ISO 1600 or lower?
 

I'm a beginner to digital photograpy. So have mercy :)

Just bought my first digital reflex, an EOS 350D. Fantastic camera.
After a few days of practicing on "auto" I now take pictures in the
P-mode. And trying to tune the camera with my personel settings.

But I'm a bit confused about the ISO-use.
Is standard the max of 1600 ISO the best option or is there a way to
"play" with the ISO-value?

Any other suggestions for the P-use are also welcome.

TFD

Re: ISO 1600 or lower?
 

TheFlyingDutchman wrote:
> I'm a beginner to digital photograpy. So have mercy :)
>
> Just bought my first digital reflex, an EOS 350D. Fantastic camera.
> After a few days of practicing on "auto" I now take pictures in the
> P-mode. And trying to tune the camera with my personel settings.
>
> But I'm a bit confused about the ISO-use.
> Is standard the max of 1600 ISO the best option or is there a way to
> "play" with the ISO-value?
>
> Any other suggestions for the P-use are also welcome.
>
TFD,

You can indeed "play" with the ISO value.
Turn the camera on.
In the back, where there are 4 way arrows, press on ISO (the top
arrow).
In the LCD, you will have a choice: 100 - 1600
with the "down or up" arrow, this case, the "up", go to 100 and press
the "set" button. You will be on 100 ISO.
General rule is to shoot at 100 ISO. For this type of camera,
acceptable max is 400 without any grain. At higher values. you will
have noise (grain).
For flash in a dark environment, you might wsant to shoot at 200 or 400
ISO. Just try and see.
If you're using a filter, you might want to up the ISO to 200 or more,
depending on the overall brightness of the day.
Do not forget however to pree the "set" button when you change the ISO
value and indeed the WB (white balance), AF, etc.
Take care,
Marcel

Re: ISO 1600 or lower?
 

TheFlyingDutchman wrote:

> I'm a beginner to digital photograpy. So have mercy :)
>
> Just bought my first digital reflex, an EOS 350D. Fantastic camera.
> After a few days of practicing on "auto" I now take pictures in the
> P-mode. And trying to tune the camera with my personel settings.
>
> But I'm a bit confused about the ISO-use.
> Is standard the max of 1600 ISO the best option or is there a way to
> "play" with the ISO-value?

As a general rule, use the lowest ISO that lets you get the shot that you
want. Don't be a stickler for rules like "always use ISO 100". ISO is one
of your five basic controls--adjust it as required, with the understanding
that the higher the ISO, the more "noise" there will be in the image, just
as the lower the shutter speed, the less motion will be frozen and the
wider the aperture the lower the depth of field. Shoot a sequence of the
same subject from the same location at each ISO setting and look at them
carefully and you'll see the effect of noise.
>
> Any other suggestions for the P-use are also welcome.

Not sure how P mode works on the 350D, on the 30D it gives per shot control
of aperture and shutter speed that are almost as complete as full manual,
with the added convenience that on the next shot the camera will
autoeverything for you unless you tell it otherwise. Practice shifting the
program and EV while looking through the finder until you can do them
without really thinking about them.
>
> TFD

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Re: ISO 1600 or lower?
 

TheFlyingDutchman <theflyingdutchmann@yahoo.com> wrote:
>But I'm a bit confused about the ISO-use.
>Is standard the max of 1600 ISO the best option or is there a way to
>"play" with the ISO-value?

ISO is essentially a "gain adjustment" on the analog amplifier
between the sensor and the codec that digitizes the signal.
(Just what you always wanted to know, eh?)

Well, what it means is that if you have a low level signal from
the sensor, you can crank it up by turning up the volume! Of
course it also amplifies the noise too... which is the bad news.

I don't know your camera at all (I use Nikon equipment). But
generally the idea is to use the lowest ISO value possible,
unless you have some specific need in mind (more noise, for
example!).

Of course sometimes the ISO setting can be used for creative
purposes, and obviously it might make all the difference in a
case of low light. If, with ISO set to 100, you have your
aperture set to f/4, and can't change the shutter speed for some
reason, but want more depth of field??? Crank the ISO up to
800, and stop the lense down to f/8. You will get more depth of
field, the lense will most likely be slightly sharper (maybe
greatly sharper), and the noise increase will probably not be
even perceptible. If you intend of making 20x30 posters, that
may not work so well though!

It's all, like everything else with photography, a series of
tradeoffs. As you gain more experience you'll become more
familiar with which parameters can be compromised for others to
get specific effects. For some people that is great fun, while
others never learn any of it and always prefer fully automatic
cameras.

--
Floyd L. Davidson <http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson>
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) floyd@apaflo.com