[Jhimmy]

Only recently bought the K-30. But, what has occurred to me is that it's missing an "architecture" scene mode. OK, many of you might be experienced and don't use scene modes, but for quickness it's really useful for me. One of the most popular uses of photography is photographing buildings modern and old. Having looked at the scene modes, none of them really are useful for buildings. Have I missed something from the manual? Any ideas why there's no scene mode?

[Oldbayrunner]

I don't know of any Dslr that has an architecture scene mode... If there are settings for photographing architecture you use on a consistent basis then those could be accessed quickly by programming them in one of the user modes.

[ScooterMaxi Jim]

Probably your biggest concern will be lens correction, and that's easily enabled in the menu full time, or as a USER mode. Personally, for most of my scenic or portrait wide shooting I detest rectilinear as it is terribly unnatural form of distortion. However, for architectural work it is most appropriate. What exactly would you expect from "architectural" scene - as other parameters are somewhat variable with the situation? I suppose sharpening is needed fairly universally, and that's another custom option you can set. You likely can get what you want with a once through - and set it as your USER mode.

[waterfall]

Only recently bought the K-30. But, what has occurred to me is that it's missing an "architecture" scene mode. OK, many of you might be experienced and don't use scene modes, but for quickness it's really useful for me. One of the most popular uses of photography is photographing buildings modern and old. Having looked at the scene modes, none of them really are useful for buildings. Have I missed something from the manual? Any ideas why there's no scene mode?

Architecture shooting is more focal length dependent than lighting or aperture IMHO. I do this type of work for my living with my camera and it requires focal lengths from 15mm to 250mm, normal to macro, low light to midday sun. I often use my 18-135 WR in wet weather but prefer primes, especially the 15 Ltd. Lens choice depends on where I have to stand to get the shot.

[Jhimmy]

Yes, I do understand the lens needed etc. The main thing I was thinking and I should have tried to explain better, was the exposure issues especially in the UK, We have modern buildings to castles to pre roman, as a beginner in DSLR I know it's good to have experience, but the whole point in Scene modes to to "help" the beginner. As I see it, we have landscape + contrast + Sky all in one. OK, I could work it out eventually with time and expeience :-) , the exposure/speed etc, but sometimes in the rich environment I live in (Northern England) we sometimes need a quick helper. If you look at all the other Scene modes you could argue you could 1. lens correction. 2. user mode. 3 lens etc. Why are they 3 night modes for example? Do people really need surf/snow mode rather then building. So the question still remains, why isn't there an architectural scene mode just for the quick shot?

LOL, don't worry, this is just a very minor grumble. It was only on boxing day when I photographed Bamburgh castle I realised the problem.

[JimJohnson]

Only recently bought the K-30. But, what has occurred to me is that it's missing an "architecture" scene mode.

Scene modes can be a welcome photographic assistance. However, they really mostly help those who save their shots as jpegs. For those who save as RAW, scene modes don't do much for the photographer. I think jpeg versus RAW has generated some of the most emotional threads in this Forum. Even among those who regularly save as jpeg, there are emotional threads of using the camera's full automation (Auto and scene modes) versus other semi-automated modes versus full manual control.

What I am gently trying to say is that I think only a minority of folks in this Forum use scene modes with any regularity. I am not trying to say you are wrong, but only that you are a minority.

[Oldbayrunner]

The main thing I was thinking and I should have tried to explain better, was the exposure issues especially in the UK, We have modern buildings to castles to pre roman, as a beginner in DSLR I know it's good to have experience, but the whole point in Scene modes to to "help" the beginner..

I disagree.. Scene modes don't help the beginner, they only make it easy for use in certain circumstances where the exposure settings are usually very similar. IMO there are too many variances one encounters when shooting architecture for a scene mode.

The best help you could give yourself is to learn about your camera and how to pre set it up based on your knowledge and what you want to capture, learn EV (exposure value), exposure reciprocals, how to compensate for effect, learn about your lenses, depth of field etc. Unless you want to be just a picture snapper don't make the mistake of letting your camera do the thinking for you or a good majority of your photos will not be what you really wanted to achieve. Then you need to learn good post processing techniques.

These great photos you see from other photographers didn't happen by someone going out, using a scene mode and snapping away. Most of the time they were pre planned, well thought out and at a time the photographers knew when the lighting was going to be just right for what they wanted to capture, using camera settings they set up to accomplish what they wanted to portray as close as they can.

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Last edited by Oldbayrunner; 01-01-2014 at 11:50 AM.

[IchabodCrane]

Yes, I do understand the lens needed etc. The main thing I was thinking and I should have tried to explain better, was the exposure issues especially in the UK, We have modern buildings to castles to pre roman, as a beginner in DSLR I know it's good to have experience, but the whole point in Scene modes to to "help" the beginner. As I see it, we have landscape + contrast + Sky all in one. OK, I could work it out eventually with time and expeience :-) , the exposure/speed etc, but sometimes in the rich environment I live in (Northern England) we sometimes need a quick helper. If you look at all the other Scene modes you could argue you could 1. lens correction. 2. user mode. 3 lens etc. Why are they 3 night modes for example? Do people really need surf/snow mode rather then building. So the question still remains, why isn't there an architectural scene mode just for the quick shot?

LOL, don't worry, this is just a very minor grumble. It was only on boxing day when I photographed Bamburgh castle I realised the problem.

I suspect what many here are thinking is a likely "architecture mode" is not defined by anything that you would consistently adjust on your camera. Not so with other scene modes. Sports adjusts to higher shutter speed, snow/beach to a high key setting, sunset accentuates reds, etc. For buildings, if you just put the camera in P mode, you probably end up with as good a starting point as you can reasonably expect for shooting buildings.

[OldNoob]

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