Do you always shoot in ISO 100?

[iLOVEhatephoto.com]

Oh, by the way--ALWAYS drive in second gear, between 1,500 RPM and as high as,oh, around 7,500 RPM....you get a LOT MORE TORQUE that way, you know, in second gear!!! Whatever the speed, ALWAYS drive in second gear!

Truth be told, 2nd gear really is a lot of fun. ;-)

ha ah

 

[iLOVEhatephoto.com]

As a full time professional portrait photographer I.S.O. is merely a tool to get me to the F-STOP needed for a given subject.
When doing a family portrait, say in the shade of a tree, an hour before sunset, to use f6.3 or f7.1, for adequate depth of field, I must START at 400 ISO. Then as the light starts to fade or I do some individuals of the kids I'll go to 800 ISO.
With a professional, full-frame, DSLR noise is not an issue at these ISO's.

Thank you! Your information and comments are really helpful. I need to practice more with my settings under different light conditions and see what produces the best end results that I am happy with.

 

[iLOVEhatephoto.com]

"Keep the ISO as low as you can" is bad advice for a beginner as a general tip for shooting.

This, ^^^^, to the tenth power!

Techboy, the "professional" photographer telling you to ,"Always shoot at ISO 100," is an idiot and a fool. Have you thought that he might be giving you deliberately BAD advice?

Seriously...anybody who advocates always using ISO 100 has a very,very, VERY limited grasp of the photographic process.

Oh, by the way--ALWAYS drive in second gear, between 1,500 RPM and as high as,oh, around 7,500 RPM....you get a LOT MORE TORQUE that way, you know, in second gear!!! Whatever the speed, ALWAYS drive in second gear!

Thank you for chiming in. I appreciate it.

 

[robbins.photo]

Oh, by the way--ALWAYS drive in second gear, between 1,500 RPM and as high as,oh, around 7,500 RPM....you get a LOT MORE TORQUE that way, you know, in second gear!!! Whatever the speed, ALWAYS drive in second gear!

Truth be told, 2nd gear really is a lot of fun. ;-)

Well, in a Nash rambler it can be...

 

[KenC]

As someone said earlier (I just skimmed all the replies quickly), only when I want a really slow shutter speed. When my camera is not on a tripod (more often than not, as I walk around on city streets where this would be difficult or impossible) my "base" ISO is 400 and I often step up to 800, sometimes 1600 (this is with a T2i, not full frame). I don't see any difference between 100 and 400 under any normal viewing conditions and I have to look very closely to see any at 800.

The best advice for beginners probably is to start at 400. Most of the time this will give reasonable results and the times when it doesn't will be "teaching moments" for the beginner. Most DSLR's have at least a 1/4000 shutter speed, so even on sunny days 400 is useable.

 

[Gary A.]

I rarely use flash and I shoot a lot of low light situations. I don't flinch shooting at 6400 ... well maybe I'll think twice for 6400 ... but when necessary I'll dial it in.

That's pretty impressive. I feel I need to use my tripod when I shot 1/20 sec or lower or else I have way too much movement. Kudos to your for having such a steady hand

The reason I shoot at higher ISO's is so I can use faster shutter speeds.

One should previsualize the final image before releasing the shutter then adjust the aperture/shutter speed/ISO on the camera to reflect your mental image. Using only one ISO sensitivity would significantly reduce the ability of the photographer to capture their previsualized image.

Gary

Some samples of low light-high ISO stuff (no noise reduction applied):

#1

Camera FUJIFILM X-T1
ISO 3200
Focal Length 200mm (300mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/9
Exposure Time 0.004s (1/250)

#2

Camera Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II
ISO 1600
Focal Length 200mm (200mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/2.8
Exposure Time 0.025s (1/40)

#3

Camera Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II
ISO 1600
Focal Length 200mm (200mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/2.8
Exposure Time 0.01s (1/100)

#4

Camera FUJIFILM X-E2
ISO 3200
Focal Length 12mm (18mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/5
Exposure Time 0.0055s (1/180)

#5

Canon EOS 5D
ISO 1600
Focal Length 70mm (70mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/2.8
Exposure Time 0.0222s (1/45)

#6

Camera FUJIFILM X-Pro1
ISO 6400
Focal Length 8mm (fish)
Exposure Time 0.0166s (1/60)

 

[unpopular]

^^^ with all fairness, the x-trans is a really good high ISO sensor, You're not likely going to get these results from a traditional CMOS of similar format and price point. But Fuji cameras aren't necessarily everyone, either.

 

[minicoop1985]

I usually am on 200 or higher, depending on light. If it's BRIGHT sun or strobes, then I'll drop to 100. Film, I shoot 160, 100, 400, etc.

 

[Gary A.]

^^^ with all fairness, the x-trans is a really good high ISO sensor, You're not likely going to get these results from a traditional CMOS of similar format and price point. But Fuji cameras aren't necessarily everyone, either.

50% of the posted images were captured with a traditional CMOS sensor. I do not understand your point. I was reacting to a post by ILOVEHATEPHOTO.COM who had quoted me. I wanted to punctuate my response with examples of low light/high ISO images as well as address the OP with why a photographer should not be stuck with only one ISO. I had no intent of addressing ISO noise or the pros/cons of Fuji cameras.

I like your avatar.

Gary

 

[gsgary]

Only if I have iso100 film in my camera

 

[xFireSoul]

Only when it is too bright and I am outside. Otherwise depends on the lighting.

 

[bratkinson]

Long exposures at night or low-light indoors have always been a goal of mine, dating back to maybe 1970 or so. For fixed objects (like the Magic Kingdom Castle at Disneyland at dusk in 1977), a tripod is a must...or, at Disneyland, a convenient flat-top garbage can to put my camera on for 10-20 second exposures). But these days, I'm photographing mostly people, and to reliably freeze action, I need a shutter speed of about 1/160th and faster. Slower will result in subject motion blur many times. Gary A's photos above were likely one or two of <some number> that successfully froze subject motion. But when the subject is motionless for the duration of the shutter open, the results are often nothing less than spectacular. Gary A's results are definitely in the spectacular range, in my estimation.

My digital quest for low light shooting proved that 'common knowledge' on the subject is right...fast glass and fast ISO speeds with low noise. Getting both is not cheap, by any means. But the advances in noise reduction capabilities both in camera (for JPG outputs) and in post processing have greatly facilitated the handling of noise and getting good results. I'm just a 'hack' when it comes to Lightroom noise handling. I just 'fiddle with the sliders' until I'm happy. Since adding Photoshop Elements to my post processing 'routine', the single noise reduction slider was good enough for my tastes. Then, after reading about the Noiseware add-in, I bought that. That product has perhaps a dozen pre-sets that produces results considerably better than I ever had before, and better than my fiddling with their sliders. There are other add-in products as well as stand alone products out there as well that handle noise. I found one that works for me and I'm happy.

 

[manaheim]

Hey I do a lot of night photography and am often tempted to shoot ISO 100 however i blow out some of the bright city lights. I don't know where to find a happy medium. What do you all do in a situation like this? View attachment 85244

I do a ton of night photography and always use the lowest possible ISO I can (and a tripod). So usually ISO 100. I'm confused as to how lights would get blown out on a lower ISO vs a higher one.

 

[runnah]

Hey I do a lot of night photography and am often tempted to shoot ISO 100 however i blow out some of the bright city lights. I don't know where to find a happy medium. What do you all do in a situation like this? View attachment 85244

I do a ton of night photography and always use the lowest possible ISO I can (and a tripod). So usually ISO 100. I'm confused as to how lights would get blown out on a lower ISO vs a higher one.

Less burn in due to a shorter exposure.

 

[bribrius]

huh. I looked and saw my camera was on iso 100 yesterday. it was in auto iso. immediately considered it was maxed out trying to drop that low on auto iso. so I increased the shutter speed until it went back up to the 300 range.