I'm Confused

Hena19 · Sep 9, 2006

Ok so I've been reading the threads and stuff... and I don't understand one thing... I kno this is a stupid ques... but here it goes

What exactly does "noisy" mean when reffering to a pic... (blurry?)

and what is ISO..

Like I read that if the lighting is dark u need higher ISO... if the lighting is bright then u need lower.. but if the lighting is dark and u have higher ISO does that mean u dont use flash... or is it better than flash... I'm seriously confused...

I kno I sound completely silly... my camera is not here yet (still in the mail).. thats y I havent gotten a chance 2 mess with all that stuff.. but Im just wondering what the terms are reffering 2

!!!!!

Alex_B · Sep 9, 2006

maybe my post earlier today helps:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=563473#post563473

noise in an image means that you have fluctuations in the brightness of neighbouring pixels or even in rhe colour (colour noise) which should be identical.

BTW, in electronics (and that is what a digicam is made of

), every signal has noise, and if the signal is amplified, that noise even gets amplified.

Anyway, as I mentioned you get a similar effect with film, just there it is the film grain which you can see under magnification. Stricly speaking this is not the same sort of signal nois, but in the print or on screen it looks similar

UberToyotaX · Sep 9, 2006

I'm not the best at explaining things, but I'll give it a shot.

Noise is the clutter in a picture. Random pixels that develop usually as a result of using a high ISO and long exposure. Noise in a picture looks like this. (one of my pictures I just sharpened a lot to make it have a lot of noise)

ISO is the equivelant of film speed. A higher ISO increases the sensitivity allowing for higher shutter speeds or smaller aperatures.

Alex_B · Sep 9, 2006

and another comment regarding your flash question. yes, if you go to high ISO than you can often avoid flash and hence keep the original lighting situation of the scene you try to capture.

When you use flash however, you introduce an artificial light source, which might either improve the overall image or it can make things worse. It always depends what you want to achieve. Often evening shots without flash have a more intense mood. On the other hand, if you want to light up an object/person which is in the dark but in the foreground, with a brighter background (evening sky/landsacape/citiscape), then a flash can do wonders.

Also it depends where you position your flash or if you use more than one flash.
You can create very different effects.
But keep in mind you have to have an eye on white balance when using flash, else you might get funny colours. (I know white balance is always important, but in particular with flash people tend to wreck their images if not done properly).

Hope that was of some help