I've been hearing about lately. Is that a Nikon 2.8 18-55, thee Pro Lens? I've seen a second lens at f:/3.5 and its only a few hundred bucks for it, and nothing like this very expensive piece of Glass. But this Extremely Sharp and fast f:/2.8 is supposed to be a "Lens of what Dreams are made of".