How do you decide about the ISO setting of the chip ?

[Solarflare]

One of the things I never thought of much before my DSLR was the ISO Setting. My previous camera was a Canon Powershot G11 and I basically chose between AUTO or ISO 80 (minimum setting) and not much else.

But it seems that my new camera (Nikon D5100) assumes I would know the ideal ISO Setting myself now, unless I would choose AUTO mode.

But how does one decide about this ? Anyone got some tipps ?

 

[jaomul]

If your shooting semi auto and have say your aperture decided you may still need a suitable shutter speed to avoid camera shake or maybe a blur effect. Set your aperture and if your shutter speed is to high or low you can up or down your iso. This won't work at the extremes of your cameras speed ability or your lenses min/ max apertures if they have to bottom out so to speak. Example, in aperture priority you set f2.8 to take a portrait. Your at Iso 200 and your shutter speed ends up 1/50 sec but you get some camera shake blur. Increase your Iso to 400 (up a stop) and your speed will go to 1/100th of a second (down a stop) to keep the exposure the same. At twice the shutter speed you are less likely to get camera shake. It is better where possible to keep the Iso low as you can to balance these settings as high Iso can make your pictures noisy, but its still better than blur. You can also use high Iso to put noise in your shots if that's what you require

 

[enzodm]

As usual, the lowest you can, depending on the other elements of the Exposure Triangle (google for it).

 

[tirediron]

As usual, the lowest you can, depending on the other elements of the Exposure Triangle (google for it).

This, exactly! ^^

 

[480sparky]

I select the shutter speed and aperture needed to create the image, and that dictates the ISO I need to expose the image correctly.

 

[MReid]

This can be a very involved subject.
Very basically. Iso setting is sensitivity to light.
If it is very bright out ISO 80 will give you plenty of light, if it is late in the evening you may need ISO 1600 to get a proper exposure......all else being equal (which it wouldn't be...which is where it gets complicated).

If you don't plan to take the time to learn all you would need to know to make the right ISO choices then just set it on Auto and go take pictures.

 

[imagemaker46]

I kind of look at this way, going back to shooting film. If I was shooting in the late evening or indoors without a flash I would take along asa 1600, if I was in the bright sun asa 200, was a little better for the shadows, although I did shoot a lot of kodachrome 64, but generally sun is asa 100-200, overcast was asa 400. It was just a matter of taking a light meter along and using that to determine what was being used. The downside to film, was unless you wanted to be changing rolls constantly, you really had to learn how to work with shutter speeds and aperture. I won't get into pushing or pulling film.

 

[unpopular]

As with film, I always shoot the lowest practical ISO for the circumstance, bearing in mind that my camera has the widest possible dynamic range at ISO 200. Take a look at the reviews for your camera, paying attention to range and noise charts.

Typically, I shoot at only ISO 200, ISO 400 in low light and ISO 800 or 1600 under special circumstances when a short shutter speed is neccesary in low light or tripod isn't suitable. Though whatever your top ISO setting is will be based on your personal tolerance for noise, noise reduction artifacts and the camera and IS options you use.

But I do believe it is only appropriate to adjust ISO if and only if the image cannot be made sharply at a lower ISO using stabiliazation or wider aperture, or if image noise is desired for a specific reason.

 

[o hey tyler]

My process from creating the image in my head, to hitting the shutter.

1: Determine the DoF I need for the shot, and set the aperture accordingly. In my book, 97% of the time aperture takes precedent.
2: Set the shutter speed to balance the exposure, while still maintaining a shutter speed of 1/focal length I am shooting at. So if I am at 50mm, I want it to be at 1/50s or faster.
3. If I cannot shoot at a shutter speed fast enough to negate inherent camera shake, I raise the ISO accordingly. Whether it be a full stop, or 1/3rds of a stop.
4: Hit the shutter button.

 

[480sparky]

..........4: Hit the shutter button.

Why not just gently press it? :lmao:

 

[o hey tyler]

..........4: Hit the shutter button.

Why not just gently press it? :lmao:

I've found it much more fun to use a hammer.

 

[Solarflare]

But it seems that my new camera (Nikon D5100) assumes I would know the ideal ISO Setting myself now, unless I would choose AUTO mode.

But how does one decide about this ? Anyone got some tipps ?

Actually, your D5100 has a function to help you with this. It's called Auto ISO sensitivity control and you can read up on it on page 155 of your D5100 manual. It's available in the PSAM modes.

Auto ISO works in any mode, but it really shines in A mode. It's A mode that utilizes the "Minimum Shutter Speed" setting (P mode does as well, but it doesn't work as well as A mode.) To make use of the MSS you first make a decision on the slowest shutter speed you're willing to use for the current subject matter. If you're shooting people standing around at a picnic, you may go as low as 1/60s. If you're shooting sports you'll likely need at least 1/250s or 1/320s as a minimum. Most animals at the zoo need at least 1/120s just because they don't stand still...except for koala bears, where you might get away with 1/30s.

Once you've decided on a shutter speed, you press the MENU button, select the shooting menu, and select Adjust ISO sensitivity. You select "ON" for "Auto ISO sensitivity control" and set your "Minimum Shutter Speed" to your chosen shutter speed. Set the camera to A mode and you're ready to shoot.

Here's what will happen. The camera will remain at the lowest ISO and operate as usual in A mode, adjusting shutter speed to give you correct exposure (well...standard exposure..."correct exposure" is something else entirely. Anyways...) Now...if something happens that causes the shutter speed to drop (such as clouds, sun setting, or setting a narrow aperture such as f/22) and the shutter speed drops to your Minimum Shutter Speed setting, then the Auto ISO function kicks in and will increase ISO to prevent the shutter speed from dropping any further. In this way you're protected against shutter speeds that are too slow for your subject matter.

What you're essentially doing is programming the camera to behave a certain way under well defined conditions. In this case, you're simply telling the camera to always shoot at or above a particular shutter speed, and to raise ISO if necessary to maintain that speed. It's exactly what you would have done if you were shooting in manual mode, except that you made the decisions of what should happen beforehand. This allows you to shoot freely without the distraction of having to monitor shutter speed.

Whow, thanks a lot ! So basically I can get the same atomatism than with my G11, but I have much more fine control now. Yeah I read that part of the manual, but uh, its very long lol and putting it all together in the end is not so easy.