How dark is ISO 400?

miurasv

miurasv

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Steve.
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I'm very probably showing my ignorance here so please excuse me. I am considering buying a camera (Nikon D2X) that the performance of is excelled by another (D300) after ISO 400 and I was wondering how dark it would be. I know it's very difficult to explain how dark a scene is. Perhaps if you think of a bright sunny Summer's day at what time would you estimate to need ISO 400 or more? Thanks in advance.
 
:thinking: - You'd change your ISO to allow you to get your desired shutter / aperture combination... so it would depend on what you were shooting and the effect you are after.

have a look at this simulator
 
You're considering buying a D2X to go alongside your D2HS but you don't know the type of situations you may wish to use ISO 400 or higher in? :thinking:
 
hi there, "how dark is iso 400 ? " forgive me for being blunt and maybe a little bit harsh but i feel you are going about this the wrong way around.
instead of lusting after all this top gear, in which its quite obvious you have no idea how to use, why dont you leave the cash in the bank and go and buy a book on the basics of photography.
Then when you understand the basic principles and your photography improves you will have a better idea of what you want or need.
You have a d2h and i doubt you will outgrow that for ages as a beginner. it is also worth considering getting something more basic to learn on, for example a d40 or something with different scene settings so you could get used to shooting in different situations and learn from the cameras choice of apature and shutter combos. :thumbs:
 
There is a situation where this might not seem such a stupid question.
When I moved from my point and shoot, which was pretty much an auto-only camera, you could choose the ISO only, to the 400d, the settings did seem a lot darker.
On the point+shoot, I would shoot 200 or 400 ISO usually, and the aperture was meant to be f11
For some reason, on my 400d, it is difficult to get a properly exposed picture without going to 400 ISO and then a large aperture, 3-5
So it feels, like the ISO 400 on the 400d is darker than the ISO 400 on my previous camera. If that kinda makes sense?
 
brookers said:
hi there, "how dark is iso 400 ? " forgive me for being blunt and maybe a little bit harsh but i feel you are going about this the wrong way around.
instead of lusting after all this top gear, in which its quite obvious you have no idea how to use, why dont you leave the cash in the bank and go and buy a book on the basics of photography.
Then when you understand the basic principles and your photography improves you will have a better idea of what you want or need.
You have a d2h and i doubt you will outgrow that for ages as a beginner. it is also worth considering getting something more basic to learn on, for example a d40 or something with different scene settings so you could get used to shooting in different situations and learn from the cameras choice of apature and shutter combos. :thumbs:
Click to expand...

You're right again, Brookers. I am going about this the wrong way I know. I have asked on this forum before if I would be better off learning on something like a D40 but all the responses told me to just go ahead on the D2Hs. That may have been as I already had it but nobody said that it would be too complex or anything like that. I'd still like to get a used D40x or something for the smaller size of it. Can you recommend a good book on the basics of photography as I am aware that it would be more useful than another camera? Thanks in advance.
 
There's absolutely no reason that i know of why you cannot learn using D2x ,just because the tog doesn't know doesn't mean they can't learn :shrug:
 
The law's that control exposure are the same regardless of the camera you are using...just learn using the body you have, it will force you to understand the camera and how it works - have a look at this book -undestanding exposure
 
Thanks, all. I'll get that very book so I don't have to ask stupid questions on here.
 
There's no such thing as a stupid question on here. Don't worry about it.
 
mxfun said:
There's absolutely no reason that i know of why you cannot learn using D2x ,just because the tog doesn't know doesn't mean they can't learn :shrug:
Click to expand...

Absolutely agreed.

I would always suggest to buy the best gear you can afford; and if thats the highest spec in the market; good for you.

Learning the basic stuff is not a big deal; if you can lay your hands on a few good books. Good luck and enjoy the journey
 
I just stumbled across a page which actually answers the question you asked (whether you meant it or not).
Click the ISO sensitivity button.
Here
The higher the dot, the brighter the image.
What I find strange is the 100/200 results of the d300.
 
coldpenguin said:
I just stumbled across a page which actually answers the question you asked (whether you meant it or not).
Click the ISO sensitivity button.
Here
The higher the dot, the brighter the image.
What I find strange is the 100/200 results of the d300.
Click to expand...


I think what the graph is actually showing is the actual iso measured againt the camera's stated ISO so when you select ISO800 on a D300 the sensor is actually operating at ISO600 ish.
 
So in relative terms to an agreed standard, it is how bright the camera would see a scene at a particular setting.
 
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