Help with ISO Speeds

I have a Panasonic FZ50 and while not a DSLR I'm really starting to get on with it well.

I am curious about other member's view on shooting with the differing ISO settings (100 - 800 available)

What are the downsides to using the higher ISO speeds?

Currently I tend to take all my snaps at ISO 100, but I am wondering if that is too often resulting in shutter speeds a little too slow for my shaky hands?

What do others think here?

Steve

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High Orbit: The Photographic Galleries of Steve Milner

Higher ISO speeds will give you grain or on digital it is called noise but this is not necessarily a downside, it can compliment a photograph depending on what you are trying to achieve. For example grainy B&W photos are still favored for certain styles.

If holding the camera, I don't let the shutter speed fall below 30 as I know my limits.

Say for example, my aperture was set to 2.8mm which let in the most light for the lens I had on the camera at the time, my ISO was set to 100 but using the cameras meter it told me it would be underexposed and my shutter speed was already at 30 so I know I'd get camera shake if I lowered the shutter speed any further. To overcome this, I'd increase to ISO to 400, 800 and maybe much higher depending on the lighting conditions and if I was somewhere that wouldn't allow me to use flash.

If you were doing long exposures on a tripod then you can set you ISO to it's lowest setting make an exposure at f22 for 20 secs for example and a typical scenario for this would be a night shot. Using a high ISO setting in the dark, you'll really notice the noise in the dark areas and other areas close up.

Don't be afraid to use the higher ISO settings as you might loose an otherwise great shot due to camera shake! Practice and practice with different combinations of ISO, shutter speed and aperture and become confident with them.

There are always noise reduction techniques you can use in your post processing workflow to fix the noise.

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Paul

Paul, thanks for the help.

The reason I got put off the higer ISO speeds (Although it was with my old camera) was I took a shot of the moon at a higher film speed and it turned out badly grainy, so I decided to switch to 100.

And last weekend I had serious difficulty in the Rail Museum at York. I couldn't use the flash because the hihgly polished & pained engines reflected glare, ther were too many people to use a tripod. Ithe onlyway to get some of the shots I was after was for exposures of 1/4 of a second or worse!

I guess I should have given it a go with some faster film speeds.

I'll live and learn

Thanks again,
Steve

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High Orbit: The Photographic Galleries of Steve Milner

Hi i dont tend to use the higher ISO settings much mostly because of the noise on the images, i shoot mostly use ISO 50 or 100 for better quality ... but i use a tripod and shutter switch, when i cant i borrow a person or a wall to lean on and turn the ISO upto 200 and then shoot, i very rarely go above 400 even though the 5D is pretty good on reducing the noise... old habits dye hard

Try the moony 11 rule which states that at f11 the shutter speed should by one over the ISO. So at ISO 100 and f11 the shutter speed of 1/125 sec will hold detail in the moon

Alistair

I saw that in another article and noted it with interest. I have taken this to heart, only I haven't had a decent view of the moon to shoot since then.

The problem I had last time was the noise in the black area, which would have been better at a lower ISO

Steve

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High Orbit: The Photographic Galleries of Steve Milner

if in doubt, put a tripod underneath even when shooting landscapes during the day..when i was a little flush i got myself the Manfrotto #58 and #29 head. i wont tell what i paid for it as you'll all laugh...

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1Dmk2,10D, 20mm,28-70mm,200mm, Elinchrom3000,1500,600's,500's, Multiblitz200,Bronica SQb, expensive Manfrotto tripod

Hi Steve, don't forget that if you are stuck in a situation of film speed at ISO 100 but need to increase that because of the lighting situation, you can safely do what is known as 'push' the rating by upto 2 stops. Which means you override the camera setting of the ISO rating (from 100 to 400 for example). You can then continue to use the fim at that ISO rating safely. However you must remember to tell the developing lab that this roll of film has been 'pushed' and preferably put a sticky label on the roll indicating the new ISO ratings so it can be developed and processed at the new rate. The draw back of this is often a higher grain of film which will be noticable in your final image. But, as indicated earlier this can compliment an image, depending on what the subject is. But, it has to be better than no image at all. I hope this helps.
Regards....Phil

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Regards....Phil

If it moves shoot it. If it doesn't move, still shoot it.

Ah, sorry to confuse. I am shooting digital.

But I never realised you could do that with film.

Steve

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High Orbit: The Photographic Galleries of Steve Milner

Hmm. I tried that last night and just got a very dark image.

The best shot I took was F8 at 1/50 with ISO 100.

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High Orbit: The Photographic Galleries of Steve Milner