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Articles  ISO Settings |
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What is ISO setting on your digital SLR (DSLR) camera and how do you use it?
The letters ISO on your digital camera settings refer to the film speed. Even though your camera is most likely not film at all, but rather digital, the ISO setting still does has the same function as older film cameras. ISO determines how sensitive the image sensor is to light. If your after more technical information
ISO Speed & Exposure
ISO speed affects the shutter speed / aperture combinations you can use to obtain correct exposure.
Suppose your digital camera's light meter warns you there is not enough light to correctly expose a scene. You could use the on-board flash, but let's suppose again it's not allowed (like in a concert or indoors recital).
You would then need to use a higher ISO. Set on "ISO Auto" mode, your digital camera will automatically select a higher ISO. Otherwise, you can manually select the next higher ISO and see if the increased sensitivity allows you to obtain a correctly exposed picture. If it does, you can now take a correctly exposed picture.
Similarly, if you find the camera is using a shutter speed that is too slow (1/60 sec. and slower) to handhold the camera steady and shake-free (thus resulting in blurred pictures), and you cannot open up the aperture anymore, and you do not have a tripod or other means to hold the camera steady, and you want to capture the action, etc. etc. -- then you might select the next higher ISO which will then allow you to select a faster shutter speed.
The most common ISO speed settings are: 100, 200, 400 and 800. Depending on your digital camera model you may also have them in the range of 64, 100, 160, 200, 400, 640, 800, 1600.
Practical Considerations
You obtain the best image quality by using the lowest ISO possible on your digital camera. If you want to ensure your digital camera always uses the lowest ISO setting, switch the ISO setting from the default "Auto ISO" (this setting is usually found in the Menu) to the lowest possible on the camera, say ISO 50.
If you mostly take pictures where there is enough light for a correct exposure, i.e. sunny outdoors, then using the lowest ISO on your digital camera will give you the best image quality your digital camera is capable of.
If you want to take pictures indoors where light may not be sufficient and in other low-light situations, then you would need to supplement existing light with flash or studio lights. Either that, or select a higher ISO. Of course, depending on your digital camera, a higher ISO may mean a noisy image.
A large image sensor (APS-sized and larger) means that you are able to use a high ISO speed without unduly worrying about noise. This means that you can take pictures in low-light situations without your pictures being under-exposed. It also means that in situations where it is required, you are able to use a fast enough shutter speed to prevent camera shake. All, again depending on your camera, without much noise.
The lower the ISO number, the slower the speed. The higher the ISO number, for example 1600 the faster the speed.
General Rules and tips for ISO Settings:
Use an ISO of 100 or 200 when taking photographs outside in sunny conditions.
If the sky is overcast or it is evening time, then use an ISO within the range of 400 to 800.
Night time or in cases of low light you might need to set your digital camera ISO to 1600. If you don't then your photo will appear too dark if at all.
How does the ISO speed affect the photographs end result?
If you set your digital camera to a low ISO, for example 100, the resulting photograph will be better quality than one set at 1600. The higher the ISO the more grainy the photo will look. Therefore go for a low ISO number whenever possible.
However there are circumstances where a lower quality photograph is better than none at all. For example taking photographs of fish in a dark aquarium would normally be out of range for most point and shoot cameras. As you can see by the image below, setting my SLR camera to a high 1600 ISO made this task possible. Otherwise there would not have been enough light let in to the sensor and the image would have turned out totally black.
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