Why I shoot in Auto ISO with birds....w/pics

[Didereaux]

In another posting I explained the settings I was playing with for shooting birds, particularly moving ones. I set the camera to M mode, the shutter speed to 1.5x 1/focal length(I am old and rather shaky and this could just as easily be 1/focal length as is usually recommended) in the following I shot these @ F7.1

Why do I ignore the ISO? One very good nature photographer on here called me on it and said he does not shoot at the higher ISO's. My reasoning is this. If you insist on low ISO then you will miss a large number of opportunities. With birds, especially small birds in the early hours and in the bushes you simply won't get a shot...not even with a tripod because they move around to quickly. Remember that as the light gets better the ISO automatically drops.

Will you get photos that can be blown up to poster size? No, but you will get lots that can be taken up to 8x10 and even 11x14. Just as importantly almost all will be suitable as ID shots. So here are some quick shots I made about an hour ago in the backyard just for illustration purposes. The camera used was a Canon 6D, and the lens a 100-400 IS USM L lens. All were adj for noise, lens, sharpness and exposure in LR6.

@3200 ISO

@8000 ISO

@12800 ISO

@16000 ISO

 

[squirl033]

i do the same thing with my 7DII.

 

[Overread]

The only reason I don't use auto ISO more is that I don't have an ISO priority mode. I think the 7DMII and such can do this, but whilst I can fix aperture and shutterspeed I can't use exposure compensation with auto ISO - if I could chances are I would use it more as there are times where I've shot where aperture and shutterspeed at at their limits and fixed and the ISO is the only thing I can really vary

 

[Didereaux]

i do the same thing with my 7DII.

I picked that up from a comment made by Tom Manglesen on one of his videos. It was just a quick aside he made to one of his students.

 

[Didereaux]

The only reason I don't use auto ISO more is that I don't have an ISO priority mode. I think the 7DMII and such can do this, but whilst I can fix aperture and shutterspeed I can't use exposure compensation with auto ISO - if I could chances are I would use it more as there are times where I've shot where aperture and shutterspeed at at their limits and fixed and the ISO is the only thing I can really vary

Can't speak for the 7D mkII, but both the 7D, and the 6D lack that feature, but remember auto ISO allows fractional ISO's so you get some funky numbers occasionally. But in Manual mode you do not really need compensation so much...at least for the type of shots I am describing here. Manual mode with auto ISO is not really manual if you look at it closely. ISO priority would be of no benefit in this type of shooting. But aren't you really in a sort of priority ISO mode in full manual, but not on auto ISO?

 

[Didereaux]

<chuckle> this thread made me do what I should have done first....google it! Found a YouTube that explains it PERFECTLY!

 

[astroNikon]

When I do birds or soccer on my Nikon d600 (and d7000 previously) I would always select my Shutter and Aperture (for subject isolation) with the ISO on AUTO with a Max setting. I know when noise is too much so for my d600 (for daytime) I'll set the max to 2000 just in case a shot is into the shadows.

It saves a lot of time adjusting the ISO manually and you can get the shot as quickly as possible.

 

[ronlane]

I have done this on my 7DmkII as well when shooting football. I set a maximum ISO and that allows for changes in lighting at HS fields at night. I think that the results were good when I did this.

 

[JacaRanda]

7DmkII also. At this point, it's always Manual, Auto ISO limited most often to 6400. Even C1, C2, and C3 are set the same way.

 

[ronlane]

Looks like you shot film. How did you get the negative digitized to this positive image?

Joe

P.S. Welcome to TPF

<chuckle> this thread made me do what I should have done first....google it! Found a YouTube that explains it PERFECTLY!

Thanks Didereaux for sharing this video. This is what I am doing but it does a great job of explaining the whys.

 

[squirl033]

Can't speak for the 7D mkII, but both the 7D, and the 6D lack that feature, but remember auto ISO allows fractional ISO's so you get some funky numbers occasionally. But in Manual mode you do not really need compensation so much...at least for the type of shots I am describing here. Manual mode with auto ISO is not really manual if you look at it closely. ISO priority would be of no benefit in this type of shooting. But aren't you really in a sort of priority ISO mode in full manual, but not on auto ISO?

the 7DII allows you to use exposure comp with auto ISO in Manual. it's not an "on-the-fly" adjustment - you have to access the quick menu on the viewscreen to change it - but it's handy when you know you may be up against some dynamic range or backlighting issues. yes, sometimes the ISO numbers look a little odd, since it selects the minimum ISO value needed for a proper exposure, but to be honest, i don't care about that as long as the image looks good. i suppose letting the camera set the ISO takes you out of the fully "manual" mode to a degree, but i'm not gonna quibble with the results...

 

[JacaRanda]

Can't speak for the 7D mkII, but both the 7D, and the 6D lack that feature, but remember auto ISO allows fractional ISO's so you get some funky numbers occasionally. But in Manual mode you do not really need compensation so much...at least for the type of shots I am describing here. Manual mode with auto ISO is not really manual if you look at it closely. ISO priority would be of no benefit in this type of shooting. But aren't you really in a sort of priority ISO mode in full manual, but not on auto ISO?

the 7DII allows you to use exposure comp with auto ISO in Manual. it's not an "on-the-fly" adjustment - you have to access the quick menu on the viewscreen to change it - but it's handy when you know you may be up against some dynamic range or backlighting issues. yes, sometimes the ISO numbers look a little odd, since it selects the minimum ISO value needed for a proper exposure, but to be honest, i don't care about that as long as the image looks good. i suppose letting the camera set the ISO takes you out of the fully "manual" mode to a degree, but i'm not gonna quibble with the results...

Not true. Go to your custom button function and change your setting. I have mine setup to push the set button in the middle of the back dial, while rotating the top dial to change exposure compensation while in Manual / Auto Iso.

 

[ronlane]

Can't speak for the 7D mkII, but both the 7D, and the 6D lack that feature, but remember auto ISO allows fractional ISO's so you get some funky numbers occasionally. But in Manual mode you do not really need compensation so much...at least for the type of shots I am describing here. Manual mode with auto ISO is not really manual if you look at it closely. ISO priority would be of no benefit in this type of shooting. But aren't you really in a sort of priority ISO mode in full manual, but not on auto ISO?

the 7DII allows you to use exposure comp with auto ISO in Manual. it's not an "on-the-fly" adjustment - you have to access the quick menu on the viewscreen to change it - but it's handy when you know you may be up against some dynamic range or backlighting issues. yes, sometimes the ISO numbers look a little odd, since it selects the minimum ISO value needed for a proper exposure, but to be honest, i don't care about that as long as the image looks good. i suppose letting the camera set the ISO takes you out of the fully "manual" mode to a degree, but i'm not gonna quibble with the results...

Yeah, that is the down side but I press the Q button and set the menu on the exposure comp, so I can do it all with my thumb on the back of the camera. (I use the mk II as well)

 

[JacaRanda]

Can't speak for the 7D mkII, but both the 7D, and the 6D lack that feature, but remember auto ISO allows fractional ISO's so you get some funky numbers occasionally. But in Manual mode you do not really need compensation so much...at least for the type of shots I am describing here. Manual mode with auto ISO is not really manual if you look at it closely. ISO priority would be of no benefit in this type of shooting. But aren't you really in a sort of priority ISO mode in full manual, but not on auto ISO?

the 7DII allows you to use exposure comp with auto ISO in Manual. it's not an "on-the-fly" adjustment - you have to access the quick menu on the viewscreen to change it - but it's handy when you know you may be up against some dynamic range or backlighting issues. yes, sometimes the ISO numbers look a little odd, since it selects the minimum ISO value needed for a proper exposure, but to be honest, i don't care about that as long as the image looks good. i suppose letting the camera set the ISO takes you out of the fully "manual" mode to a degree, but i'm not gonna quibble with the results...

Yeah, that is the down side but I press the Q button and set the menu on the exposure comp, so I can do it all with my thumb on the back of the camera. (I use the mk II as well)

You don't have to go into the menu.

 

[JacaRanda]

Here you go.

I should have said change the buttons in custom controls not function.

Canon DLC: Article: Auto ISO operation in the EOS 7D Mark II