Auto-ISO

JayB

JayB

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Hey folks, the age old question... does anyone use Auto-ISO for their daily photography? Particularly in question family/wedding photographs? At the minute I use manual ISO but a bit nervous to use Auto-ISO for the likes of weddings but always been curious.
 
I don't - always set this manually myself, the only exception would be if I needed to shoot in constantly changing light whereby to keep manually changing could cause me to miss a shot.
 
I mostly shoot in A mode or S and manual ISO but as I say nervous to use Auto. I can set max on my D810 also. do you guys mean that changeable conditions for like outside when the sun peaks is head in and out?
 
JayB said:
I mostly shoot in A mode or S and manual ISO but as I say nervous to use Auto. I can set max on my D810 also. do you guys mean that changeable conditions for like outside when the sun peaks is head in and out?
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Have a think about this.

What are the alternatives?

You keep a low max ISO and get clean blurry shots?

The reality is that you're well aware when you're in the dark and make an artistic choice re adding your own light.

If you're using A, your camera can be set to a minimum SS and you can get on with the important stuff.

I only pick the ISO on my 6d's when I'm shooting primarily with flash. Otherwise It's just something I don't need to worry about.
 
Phil V said:
Have a think about this.

What are the alternatives?

You keep a low max ISO and get clean blurry shots?

The reality is that you're well aware when you're in the dark and make an artistic choice re adding your own light.

If you're using A, your camera can be set to a minimum SS and you can get on with the important stuff.

I only pick the ISO on my 6d's when I'm shooting primarily with flash. Otherwise It's just something I don't need to worry about.
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Good point Phil, Sharper shots obviously are more important to me of course. I must give it a try to I see. I find the 810 has no mercy for slower shutter speeds and my shaky hands.
 
I use auto ISO all the time setting shutter speed and aperture manually to suit subject, this means I can be reasonably sure of sharp images even if the ISO is not always ideal.
 
i use auto ISO when out general shooting by default. i do set parameters for it to work within though. when its something specific, or as @Phil V says you need to control light or flash then i will set a fixed value and operate to that. otherwise the picture you have composed in your mind will often be cancelled out by the camera trying to help you.
 
Auto ISO combined with Aperture priority is absolutely brilliant... there are very few situations where that's not what I use. Just set the max ISO and the min SS limits as suitable for the camera/lens. When set up correctly the camera automatically makes the changes I would make manually, and it uses the same "logic" I would apply.
 
I use it when shooting video, shutter is 1/50, I adjust aperture to suit and let Auto ISO take care of the rest. If it's a really bright day I use a polarizer to cut down the light, I also have a variable density for exceptional circumstances
 
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I always use auto-iso unless doing flash lit photography.

In shutter priority mode, the lens goes to widest aperture and I can play with the shutter speed - getting crisp images and some that blur motion..

It would be a pain for me to have change ISO every time I decided to change the shutter speed.
 
Mostly auto ISO, it does the job pretty well most of the time. I generally only select manually when the camera won't give me what I want, I can't think of an example, which goes to show how often it's a problem.
 
I'm just learning at the moment and I'm basically trying to learn with manual iso. When I set it at auto, the camera was putting it up high to counteract my poor choices with the other settings..resulting in rubbish photos . in other words I wasn't really learning properly. Once I start to get a better understanding, then I will almost certainly be moving to auto iso as all reports suggest that cameras do quite a good job of It!
 
Lefrash said:
I'm just learning at the moment and I'm basically trying to learn with manual iso. When I set it at auto, the camera was putting it up high to counteract my poor choices with the other settings..resulting in rubbish photos . in other words I wasn't really learning properly. Once I start to get a better understanding, then I will almost certainly be moving to auto iso as all reports suggest that cameras do quite a good job of It!
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I'm guessing from this you're trying M with auto ISO.

Whilst some people love this, it's a stupid way to 'learn' IMHO.

You can learn the exposure triangle with a little reading followed by a weekends practice (using any or all modes).

The way some people talk about exposure you'd think it was astrophysics.

The much more important lesson (and the one often missed by those banging on about camera modes) is learning to understand you meter, because whether the camera is in full auto, semi auto or M, the meter it's following is doing the same thing. There's no point in shooting underexposed shots just because you and the meter reading have a misunderstanding, no manipulation of the triangle will help you there, you have to take control.
 
Thanks guys, I have a little family shoot this weekend and think I will give it a go (my family). Seems to be the way forward once you set your min shutter and max iso. What would you guys class as the max ISO you would go on the likes of the D810?
 
JayB said:
Thanks guys, I have a little family shoot this weekend and think I will give it a go (my family). Seems to be the way forward once you set your min shutter and max iso. What would you guys class as the max ISO you would go on the likes of the D810?
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Depends on the situation! I've used my D810 at 12800 in very low light and it's been ok, but it was noisy when I lifted the shadows. I'd happily use it between 3200 and 6400, it all depends on your tolerance for noise. At low ISO's the D810's ability to recover under exposure is remarkable.

In terms of auto-ISO, I use it probably 95% of the time, only switching it off when I need full control over all the settings.
 
JayB said:
Thanks guys, I have a little family shoot this weekend and think I will give it a go (my family). Seems to be the way forward once you set your min shutter and max iso. What would you guys class as the max ISO you would go on the likes of the D810?
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1600 is my personal limit for the D810... above that I switch to the D5.

With auto ISO the behaviors are a bit different in the different modes:
In manual ISO will be set to whatever makes the meter happy (if w/in limits set), once it reaches the min/max setting it will over/underexpose.

In S(Tv) ISO will be kept at minimum until the aperture is maxed out, as light decreases ISO will increase to(towards) the max setting, and then it will underexpose... I don't like this behavior and I never use this mode.

In A(Av) ISO will be set to maintain your minimum SS, if there is more light ISO will be at the minimum setting and SS increases. If there is not enough light the ISO will reach the max setting and the SS will decrease *below* the min setting, but it will not over/underexpose.

Irregardless of which mode you are in, if you do not like what is happening you change the setting(s) you have immediate control over... if the meter/metering is "wrong" you dial in EC (with the D810 you can enable "easy EC" which places EC on the unused dial, no need to find/push the button).
 
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sk66 said:
1600 is my personal limit for the D810... above that I switch to the D5.

With auto ISO the behaviors are a bit different in the different modes:
In manual ISO will be set to whatever makes the meter happy (if w/in limits set), once it reaches the min/max setting it will over/underexpose.

In S(Tv) ISO will be kept at minimum until the aperture is maxed out, as light decreases ISO will increase to(towards) the max setting, and then it will underexpose... I don't like this behavior and I never use this mode.

In A(Av) ISO will be set to maintain your minimum SS, if there is more light ISO will be at the minimum setting and SS increases. If there is not enough light the ISO will reach the max setting and the SS will decrease *below* the min setting, but it will not over/underexpose.

Irregardless of which mode you are in, if you do not like what is happening you change the setting(s) you have immediate control over... if the meter/metering is "wrong" you dial in EC (with the D810 you can enable "easy EC" which places EC on the unused dial, no need to find/push the button).
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Thanks for the tips and info, only 1600? hmm... was thinking I might get away with a bit more or rather I was hoping for lol.
 
JayB said:
Thanks for the tips and info, only 1600? hmm... was thinking I might get away with a bit more or rather I was hoping for lol.
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I would set it as high as it will go. I'd rather have noisy shots than blurry shots or no shots. Don't see the point in capping it. If things are getting marginal you can always reduce minimum shutter speed slightly or switch to M and take a little control of the situation. Either way ISO is going to be what it needs to be, no point getting too hung up on it.

In terms of what is acceptable, I always find it strange when people assign a maximum number that they're happy with for a given camera. It depends on so many variables as to be almost irrelevant, not least of which is going to be whatever print/display size you're going to want at the end of it.
 
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I use auto iso on my 810 about 95% of the time too. Mine is always in A and usually set to a pre configured minimum shutter speed of 1/640s which is where I've found I get consistently sharp results. I drop the shutter speed down a bit if I'm using wider than 80mm. I have had no issue with mine getting up to 12800, just make sure to expose correctly so that no lifting of shadows is required. I have no qualms with luminance noise though as I'm used to film grain. I do absolutely no luma noise reduction, only chroma.

This is 11400, I see no reason to complain, even viewing at 100%.
Shagreen Chest by Kyle, on Flickr
 
Kei said:
I use auto iso on my 810 about 95% of the time too. Mine is always in A and usually set to a pre configured minimum shutter speed of 1/640s which is where I've found I get consistently sharp results. I drop the shutter speed down a bit if I'm using wider than 80mm. I have had no issue with mine getting up to 12800, just make sure to expose correctly so that no lifting of shadows is required. I have no qualms with luminance noise though as I'm used to film grain. I do absolutely no luma noise reduction, only chroma.

This is 11400, I see no reason to complain, even viewing at 100%.
Shagreen Chest by Kyle, on Flickr
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WOW thats a good shot for that ISO for sure. I will definitely give it a go this weekend for sure.
 
If you have to go high ISO and you can, just over expose a bit. That should help with keeping the shadow details.
 
I sometimes use Auto ISO in Aperture Priority when I am moving quickly through different lighting situations, from an open square then down a darker alley for example. On my older camera I could set the minimum shutter speed and the maximum ISO. Normally the minimum shutter speed was a reciprocal of the longest end of the zoom lens I had, so for my 16-85mm lens I set it to 1/90th sec. My new camera also takes into account the focal length when setting the Auto ISO, so whereas the shutter speed at 16mm would have been 1/90 sec, the camera would now set between 1/15th and 1/20th sec. That could result in the camera setting the ISO about 2 Stops less that it would have before, so less noise. :)

The Auto ISO can also be set to go a bit faster than the reciprocal of the focal length, if I am having a shaky day. ;) Add that to the newer camera being a lot better in low light than the previous camera, and I am a lot more confident with Auto ISO. On my previous camera the maximum ISO I was comfortable using was 800-1600, on the new camera I get less noise at ISO 6400, and I could even go a touch higher if needed. :eek: :D

Also, sometimes when I am doing sport pics in Manual Mode, Cricket for example, when I am in a static location and the background doesn't change, and I want a certain Aperture and Shutter Speed combination, I set the camera to Auto ISO to take into account any changing light levels.

Most new cameras are so good with higher ISO that for most every day photography higher ISO levels are less of a problem, but you should always do a bit of testing to see what levels you are personally happy to go up to. :)
 
JayB said:
Thanks for the tips and info, only 1600? hmm... was thinking I might get away with a bit more or rather I was hoping for lol.
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Depends on output/use... I would use it up to around 6400 for smaller output sizes. It's just that I have another camera that's better suited to high ISO.
 
Since getting cameras that allow Exposure Compensation in Manual mode with Auto ISO - I don't think I have used anything else! Now all the info I need is in the viewfinder, all the adjustments I need are under my thumb/index finger, my eye does not need to leave the viewfinder and I don't have to think = I like it!
 
JayB said:
Thanks guys, I have a little family shoot this weekend and think I will give it a go (my family). Seems to be the way forward once you set your min shutter and max iso. What would you guys class as the max ISO you would go on the likes of the D810?
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Whatever gets the shot.

If it's too dark for an image of the quality you'd like; Pack up or add light.

Only photographers care about noise, is it because the worlds full of idiots or that most photographers have the wrong priorities?
 
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I do 90% of my photography outdoors. The light can be constantly changing - sometimes during a burst of shots. Since first trying auto ISO I've barely turned it off.

I will do for long exposures and other low light situations but otherwise it's on all the time.
 
I never used to use it apart from on some older nikons where it worked extremely well ,but moving back to canon I never found the need ,but since acquiring a 1D4 and using it in conjunction with my sigma 150-600 sport ,I have found the best way to use that combo is in manual with auto ISO ,I now just set the speed or aperture to suit the shot and let the camera do the work with the confidence that even very high ISO shots still clean up reasonably well ,but at least there all sharp and perfectly exposed .
 
the black fox said:
I never used to use it apart from on some older nikons where it worked extremely well ,but moving back to canon I never found the need ,but since acquiring a 1D4 and using it in conjunction with my sigma 150-600 sport ,I have found the best way to use that combo is in manual with auto ISO ,I now just set the speed or aperture to suit the shot and let the camera do the work with the confidence that even very high ISO shots still clean up reasonably well ,but at least there all sharp and perfectly exposed .
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Do Canon now allow exposure comp shooting like that? Always thought they were shooting themselves in the foot vs Nikon by not facilitating that in the past but assume it's now allowed?
 
gad-westy said:
Do Canon now allow exposure comp shooting like that? Always thought they were shooting themselves in the foot vs Nikon by not facilitating that in the past but assume it's now allowed?
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It's possible only on a few Canons.
The Canon engineers were slownto see the benefit of auto ISO and are still struggling to implement it properly.
 
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