High ISO/Auto ISO

[miatab]

I've been thinking about ISO settings since buying my Df, and presently set it at 400 without auto ISO control (or is it intervention?) and wondering what the more seasoned of you do. My last camera was a Fuji XE-1 and I think I had it set for 800 and capping of 12800, or some even more ridiculous figure. When I bought the Df body, it was with the intension to use only my heritage Nikon lenses in trying to recapture the flavour of my F2, ( or maybe, more honestly, ) some vain effort to recapture my youth! I primarily shoot in B&W and in daylight, and I'd really like to know what you people set for ISO, but please, please don't deliver a lecture on the beauty and necessity of constantly varying ISO.

[NorthernFocus]

Ken, you might as well ask us about our politics while you're at it. You'll find people who produce excellent imagery with completely different ways of getting there. Besides, the only answer I could give would be, it depends. But honoring your request of no lectures I won't expound on what it depends on

[rpcrowe]

I cut my teeth on film and thus stand in awe of the DSLR camera's ability to change ISO at the flick of a finger or even use an automatic ISO.

I need to experiment using the camera in manual exposure and automatic ISO. I don't know about other cameras but, the Canon 7D Mark 2 seems particularly suited to be used in this way.

As far as how I set my ISO at the present time - I will most often use ISO 160 when there is enough light to do so and attain an f/stop and a shutter speed that I can live with. Since my shutter speed, f/stop and, ISO are all visible in my viewfinder and since the Canon Dual Control Dial system makes it easy to tweak those settings without taking my eye away from the viewfinder, it is easy for me to change any of the three settings to where I want it to be,

If I am shooting hand held, with a long focal length lens (especially when shooting fast action) I will start off with an ISO of 320 and adjust it from there as I am shooting.

I use flash quite often in order to supplement the available light, so I don't often need to shoot with super high ISO levels. However, I will not hesitate to boost the ISO to a level in which my shutter speed and f/stop combination is livable. I can get rid of a lot of noise in post processing (I use NIK Dfine for noise reduction) and I would rather have a slightly noisy image than an image that is blurry from camera movement.

While Image Stabilization doesn't do anything to remove or freeze subject movement, it is still a very handy facet when shooting. I am especially fond of the four stop IS capability of the 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II Lens.

[Shadowman]

I start at 100 and if I can't get the exposure I want I'll bump up until the capture can't be recovered through editing. I've practiced shooting at high ISO even in good lighting just to see what the outcome is, this is usually done when experimenting; for typical shooting it's about getting as much detail as possible.

[Stagecoach]

and I'd really like to know what you people set for ISO,

It depends upon what I'm shooting, the result I want and with which camera I'm using.

but please, please don't deliver a lecture on the beauty and necessity of constantly varying ISO.

Complied with

[Geoff F]

It depends on the circumstances, Ken, but Iso 400 is my default position. From there, I can usually get some sort of success if one of those quick action required shoot before thinking opportunities arises.

Then when I get a bit of thinking time I will adjust the Iso to give me the desired balance between aperture and shutter speed to suit the scene.

[pnodrog]

In normal lighting conditions I shoot in aperture priority and ISO manually set at 100 or 200 for landscapes and for moving subjects 400 or even 800. However in low level variable lighting (most recently Xmas parade at dusk) I switch to manual mode with auto ISO. Once I resort to a tripod with static scenes I general have ISO set at 100.

Manual mode with auto ISO is certainly a very useful feature that I definitely make use of.

[Manfred M]

My mantra (even in the film days) was shoot with as low an ISO as possible as that generally gave the best results.

Digital cameras have a "base" ISO, and every other ISO value is achieved by amplifying the data collected by the sensor. Both the sensor and onboard amplifier (the one embedded in the collector) is an analogue device, making it susceptible to noise. Shooting at base ISO gives you three important performance factors:

1. Maximum dynamic range;
2. The best signal to noise ratio your camera can provide; and
3. The highest colour depth (a nice way of saying the maximum in terms of being able to record discrete colour values).

As you increase ISO, all three of these deteriorate. As you shoot anything over the camera's base ISO, you are trading off an increase of sensitivity against these three aspects of performance. Obviously the drop off is quite small at lower ISO level and increase as the ISO setting increases. As with any other camera setting selection, it is up to the photographer to find the right balance for him or her.

For most of my shooting, selecting the ISO value I will use will be one of my first decisions. If the lighting is highly variable, I will shoot on auto-ISO.

To see how your camera's sensor performs, look at the test results for it at DxO Labs DxOMark website.

https://www.dxomark.com/

[DanK]

+1 to what Manfred wrote. I keep the ISO set manually as low as I can in most circumstances--100 if possible--but circumstances vary.

I typically start with ISO 400 (again, fixed) for indoor flash work because with E-TTL flash and the camera in manual mode, it gives a reasonable balance between the flash and ambient light. I vary it as need be.

In macro with flash, I vary the ISO based on the brightness of the background (same logic as above) but generally stick with 100, 200, or 400.

If light is so low that I can't use the aperture and shutter speed I want with a low ISO, I raise it, but only as much as I need to, for the reasons, Manfred gave.

I use auto ISO only when the lighting is variable and low enough that I don't have wiggle room in terms of shutter speed and aperture. For example, not long ago I shot a series of a play that wasn't well lit, and no flash was allowed. I set the aperture as I needed it and the slowest shutter speed that would work with that amount of motion and set the camera on auto-ISO.

[JBW]

100.

[dje]

I like to use the lowest possible ISO setting consistent with the exposure requirements of the scene, for the reasons outlined by Manfred. I often find Auto ISO a convenient tool for achieving that aim.

The implications of higher ISO settings do depend on the camera. The full frame 16MP DF that you have would have to be one of the best performers around when it comes to high ISO.

Dave

[Tringa]

I never use auto ISO(probably a hangover from the days of film when, other than changing films mid reel, there was no opportunity to change the ISO) and I usually set it at the base level. If that doesn't give me the combination of aperture and shutte speed I want then I'll increase the ISO.

However, most of my photos are of landscapes or other subjects that are not going to get up and run away if I don't grab a shot in double quick time.

Dave

[Black Pearl]

Nine times out of ten I'll use auto ISO as typically I'm taking pictures as part of just being out and about - I use my camera every day. The other 10% of the time I'm taking pictures because I specifically want to take picture so I'm more likely to have a tripod or the time to set the ISO for the end result I want. In both circumstances the highest I'll use is the highest my camera can offer but I would start with it at its base (200iso) as that makes the most sense.

[LePetomane]

I use ISO of 200 usually but in low light situations i switch to auto mode.

[Dave Humphries]

What DanK said applies to me too.

I typically start with ISO 400 (again, fixed) for indoor flash work because with E-TTL flash and the camera in manual mode, it gives a reasonable balance between the flash and ambient light. I vary it as need be.

In macro with flash, I vary the ISO based on the brightness of the background (same logic as above) but generally stick with 100, 200, or 400.

If light is so low that I can't use the aperture and shutter speed I want with a low ISO, I raise it, but only as much as I need to, for the reasons, Manfred gave.

I use auto ISO only when the lighting is variable and low enough that I don't have wiggle room in terms of shutter speed and aperture.

I can be sooooo lazy sometimes

OK, better put some effort in:

On average, I probably work at higher ISO's than most here; I use 1000 quite often and rarely go down to 200 and almost never to 100.

[Sergio M.]

I did a filtered search in the Lightroom library module for all my street photography and found that the most used ISO was 800 followed by 400.

Sergio

[davidedric]

Photographing wildlife, I generally find I need to be particular about ss and aperture, and the light can change rapidly as animals move. For that reason, I use auto and take whatever iso gets delivered.

Otherwise, I will start at base iso, 200 on my cameras, and take it from there.

As everyone has said, it depends

Dave

[miatab]

Thank you all for your advice and expertise. From all these welcome replies, I have gathered one thing above all: It depends. As the first responder said! And in truth, on reflection, I have to include myself. Aperture, depth of field/focus and shutter speed are right up front for me, always have been (even in underwater photography) and always will be, with the added bonus that I can, when circumstances demand, change "film speed" with a finger and thumb as I roll the ISO setting higher or lower than 400 to get the aperture/shutter speed combination I desire to capture the image. What did surprise me as I read through your answers/suggestions was how many of you use ISO sensitivities so much lower than 400 when possible, and My 2017 photographic resolution will be to explore fixed ISOs in the 100-200 range. This should push me to exercise my mind and fight off the laziness that has come with retirement and age,, and use, really use some of my wonderful Nikon heritage glass to justify my purchase of the Df body. Many thanks to you all.

[William W]

I've been thinking about ISO settings since buying my Df, and presently set it at 400 without auto ISO control . . . wondering what the more seasoned of you do. . .

When I bought the Df body, it was with the intension to use only my heritage Nikon lenses in trying to recapture the flavour of my F2. . .

I primarily shoot in B&W and in daylight, and I'd really like to know what you people set for ISO

I understood the comments in bold/underlined to be integral to the question.

I have a Fuji X100s and one of the three key purposes for buying it, was to choose a film type in the menu and then the exhilaration to capture JPEGs SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera), (i.e. to replicate film days using a rangefinder).

When I am shooting in B&W (or Colour) and in daylight I set ISO 400 and usually I do not use “Auto” anything. In shade, early morning, late afternoon or bright interiors, I set ISO1600. In dark interiors, I set ISO3200.

For me that’s part of the fun of the whole experience: to “load up” with pseudo film and then rate the film and then just deal with it.

Addressing your question as I have, means that it is irrelevant what is the ISO that I choose for other tasks using the Fuji x100s, or when I am using other cameras.

(BTW The other two reasons why I bought the camera are: Flash Sync of the Leaf Shutter and the silence of the Leaf Shutter, it is also very cute and small.)

WW

[kazuyar]

i normally like to set my own iso but on occasion i will set it to automatically go up if the shutter speed drops to lower than i want.
im quite happy to shoot up to 400, i don't really like going above, i think its a throw back from when high iso's were not so good because if i do occasionally go up to 800 or even 1600 i'm always surprised just how good they are