Thoughts on Auto ISO

Thoughts on Auto ISO

I'm often asked by workshop participants about Auto ISO. Frankly I've had an up and down relationship to it. When the feature first came out it was much too limited for serious use. So after a little experimenting I wrote it off. But then

it was upgraded in newer cameras to be much more flexible. Now you can set both the ISO and the minimum desired shutter speed. This makes it a very useful feature for use in mixed and fading light conditions when you need to be sure to capture the action.
Unfortunately there is still one hurdle the designers can't overcome--reading my mind. When I put the camera on a tripod to take a scenic I'll often be looking for a small aperture to provide maximum Depth of Field and Auto ISO happily cranks my ISO up to the maximum I've allowed to try and protect the "action." The harm in this is that the high ISO will give me a less than optimal finished image.
So I do need to remember to turn off Auto ISO when I switch to shooting landscapes (or make sure I use a different camera). But other than that it's a feature worth re-visiting. I'll try to post some more specifics on how I use it and of course reader comments are welcomed.--David