Auto ISO

[kenjik]

I have a X T30 and I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. I have my ISO set to Auto1- 800, Auto2 set to 3200 and Auto3 set to 12800. I notice occasionally that the Auto ISO settings change to Auto1 800, Auto2 1600 and Auto3 3200. Why does it do that?  And how do I set it so it doesn't change.

[Doug Pardee]

You're probably messing with Custom Settings, perhaps via the Q menu.

This is all very confusing, so you may need to go through this explanation a few times.

On models without an ISO dial (like your X-T30), each Custom Setting (C1-C7) has a full set of auto-ISO parameters for all 3 auto-ISOs, plus a selection for which ISO to use. Which may or may not be one of the auto-ISO choices.

Every time that you select a Custom Setting, the auto-ISO parameters for that Custom Setting completely overwrite the auto-ISO parameters in the camera.

When you open the Q menu, the "cursor" is often set at the Custom Setting selector box. If you then move the rear command dial (perhaps in a misguided attempt to move to a different selector box, something I would never do 😏), you activate a new Custom Setting. Unless you notice this and return the Custom Setting selector to BASE before exiting the Q menu, when you exit the Q menu the auto-ISO parameters for the selected Custom Setting will overwrite the ones in the camera.

How I deal with that is easy to understand but a pain to set up initially: I set the auto-ISO parameters in all 7 Custom Settings to the same thing. This can take a while. If you don't use the Custom Settings -- or are prepared to reconfigure them -- you can set the camera auto-ISO to whatever you want, then go into the Edit/Save Custom Setting menu item and, for each of the 7 Custom Settings, choose "Save Current Settings". That will completely overwrite that Custom Setting with however the camera is currently set up, and is a lot faster than going into each Custom Setting and setting up 9 auto-ISO parameters on each one.

Regardless, the basic rule for models without an ISO dial is that the auto-ISO configuration being used by the camera is essentially temporary, and will be overwritten any time a Custom Setting is selected.

[kenjik]

Thanks Doug. That explains it. I've got a little more work to do.