A1 in manual with manual ISO set to the control wheel!

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Stephen Berger

Stephen Berger

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Not sure who here I saw recommend and/or extoll the virtues of using the camera this way but I did so for my most recent outing (3 days in the Merced National Wildlife Refuge) and man do I prefer it!

Previously I was in manual mode with auto ISO and would fine tune with the exposure compensation dial.

I found the new way gives me a faster, finer and broader range of control and I also found, though I’ll need to use it more this way to know for sure, that I got good exposures with lower ISO’s than when in auto ISO.

All that is to say thanks to whomever reco’d or mentioned this set up.
 
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I always shoot full M and one reason I prefer Sony and Canon's recent cameras is I have 3 wheels that can each do one of the three exposure variables. Nikon only 2. I also love that on the A1 I can now put ISO up on the rear dial. Before the A1 you had to have it on the Control Wheel. I leave Aperture on the Control Wheel because I rarely change it from wide open. I find the upper rear wheel easier/ergonomic to spin. So SS on the front dial (as I've always done) and ISO on the upper rear.

But a lot of people love ISO on that Control Wheel and for sure I like it better on there than I do having to push a button and scroll on Nikon. But I'm now a big fan of it on the top wheel. Artie Morris swears by ISO on the Control Wheel. Mark Smith also had that in his recent "tips for Sony" video.
 
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I don’t know who gets credit first, Steve or Marc Smith but I have been shooting that way for 4 months and I love it. That’s the first thing I noticed when I saw the back of the Z9 at announcement - I would have to give that up and I wasn’t keen on the idea.
 
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arbitrage said:
I always shoot full M and one reason I prefer Sony and Canon's recent cameras is I have 3 wheels that can each do one of the three exposure variables. Nikon only 2. I also love that on the A1 I can now put ISO up on the rear dial. Before the A1 you had to have it on the Control Wheel. I leave Aperture on the Control Wheel because I rarely change it from wide open. I find the upper rear wheel easier/ergonomic to spin. So SS on the front dial (as I've always done) and ISO on the upper rear.

But a lot of people love ISO on that Control Wheel and for sure I like it better on there than I do having to push a button and scroll on Nikon. But I'm now a big fan of it on the top wheel. Artie Morris swears by ISO on the Control Wheel. Mark Smith also had that in his recent "tips for Sony" video.
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I hadn’t really thought about SS on the front dial. I’ll have to try that as having the two dials on the back I often touch the exposure comp one first when I need to change speed and like you I almost never change the aperture… especially not in a split second situation.
 
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I’ve recently switched to having ISO on the top rear dial and SS on the top front dial on the A1. One really neat thing about this setup is when you’re in full manual and have your exposure correct you can turn the top front and rear dials simultaneously in the “same direction” and it lets you raise or lower shutter speed while keeping exposure unchanged (as long as you move them the same number of clicks together, exposure stays the same). This way if you are changing shutter speed it’s really quick and easy to keep exposure perfect.
 
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I have been using ISO on control wheel since A9 /A7RIV days, not sure how long ago, but now it has become a second nature to control it even while I am tracking bird form sunny to shadow condition. Its little awkward in beginning but you get used to by it and don't even think about it while you are operating that way. Having Zebra reading on and aperture and shutter at fix value, it's lot easier to control only one wheel.
 
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patelmu1 said:
I have been using ISO on control wheel since A9 /A7RIV days, not sure how long ago, but now it has become a second nature to control it even while I am tracking bird form sunny to shadow condition. Its little awkward in beginning but you get used to by it and don't even think about it while you are operating that way. Having Zebra reading on and aperture and shutter at fix value, it's lot easier to control only one wheel.
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In the short time I’ve had the ISO on the control wheel I’ve managed to do this fairly smoothly and quickly. I imagine it will become more fluid/natural and it for sure seems like one of the big advantages of this set up.
 
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I’m using zebras at 107 or 109 and I’m usually increasing exposure until zebras show up somewhere and then backing down the ISO 2-3 clicks to get exposure just right. Works great for white birds. Kind of like ETTR but backing down a little to cut down in post processing.
 
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Stephen Berger said:
Not sure who here I saw recommend and/or extoll the virtues of using the camera this way but I did so for my most recent outing (3 days in the Merced National Wildlife Refuge) and man do I prefer it!

Previously I was in manual mode with auto ISO and would fine tune with the exposure compensation dial.

I found the new way gives me a faster, finer and broader range of control and I also found, though I’ll need to use it more this way to know for sure, that I got good exposures with lower ISO’s than when in auto ISO.

All that is to say thanks to whomever reco’d or mentioned this set up.
Click to expand...

It's how I work virtually 100% of the time.
 
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Since we are on this topic, just one complaint, I feel that Sony needs to make control wheel little bigger and may rubberized it to make it more usable when operated with gloves, sometime, even with bare thumb, it sleeps off the wheel, this may be my problem but love to hear from others.
 
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patelmu1 said:
Since we are on this topic, just one complaint, I feel that Sony needs to make control wheel little bigger and may rubberized it to make it more usable when operated with gloves, sometime, even with bare thumb, it sleeps off the wheel, this may be my problem but love to hear from others.
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I agree _ definitely bigger because I can’t easily reach it when I am shooting vertical with the grip on. I have to stretch my thumb in a way that’s completely different from horizontal shooting when the whole point of a grip is to have the same position, same controls in the same spot in both orientations. It works for everything except that iso wheel on the back.
 
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FB101 said:
I agree _ definitely bigger because I can’t easily reach it when I am shooting vertical with the grip on. I have to stretch my thumb in a way that’s completely different from horizontal shooting when the whole point of a grip is to have the same position, same controls in the same spot in both orientations. It works for everything except that iso wheel on the back.
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Yeah, this is another reason I leave aperture on the control wheel as I rarely change aperture. With ISO on the upper rear and SS on the front, I can have normal controls that I'm used to when I shoot vertical.
 
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arbitrage said:
Yeah, this is another reason I leave aperture on the control wheel as I rarely change aperture. With ISO on the upper rear and SS on the front, I can have normal controls that I'm used to when I shoot vertical.
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Yes, and it's very logical - it's just that I am already trying to get used to having AF on the shutter button again after 15 years of BBF (and use the tracking on/off trick on the Back AF-on button like you do) , if I move my dials at the same time my brain will explode :) I'll get to it next!
 
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patelmu1 said:
Since we are on this topic, just one complaint, I feel that Sony needs to make control wheel little bigger and may rubberized it to make it more usable when operated with gloves, sometime, even with bare thumb, it sleeps off the wheel, this may be my problem but love to hear from others.
Click to expand...
I tried with a gloved hand for the first time this past weekend. Worked for everything except spinning that wheel. Time for me to get some removeable fingertip gloves.
 
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I keep hitting another function such as changing the display while wearing gloves. My wife bought me a heated pair of gloves that are thin from Amazon which seems to have greatly improved using the wheel.
 
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arbitrage said:
Yeah, this is another reason I leave aperture on the control wheel as I rarely change aperture. With ISO on the upper rear and SS on the front, I can have normal controls that I'm used to when I shoot vertical.
Click to expand...
I may have to try that because I hardly change the shutter speed. First, I have to practice using it that way because years of habit and muscle memory other wise I will screw it up. thanks for the suggestion and use case for vertical grip.
 
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sh1209 said:
I keep hitting another function such as changing the display while wearing gloves. My wife bought me a heated pair of gloves that are thin from Amazon which seems to have greatly improved using the wheel.
Click to expand...
Can you link to the gloves. I have the same issue and my fingers want to fall off in the cold
 
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