This website may not be completely displayed! You have no or only dated version of Flash Player installed!

.........................................................................................................
ISO VALUE

The light sensitivity of film or digital cameras sensor is expressed in the ISO value. A higher ISO value means that less light is needed to reach the preferred exposure of the photo. With a higher iso-value is possible to shoot in dark conditions.

A higher value has a big problem: noise. The amount of noise depends on the camera: one is more sensitive for noise at ISO 400 than the other at ISO 800.

Automatic ISO value is the best choice for almost all situations. The automatic value is never higher than 200. Compact consumer cameras possible offer up to ISO 800 or sometimes even higher, but the quality could be disappointing.
In general, above ISO 400 are the images no longer usable, but as previously said, this varies per camera.
You, as a photographer should decice how much noise is acceptable. Knowing the limitation of your camera is very important. It can be very frustrating if all night shots are ugly, because of unacceptable amount of noise. You should have chosen a lower ISO value and should have used a tripod!

.........................................................................................................
There are generally three situations when you need to change the ISO value:

1. people in dark, if you will keep the feeling (higher)
2. If you have no tripod and need a high shutter speed (higher)
3. Night scene and evening shots (as low as possible)

If you want to take a picture in the darkness without flash, a good high ISO value (400 and above) is interesting, because you need a reasonable shutter speed. For example, a party in an nice restaurant, where the people and the feeling are both important.
If you use flash, the feeling is mostly gone. If you put the camera on a tripod and use low shutter speed, all your friends become a shadow (people are moving). In this case, the highest acceptable ISO value, maybe in combination with slow-synchronic flash, gives you probably the best result. Note, the white balance needs to be correct to prevent orange faces.

back