Which ISO

Speedy136

Speedy136

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Nick
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Been a long time since my last SLR and was using Kodachrome and fujichrome with ISO ratings of 25 and 64!
Now back in to my old hobby using a Nikon D5100 with both kit lenses set to aperture priority most of the time. What ISO do you guys use on a regular basis? I appreciate sports would be higher and landscapes lower but wondered what is the average setting for DSLR's?
 
Welcome to TP :)

Depends entirely on the lighting conditions, available support, whether you need to freeze movement and how fast your glass can go. ISO is a variable you should alter whenever you need to in order to obtain the correct exposure with the shutter speed/aperture value you wish to or need to use for any given situation. You can't really be given an overall average setting as it's completely dependant on the circumstances.

Personally I use everything from 100 to 800 on a regular basis, but that's meaningless since I'm not shooting the same things as you.
 
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Logic would probably suggest that the lowest ISO would give the best quality but I don't think that's always so for every camera these days. I think it's best therefore that you shoot at every available ISO with your own camera and view the results and decide which is best.

I still shoot under the possibly wrong assumption that low ISO is best with my DSLR but I'm happy enough to leave my MFT (micro four thirds) on auto ISO.
 
Welcome to TP Nick.

There isn't really a "regular" ISO, most people will set their ISO last to get the exposure right for the shutter/aperture they want/need to use.

For instance, if I'm shooting rugby or cricket I want a shutter speed of 1/800 or greater so will set the ISO last to ensure I achieve this.

As a general rule of thumb, the lower the ISO the lower the noise in the images BUT a poorly exposed image will look noisier if you try to recover it in PP so don't be afraid to use higher ISO ;)
 
Set it to auto with a limit of 3200 or 6400, and enjoy the flexibility that digital gives over film.

If you really want to alter it start low 100, and adjust upwards as the lighting conditions dictate.

I have the D700 and will go up to 6400 without any worries, I am more interested in achieving the shutter speed and aperture I want for the shot.

This was one of my first shots with the D700, 1/500 f7.1 ISO 6400

230_031.jpg
 
on the D5100, you should be able to get away with ISO as high as 1600.

on my D3100, i try to stay at 800 or lower as that is the limit of my sensor before noise starts to appear.
 
Speedy136 said:
What ISO do you guys use on a regular basis? I appreciate sports would be higher and landscapes lower but wondered what is the average setting for DSLR's?
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You presume this because sports needs a higher shutter speed than landscape.. but todays cameras are so good its not so much an issue.. My starting point for sports is iso 400.. however recently shooting iso 200 because the sun is so bright :)

Its all about the light and the equipment.. so many different combinations that nobody can give you a proper answer.. maybe if you tell us the camera and what your shooting.. but even then...
 
Thanks for the input everyone. Martyn that is a lovely shot and 6400! wow...
I remember T max being grainy at 800. Obviously we have come a long way since then.
Time for me to experiment more, I was initially worried about the majority of lenses in my budget having relatively high f stops seing that the ones I used to use started at f1.4.
I have a huge learning curve to travel but think I will enjoy the journey.
 
I have a canon T3i/600d and when I go above 200 I see the I.Q dropping. I never go above 400 because I thought what is the point of a bad I.Q picture. My question is if this is normal for this slr. The second question, is this something that is easily cleaned up in lightroom 4 or is this just something I have to live with when using an entry level slr. thanks for your help.
 
The larger the sensor and the newer the camera the better will be the noise figures (in general).

In fact on most FF cameras you can easily use 3200 ISO and reduce it to about 1200 px with hardly any noise showing - even when cropped and without NR.

.
 
Speedy136 said:
Been a long time since my last SLR and was using Kodachrome and fujichrome with ISO ratings of 25 and 64!
Click to expand...

From what I remember the actual ratings were in ASA not ISO - but I stand ready to be corrected.

.
 
petersmart said:
From what I remember the actual ratings were in ASA not ISO - but I stand ready to be corrected.

.
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From what I remember, ASA and ISO were pretty much different names for the same thing - ASA 100 became known as ISO 100 (a bit like Celsius and Centigrade?) but the low figures of 25 and 64, iirc, would likely be the older system of DIN, and iirc again, DIN 25 was equivalent to ISO 100 and DIN 64 to ISO 400.

I'm going to live on the wild side and post this before googling it :D
 
shaylou said:
I have a canon T3i/600d and when I go above 200 I see the I.Q dropping. I never go above 400 because I thought what is the point of a bad I.Q picture. My question is if this is normal for this slr. The second question, is this something that is easily cleaned up in lightroom 4 or is this just something I have to live with when using an entry level slr. thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

What IQ problems are you seeing at ISO 400 on the 600D?
You have the same sensor as my 60D, which is capable of A3 prints that look noise free taken at ISO 2500 processed using LR3 default settings (chroma only).
For example, straight out the 60D with only a light crop - ISO 2500, 200mm, f4.5, 1/125s
http://www.wild-landscapes.co.uk/Bl...37327_VjCnqW#!i=1282618986&k=cMxK7bF&lb=1&s=A
As a double check I looked at dpreview RAW comparison tool for 600D v 60D and at ISO 2500 they look identical.

Admittedly, viewing ISO 2500 at 100% looks a bit rubbish, but is still very acceptable printed to A3.
I recommend doing some quick tests of your own.
 
DuncanDisorderly said:
shaylou said:
I have a canon T3i/600d and when I go above 200 I see the I.Q dropping. I never go above 400 because I thought what is the point of a bad I.Q picture. My question is if this is normal for this slr. The second question, is this something that is easily cleaned up in lightroom 4 or is this just something I have to live with when using an entry level slr. thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

What IQ problems are you seeing at ISO 400 on the 600D?
You have the same sensor as my 60D, which is capable of A3 prints that look noise free taken at ISO 2500 processed using LR3 default settings (chroma only).
For example, straight out the 60D with only a light crop - ISO 2500, 200mm, f4.5, 1/125s
http://www.wild-landscapes.co.uk/Bl...37327_VjCnqW#!i=1282618986&k=cMxK7bF&lb=1&s=A
As a double check I looked at dpreview RAW comparison tool for 600D v 60D and at ISO 2500 they look identical.

Admittedly, viewing ISO 2500 at 100% looks a bit rubbish, but is still very acceptable printed to A3.
I recommend doing some quick tests of your own.
Click to expand...

I would add to that that noise can appear worse at higher ISO when the exposure is out of kilter. Sharpening (in or out of camera) and exposure correction PP can amplify the problem.
 
High ISOs will never look as good as lower ones otherwise there'd be little need for the lower ones. The only way you'll know whether theyre good enough is to print some stuff

I have to say though, that even my old 300d creates better prints than 35mm film at comparable ISOs. 1600 ISO prints are noisy, but id happily hang them after NR. The 40d produces 30 x20 prints that I could not get from 35mm film.
 
Thanks Phil I was starting to think I night be doing something wrong. I took some test shots and saw the I.q. fall as the iso went up. Interesting enough the I.q. held up to 800 pretty well. The wind picked up so I had to call a day at that point but I curious to see just how much I can go up and keep the I.q acceptable. I usually work around around low light with a 200 iso and slow the shutter speed for the rest. Problem with that is sometimes I get slow movement in the seen (cloud movement ext ) and if its set really slow, well you know.
 
shaylou said:
Thanks Phil I was starting to think I night be doing something wrong. I took some test shots and saw the I.q. fall as the iso went up. Interesting enough the I.q. held up to 800 pretty well. The wind picked up so I had to call a day at that point but I curious to see just how much I can go up and keep the I.q acceptable. I usually work around around low light with a 200 iso and slow the shutter speed for the rest. Problem with that is sometimes I get slow movement in the seen (cloud movement ext ) and if its set really slow, well you know.
Click to expand...

Sometimes cloud movement looks very good in pictures, I've shelled out on a ND filter to get exactly that look. I see what you mean though.
 
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