Comments on: Use ISO AUTO… Why Not?

By: Stingray City

Stingray City — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:08:46 +0000

A good place to use a camera to take pictures are at the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. I went there for vacation not too long ago, and had the best time. The views were simply amazing, everything there was picture-worthy..

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:27:04 +0000

Similar to Samuel Kordik above, I use auto iso quite a bit, in conjunction with the auto bracketing on my D200. It is not a sign of “newbieness” as I have been shooting for almost 25 years, over 15 of those as a professional as well. The sign of a “newbie” is someone who is overly concerned with seeming “newbie,” if that makes sense. Most amateurs would be surprised to find out that many professionals eagerly use as many auto features as possible because it enables them to “get the shot” as quickly as possible, which in turn saves them time, money and prevents unnecessary navel-gazing in front of a monitor. If this wasn’t true, you wouldn’t see professionals using VR or IS lenses, auto-focus, or even digital cameras.

By: Samuel Kordik

Samuel Kordik — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:12:57 +0000

As a professional shooting a wide range of subjects, I’ve found the Auto ISO on my Nikon D200 to be invaluable. Shooting in rapidly changing conditions, going in and out of shade, the Auto ISO feature removes one variable that I have to think about. I set the minimum shutter speed based on the lens I am using and the maximum ISO based on lighting and on desired image quality—most of the time, it is set to ISO 800. The camera does a beautiful job of preserving sharp shutter speeds and pulling out the lowest noise possible. In fact, I find that it does exactly what I would do; but it saves me from having to take the time to do it.
I do set the ISO to manual, however, when shooting landscapes or still lifes (where I am using a tripod and want to maximize image quality) and when shooting with manual strobes/flashes (because the Auto ISO and TTL metering can’t accurately expose with these). In these instances, I am almost always using a handheld meter anyway and setting exposure manually.
One note…on the D200, there is a “Recent Settings” menu that lists all of the recent menu settings. My Auto ISO menu setting is always there near the top, so I can quickly change it if I change lenses or shooting situations.

By: CyberCarsten

CyberCarsten — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:39:35 +0000

I enjoy Auto ISO for more than a year now - my point ofview is very similar to Andreas’. It is a 3rd variable in low-light and street photography. Just a great feature to have (and to turn off from time to time).

By: Saturday Links Fever [2008-01-26] at All Day I Dream About Photography

Saturday Links Fever [2008-01-26] at All Day I Dream About Photography — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:47:53 +0000

[...] Use ISO AUTO… Why Not? EpicEdits After a venture on the manual ISO mode, Brian finds himself shooting in Auto ISO more often nowadays and shares his thoughts with us [...]

By: Andreas Manessinger

Andreas Manessinger — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 10:07:28 +0000

On my Nikons I use it all the time. It simply works, and even while I used the D200 with its higher noise levels, I had always set maximum ISO to 1600 and minimum shutter speed to a value appropriate for the lens (stabilized or not, focal length) and the situation (action or not). I think that in many situations my images were still less noisy than they would have been on a Canon 5D. Why?

Because when you don’t have or use the feature, you don’t evaluate light shot by shot, you evaluate locations and situations, and then you set ISO to the maximum you are likely to need. Light, on the other hand, changes shot by shot, and a small difference in angles can make for a big difference in available light. Without the automatics I would shoot many images on higher ISO than needed, and thus I would end up with effectively more noise.

Now, on the D300, I have max ISO routinely on 3200, and occasionally, like during my recent Jazz concert shoot, I even go to 6400. There is no reason to not do it. If I can’t hold the shot at lower ISO, then I don’t get it at all. If the camera thinks 6400 is appropriate, then it is always such a situation. The shot at 6400 may be usable or not, I may have to turn it to B&W, but at least I have a shot.

It depends on what you do. If your concept is one of noise-free fine art photos, then you restrict yourself to certain kinds of photos and willingly accept to not being able to take others. That’s OK, but it is not my thing. If I can get the shot, I do it. If I throw it away later, salvage it with special noise reduction programs or live with the noise creatively (I have even added more noise in Photoshop at occasions), at least I have all the options.

Andreas

By: Jeff O'Hara

Jeff O'Hara — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 03:57:30 +0000

I use auto iso 90% of the time on my Nikon D40. There are a few situations when I turn it off.

1. When my flash is on.
2. When on a tripod.
3. When i have a very bright backlight.

Auto iso is definately not only for newbies. If I didn’t have auto-iso on all the time I would miss a lot of shots I would not otherwise have gotten.

-Jeff

By: Music Site

Music Site — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 04:21:54 +0000

my wife has a good quality camera, I just forgot what kind it is, but I will check and let you know later, we took a lot of pictures with it, but it was hard for me to use the auto thing, as I said I am not expert or something, but I am trying to learn cause we usually go out on many vacations and I would like to have them memorized,

I just have a question for you: what do you think of printing the pictures online through Kodak? I never tried it before but I am thinking of it, they have a website and all I can do is submitting my pictures and then they print them and send them to me, do you think it would have good quality?

Thank you and good luck,
Have a nice day.

By: Brian R

Brian R — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:44:44 +0000

I shoot almost exclusively in Manual mode. I used to use Program much like Janne describes (I’ve also got the K10D), but I found that the camera frequently optimized the wrong way due to factors outside it’s knowledge.

For instance, I might be in an awkward stance and hence be willing to go for a higher ISO in exchange for a faster shutter. But the camera doesn’t know, so it does the opposite, and I end up with a soft, ISO100 shot. Or vice versa — I’ve got a solid rest, so maybe I’m willing to go to a 1/8s shutter, but instead I get 1/60 and ISO800.

Maybe I just tend to shoot in odd circumstances. Regardless, I got tired of fighting the camera and just went to manual.

By: Al Morrison

Al Morrison — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 02:36:03 +0000

Like Jenni’s comment above, I recently went from a Canon 300D to a 40D and find that the Auto ISO, while seeming to peg higher than I would set it manually, does a pretty good job. For a while I was worried that the higher setting might lead to a noise problem, but the 40D has impressed me with its ability to deliver excellent image quality even when I’ve manually pumped up the ISO to 1600. Also had the same problem as Jenni in forgetting to reset the ISO on the 300D and lost a lot of shots that called for a different value. Right now I’m leaving it on Auto ISO and not having any problems.