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48 votes
Accepted

Do I have to shoot a whole film roll on the same ISO?

The ISO of a film roll indicates how sensitive that whole film roll is to light. That's a chemical property of the film roll, which you cannot change shot by shot. The ISO "setting" on your ...
Saaru Lindestøkke's user avatar
42 votes

Is it true that the best images from all digital cameras can be obtained at ISO 200?

There is an ISO which is not necessarily 200 that is the native sensitivity of the silicon from which the sensor is made. That sensitivity depends on the sensor itself, so will vary between cameras, ...
Itai's user avatar
  • 103k
32 votes

Why would using higher ISO and faster shutter speed yield more noise than using lower ISO and slower shutter speed?

So I first shoot with ISO 1600 and shutter speed set to 1/125 second and then I shoot with ISO 3200 and shutter speed set to 1/250 second. The amount of light should be identical and indeed both shots ...
Michael C's user avatar
  • 175k
28 votes

How is it possible to have shallow depth of field in very bright conditions?

The easiest way to solve this problem is to use a neutral-density filter. They are essentially neutral grey filters that cut down on the light reaching the film or digital sensor. Good ones are ...
Jim MacKenzie's user avatar
24 votes
Accepted

Is it true that the best images from all digital cameras can be obtained at ISO 200?

The information your friend gave you was essentially correct for most digital cameras, particularly compact digital cameras with very small sensors, made about 15-20 years ago. Digital imaging sensors ...
Michael C's user avatar
  • 175k
22 votes
Accepted

What are the practical differences between the exposure settings my camera picked for me in auto mode and my own choices?

It's hard to really tell from the small versions here — which is a lesson in itself, because at 1280x850, which is a perfectly fine online viewing size, the differences really don't matter that much. ...
mattdm's user avatar
  • 143k
21 votes
Accepted

What is the relationship between ISO, aperture, and shutter speed?

The Factors There is an equation, and by convention, it's set up to be really simple. There are basically five factors to consider together: Aperture — the size of the opening which lets light in, ...
mattdm's user avatar
  • 143k
19 votes

Do I have to shoot a whole film roll on the same ISO?

In addition to Saaru's good answer, I wanted to point out that the reason you might have been switching around the ISO setting and not really noticing much difference is because film has reasonably ...
osullic's user avatar
  • 11.7k
18 votes
Accepted

What is considered High ISO?

Being a man of science, I did some scholar-googling and came across some articles. Too long, didn't read: None of the scientific articles I found give a clear definition of "high ISO". However, they ...
flolilo's user avatar
  • 6,467
17 votes

What to do when you've set a too high ISO for your film?

Your camera "thought" it had film with an ISO of 400, while in reality it was only 160. So it adjusted it's exposure meter for ISO 400 film, underexposing your film by a bit more than 1 stop. To ...
Saaru Lindestøkke's user avatar
15 votes
Accepted

How do I disassemble FujiFilm X-T1 camera to disable the ISO dial lock button protection?

How to disassemble / take apart Fujifilm X-T1 and how to disable ISO Dial lock switch. It is relatively easy to take apart FujiFilm X-T1. You only need one type of screwdriver, although the screws ...
Emil's user avatar
  • 464
13 votes

Dealing with exposure time during sports photography

Selecting an appropriate aperture When shooting sports in low light you're not going to be able to shoot at f/11. Most of us use f/2.8 lenses and shoot wide open. We do this not only because it helps ...
Michael C's user avatar
  • 175k
13 votes

Is there any reason to change the ISO manually?

Is there any reason to change the ISO manually, rather than have it set automatically? The primary reason to set ISO, along with shutter time and aperture, manually would be to totally control ...
Michael C's user avatar
  • 175k
12 votes
Accepted

Dealing with exposure time during sports photography

Sports photography usually require two things: a long focal length and a wide aperture. The long lens is required to shoot action a long way away. The wide aperture is used for two purposes: ...
Crazy Dino's user avatar
  • 4,864
12 votes

What is the role of Shutter Speed while using a Manual Flash?

Flash duration is typically much shorter than most cameras' flash sync speed. If the flash only has a duration of, say, 1/1000 second (or 1 millisecond), it matters not if the shutter is open 1/250 ...
Michael C's user avatar
  • 175k
11 votes
Accepted

Why use ISO instead of Aperture and Shutter speed?

All three have different uses and different . Aperture - by closing your aperture you're increasing depth of field and sacrificing light - by opening your aperture you're decreasing depth of field,...
walther's user avatar
  • 1,041
11 votes

How is it possible to have shallow depth of field in very bright conditions?

Some considerations: Turn your ISO right down to the minimum value Do you really need f/1.8? Depending on the composition of your shot you can usually still get decent shallow DoF up to around f/4....
SierraOscar's user avatar
11 votes

What does the ISO setting for mechanical 35mm film cameras actually do?

Usually, it does not affect or limit the aperture or shutter speed at all. Rather, it tells the exposure meter where the center is. In some ways, it's exactly like exposure compensation dials. If the ...
mattdm's user avatar
  • 143k
11 votes

In situations where you aren't compelled to pick high ISO (low light/needing a high shutter speed), is there ever a reason to NOT prefer low ISO?

Generally, the best image quality will be obtained at base ISO, which is usually the lowest ISO setting normally available. Some cameras let the user set an ISO value lower than the base ISO by ...
Orbit's user avatar
  • 1,530
11 votes

Unusable image R5 iso 1000

There are some points regarding the attached image. What happened? The most important thing is, that your image is already underexposed by about 1.5 - 2 f-stops. This also means that your image is ...
Kai Mattern's user avatar
  • 4,099
9 votes

Why is ISO counted as part of the exposure triangle?

You're both right and wrong. Yes, technically the "ISO setting" is merely an amplification of sensor data. However the quantization (feeding the analog signal into the analog-digital converter) ...
Agent_L's user avatar
  • 2,090
9 votes

What is considered High ISO?

ASA Film Speed provides a simple enough answer for this. ISO 400 was considered standard high sensitivity film with anything above that being very high sensitivity film. It would be easy to argue ...
RyanFromGDSE's user avatar
  • 2,447
9 votes
Accepted

Can I set non-full stop ISO values on my D3400?

Is it at all possible for me to set an ISO value, for example between 400 and 800? Not on the D3400. It is on higher end cameras. If not, why does Auto mode seem to have more control over the ISO ...
Philip Kendall's user avatar
  • 21.8k
8 votes

My photos are way too dark, must use 6000+ ISO inside

First you need to understand exposure. If you are using a higher ISO than you would prefer, you need to let more light in with either a longer shutter speed, or a wider aperture. See: What is the &...
dpollitt's user avatar
  • 46.5k
8 votes

Can photos taken with high ISO be fixed?

The photos can be improved, but you would have to pay a retoucher and even then with such a high iso the photos are going to look poor. Maybe pick out a few worth paying a retoucher from the actual ...
rob j crowe's user avatar
  • 1,401
8 votes
Accepted

How can I use 400 ASA film in a Leica IIIf, which does not have options higher than 100?

I don't think this model has a built-in light meter. The dial you are referring to is just a reminder indicator. You set it when you load film and then weeks later when you pick up the camera, you ...
Alan Marcus's user avatar
  • 38.7k
8 votes

What is the physical cause of increasing noise at high ISO?

ISO for Analog vs Digital ISO is confusing in digital photography in part because it was actually meant for film photography. In film photography, ISO 400 really is more sensitive than ISO 100 film. ...
Tim Campbell's user avatar
  • 3,897
8 votes

Why do some DSLRs have ISO less than 100?

There's nothing magical about the value 100. In fact, early film had ISO values in the double and even single digits. Theoretically, there is no lowest value — well, zero, because it goes to fractions ...
mattdm's user avatar
  • 143k

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