Dumb question: Which ISO do you normally shoot at?

bbbig wrote in post #4010663
Hey thanks for that link.

Very interesting about those 160,320,640,1250 ISO settings... Do you see that resulting histogram at those settings are always "spiked"? In other words, unless you shoot at ISO 100/200/400/800/1600, it may result in inaccurate distribution of colors, even though the signal to noise ratio may be better at 160/320/640/1250. Any thoughts?

Do you have the image of these results? If not, I can e-mail it to you.

I also did the test myself, and confirmed the same values for my 30D, using the IRIS program. It's quite simple. Let me know if you want more info.

During the summer months (or weeks depending where you live) I use 100, all other times for outdoor 200

Indoor 200-400, at a push 800. Indoor flash I tend to use 200 if I can or 400

ISO 100 thank you very much. Used with the 100-400. I'm getting sharp results at 400mm 1/400th most of the time. If I REALLY need a faster speed I put the ISO 200. Higher, it's noisy. My 20D ain't a good noise-wise copy.

aero145 wrote in post #4013845
ISO 100 thank you very much. Used with the 100-400. I'm getting sharp results at 400mm 1/400th most of the time. If I REALLY need a faster speed I put the ISO 200. Higher, it's noisy. My 20D ain't a good noise-wise copy.

are you sure you don't own a nikon ?

ed rader

bbbig wrote in post #4010663
Very interesting about those 160,320,640,1250 ISO settings... Do you see that resulting histogram at those settings are always "spiked"? In other words, unless you shoot at ISO 100/200/400/800/1600, it may result in inaccurate distribution of colors, even though the signal to noise ratio may be better at 160/320/640/1250. Any thoughts?

Yeah - I noticed that - especially interesting at the 3200 setting. Also, in the discussion, it was said that this is all irrelevant when shooting RAW anyway, which is what I do. In practical terms, I just don't know what it means though, or how significant it really is, sorry.

It looks like Glenn NK may have a good handle on this - maybe he'll chime in.

<OT vent>Actually, in practical terms, I'm still struggling getting my 30D/17-70 combination to play nicely together and focus! When I start getting sharp images, then I'll worry about noise .</vent>

ed rader wrote in post #4014046
are you sure you don't own a nikon ?

ed rader

Yeah, I noticed Nikons only go as low as ISO 200??? That true??

xarqi wrote in post #4014897
Also, in the discussion, it was said that this is all irrelevant when shooting RAW anyway, which is what I do.

I would think that ISO settings are very relevent, even in RAW, because I would imagine RAW data is based on ISO setting (i.e. sensor sensitivity setting).

In other words, "ISO setting" in digital cameras is not some simulated value, but rather different sensor sensitivity calibration altogether... so you won't be able to simply simulate ISO 100 from an image that was taken in ISO 800, etc.

If anyone has a very technical background on this, please do enlighten me with the details! Thanks.

The default ISO on my camera bodies is ISO 400. I'll adjust from there as necessary. This is not what I normally shoot at, just a reasonable mid-range ISO setting that I can easily adjust from going low or high.

ISO 100 most of the time, and ISO 200 if its late in the day, or i want a little more depth of field.

ISO 400, if its under the lights with flash.

After printing an 8x10 shot at ISO 800, will never go there again.

Just way too much noise for me.

I shoot the xti with iso set at 200 or sometimes 400. I never go above that. The IS lenses are great. I have a friend that shoots the same camera and lens and she always is up to 800 or better, and all her bird shots in the middle of the day in good light are so grainy I can't stand it. She used to shoot with a non-IS lens and can't break the habbit of using a high ISO. Bummer.....steve

bbbig wrote in post #4005802
Here's a newbie question,

I usually shoot at lowest possible ISO to obtain the least noisy images. So, unless I want super-fast shutter speed, I am shooting ISO 100 (on my 30D) when I'm outdoors. Indoors, I use ISO 1600 if I don't happen to have a flash attached. Am I doing this right?

What ISOs do you normally use, and why?

100 al the time unless the shutter speed is getting too low, then I up it as needed, OH for amode that ups the ISO automatoically ( on my 5D)

ISO 100, almost all ocations.

160 is lowest I'll go outdoors, 320 inside with flash and 1250 no flash for stage performances.

bbbig wrote in post #4015233
Yeah, I noticed Nikons only go as low as ISO 200??? That true??

That's true.

I base my choice of ISO on a number of things including:
Available Light
Lens being used
Shutter/Aperture setting
Effect I want to create in the photo

Hvaing said that so I dont get caught out I always set my ISO to 200, Aperture to around f9 and leave my camera in Aperture mode when i am finished for the day/shoot.
Experience of having shot eveything at 1600 in bright sunlight taught me this valuable lesson

Stu