Indoor ISO settings

kindred_fp · Mar 23, 2014

Planning to shoot an indoor family party. Usually i increase my iso level really high, but since I finally bought a SB-700, is it safe to set iso all the way down to 100?

Robin Usagani · Mar 23, 2014

No, I wouldnt. You will kill your flash battery quick.. I would use ISO 800 and mix some of the ambient light.

Overread · Mar 24, 2014

You'll also find that if you've only a single light source if you use flash bare (without any diffusion) as the only light source you will get a very harsh and very single direction light that will look bad.

A blend of flash and ambient is important as it will provide an overall softer and more even exposure; you don't want to get rid of all the shadows (generally speaking) but you can at least soften them.

You'll want to look into diffusion methods - getting the flash off camera and also, for the future, looking at maybe one or two more to provide you more light control.

I would also check out the books:
Light Science and Magic 4th edition
The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes: Creative Applications of Small Flashes by Joe McNally

Braineack · Mar 24, 2014

kindred_fp said:
Planning to shoot an indoor family party. Usually i increase my iso level really high, but since I finally bought a SB-700, is it safe to set iso all the way down to 100?

Robin Usagani said:
No, I wouldnt. You will kill your flash battery quick.. I would use ISO 800 and mix some of the ambient light.

This is an indoor family shot taken with an SB700 (bounced to ceiling) at 800 iso:

Max with Grandpa by The Braineack, on Flickr

It was completly dark outside when it was taken. Doing the same at 100 iso would be harsh lighting with and no ambient or warmth to the pictures.

On the other hand, this indoor family shot, taken with an SB700 (bounced off wall behind), at 200 iso:

Girl holding Balloon by The Braineack, on Flickr

Had plently of natural light to work with since it was taken around 1pm in a room with huge windows letting in a bunch of sun.

Tinderbox (UK) · Mar 24, 2014

Yeah, bounce the flash to the ceiling is the way to go, assuming it`s white.

John.

Braineack · Mar 24, 2014

Tinderbox (UK) said:
Yeah, bounce the flash to the ceiling is the way to go, assuming it`s white.

John.

The only downside is that the photos tend to look a little Rockwellish

table1349 · Mar 24, 2014

Robin has a good suggestion at 800 however depending on the amount of ambient light you might want to consider starting at 400 and then move up to get the look you want. Unlike the sun at noon on a clear day, ambient light varies from place to place and even room to room.

Robin Usagani · Mar 24, 2014

If your ISO is low.. It will look like this piece of ****

Usagani Photography | Our own wedding photography nightmare

Virgil · Mar 24, 2014

I measure my ambient light and sync it with my Metz 60ct4 flash set in manual mode with 400 speed film. Oh, and one other thing: flash bracket .... Pretty much fool proof if u know how to sync camera with flash.

table1349 · Mar 24, 2014

True, and if you ISO is too high the same can be applied. Robin, I was not attacking your post, merely trying to make sure the OP considers each indoor shooting situation and go from there. All indoor light is not the same. 800 can be a good starting point.

A couple of years ago I shot a daylight event in a large venue that had three completely clear glass walls on the East, South and West. The South wall was what people wanted as a background as there were several very large pieces of artwork out in the courtyard, garden that they wanted in the background. My background was a sunny 16 and obviously my subjects were not in the same light. By lowering my ISO and using my lighting more as fill light I did not have a blown background.

Braineack · Mar 24, 2014

it's also why I showed an indoor party shot done at 200 iso.

Robin Usagani · Mar 24, 2014

I think if the room is small, ISO 100 will do it because the flash will bounce everywhere, the flash will still work extra hard though especially if your room is bigger.

gryp.. none taken. My 2nd post was only to post example. Was not replying to your reply.

kindred_fp · Mar 24, 2014

Thanks Guys, so at this point on a large room maybe start at iso 800 and work from there. I havent been to this place but its going to be at a golf course and time is from 12 -4 which means probably lots of ambient light.

robbins.photo · Mar 24, 2014

Robin Usagani said:
If your ISO is low.. It will look like this piece of ****

Usagani Photography | Our own wedding photography nightmare

Ok, now that's a bumper sticker!

Gavjenks · Mar 24, 2014

Robin Usagani said:
If your ISO is low.. It will look like this piece of ****

Usagani Photography | Our own wedding photography nightmare

If it's properly metered in flash and ambient for the ISO, ISO shouldn't matter for the LOOK, other than perhaps bluriness if it forces your shutter speed too slow of course (and the practical matter you pointed out before of running down batteries). That horribleness you linked to is a result of not adjusting flash and ambient in proportion correctly, not just low ISO.

In general with flash, I'd tend to avoid 100 ISO, in order to extend its range and/or batteries as mentioned. Choose an ISO that's about as high as your camera can go without objectionable noise. This might be 400 for a typical crop entry level camera, or it could be 1250 for a nice high end full frame, etc.

The one major exception is that if you're using flash outdoors, ISO 400+ can easily be too high for flash sync if you don't have HSS flash. Or even if you do, you may even exceed max shutter speed in general (1/4000 or 1/8000 usually). So you may want to use 100 if you are using any sort of remotely wide aperture and have bright ambient light, to make sure your camera can mechanically cope with it.