Should I keep ISO as low as possible?

[Dao]

In some camera such as the D300, D700, D3 or D3s, photos taken with iso100 may look worst than iso200 since the base iso of those cameras are iso200. Based on what I read in the past, the differences may not be too big, but it is there.

 

[The_Traveler]

Most of the prior responses were assuming you are heading for maximum image quality and have some lattitude about shutter speed and aperture.
If you are not shooting with auxiliary sources of light and the situation means that you want/need a spoecific aperture and want/need a certain shutter speed, then you boost the iso as much as possible.
It is better to get some noise and the image you want then to get a bad image.
I've shot in the NYC subways at f2 and 1/40 and iso 3200 or 6400 so that I can get the image I want.
If the image is good enough technical shortcomings don't mean anything.

 

[Braineack]

Besides my camera (a Nikon Df) I don't think ISO 100 would give better result than ISO 200.

better result in terms of what?

ISO 100 is the base ISO for that camera.

Technically 100 iso would be the best iso for IQ on your camera. BUT you'll be hard-pressed to see the difference between 100 and 200.

 

[sashbar]

It depends on your camera, with modern FF or APS-C cameras you can use higher ISO much more freely than 6 or 7 years ago.
You may try for yourself, shoot the same scene with ISO 100, 200, 400, 800 etc and compare the IQ. You will be able to decide for yourself how high you would want to allow it without IQ degradation.
Keeping ISO to basic 100 is one of the most widespread beginners' mistakes these days. You pay for it with slower shutter speed, and end up with blurry images that is much, much worse than hight ISO grain.
I am shooting with an APS-C FUJI camera and often do not mind shooting with ISO 3200 or even 6400.

I see, but given you don't have to make any concessions with shutter speed or f/stop, you want it as low as possible right?
Not necessarily at 100 per se, but at the lowest mark where you don't have to make shutter speed or f/stop concessions, whether that be at ISO 100 or ISO 3200.

That's correct, if we talk about lowest native ISO.

What I was trying to say is that many beginners (incl. myself some yars ago) underestimate the need for higher shutter speed and get more concerned about the ISO,trying to keep it at about 100. Then they wonder why their images are "not sharp enough". A lot of them are shooting people/kids/moving objects at something like 1/125 sec and think they make no shutter speed consessions. Whereas a more experienced photographer will often crank up the ISO to shoot at 1/250 or 1/400.

 

[Braineack]

the term native is confusing anymore. native should mean all iso's that aren't extended.

base means what native used to.

 

[yaopey]

I'm not sure why your instructor choose ISO 200 and the given aperture. But I would thought he wanted to keep shutter speed at 1/200 or below to avoid the shutter curtain from blocking the light.

 

[gsgary]

Was he shooting with a Nikon ?

 

[Derrel]

I'm not sure why your instructor choose ISO 200 and the given aperture. But I would thought he wanted to keep shutter speed at 1/200 or below to avoid the shutter curtain from blocking the light.

If he was using an older Nikon d-slr like, the base ISO would be 200, and that would work well for basically almost ANY digital camera that any of the members of the class might happen to have. The suggested shutter sped of 1/25 seems a bit odd though...it's a very slow speed, and it does not offer much benefit, especially when paired with an aperture of f/11. I keep wondering if the instructor really specified one one-hundred and twenty-fifth of a second [ 1/125 ] instead of one twenty-fifth of a second...

One of the best answers is just a few posts back...many beginning shooters become fixated on keeping ISO as low as is humanly possible, constantly shooting all sorts of things at the absolute lowest ISO setting their camera allows, and they often end up with substandard photos because they refused to elevate the ISO in order to gain a more-favorable exposure for conditions.

 

[Braineack]

Here's an image I JUST took at ISO 200 and f/11:


Jean Jacket Selfie by The Braineack, on Flickr


I shot it at 1/125sec. My lights were turned up pretty high--almost full power. At ISO 100, it would have been underexposed and I'm not sure my lights could of outputted enough.

had I shot it at 1/25, the image would look identical, I was using (1) 65watt light to light my studio space. I forgot to actually take that image to show the non-difference.

 

[unpopular]

There is no advantage to shooting at an ISO higher than needed and plenty of disadvantages. While it is true that todays digital cameras perform very well at higher ISO, they will perform better at lower ISO (going down to the sensors base ISO, as mentioned) in terms of dynamic range, and, yes, noise. The issue may not be apparent until the image is edited, but lower ISO will, and always will, hold better SNR, especially in the shadows.

Always shoot at as low an ISO as practical. There is NO reason, none at all, to shoot at ISO 6400 just because todays digital cameras are better at ISO 6400 than they used to be. There is zero technical advantage aside from getting away with being sloppy. That said, some subjects will demand a level of sloppiness to best obtain the decisive moment. Wildlife photography in changing lighting conditions, for example, is one place where you might not want to be fiddling with minimum ISO. In such a case, "minimum ISO" might be defined as as the proper exposure at minimum functional aperture at whatever maximum time to best provides a sharp image. This would give you the widest range of options. Like everything, what "minimum ISO" means depends on what you're doing. But the attitude shouldn't be "I'll shoot at ISO 6400 because I'm too lazy to think about exposure".

---

On a side note, increasing sensitivity is not "artificial" amplification until you get into the so-called "boost" range. ISO is literally adjusting the analogue gain prior to digitization; the sensor literally has amplifier circuitry built into itself to increase the signal level, not dissimilar to increasing the volume on your stereo.

 

[Averil_white]

I try to fit my ISO to the situation - I tend to shoot in Aperture mode most of the time, so it's a bit easier, I just need to think about whether I'm shooting handheld or tripod, what it is I'm shooting, what aperture I want, and adjust to bring my shutter speed to the right level.

 

[andytakeone]

I'm not sure why your instructor choose ISO 200 and the given aperture. But I would thought he wanted to keep shutter speed at 1/200 or below to avoid the shutter curtain from blocking the light.

If he was using an older Nikon d-slr like, the base ISO would be 200, and that would work well for basically almost ANY digital camera that any of the members of the class might happen to have. The suggested shutter sped of 1/25 seems a bit odd though...it's a very slow speed, and it does not offer much benefit, especially when paired with an aperture of f/11. I keep wondering if the instructor really specified one one-hundred and twenty-fifth of a second [ 1/125 ] instead of one twenty-fifth of a second...

One of the best answers is just a few posts back...many beginning shooters become fixated on keeping ISO as low as is humanly possible, constantly shooting all sorts of things at the absolute lowest ISO setting their camera allows, and they often end up with substandard photos because they refused to elevate the ISO in order to gain a more-favorable exposure for conditions.

I asked him if he meant 1/125, he said no 1/25.

After asking why, he said that the picture will be froze and exposed with the speed of the flash rather than the shutter speed so he wanted to keep the shutter wide open and slow.

 

[Braineack]

I asked him if he meant 1/125, he said no 1/25.

After asking why, he said that the picture will be froze and exposed with the speed of the flash rather than the shutter speed so he wanted to keep the shutter wide open and slow.

Was the point of the excerise to stop motion? There's a little validity here, but I have doubts.

 

[Dao]

So the camera settings are for the flash and the ambient.

 

[Village Idiot]

Here's an image I JUST took at ISO 200 and f/11:


Jean Jacket Selfie by The Braineack, on Flickr


I shot it at 1/125sec. My lights were turned up pretty high--almost full power. At ISO 100, it would have been underexposed and I'm not sure my lights could of outputted enough.

had I shot it at 1/25, the image would look identical, I was using (1) 65watt light to light my studio space. I forgot to actually take that image to show the non-difference.

Snazzy Canadian Tuxedo you have there!