plus the 'BASE ISO' is not always the min ISO available in the settings... so while he's giving good advice for beginners, it might be useful to let them know that these days cameras will produce photos w/ insensible noise @ ISO 400 and in most cases even ISO 800 is perfectly fine, especially during daytime..
@@AustinJamesJackson definitely could in some situations. Though rarely am I in settings where it goes over 1600 and not paying attention to adjust otherwise. 1600 is a pretty clean iso these days
@@AustinJamesJackson well yeah but that can also be bad advice in some situations. you are going to get a better image if you use 1/100 and iso 1000 then 1/10 and iso 100 plus today in lets say lightroom there is ai denoise that works well when the image is well lit and the iso is not above like 6400
I knew what shutter speed and ISO did but I didn’t know Aperture increases the amount in focus. I thought it was just an increase or decrease in light overall. Thanks man, this will help when I’m using a macro
You can ignore his comment about using base ISO, that will only frustrate you in the long run. Use whatever ISO is enough with the shutter speed and aperture settings you WANT to use
The ISO 100 rules is kinda confusing for most people at first. Alright you can get more details etc but when learning photography I think it’s best to first understand aperture and shutter speed. I recommend manual only for special types of scenes or for some cool effects. Aperture or shutter speed priority combined with auto ISO are pretty reliable and most cameras will drop to ISO 100 when there’s enough light. And keep in mind that each sensor reacts differently to ISO noise and most of the newer once get great details even on ISO 800-1600. In short: if you can shoot at ISO 100 do it, but it isn’t a must in my opinion😉
Right on. Shooting in manual can be pretty scary leading up to a shoot. But I do like to do it a lot. Don't be drinking or on drugs when you are doing that. Lol. You need every brain cell in your head to pull it off. When my clients offer me a drink, I always refuse. Manual mode is critical thinking.
Yeah, saying, that 100 is the base ISO is complete bullshit, most cameras have their native iso at 800 or 1600 maybe higher in some modern cameras. Meaning, that you capture the same amount of dynamic range towards the highlights and the shadows.
It’s not only confusing but not really good advice. That low ISO is old school film and early digital advice. Modern cameras do great at reasonable ISO.
Even not modern cameras would rather have light to work with than ISO100. Even on sunny days it's better to have it on auto in my opinion since clouds could roll in and destroy the image
After dealing with advices like this one, having your iso always at 100, I've missed opportunities of taking photos with the settings I wanted, like a faster shutter speed..so, now use auto iso almost all the time. It's better a grainy photo than the photo I could not shoot with the aperture or shutter speed I wouldn't want. Just remove noise in post processing in lighroom or Dxo.
@@AustinJamesJackson auto iso does that after all. My camera is a Nikon d3500 and has no dedicated button to change the iso, you have to dive into the settings menu.
Well exactly. But sometimes you have to keep up with the action of people really fast. It's best to use continuous shutter speeds . If you're in manual mode, your going to get a shot if you can adjust the camera settings or use two or more camera bodies with different lenses really fast. Clients have the same amount of patience as people in the drive thru at a fast food restaurant. And it's getting worse. They want results right now.
i had this conversation w/ people over time... best way to get over the 'fear' of noise is to actually test the camera + lens and see what level is acceptable to You. these days most cameras will produce excellent results @ ISO400 and even higher.
Thank you so much for this explanation, I have a hard time remembering the difference between the three. I appreciate you also giving examples of each, it made it so much easier to understand!
This is all somehow useful advice, however ine of the interesting thing you can learn is that even noise can be used for creativity and doesn't need to get eliminated at all costs
the way some people describe it is that ISO is the only setting that doesn't affect your composition, so the lowest is always the best - just add grain in post to suit your vibe
@@tacotimmer8288 it's just making it hard for new photographers to catch clear (not blurry) images if they want to keep a low iso in low light situations.
Just a little nerdy correction. ISO doesn't "digitally add light" it makes the sensor more sensitive to light. There is more noise because the sensor becomes sensitive enough to pick up errant photons bouncing around the environment. As long as the shot is well exposed you won't notice that much noise. For that reason, even in manual mode, you're better off leaving ISO in auto because it only affects the exposure and not the artistic presentation of the image (doesn't affect motion blur, DoF etc.)
You corrected him and did it worse? Incredible, iso changes either the electrical signal (analog), digitally (multiplying the values of the pixel matrix) or both. ISO doesnt create more noise, S/N ratio does. Noise isnt just errant photos either, the process of capturing an image is electronically imperfect, which creates 'read noise'.
@@AustinJamesJackson My understanding is that the signal amplification form higher ISO settings in digital cameras is an analogue process (occurring before the digitisation of the signal from the sensor). There are exceptions (for example, Fujifilm camera have extensions to both ends of their ISO dials which introduce digital processing), but these are the exception to the rule of how ISO generally works. I'm open to being corrected, but as far as I am aware, your description here is very much incorrect, and your reply to this comment doesn't address the issue at all.
For most cases it makes more sense to shoot with auto ISO and use exposure compensation if the camera gets the ISO wrong. Using base ISO comes from the days of early digital cameras with CCD sensors which usually don't handle high ISO well. DXOMark says the Sony a6400 (which I think represents mid range mirrorless cameras quite well) is perfectly usable up to ISO 1431. Beyond that you can just remove the colour noise in post, maybe add some more noise reduction and you're good. Noise is better than not taking a shot because ISO 100 turns out to not be enough. ISO 1600 is perfectly fine on most cameras. With the camera he's using (Sony A7R IV) you can go up to ISO 3200 with basically no noise
I agree, but always recommend using manual when you’re learning. Otherwise when you use auto ISO, you don’t really have to think about shutter speed and aperture critically because ISO will always allow you to get a proper exposure.
@AustinJamesJackson ISO has next to no impact on the look of a photograph, shutter speed and especially aperture obviously do. It doesn't make sense to basically teach a beginner that their artistic vision is less important than getting a low noise shot. Who cares what the camera does to get the exposure right. And if you do care, you can set ISO manually. My point still stands, base ISO is a drag
“Leave your ISO at 100” the problem is my camera doesn’t allow me to shoot anything below 800 if I’m using S-Log settings for color correction. Just wanted to point it out that there’s more than just those three things you need to account for if you want a professional image and there’s definitely definitely ratios to follow.
@@AustinJamesJackson Yes that's true. But since I shoot everything on Manual, video or not, it's an issue I found out. Since video is more common for most "content" now days with UA-cam/tiktok/ etc etc I figured some "video creators" will stumble upon your video and not be aware of this fact if they are still a beginner. There's a lot of people on the internet. Your traffic will not only be about "photographers'. You will also have people learning about other camera activities looking into your video.
I really don't agree with the advice of leaving ISO at 100. Sure, if there's plenty of light shoot at the lowest ISO possible. But in situations where there isn't as much light, I'm definitely happy to live with some noise to be able to stop action or get more of the image in focus when needed.
I'd just like to add that high ISO does not create noise, it just amplifies existing noise, there's always noise there, you just can't tell. It amplifies everything and that mean light and noise go up.
There is also saturation, contrast, skin tone, warmth, sharpness, af points, af mode, and file type, all of which are controllable manual, though some might have others, or less.
@ look it up. Plenty of information online. The main idea though is that the brightness of full sunlight is mostly the same everywhere on earth and for most times of the day so you can use it as a reference / starting point for exposure.
I like to set ISO to auto with a range bracket of ISO100 to ISO 8000. You can't always adjust shutter speed or aperture when you want a specific look or are shooting handheld. This will help to expose your images faster, less thinkering with the settings and taking the shot in the moment.
I have been photographing since I was 9 years old (since around 12 with semi-proofessional cameras), and I have rarely seen a situation where I need to control all 3, most scenarios I just really need to control 1 of them, or two (one of them being ISO). And that is done also by many professional photographers, just like Gregory Heisler, who I had class with.
Just set iso to auto and set a limit in your settings. I've set mine to 6400 iso maximum. You can work with 6400 iso and remove the noise when editing your images.
Well actually when you are shooting in a low light you should use higher iso. Through the daylight I usually shoot at 100-200 but when its a bit darker I tend to use iso 400-800 so I can get more shutter speed for my photo to be more stable
It actually doesn’t change the sensitivity to light. It does act as gain though. Older film cameras use ISO as a sensitivity adjustment for the sensor but not anymore.
The “bigger picture” of exposure is that most outdoor scenes in sunlight and single light sources indoors will exceed the the ability of the camera sensor to react from the light in the deepest shadows of the scene when exposure is adjusted for optimal highlight exposure. Optimal highlight exposure occurs when only specular reflections from sun or artificial sources are “Clipping” and being recorded at a 8-bit digital value of 255. For example if photographing an object white car or dinner plate the paint of the white car hood or surface of the plate should be recorded about 1/3 stop below triggering the clipping warning (e.g. 245-250) otherwise the 3D shape defining specular reflections will be blown out and those important perceptual clues to 3D shape in the 3D rendering lost. Ansel Adams defined the smooth sunlit white objects as Zone / Print Value 9 and specular reflections on them as Zone / Print Value 10 (i.e. paper base only) Regardless of exposure mode and metering used the best approach is to adjust until brightest white non-specular highlights are below triggering the clipping warning and making the bars pile up on the right side of the histogram then look at the left side of the histogram. If bars are piled up on the left it means the scene range exceeds sensor range and any ISO, even 100, will just be amplifying noise left over from the last exposure made. The solution when scene range exceeds sensor range are: 1) bracketing on a tripod or bean bag by 2-3 stops for shadow detail then combining images in post-processing, or for close subjects; 2) put sun to back of subject and expose white objects it hit 1/3 stop below clipping, then use flash in front to lift the front to the point where flash lit white highlights are slightly darker than the sunlit ones to retain the natural ambience of the lighting. It may be necessary to use two flashes in a off-axis KEY over centered FILL to allow the camera sensor to record detail in the deep shadows when highlights are exposed as suggested here.
generally a lower iso is better, but ive shot pictures with iso of up to 2000 (because i needed to freeze my subject) and sure, they do look more grainy than what i would like, but that grain wouldve been there and might have been much worse if i was shooting with a lower iso of say 640 and added the light later on in a photo editing program (plus i wouldn't have seen my subject if it were that low or lower)
Most modern cameras are actually ISO invariant so it actually wouldn’t have made a difference in the grain if you shot it at a lower ISO and brightened later. That said, increasing the ISO is often necessary when there isn’t enough light!
base ISO is not always the choice. check your camera's signal to noise diagram, but yes, in general, you won't see significant difference on small screens/prints.
Aperture is a good way to reduce light in bright situations when shutter speed cannot be increased to compensate, and ISO is already is low as it can go. I use it less for bokeh than I do for controlling light. In landscape, it's often a good side effect that this increases sharpness across the image, but it's not the primary reason I usually increase it. Now if only you could lower it as easily as you can you can ramp it up!
Well this is basic setting, I thought you will talk about how to set them manually in short time, what variable to notice from the preview for specific scene where manual photography work well.
@@AustinJamesJackson I mean, shoot in manual quite challenging in some cases. Maybe if you have tips to set all that variable the right way so I can get the best result while not missing the moment because take too long to set them up. Like maybe you prefer prioritizing set the aperture first before the other or something else
HELP NEEDED: I take mainly sunset portraits of people. I like a blurred background so I use f 2.8 most of the time. I have a DSLR. I love when the contrast is very low and the photos are bright, but I hate when the background is washed out and there is no detail. Sometimes I struggle because I’ll find the sun to be very harsh on my models and the background so then it’s very washed out, but if I lower aperture I get a very intense contrast which I absolutely hate. I understand what everything does, I’m just having a hard time figuring out how it works all together. I typically manage to find the perfect settings and get the right shot, but I’ve had two instances now where I’ve been completely clueless and no matter what angle I’m shooting at, where the model is at, what time of day it is, and what settings I mess with it seems EXTREMELY over contrasted. I don’t know how to fix this pls help
For every beginner! This short is ok but learn more then just this. This is a very short explenation and for it being a short it's good. But learn more about these settings and. For example how your apature will affect a lens's sharpness but also the brightness of the image, how ISO works on your specific camera (ISO 100 is not always best), and at what shutter speed to run in which scenario (are you shooting hand held for example). Learn, learn, learn!
Hi, I am a beginner photographer about to get my first camera. I am wondering what Austin means when he states that the base ISO of the camera is where you want to shoot at. Is it playing it safe when we just use the base ISO for all of our pictures? What are some situations where we would not shoot at the base ISO? Any advice helps!
The base ISO of most cameras is 64, 80, or 100. You can raise the ISO to increase the brightness of your image. However, this can result in noise/grain. You should slow the shutter speed or open up the aperture first to increase brightness before tapping in to the ISO.
Great explanation but when you are photographing wildlife especially things that move fast such as birds in flight manual mode isn't necessarily the best mode to be in. You haven't got time in difficult quick changing light conditions to keep changing settings. Best to shoot in Aperture Priority as there's less to adjust.
Need advice on the best camera to get for making a movie.. Im an actor and learning the production side as i go.. storage is full on phone so my q is which is the best for video\film? Cellphone (best video cam?) vs a video camera and which of the above would you recommend? Or both? Samsung vs iphone etc
A video camera will have a lot more dynamic range, which is really important for most movies. There are a lot to choose from and you should look at the video resolution before making a decision!
This obsession with keeping the iso on 100 at all times can make you miss important moments. It’s happened to me so many times. Better to have noise, while getting the subject tac sharp than missing the shot all together. Plus with noise reduction technologies now days, you can crank it up pretty high, and still get good results.
@@AustinJamesJackson No, don't keep it at ISO 100. Set the ISO that is required to have a properly exposed photo. Lower ISO values have HIGHER read-out noise!
I used to do manual when Photography was just a hobby. Now as a career : auto ISO, auto White balance, auto Shutter Speed.. i don't care just make it fast and good enough 😂
It always depends on the available light, but as a beginner in general, just try shooting in manual mode with AUTO ISO. Do not fear higher ISOs. If you have a good camera, your images will still be usable at higher ISOs. Focus on setting up your aperture and shutter speed to get the look that you want, and let the camera pick the ISO for a good exposure. Leaving ISO at 100 will most of the time force you to lower your shutter speed causing blurry shots. The image might look good in the camera's LCD but you'll see the difference once you see it a bigger screen.
Using Auto ISO is a bad habit for beginners to use. Can't tell you how many clients have been on my workshops and mentioned that their camera always produces noisy images, which is due to auto ISO. Yes, turn up ISO when you need it to keep the shutter fast enough, but if you're using a tripod, there is very few situations when you need to use the ISO past base.
Also I need a second opinion. I am thinking of getting the canon r50 or r100, but I am indecisive as to which one I should get? Anyone have any advice on things I should look for? My plan is to picture portraits and street photography. Thank you in advance.
A common misconception is that iso digitally increases light it’s more of a gain setting that increases the sensitivity of the light that’s already going into your camera it does not digitally increase light, for example, a shot of a dark room at a high aperture a fast shutter speed and a high iso will have noise the key is to adjust all three settings about one another you should never limit yourself to the “lowest” possible iso it should be adjusted as necessary because if your aperture and your shutter speed are set correctly iso will only function as a slight increase or decrease of exposure in your composition it’s a tool just like the others and you should not be afraid of it an iso up to 21 thousand can still produce clear and clean images if your other settings have gotten your exposure to where it needs to be that being sad it can introduce noise if you have poorly exposed your image beforehand your iso is not a get out of jail fee card if you’re going to shoot in manual you must know how both aperture and shutter speed interact with light as they arguable effect the brightness and exposure of your composition more than iso will
Aperture isn't related to the process of focusing. It effects the depth of field in your image, meaning more or less of the image will appear in focus.
Telling people to shoot at the lowest iso is generally bad advice, unless you only plan on shooting in bright sunny weather. This will frequently lead to underexposed shots that need to be pulled up in post, leading to even more noise, and worse dynamic range, than if you set the iso properly to begin with. Better advice is, shoot at the lowest iso you can (the lowest that gives you proper exposure) to get the shot you need, but don't be afraid of it. Astrophotographers regularly shoot at iso 1600 or even 3200 and still get great results, it's not something to be afraid of.
Agreed! Best to not rely on it unless you need it. If you're on a tripod, you rarely need ISO unless something in your scene is moving or you're shooting night images.
Love how you said: Base ISO. Because photo is pretty basic at 100 for perfect images in most camera's. Video isn't. It's a whole different story how ISO works and why BT.709 is 400-1600 base iso and Clog3 is 800 or 3200 base iso
Depends on the kind of photography you're doing. I recommend you fully understand ISO before tapping into it, or else you'll have a lot of images that are grainy for no reason.
I do understand auto ISO and leave it on full time. I made that comment because lots of beginners are afraid to crank up the ISO thus getting lots of blurry images(or simply not taking the shots) due to slow shutter speeds. Most cameras nowadays can yield good results way above the base ISO. We all have to contend with tradeoffs.
@@AustinJamesJackson I’ll fill in the slightly vague reply for you. Turning up the ISO increases the gain of the amplifiers of each photosite. It works very similar to turning up the volume on speakers. The higher the volume the more sound is produced but at the same time you amplify and increase noise. There is no digital light being added.
iso isnt digital, it can also be analogous, and btw, iso doesnt add/create noise, it only shows it, noise is created by lack of light (which is caused by actual light entering the sensor so is affected by aperture/shutterspeed/nd) not by iso. If you take a picture reducing the amount of light of light, and this image reaches x exposure, if you were to take the same photo with smaller aperture and faster shutter speed and then bump the iso so the image reaches x exposure, there will be more noise not bc of iso but because of lack of light. Look at simon dentremons video on it,
Nothing wrong with auto ISO up to limits best suited for the scene (and ought to be learnt how that will behave for the particular camera). Not everything needs to be ultra clean.
if you're shooting at night in the city with an f/8 aperture, leaving iso at 100 is absurd. the image will be almost completely black. to get a properly exposed scene, you obviously need to crank iso up, sometimes even to 12,000 or higher, depending on your camera. in low-light conditions, increasing iso helps the sensor amplify the signal to capture scene details while maintaining a balance between brightness and noise. of course, there will be some noise, but it's still way better than an underexposed image that can't be "fixed" during editing.
@@AustinJamesJackson It is adjustable (why else would it be there) but irrelevant if you meter on the subject. Put your iso on auto and you get the best artistic results.
![Chris Langan - The Interview THEY Didn't Want You To See - CTMU [Full Version; Timestamps]](/img/n.gif)
Noise is a function of low signal (light). High ISO only amplifies noise, but does not cause noise.
Correct, this is the technical way of explaining it!
@@AustinJamesJackson would be a great lead in to discuss ISO invariance
plus the 'BASE ISO' is not always the min ISO available in the settings...
so while he's giving good advice for beginners, it might be useful to let them know that these days cameras will produce photos w/ insensible noise @ ISO 400 and in most cases even ISO 800 is perfectly fine, especially during daytime..
One thing even better for beginners is just running auto ISO.
Well, he did say you'll "see" more noise in your images, that's not wrong. Your explanation is still valid
Manual mode by itself is great, however, throwing in auto iso for dynamic situation shooting may be one of the best overall ways to go.
I always steer away from auto ISO, as it can occasionally burn you if you aren't paying attention.
@@AustinJamesJackson definitely could in some situations. Though rarely am I in settings where it goes over 1600 and not paying attention to adjust otherwise. 1600 is a pretty clean iso these days
@@AustinJamesJacksonthrow zebras on and you’ll never have that happened.
@@AustinJamesJackson well yeah but that can also be bad advice in some situations. you are going to get a better image if you use 1/100 and iso 1000 then 1/10 and iso 100 plus today in lets say lightroom there is ai denoise that works well when the image is well lit and the iso is not above like 6400
@@xstevenx8132 even with zebras, i can't seem to figure out how to properly adjust ISO to my exposure settings.
This is an EXTREMELY helpful explanation. Smart commenters as well, I’ve learned a ton. Thanks for making it simple and plain.
Haha! Thank you!
I knew what shutter speed and ISO did but I didn’t know Aperture increases the amount in focus. I thought it was just an increase or decrease in light overall. Thanks man, this will help when I’m using a macro
Awesome! Good luck!
You have the best shorts for photography in the game
Glad you think so!!
I'm now 51 and just started photography, thank you for this 🎉❤, Smart comments too😮😅
Welcome! Hope my videos are helpful for you.
You can ignore his comment about using base ISO, that will only frustrate you in the long run. Use whatever ISO is enough with the shutter speed and aperture settings you WANT to use
@@athmaid Got it, thank you
@@manibelanggala Simon d'Entremont has the best videos for photography beginners imho, definitely check him out
@@manibelanggala in my opinion Simon d'Entremont makes by far the best videos for photography beginners, definitely give those a look
Perfect for basic things. Great shorts
Thank you!
The ISO 100 rules is kinda confusing for most people at first. Alright you can get more details etc but when learning photography I think it’s best to first understand aperture and shutter speed.
I recommend manual only for special types of scenes or for some cool effects. Aperture or shutter speed priority combined with auto ISO are pretty reliable and most cameras will drop to ISO 100 when there’s enough light.
And keep in mind that each sensor reacts differently to ISO noise and most of the newer once get great details even on ISO 800-1600.
In short: if you can shoot at ISO 100 do it, but it isn’t a must in my opinion😉
Well said!
Right on. Shooting in manual can be pretty scary leading up to a shoot. But I do like to do it a lot. Don't be drinking or on drugs when you are doing that. Lol.
You need every brain cell in your head to pull it off. When my clients offer me a drink, I always refuse. Manual mode is critical thinking.
Yeah, saying, that 100 is the base ISO is complete bullshit, most cameras have their native iso at 800 or 1600 maybe higher in some modern cameras. Meaning, that you capture the same amount of dynamic range towards the highlights and the shadows.
It’s not only confusing but not really good advice. That low ISO is old school film and early digital advice. Modern cameras do great at reasonable ISO.
Even not modern cameras would rather have light to work with than ISO100.
Even on sunny days it's better to have it on auto in my opinion since clouds could roll in and destroy the image
After dealing with advices like this one, having your iso always at 100, I've missed opportunities of taking photos with the settings I wanted, like a faster shutter speed..so, now use auto iso almost all the time. It's better a grainy photo than the photo I could not shoot with the aperture or shutter speed I wouldn't want. Just remove noise in post processing in lighroom or Dxo.
Why not just use the shutter speed or aperture you want and adjust ISO accordingly?
@@AustinJamesJackson auto iso does that after all. My camera is a Nikon d3500 and has no dedicated button to change the iso, you have to dive into the settings menu.
Well exactly. But sometimes you have to keep up with the action of people really fast. It's best to use continuous shutter speeds . If you're in manual mode, your going to get a shot if you can adjust the camera settings or use two or more camera bodies with different lenses really fast. Clients have the same amount of patience as people in the drive thru at a fast food restaurant. And it's getting worse. They want results right now.
i had this conversation w/ people over time... best way to get over the 'fear' of noise is to actually test the camera + lens and see what level is acceptable to You.
these days most cameras will produce excellent results @ ISO400 and even higher.
I shoot with manual and auto iso, also because iso doesn't affect the creative outlook of the photo
Explained in the easiest way ever! Awesome!
Glad it helped!
Thank you so much for this explanation, I have a hard time remembering the difference between the three. I appreciate you also giving examples of each, it made it so much easier to understand!
Awesome! Glad to hear it.
This is all somehow useful advice, however ine of the interesting thing you can learn is that even noise can be used for creativity and doesn't need to get eliminated at all costs
This is true!
the way some people describe it is that ISO is the only setting that doesn't affect your composition, so the lowest is always the best - just add grain in post to suit your vibe
@@tacotimmer8288 it's just making it hard for new photographers to catch clear (not blurry) images if they want to keep a low iso in low light situations.
That teached me more then half of these videos thank you!
I'm so glad!
Or your English teacher.
Thank you for this fast simple tip!
You're welcome!
Thanks for this!
Absolutely concise and eloquent explanation.
Glad you liked it!
Just a little nerdy correction. ISO doesn't "digitally add light" it makes the sensor more sensitive to light. There is more noise because the sensor becomes sensitive enough to pick up errant photons bouncing around the environment. As long as the shot is well exposed you won't notice that much noise. For that reason, even in manual mode, you're better off leaving ISO in auto because it only affects the exposure and not the artistic presentation of the image (doesn't affect motion blur, DoF etc.)
ISO increased sensitivity of light to the sensor in film cameras, but on Mirrorless it’s the same as increasing the exposure slider (iso invariance)
You corrected him and did it worse? Incredible, iso changes either the electrical signal (analog), digitally (multiplying the values of the pixel matrix) or both. ISO doesnt create more noise, S/N ratio does. Noise isnt just errant photos either, the process of capturing an image is electronically imperfect, which creates 'read noise'.
@@AustinJamesJackson My understanding is that the signal amplification form higher ISO settings in digital cameras is an analogue process (occurring before the digitisation of the signal from the sensor). There are exceptions (for example, Fujifilm camera have extensions to both ends of their ISO dials which introduce digital processing), but these are the exception to the rule of how ISO generally works.
I'm open to being corrected, but as far as I am aware, your description here is very much incorrect, and your reply to this comment doesn't address the issue at all.
Finally somebody that tells me what the hell all of these numbers on my Camera screen do👑
Hope it helps!
Great short to explain Camera!
Hope it helps!
this is so helpful, thank you 🙏🏽
Thanks for watching!
Most cameras nowadays handle higher ISO pretty well. Especially when you couple in more sophisticated software for denoise
True!
This Tutorial helped me thank you
No problem!
Perfectly explained. Thanks
Glad it was helpful!
For most cases it makes more sense to shoot with auto ISO and use exposure compensation if the camera gets the ISO wrong. Using base ISO comes from the days of early digital cameras with CCD sensors which usually don't handle high ISO well. DXOMark says the Sony a6400 (which I think represents mid range mirrorless cameras quite well) is perfectly usable up to ISO 1431. Beyond that you can just remove the colour noise in post, maybe add some more noise reduction and you're good. Noise is better than not taking a shot because ISO 100 turns out to not be enough. ISO 1600 is perfectly fine on most cameras. With the camera he's using (Sony A7R IV) you can go up to ISO 3200 with basically no noise
I agree, but always recommend using manual when you’re learning. Otherwise when you use auto ISO, you don’t really have to think about shutter speed and aperture critically because ISO will always allow you to get a proper exposure.
@AustinJamesJackson ISO has next to no impact on the look of a photograph, shutter speed and especially aperture obviously do. It doesn't make sense to basically teach a beginner that their artistic vision is less important than getting a low noise shot. Who cares what the camera does to get the exposure right. And if you do care, you can set ISO manually. My point still stands, base ISO is a drag
i know all this but just watching those perfect pictures worth a while
Thank you!
Thanks for this quick break down!
Very helpful!
Glad it helped!
Thanks so much for simplifying basics ❤❤
Hope it helps!
“Leave your ISO at 100” the problem is my camera doesn’t allow me to shoot anything below 800 if I’m using S-Log settings for color correction. Just wanted to point it out that there’s more than just those three things you need to account for if you want a professional image and there’s definitely definitely ratios to follow.
You’re thinking for video. You don’t shoot photos in s-log. But for video, your settings will be totally different.
@@AustinJamesJackson Yes that's true. But since I shoot everything on Manual, video or not, it's an issue I found out. Since video is more common for most "content" now days with UA-cam/tiktok/ etc etc I figured some "video creators" will stumble upon your video and not be aware of this fact if they are still a beginner. There's a lot of people on the internet. Your traffic will not only be about "photographers'. You will also have people learning about other camera activities looking into your video.
@@MichaelOrtegaYou can't blame the traffic. He's not controlling the traffic.
Everyone knows Austin meant for photographers.
Well this video is for photos. It's useless for video. There's different rules for shooting video.
I really don't agree with the advice of leaving ISO at 100. Sure, if there's plenty of light shoot at the lowest ISO possible. But in situations where there isn't as much light, I'm definitely happy to live with some noise to be able to stop action or get more of the image in focus when needed.
True! For landscapes you can usually use ISO 100 but other types of photography may raise ISO more.
I'd just like to add that high ISO does not create noise, it just amplifies existing noise, there's always noise there, you just can't tell. It amplifies everything and that mean light and noise go up.
Yup! Thanks
@@AustinJamesJacksonYup! Great video, nice and gets right to the point!
It was good n easy explanation ❤
Thanks! Hope it helps.
It did
Best explanation, thanks!
You bet!
thanks for the tips 🙏
You bet!
thank you, this is very infomative
Hope it helps!
There is also saturation, contrast, skin tone, warmth, sharpness, af points, af mode, and file type, all of which are controllable manual, though some might have others, or less.
These all matter, but they are all separate from shooting in manual shooting mode.
Sunny 16 is what all beginners should learn.
I don’t even know what that is?
@ look it up. Plenty of information online. The main idea though is that the brightness of full sunlight is mostly the same everywhere on earth and for most times of the day so you can use it as a reference / starting point for exposure.
Simple and awesome 👏
Thanks!
Bruh, thank you for making me smart. I love this 😅
Happy to help!
I like to set ISO to auto with a range bracket of ISO100 to ISO 8000. You can't always adjust shutter speed or aperture when you want a specific look or are shooting handheld. This will help to expose your images faster, less thinkering with the settings and taking the shot in the moment.
That works well once you have mastered full manual mode!
Thank you! Really helpful
Glad it helped!
I have been photographing since I was 9 years old (since around 12 with semi-proofessional cameras), and I have rarely seen a situation where I need to control all 3, most scenarios I just really need to control 1 of them, or two (one of them being ISO). And that is done also by many professional photographers, just like Gregory Heisler, who I had class with.
👍👍
Best explanation video I’ve seen so far, thanks!!
Glad it was helpful!
Dear Maual mode only about aperture and shutter speed...you can have to deal iso differently...With M you can have Auto Iso..
I'm not sure what you mean?
Just set iso to auto and set a limit in your settings. I've set mine to 6400 iso maximum. You can work with 6400 iso and remove the noise when editing your images.
If you know what you're doing, this can work. But if you don't it can result in images that are way noisier than they need to be.
Succinct, clear & to the point. Many, many thanks good sir. ❤
Glad it was helpful!
simple and great explanation
Glad you liked it!
Well actually when you are shooting in a low light you should use higher iso. Through the daylight I usually shoot at 100-200 but when its a bit darker I tend to use iso 400-800 so I can get more shutter speed for my photo to be more stable
If you’re using a tripod for landscape like many do, you’ll just open the shutter speed as long as trees aren’t blowing around.
In a digital camera, ISO is gain. It’s the sensor’s sensitivity to light. It doesn’t add light to the image.
It actually doesn’t change the sensitivity to light. It does act as gain though. Older film cameras use ISO as a sensitivity adjustment for the sensor but not anymore.
@@AustinJamesJackson what are new cameras doing then?
The “bigger picture” of exposure is that most outdoor scenes in sunlight and single light sources indoors will exceed the the ability of the camera sensor to react from the light in the deepest shadows of the scene when exposure is adjusted for optimal highlight exposure.
Optimal highlight exposure occurs when only specular reflections from sun or artificial sources are “Clipping” and being recorded at a 8-bit digital value of 255. For example if photographing an object white car or dinner plate the paint of the white car hood or surface of the plate should be recorded about 1/3 stop below triggering the clipping warning (e.g. 245-250) otherwise the 3D shape defining specular reflections will be blown out and those important perceptual clues to 3D shape in the 3D rendering lost. Ansel Adams defined the smooth sunlit white objects as Zone / Print Value 9 and specular reflections on them as Zone / Print Value 10 (i.e. paper base only)
Regardless of exposure mode and metering used the best approach is to adjust until brightest white non-specular highlights are below triggering the clipping warning and making the bars pile up on the right side of the histogram then look at the left side of the histogram. If bars are piled up on the left it means the scene range exceeds sensor range and any ISO, even 100, will just be amplifying noise left over from the last exposure made.
The solution when scene range exceeds sensor range are: 1) bracketing on a tripod or bean bag by 2-3 stops for shadow detail then combining images in post-processing, or for close subjects; 2) put sun to back of subject and expose white objects it hit 1/3 stop below clipping, then use flash in front to lift the front to the point where flash lit white highlights are slightly darker than the sunlit ones to retain the natural ambience of the lighting. It may be necessary to use two flashes in a off-axis KEY over centered FILL to allow the camera sensor to record detail in the deep shadows when highlights are exposed as suggested here.
Thanks for the tips!
generally a lower iso is better, but ive shot pictures with iso of up to 2000 (because i needed to freeze my subject) and sure, they do look more grainy than what i would like,
but that grain wouldve been there and might have been much worse if i was shooting with a lower iso of say 640 and added the light later on in a photo editing program
(plus i wouldn't have seen my subject if it were that low or lower)
Most modern cameras are actually ISO invariant so it actually wouldn’t have made a difference in the grain if you shot it at a lower ISO and brightened later. That said, increasing the ISO is often necessary when there isn’t enough light!
Great teaching i literaly learn it like a photographic memory in one shorts
Glad it was helpful!
base ISO is not always the choice. check your camera's signal to noise diagram, but yes, in general, you won't see significant difference on small screens/prints.
Thanks!
Aperture is a good way to reduce light in bright situations when shutter speed cannot be increased to compensate, and ISO is already is low as it can go. I use it less for bokeh than I do for controlling light. In landscape, it's often a good side effect that this increases sharpness across the image, but it's not the primary reason I usually increase it. Now if only you could lower it as easily as you can you can ramp it up!
True! Haha
Thanks for the vid!
Thanks for watching!
I have really been enjoying Aperture Priority with auto iso and a minumum shutter speed.
That can work if you are paying close attention! Just want to make sure the ISO doesn’t creep up on you.
Well this is basic setting, I thought you will talk about how to set them manually in short time, what variable to notice from the preview for specific scene where manual photography work well.
I’m not sure what you mean?
@@AustinJamesJackson I mean, shoot in manual quite challenging in some cases. Maybe if you have tips to set all that variable the right way so I can get the best result while not missing the moment because take too long to set them up. Like maybe you prefer prioritizing set the aperture first before the other or something else
HELP NEEDED:
I take mainly sunset portraits of people. I like a blurred background so I use f 2.8 most of the time. I have a DSLR. I love when the contrast is very low and the photos are bright, but I hate when the background is washed out and there is no detail. Sometimes I struggle because I’ll find the sun to be very harsh on my models and the background so then it’s very washed out, but if I lower aperture I get a very intense contrast which I absolutely hate. I understand what everything does, I’m just having a hard time figuring out how it works all together. I typically manage to find the perfect settings and get the right shot, but I’ve had two instances now where I’ve been completely clueless and no matter what angle I’m shooting at, where the model is at, what time of day it is, and what settings I mess with it seems EXTREMELY over contrasted. I don’t know how to fix this pls help
A lot of times I think that is just due to the natural light, so adding your own light may help to combat this and give more consistent results!
ISO 800 is great for day & night ( in night use extra light )
Usually not necessary during the day.
Thank you, I finally understand!
Glad it helped!
thank you❤
Welcome!
For every beginner! This short is ok but learn more then just this. This is a very short explenation and for it being a short it's good. But learn more about these settings and. For example how your apature will affect a lens's sharpness but also the brightness of the image, how ISO works on your specific camera (ISO 100 is not always best), and at what shutter speed to run in which scenario (are you shooting hand held for example).
Learn, learn, learn!
True! Only so much I can cover in 60 seconds so I try to cram in only the most important info, but there is a lot more to learn of course!
Thanks for your suggestions!! Could you suggest me a good camera to start with? perhaps it can support different objectives
I think the Sony a6000 lineup of cameras are fantastic for beginners!
@@AustinJamesJackson thanks bro
Which camera would you suggest for a beginner?
Totally depends on your situation and what you want to do.
Cheap crop sensor cameras usually have no visible noise with ISO 400-800, and full frame cameras can safely be used with much much higher ISO.
👍
I appreciate your photography videos Mr. Young Willem Dafoe
Glad you like them!
so random lol, they look literally nothing alike
You're the best
ISO defines the sensitivity of your sensor when light hits it. The noise is the sensor pixels being overloaded.
ISO actually is like gain but for audio on newer cameras. It doesn't change the sensitivity of the sensor.
Hi, I am a beginner photographer about to get my first camera. I am wondering what Austin means when he states that the base ISO of the camera is where you want to shoot at. Is it playing it safe when we just use the base ISO for all of our pictures? What are some situations where we would not shoot at the base ISO? Any advice helps!
The base ISO of most cameras is 64, 80, or 100. You can raise the ISO to increase the brightness of your image. However, this can result in noise/grain. You should slow the shutter speed or open up the aperture first to increase brightness before tapping in to the ISO.
Great explanation but when you are photographing wildlife especially things that move fast such as birds in flight manual mode isn't necessarily the best mode to be in. You haven't got time in difficult quick changing light conditions to keep changing settings. Best to shoot in Aperture Priority as there's less to adjust.
True!
Need advice on the best camera to get for making a movie..
Im an actor and learning the production side as i go.. storage is full on phone so my q is which is the best for video\film? Cellphone (best video cam?) vs a video camera and which of the above would you recommend? Or both? Samsung vs iphone etc
A video camera will have a lot more dynamic range, which is really important for most movies. There are a lot to choose from and you should look at the video resolution before making a decision!
@@AustinJamesJackson thanks for your reply but my budget only allows for one.
Simple and on-point
Hope it helps!
This obsession with keeping the iso on 100 at all times can make you miss important moments. It’s happened to me so many times. Better to have noise, while getting the subject tac sharp than missing the shot all together. Plus with noise reduction technologies now days, you can crank it up pretty high, and still get good results.
Most newer cameras are ISO invariant, so it’s going to be better to keep it at 100 when possible and just increase brightness in post.
@@AustinJamesJackson No, don't keep it at ISO 100. Set the ISO that is required to have a properly exposed photo. Lower ISO values have HIGHER read-out noise!
I used to do manual when Photography was just a hobby.
Now as a career : auto ISO, auto White balance, auto Shutter Speed.. i don't care just make it fast and good enough 😂
Hahah!
It always depends on the available light, but as a beginner in general, just try shooting in manual mode with AUTO ISO. Do not fear higher ISOs. If you have a good camera, your images will still be usable at higher ISOs. Focus on setting up your aperture and shutter speed to get the look that you want, and let the camera pick the ISO for a good exposure. Leaving ISO at 100 will most of the time force you to lower your shutter speed causing blurry shots. The image might look good in the camera's LCD but you'll see the difference once you see it a bigger screen.
Using Auto ISO is a bad habit for beginners to use. Can't tell you how many clients have been on my workshops and mentioned that their camera always produces noisy images, which is due to auto ISO. Yes, turn up ISO when you need it to keep the shutter fast enough, but if you're using a tripod, there is very few situations when you need to use the ISO past base.
The 4th setting is white balance… very important
That is very important, but not part of manual exposure.
Hi, which camera are you using to record this video? I would love to buy one.
Sony ZV-E1
Also I need a second opinion. I am thinking of getting the canon r50 or r100, but I am indecisive as to which one I should get? Anyone have any advice on things I should look for? My plan is to picture portraits and street photography. Thank you in advance.
The R50 has a few extra features that I think make it a bit better than the R100!
Shouldn't you also use your Camera sensor's native ISO? Which sometimes is not the Base ISO
Yes! Native and base and oftentimes interchanged and I consider them the same thing. Extended ISO would be lower than the base/native.
A common misconception is that iso digitally increases light it’s more of a gain setting that increases the sensitivity of the light that’s already going into your camera it does not digitally increase light, for example, a shot of a dark room at a high aperture a fast shutter speed and a high iso will have noise the key is to adjust all three settings about one another you should never limit yourself to the “lowest” possible iso it should be adjusted as necessary because if your aperture and your shutter speed are set correctly iso will only function as a slight increase or decrease of exposure in your composition it’s a tool just like the others and you should not be afraid of it an iso up to 21 thousand can still produce clear and clean images if your other settings have gotten your exposure to where it needs to be that being sad it can introduce noise if you have poorly exposed your image beforehand your iso is not a get out of jail fee card if you’re going to shoot in manual you must know how both aperture and shutter speed interact with light as they arguable effect the brightness and exposure of your composition more than iso will
True, but explaining it this way to a beginner won't make any sense.
It’s so weird starting out on 35mm and finding digital photography how-to videos
😂
Thank you😊
Welcome!
ISO does not "digitally add light to the image": it amplify the signal
This is true on film, but not how it works on mirrorless.
I have a question:
If aperture affects focus then why not just sit with a aperture of f4 for example and use manual focus?
Aperture isn't related to the process of focusing. It effects the depth of field in your image, meaning more or less of the image will appear in focus.
Telling people to shoot at the lowest iso is generally bad advice, unless you only plan on shooting in bright sunny weather.
This will frequently lead to underexposed shots that need to be pulled up in post, leading to even more noise, and worse dynamic range, than if you set the iso properly to begin with.
Better advice is, shoot at the lowest iso you can (the lowest that gives you proper exposure) to get the shot you need, but don't be afraid of it.
Astrophotographers regularly shoot at iso 1600 or even 3200 and still get great results, it's not something to be afraid of.
Agreed! Best to not rely on it unless you need it. If you're on a tripod, you rarely need ISO unless something in your scene is moving or you're shooting night images.
But in low lights if aperture and shutterspeed isnt enough then you need to raise ISO
Correct!
Which is that camera ??
Sony A7R4
ISO is the voltage applied across the sensor. More voltage results in amplified noise in the image
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I don't think he understood your comment :), ISO doesn't add noise, it simply amplifies already existing sensor noise.
ISO doesn't add noise, it just makes the noise more visible. Low light on the sensor is what creates noise.
@@stretch90 Yes, the higher ISO, the more voltage is applied across the sensor to make it more sensitive to low-light
The ISO doesn't add the noise. It reveals it. Noise comes from an underexposed photo.
PREFER lower ISO, but definitely be willing to use higher ISO when you need smaller aperture and/or faster shutter speed than you could otherwise get.
Absolutely!
Love how you said: Base ISO. Because photo is pretty basic at 100 for perfect images in most camera's. Video isn't. It's a whole different story how ISO works and why BT.709 is 400-1600 base iso and Clog3 is 800 or 3200 base iso
👍👍
If you always leave it at the base ISO as advised you are going to greatly limit the number of keepers.
Depends on the kind of photography you're doing. I recommend you fully understand ISO before tapping into it, or else you'll have a lot of images that are grainy for no reason.
I do understand auto ISO and leave it on full time. I made that comment because lots of beginners are afraid to crank up the ISO thus getting lots of blurry images(or simply not taking the shots) due to slow shutter speeds. Most cameras nowadays can yield good results way above the base ISO. We all have to contend with tradeoffs.
ISO changes the camera sensor’s sensitivity to light, it does not digitally add light…
In the film days you’d be correct, but technically in digital it doesn’t work that way.
@@AustinJamesJackson I’ll fill in the slightly vague reply for you.
Turning up the ISO increases the gain of the amplifiers of each photosite. It works very similar to turning up the volume on speakers. The higher the volume the more sound is produced but at the same time you amplify and increase noise. There is no digital light being added.
@@ChrisBaitsonPhotoagreed, Digital is the wrong word. Digital means 0s and 1s. ISO adds light by boosting the electronic signal
Use ISO as needed and dont be scared of higher ISO! Sure, if u over do it u get noise but if it is needed u can use higher ISOs
Yup!
What about white balance and exposure?
Exposure is a result of the three main settings. White balance is fully adjustable in post if shooting in RAW.
@@AustinJamesJackson So if I'm in manual mode, that's why my exposure dial doesn't work?
Correct!
Okay, aint gonna lie at first I thought this will be a sniping tips, targetting a goat 🙂
Haha!
the camera you are using?
Sony a7r4!
iso isnt digital, it can also be analogous, and btw, iso doesnt add/create noise, it only shows it, noise is created by lack of light (which is caused by actual light entering the sensor so is affected by aperture/shutterspeed/nd) not by iso. If you take a picture reducing the amount of light of light, and this image reaches x exposure, if you were to take the same photo with smaller aperture and faster shutter speed and then bump the iso so the image reaches x exposure, there will be more noise not bc of iso but because of lack of light. Look at simon dentremons video on it,
Yup! I have lots of videos explaining it in greater detail here on my channel.
Nothing wrong with auto ISO up to limits best suited for the scene (and ought to be learnt how that will behave for the particular camera). Not everything needs to be ultra clean.
Best to learn how it works first before relying on auto.
if you're shooting at night in the city with an f/8 aperture, leaving iso at 100 is absurd. the image will be almost completely black. to get a properly exposed scene, you obviously need to crank iso up, sometimes even to 12,000 or higher, depending on your camera.
in low-light conditions, increasing iso helps the sensor amplify the signal to capture scene details while maintaining a balance between brightness and noise. of course, there will be some noise, but it's still way better than an underexposed image that can't be "fixed" during editing.
True, just recommending that beginners don't solely rely on ISO before learning shutter and aperture.
4 SETTINGS:
Aperture
Shutter speed
ISO
Exposure compensation
Exposure compensation isn't an adjustable setting and doesn't matter if you're shooting in manual.
@@AustinJamesJackson It is adjustable (why else would it be there) but irrelevant if you meter on the subject. Put your iso on auto and you get the best artistic results.
Great, I am a casual P mode user.. 🙂
Awesome!
Thank you
You're welcome