ISO?

Tolyk · Aug 12, 2006

Does anyone have any rules of thumb for when to use different ISO film (or settings on a D SLR)

I'm new to using film and really don't know what I'm doing *chuckle*

darin3200 · Aug 12, 2006

Use iso 100 when outdoors mostly. 400 for outdoors and indoors depending on how big your lens f/stop is. 800 more for inside, action. 1600+ for really low light, fast action.

Tiberius · Aug 12, 2006

The rule I follow for ISO is as follows:

Use the lowest possible ISO that will allow you to use the shutter speeds you need.

If you need reasonably fast shutter speeds to avoid hand or subject blur and need to bump the ISO up to 800 in a low-light environment, then do so. But if you can get away with 200 or 100, definitely do so.

LWW · Aug 12, 2006

Tiberius said:
The rule I follow for ISO is as follows:

Use the lowest possible ISO that will allow you to use the shutter speeds you need.

If you need reasonably fast shutter speeds to avoid hand or subject blur and need to bump the ISO up to 800 in a low-light environment, then do so. But if you can get away with 200 or 100, definitely do so.

Yep. +1.

LWW

bigfatbadger · Aug 12, 2006

I tend to use 400 most of the time, T Max 400 is fairly low grain and the extra speed means tha I don't have to worry about film stock halfway through shooting.

Tolyk · Aug 12, 2006

Tiberius said:
The rule I follow for ISO is as follows:

Use the lowest possible ISO that will allow you to use the shutter speeds you need.

If you need reasonably fast shutter speeds to avoid hand or subject blur and need to bump the ISO up to 800 in a low-light environment, then do so. But if you can get away with 200 or 100, definitely do so.

Okay.. better question

When do you know what speed to use *grin* I'm new to SLRs.. used only a digital point and shoot prior to this.

Big Mike · Aug 12, 2006

The rule of thumb for shutter speed, is to use a shutter speed that is faster than the your focal length. For example, if your lens is 50mm...then you want to use a shutter speed that is faster than 1/50. If you lens is 300mm, then you will want to use a shutter speed of 1/300 or faster.

This rule of thumb is for when you are shooting with the camera in your hands...to reduce blur caused by camera shake. Everyone is different, some people can stay steady at slower speeds and some need even faster speeds.

If you are using a tripod and a remote, then you would not have to worry about camera shake.

So back to your original question, keep the ISO a low as possible, unless your shutter speed is not fast enough, then turn it up if you have to.

Tolyk · Aug 12, 2006

Big Mike said:
The rule of thumb for shutter speed, is to use a shutter speed that is faster than the your focal length. For example, if your lens is 50mm...then you want to use a shutter speed that is faster than 1/50. If you lens is 300mm, then you will want to use a shutter speed of 1/300 or faster.

This rule of thumb is for when you are shooting with the camera in your hands...to reduce blur caused by camera shake. Everyone is different, some people can stay steady at slower speeds and some need even faster speeds.

If you are using a tripod and a remote, then you would not have to worry about camera shake.

So back to your original question, keep the ISO a low as possible, unless your shutter speed is not fast enough, then turn it up if you have to.

What's the purpose of being able to control the ISO settings on a 35mm SLR? I mean, isn't that determined by the type of film you put in? When should you override that? And what kind of effect does it have ? (I know I should just try it, but I've been busy

)

darin3200 · Aug 12, 2006

Tolyk said:
What's the purpose of being able to control the ISO settings on a 35mm SLR? I mean, isn't that determined by the type of film you put in? When should you override that? And what kind of effect does it have ? (I know I should just try it, but I've been busy )

Film only sets the camera iso speed if it's DX coded. Most film is but some isn't.

You can override it which goes into push and pull processing. Let's say it's a sunny day and you only have 400 speed film, you could tell the camera it's 100 which would then over-expose it. To compensate for that you under-develop.

Or it's really dark so you under-expose your film by shooting it at 800, 1600 or 3200. You can then develop in longer to compenate for less light hitting the film. The results tend to have more grain and contrast.

You can usually push or pull 1 stop (one iso speed) with color negative film because it is very forgiving. But color film doesn't push or pull that well. It's more of a B&W thing. I often shoot 400 speed film at 3200

Big Mike · Aug 12, 2006

That's right.

Overriding the ISO on a film camera will mean that you are over or underexposing. Exposure compensation is basically the same thing.

I think people most often over ride the ISO setting because they know the specific film they are using and know that how it will perform when under or over exposed. For example, one of the most popular slide films is/was Velvia 50. A lot of people like to override the ISO to 40.

OVR · Aug 14, 2006

take some films... the same brand and model... take one with 100ISO one with 200ISO and one with 400ISO... compare and you will learn more...

Cuervo79 · Aug 17, 2006

try tu push or pull the film only as a last resort. when you push a roll it has to be from the start, because the developer will use a diferent method to develope a pushed/pulled film, you cant take some pictures at iso100 and then push it to 400, the one hundred ones will be "ruined". Also don't expect results the same as properly exposing a photo when pushing or pulling film, you sacrifice quality in order to get the picture...

Now in digital you can pull that off, you can take some pictures at iso 200, go up to 1600 then go down to 100 with no problem.

Tolyk · Aug 17, 2006

Cuervo79 said:
try tu push or pull the film only as a last resort. when you push a roll it has to be from the start, because the developer will use a diferent method to develope a pushed/pulled film, you cant take some pictures at iso100 and then push it to 400, the one hundred ones will be "ruined". Also don't expect results the same as properly exposing a photo when pushing or pulling film, you sacrifice quality in order to get the picture...

Now in digital you can pull that off, you can take some pictures at iso 200, go up to 1600 then go down to 100 with no problem.

Thank you, was wondering about that. Good thing to know