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In this week’s episode, we discuss what pro photographers know about ISO that most beginners avoid. Seems that beginner photographers, especially those aspiring landscape photographers, are all conditioned with the mindset that the only way to obtain a clean and noise free photograph is to use ISO 100 and only ISO 100. And, if this value is ever increased, well it could mean absolute destruction to the overall image quality of your photograph! The reason I know this is because I was one of these beginner photographers that was stuck in this “ISO 100” mindset for years, but once I broke free from this habit, a whole new world of photographic possibilities opened up for me. I hope you enjoy this week’s video and as always thanks so much for watching! – Mark D.
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Comments
50 responses to “Pro's Know this about ISO & Beginners Avoid It! (at least i did)”
🌟QUICK QUESTION: Do you say Eye-Soh or do you say Eye-S-Oh?
So are we to assume you do not use any type of noise removal tool in your final post processing? I've watched years and years of your post processing videos and they are usually all about masks, or highlights or colors all in trying to create depth in the photo. I frankly don't ever recall you taking about removing noise in a photo. If you do, what do you use? Only LR or possibly a 3rd party tool like Topaz DeNoise?
Team “eye-so” here!
I used to not think much of youtube . Watching you , Nigel Danson, Thomas Heaton, Morten Hilmer, Todd Karol make my day. Thank you. ps Mads is good too.
Hi Mark. Great channel. Just FYI – there shouldn't be an apostrophe in "Pro's". Pros is the plural of Pro. "Pro's" is possessive, e.g. The pro's camera fell in the river.
I.S.O.
Eye-soh for sure
Hello Mark,
Really enjoyed this vedio.
First, I'm a ISO guy as compared with I.S.O. Not really sure of the reason, but, maybe my age has something to do with it, I am 70, ISO comes easier to me.
Secondly, regarding the information that you provided in this vedio, you really got me thinking about the benefits of using an increased ISO value for certain photo situations.
Until now, my mind set was the lower ISO value the better, but you have given me a whole new approach to determining the ISO value based on the what is happening in the scene.
I thank you for addressing this topic.
I learn something today as I do every week when I watch your vedios.
Thank you, Tom
Hi Mark! Thank you so much for providing such valuable insight on landscape photography. Not only do you teach, but you affirm when are doing things the "right" way. This message is not related to the current video, but you seem to do a fair amount of travel. Perhaps you can offer us tips on how to travel with your gear – what to take, how to pack it (carry-on vs checked luggage), and what to expect when going entering the terminals during baggage inspection – domestically and internationally. I am planning a trip with my gear, but am concerned about what I will be able to take on board (camera, 3 lenses, accessories, tripod). Your travel tips will be invaluable to many of us. Thanks so much for your help! Mitch
I.S.O.
More great content…”ISO” one word is my preference.
Great advice on increasing ISO. I also see you are a Jon Acuff fan lol. Great book behind you there!
I-S-O
I thought every landscaper shot at ISO 64….oh wait. 😀
Quickly speaking then it’s eye-sooo but if I’m being technical then I’ll actually say… I S O
I.S.O
I.S.O
I S O
Hablo español, ISO. 😆
With software like Topaz labs denoise, worrying about noise from higher ISO (to a point) is really just not a concern anymore. You just need to find the limits of your camera. But if you don't have a good denoise application get one, gamechanger for sure.
I S O. Who says Eye-Soh?
I've always said Eye-So
ASA.
The video essence is to use higher ISO to get a specific shutter speed to freeze motion in nature so objects dont suffer from motion blur. saved you 17 minutes, thank me later…
Eye-so
Great video, again, Mark! 👋
I'm using a Nikon Z50 (crop sensor, 21MP), after a Nikon D5300 (crop, 24MP) and in my first year (more or less) of apprenticeship, this "keep ISO at100" was ike a stress for me 😁. I had a lot of situation when as beginner, knowing a little about exposure et, to keep the ISO at 100 was impossible. A lot of shots lost because of that.
But, thanks to YouTube and to other photographers like you, I had the courage to less more and more my camera in "Auto ISO" to see what happens. And surprise! – my camera (even is a crop, 21MP), manages quite well high ISO. I found that a lot of shots are good, even with ISO 100, 1600, 2000. I have shots with ISO 3200 to my daughter, in shadow, which is very good after a small denoise in Lightroom. I have tripod with me in a few cases, so I have to shot handheld a lot. I'm more and more confident that my camera manages well high ISO, so I let 'auto ISO' almost in all cases. OK, I don't print big format, I don't sell my pictures. And I never shot with a full-frme camera in same conditions to see the differences. But, for my personal usage, as a enthusiast photographer, I found experimenting that those scaring ISO values of hundreds, more than 1000, even 2000-3000, are not so impacting.
Instead of that, a good exposure, a good composition, a non-boring landscape, beautiful colors in your shot, the story of your shot, the drama in the picture, a good contrast or texture, mean much more than the level of ISO. Posting on instagram, or facebook, or another social platform, no differences.
Also, I had situation when I had photos with 3200 ISO, for example, and I preferred in the end to reduce the noise in ACR just a little, to let the picture "grainy" because in this way I found that the shot was more expressive, with a better contrast and texture, instead of going with the noise reduction slider very high -> reducing the noise, but flattening the shot. As we already know, the ISO is only one parameter of final shot. Keeping ISO at the lowest value is not a panacea 🙂
So, I consider that your video is very, very good, to break a little bit the myth "always 100 ISO".
I would be in the 👁 🪡 camp on this one, Mark. I, too, was 'afraid' to go above 64 (native on my D810) until I was asked by my wife to snap a choral recital at night in a dimly lit church. To get anything closely acceptable I had to 'up ISO' and was pleasantly pleased with results at c. 1000. Great video.
Do you find when shooting at a higher ISO (1600) that it is necessary to run the photo through a denoise program? – Or are you able to come away with a nice, grain free image just by using typical editing software, such as Lightroom?
Surprised you didn't spend a bit of time talking about noise reduction software, since it comes into play with higher ISOs and can take the fear factor away from using those high ISOs.
I was always using different ISO, but my girlfriend at the time who just finished photography school and she was the one telling me to only use ISO 100 when shooting outdoors. So I fell into the circle of keeping my ISO Low so thank you for this!
ASA!
I.S.O. I speak English not Greek. Before ISO it was ASA and we never said AHSAH. Some people say EYESO just to be cool. The Organization doesn't state to pronounce EYESO.
I mainly shoot on film so i'm used to sticking to the same iso and most of the time i use film ranging from 6 to iso 100 (but mainly 50). I bought a few years ago my first dslr, a very old that struggles when I go more than iso 800. At first, I only shot at iso 100 but I missed so many shots or I didn't shoot because the shutter speed was too slow…. But then, I realised it was better to have a little bit of noise instead of no shot at all. And nowadays, with all the great cameras and softwares, I see pictures with very high iso and so little noise, it is amazing ! So yes, people can play and increase their iso without too many concerns.
I the third person who sometimes says I.S.O other times iso. just depends on how the feelers are.
With products like Topaz labs Photo AI, high ISOs are no longer anything I even think about. In fact, I mainly shoot manual with auto ISO and deal with any subsequent noise in post.
As long as you don't shoot with foveon sensor cameras.
Shooting night street photos you soon get over the fear 😅 the truth is when you print it means very little to the print unless it's stupidly high "eye-soh" I tested this theory once shooting the same image at iso 64 and iso 6400 and could hardly tell the difference unless I was stood right up to them but it didn't ruin the image at all. The fact is, if it's a good image with high ISO nobody will notice because the image and its story will do more for it than the technicals. A crap image at iso 64 is still a crap image.
To me, Not sure if you’ve used an A7RIV (or A7RV), but there is plenty of noise at ISO 100, and more at ISO 1600. It’s tolerable (to me) or fixable in most images, but not all. Where you run into trouble is when you start pushing shadows. It I.S. I.S.O, “eye-ess-oh,” :of course.
I.S.O. Your shots are always nice and your video blogs are so informative. It was only really in the early digital days that we had serious issues with noise. I had a S9100 Fuji bridge camera from around 2007/8 (still works) that was great at ISO 80 but even 200 was too much… so I ended up calling it a 'summer camera'. I think I stopped worrying about using high ISO around 2012/13 when 1600 worked fine and it became automatic to use it to stop subject motion blur.
Eeso not eye-soh ;p
It's ISO, (eye-soh). It derives from the Greek "Isos", which means 'equal.
Definitely eye-so
Eye Soh
Thanks Mark 💐
I’m very old school so I still say ASA. When I do remember I say ISO.
I am an Eye-Sho guy 🙂 and thanks for clearing the Eye-Sho issue up and dusting it up
ISO for me
Good advice. And definitely eye-so!!
U need to know the native sensor iso. I’m using 160 320 and 640. Depends on situation
lol…I say Eye So, but I am referring to I.S.O. I'm lazy. I never freaked out when I first started shooting slices in time. I like shooting when I could at I.S.O. 100 in specific situations, but it's never been an occasion for panic not to mention none of the cameras I own or could afford had that ability with one very cheap exception and that was the 2 Mega Pixel camera I bought at the very beginning of Digital. A camera I wish I hadn't sold. I assumed the next iteration would still have I.S.O 100, it didn't, but I didn't realize that till after I sold it and bought the new one. Which was disappointing, but not a deal breaker. It only went as low as 150 or 200. I don't remember and it's out away. Also the online literature for my 1st version says erroneously it only shit as low as 150 or something ridiculous. I distinctly remember the 100 setting as I hadn't expected it to be that low. The view finder was ridiculously poor you were just framing the general shot, but it took incredible sharp images for a lousy 2 Mg Pix. Most cameras at the time and likely still only offer that I.S.O if you are capable of Mega Buck bodies. And for me I don't shoot often if at all above 1600 as my camera's become noisier than I can stand. However my next camera won't have that issue plus I'm not big on a lot of post processing I only, crop, or adjust tilt, or slight contrast and color. It is really dependant upon my personal feelings about the image and how I see it not someone else's Ideal.
I have completely opposite problem. 😀 I shoot everything on ISO 6400 and I get upset when I need to lower the ISO. 😀