How to choose the correct ISO in 5 secs

If you're not a photographer you might not know what the ISO setting on your digital camera is for and how to use it. Here I explain how to choose the correct ISO in 5 secs.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• camera
• photography
• ISO
• settings

[HelloNewYorkCity]

i use this: IS IT DARK? no. LESS THAN 800!

IS IT DAY? no. MORE THAN 800!

IS IT DARK? yes. MORE THAN 800!

IS IT DAY? yes. LESS THAN 400!

[GrendelPL]

My way is: i go to the fridge and take out my beloved film-shoe-box filled with film containers. I can choose between 100-160-200-400-800 ISO films. I choose film and i go shooting :D No problem of changing ISO during session :D

[john4m]

gee. i never would have thought of that. thanks camera guy.

[davidenespana]

@HelloNewYorkCity Unless its an extremely weird setup I just leave my Canon 60D on 'Auto ISO' and let it get on with it. It seems to be able to do as good a job as I can. I have the max auto ISO set to 3200, as 6400 and above are unfixably crappy IMHO.

[davidenespana]

@GrendelPL shooting hundreds of photos and expecting that some will turn out OK works for me. Seems to have worked for all the professionals I've ever worked with too. The hours I've spent bent over a light box working through thousands of trannies with a lupe! If I'm covering an event I do about 500 exposures a day - couldn't afford to do that with film, and the ( non-profit) event organisers couldn't afford it either.

[GrendelPL]

@davidenespana outdated films cost less than $1 per roll (36 exposures), developement and 6mpix scan is like 5 bucks per roll? First of all it teaches you to respect the film and think about exposure, composition, theme and style and everything else BEFORE you press the shutter release butoon, not shooting hundreds of photos and expecting that "some might turn ok"...

[davidenespana]

@GrendelPL I wish I was rich too!

[BMFRaw]

@ukmitch86 "The higher the ISO speed, the more noise will be present on the final image." That alone is a wealth of understanding for me. Thanks!

[jaswinderssss]

@funincluded my thoughts exactly..

[pjos111]

Garbage ! You would always select as low ISO as possible to set up along with your chosen shutter speed and Aperature.

[devonmale69]

indoors is bright? what lights do you have????????????

[ozstriker1984]

how about if your an amatuer just sticking to auto iso problem solved