A decade or so ago, I used to teach some beginner digital photography classes and immediately after covering the exposure triangle, I would strongly suggest everyone shoot in Aperture Priority with Auto ISO. Focus on making the images you want without faffing around with stuff the camera can do faster and better than you.
Yeeeaahhh...no. Cameras aren't as smart as photographers and they are horrible at exposing high contrast scenes. You can't always use an average exposure, sometimes you have to expose for highlights or shadows or whatever. Personally, I only use some sort of auto-exposure mode when I'm doing street photography and I need to get the shot quickly. Otherwise it's manual all the time.
@@jimmason8502 Still auto-ISO, just change the metering or the exposure compensation. Because at a say a concert, you do want to meter for a performer in a spotlight, but the strength of each spotlight (or combinations of spotlights) keeps changing with durations of fractions of a second. A human can't adjust as fast as lighting conditions can change. I get enthusiasts who just love manual mode for the mechanical interaction with the camera much the same way some people love to drive stick shift, but just as you can't outshift modern cars, you can't beat the adjustment speed of a modern camera. The best you can do is understand how the camera works so you can choose the best settings it offers to get what you want.
@@jimmason8502 The only time I use full manual is for Astro/Night, pano/stacking or in the studio with flashes. The auto ISO and metering modes have so many usable options in my camera that I use Auto ISO the rest of the time. It works in all modes including manual, I can override both how it calculates minimum shutter or set a hard minimum, I can meter in auto, centre, follow the focus point or protect the highlights. I can coax it into doing what I want and still allow it to respond much faster than I can to any changes. I also have a oh crap shortcut on my mode dial where it drops into mostly auto mode aperture priority and this has saved my butt a few times when a shot presents itself and I'm all setup for something else. 98% of the time it gets a perfect shot and reconfigures everything in a split second.
Whether you want to go all manual or auto in some functions, do what works best for you. But also be open to experimenting with other methods. If you're not learning, what are you really doing?
Well the main take away for me from this video is learning that ISO is a name, (never thought to look that up before), and to continue to avoid sand at all costs. ;)
@@kstrohmeier that’s a common misconception because it seems to make sense. It is actually the International Organization for Standardization. They pronounce it like James as you can see in their own video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AYBVTeqKahk.html
@@kstrohmeier The International Organization for Standardization chose “ISO” a modification of the Greek word “isos” meaning “equal” as their name. They standardized their own name to prevent awkward translations of an acronym.
There are only 3 things to think about with exposure and learning how to use all 3 without relying on your camera is surely not too hard. I'd rather do manual myself as I then know how to set exposure and I get used to what settings to use. I can normally set exposure for ambient light very close to what I wanted before taking a test shot which I couldn't do if I used auto settings. But I'm never in high speed shooting situations which I reckon a lot of auto settings would be useful for.
Saying I S O as separate letters would be an initialism, not an acronym that is saying it as a word (CIA vs NASA). Isos is a Greek word meaning equal and Iso is formed from it.
"Horrible substance" 😂 ISO is largely misundertood with Sony sensors as they're dual-gain ISO invariant, so lowering the ISO doesn't produce an image with less noise. On the A7RIV, all images captured between ISO 100-250 with the same shutter speed and aperture will have the same amount of noise. Once you reach ISO 320 you hit the second base ISO which produces much cleaner images in low light than the lower values, but any images captured between ISO 320 and upwards will have the same amount of noise. Only the shutter speed and aperture, which physically change the amount of light you collect, will increase or decrease the amount of noise in an image.
You've got me thinking actually - I wonder what percentage of new cameras now are iso invariant, I assumed it was relatively uncommon but maybe I'm wrong...
@@JamesPopsysPhoto James, this your theory is cute - and that's all what it is .. it would be even more cute if you were a "beginner" (sorry, I don't like this term) .. ISO is not just a noise, noise is some lesser relevant side-effect .. ISO is mostly the dynamic range, tonal range, colours sensitivity ... more light == better shot (in 99% cases) and increasing ISO enables you to capture shots with less light ... sorry for saying so but it's utter nonsense, painful, terrible, unbecoming of adult photographer with years of experience .. I also don't use always ISO 64 (on my Nikon) and I know that ISO up to 800 at least gives me great results but I would NEVER say what you've outlined in your video .. again: ISO is dynamic and tonal range and colours sensitivity mostly !!!
@@JamesPopsysPhoto Given that most brands use Sony sensors now, quite a lot. Up until recently Canon were the only ones who stuck with the ISO variant approach but their latest cameras are also dual gain and/or ISO invariant. You can actually find out by using photons to photons 'Input referred read noise vs ISO' graph. A flat progression indicates ISO invariance. I'll add the link as a separate comment in case it gets spam blocked...
@Ramsay Depends on how high the camera's actual ISO range is but yes usually. Sometimes cameras have simulated ISOs once you hit a certain point and they're usually only added for marketing purposes, being able to say a cameras has 51,200 is a dumb marketing flex but hey. Check out the video about ISO invariance on my channel. It's a super useful behaviour if your camera has it.
I use auto ISO mainly when I'm doing wildlife photography, which is usefull since I want a minimum shutterspeed of 1/1000 or even quicker. I never really thought about doing it with landscape photography though, so will give that a try. It will certainly help I think with handhelding shots!
Love your videos, James. I've used auto ISO for probably 90% of my shots ever since I went digital. And now, with today's high-res sensors, it's a no brainer. My two main priorities are always related either to DOF of subject movement/freezing, so ISO almost always comes third. BTW, I still remember calling is ASA - not ISO. God, I'm old.
I switch between Auto-ISO and manually setting the ISO depending on what I am shooting and where I am shooting. But I agree with James, understanding and intelligently using the various modes on the camera is more important as it frees us to take better photos.
"Should use"? I hate when people "should" all over me lol. I suppose I'm just one of those crazy photographer's who likes full manual control over my camera most of the time when making images. That's part of the fun for me. The only time I might consider otherwise is when shooting an event.
I guess I'm in the 10%. I do agree that most photographers would probably benefit from thinking more about ISO. But it seems to me leaving ISO on auto is no better than always leaving it at base. That's not to say auto ISO won't be the most appropriate setting in certain circumstances. But not by default. This just leads to a point and shoot mentality. I do agree that modern sensors and software deal much better with noise. But it's worth pointing out that raising ISO also reduces the dynamic range and 'headroom' in the raw conversion (tonality will degrade more quickly when lifting shadows etc). The files that come out of my Nikon are almost indestructible at ISO64 base, not nearly so much at ISO6400. This matters in landscape photography, where dynamic range is often pushing the limits of the sensor.
point and shoot is a great mentality that can lead to focusing more on the creativity and enjoyment of the hobby...If you are worried about high iso then set the max to 1600 and enjoy life. And btw, since when are shadows a big deal in landscape photography? Why do you have to "lift" shadows if you are shooting in broad daylight? And the dynamic range argument is just... To each their own I guess, but most of the time not using auto ISO is a pure waste of time
This video is comforting! I’m self taught (or whatever RU-vid taught is called) and I kept wondering why I would try to “set” ISO when it’s so often not a creative choice (except when it is). So thank you for the permission to use the auto ISO without it meaning I’m a second rate photographer! :)
I get what you're saying and to a point I agree with you. In fact I even use auto ISO when the situation calls for it. However I'd argue that since ISO is one of the legs of the exposure triangle and exposure is a creative choice that it is a *part* of the creative choice, just like the other 2 settings. IMO auto ISO is when your creative decision for a "properly" exposed photo. I say properly however that is subjective, which means if you need your shutter speed and aperture set to a specific setting for an effect but need to brighten or darken your exposure for your creative choice, unless you can add/remove light from the scene you're left with adjusting ISO to create your vision. Also RU-vid taught, and a decade of personal amateur/enthusiast experience has formed my opinion on this.
ISO - International Standards Organisation.( International Organization for Standardization) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Organization_for_Standardization Film used to be labelled ASA (American) and ISO (Europe) then ASA/ISO, and then just ISO ASA was American Standards Association and now known as ANSI (American National Standards Institute) These were set up to set and test standards in all manner of products. If ISO is now a word in it's own right it is because of general usage by photographers. But as a word in it's own right i would expect it only relates to film, because ISO, as in the organisation, is still a thing in it's own right. Enjoyed the vid content, and will think about this idea of auto ISO because it is a nuisance when hand-holding and something is happening quickly
At least Wikipedias German version explanes the labeling of film speed with ISO as acronym for International Organization for Standardization. This very organization started - due to Wikipedia - to combine settings bei ASA (American Standards Association) and German DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normierung) in 1974.
Auto-iso with exposure vompensation os brilliant. You get to control the "look" of the photo, the camera takes care of the technicalities. Especially with changing vonditions.
My first thought and I was surprised that James didn’t address that. I must ask if you have a couple of typos (one of them hilarious and stopped me for a good laugh) or did you drift into a language other than English in mid-sentence?
Aah, a cheese sandwich and James drivelling on. What better way to spend part of your Saturday morning. Interesting topic though and ISO can go way up on modern cameras as James mentioned. Beaches scare me when I have several thousand pounds worth camera and lens in hand. Especially when the wind is blowing. Great vlog as always James. Stay safe.
Holy focus breathing... I'm not normally very sensitive to it, but the video camera was really struggling in this video. Also, fantastic tip, I've been doing everything I can to keep my ISO at 100, but I know I've got home and wished I had just bumped it up for a better overall shot. I'm going to swap to auto the next few times out. Good call!
I shoot mostly wildlife and using auto ISO is part of my work flow. I don't really care about noise, I want sharp. I can remove excessive noise, fixing blur can be impossible even with the latest AI software. Wildlife, especially birds happen quickly. My shutter rarely goes below 1/1000 and my aperture is 6.3 pretty much all the time.
Even if it were an acronym, you can still pronounce it that way. Because if it was not pronounceable it would be an initialism. c: So saying 'eye-so' is correct really, no matter which way you look at it. 💙
I mistakenly took some near sunset portraits with my supertelefoto on auto ISO. I had ISOs on pics over 12,000 (on my RP). With some editing the pics were still useable. But, yeah, setting limits to auto ISO may be best, lol...
Thank you! Yes, most people should learn to control "max ISO" and then use auto. What's best? A slightly grainy photo or a photo that's either too dark or too shaky? I choose number one
When I shoot a dog agility trial I shoot in manual mode; fix my aperture and speed and let ISO float. 99% of the time the good shots go on facebook. Once in a blue moon I sell a shot. Of the shots people have selected; too many have slightly fuzzy eyes - no one. Not one; ever, notice noise. As long as their dog looks good blasting out of the tunnel or jump etc. They are happy. Photographers will fret over the smallest details when composition and subject is king; it's amazing how much the other things (focus, exposure, noise) can be in the dumps. At least in my use case. Commercial work will have more exacting customers. In any event, even for me; noise has to get pretty bad before it's a concern for me.
James I shoot in TAV Mode for wildlife photography set the aperture at f5.6 shutter speed 1/ 2000 and auto ISO I limit my auto ISO between 100- 6400 my other camera I set ut between ISO 100 - 12800 I can get useable night hand held pictures at the higher ISO as it is a newer camera
I just used auto iso today… Unfortunately I turned it off pretty quickly. Depends on the situation. I was doing a party with strange conditions. Mixed window light and artificial light.
Thanks for the video James, when I started out photography and read tips and guides for beginners I got stuck with the reflex to always set and keep my ISO as low as possible (started with Nikons). Few months ago I switched to Sony as I wanted to focus on video, learn more about that side of things and started out a YT channel of my own, but I kept ISO at Auto as I had difficulty with switching from Nikon menus and settings to Sony and wanted to keep things simle... and I felt miserable at times, I felt like I am betraying some kind of code... but thanks to your video, I feel much better about utilizing Auto ISO when it makes sense :)
The only time I don’t use Auto ISO is if I’m somewhere the light isn’t rapidly changing. A basketball game in a high school gym is a very good example. Lighting will be terrible. Set ISO1600, aperture to f/2.8, focus on the rim, keep the shutter speeds high and run with it.
in South America on May 29, 2024: - Brazil: Rio de Janeiro's state government extends the state of emergency due to heavy rainfall and flooding. - Argentina: The National Strike called by the CGT trade union begins, with protests and demonstrations expected nationwide. - Colombia: The Colombian government and the ELN guerrilla group resume peace talks in Caracas, Venezuela, after a six-month pause. Please note that these events are subject to change
I hear people all the time moan about Brighton having pebble beaches but it's a joy for taking seascapes. That being said, the evil seagulls make for interesting photography companions. It turns out they don't just steal your sandwiches, they steal your camera remotes too.
I learnt this myself that sticking to full stops of ISO looked much cleaner...that is 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 etc and I never use Auto ISO. I find 1600 ISO is much cleaner than 1000 or 500. I watched a RU-vid video (can't remember who by) and this photographer said that the stops in between the full stops of ISO are just digitally enhanced and the real ISO is at the full stops like the old days of film. Not sure if this is true but I did my own experiment and I find it to be true for me. So I use this method all the time.
Great video. What minimum shutter speed would you pick if you're shooting on a Sigma 18-50mm on a a6700? Would you say 1/60 is too slow and maybe go to 1/125 or 1/250?
ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization, a non-governmental organization that sets standards for many industries, including photography.
My auto ISO is set to 100 - 20.000. Why? Because I shoot a lot of street photography in low light conditions and want them to be sharp. I use my 70-200 f4 because I can't afford the 2.8 version (which would obviously cut the ISO I need in half), but it doesn't matter. My trusty A7III produces useable sharp images with ISO 20.000. And id rather have a noisy but sharp picture than a low noise blurry one :) Auto ISO for the win.
One Word - MonoPod! Don’t hesitate to anchor into soil, slip on mini folding legs surgery from light stand or if backpack, use modified plastic RV leveling blocks! OK can’t count. ISO? Perfect for understanding light - shadow control but Auto ISO is the SuperHighway Of Opportunity Photo.
I use auto iso when shooting handheld, when doing long exposure or sea scapes always use base 64 iso unless it’s dark then I may go 80/100/200 at most on D850. Works for me. Good video enjoyed it. ISO means image sensor opacity how’re its defined as international organisation standardisation ( I may be wrong )
So people suggest that you shoot in manual mode with auto ISO, I tried doing it on my Olympus EM10 MK4. I set my upper ISO and lower settings in the menu, set ISO to auto, I then set shutter speed and aperture .the rear dial that normally controls aperture now controls shutter speed and the front dial that is set up for exposure compensation now controls aperture , the problem now is that I have no exposure comp control unless I assign a function button to handle that function, is that what I have to do. Thanks.
Sorry James but Up and Down can not be defined in terms of directions. If I drive from London to Scotland, I am driving neither Up or Down. Also, contrary to your statement in this video, the focus breathing on the 20mm lens is "great".
I use auto ISO when I am in aperture prio with minimal shutter speed and pretty happy with it. Big adventage: faster to react to the scene and conditons and concentrate on the composition.
Hi James, sad that people seem to comment on errors more than all those times you are spot on; or is it just me?! Love your channel and , if I could, I would come on one of your great trips. Just a heads up (what ever that means) ISO = International Organization for Standardization Regards, Martyn PS could you share your settings for video work please?
What's that strange looking War of the Worlds type contraption your camera is resting on? 😧 Hang on.. it just occurred to me.. did you have TWO tripods to film yourself using the other one???
How does it work without a minimum shutter speed? How does the camera know if it should turn down the ISO or the SS? Does it always have the priority of staying as low as possible with the ISO or how does it work? (A7RV in my example)
*Cries in Leica* Seriously, it's pretty atrocious how badly they handle high iso. I'm a bit fussy and 600 is my max but even less fussy folks seem to agree on 1000 as the acceptable noise threshold
out in the middle of a storm at night, "yea, conditions arent great for photography". "Really, just an excuse isnt it?" lol I love that mentality, but yea, sometimes the conditions are everything. Right time, right place.
The Nikon Z lenses have zero focus breathing! Just saying, Nikon for life, lol. Anyway auto iso has its place but if you have a tripod and actually use it for landscapes than not really necessary. For handheld shots it’s very convenient.
You said ISO is a name, and not an acronym... That is wrong. It is an acronym. ISO stands for "International Organization of Standards" or "International Standards Organization" depending on the language you speak. Other than that small error, this is great content. Keep up the great work.
Love ur video. Well going to the point I use fixed…f8 aperture altering the iso and shutter speed during daytime and the results r nice.my camera and lenses have stabilization…I would like ur opinion thanks anyway
I follow many photography and travel RU-vidrs like yourself, and I’ve been incredibly disappointed that none of you even mention the war in Ukraine. It comes across as being out of touch and tremendously self involved. The only one that I follow that touched on the subject was Samuel Streetlife and it garnered my sincerest respect. I hope you guys change course before it’s too late because I genuinely enjoy watching your videos but not when you show such a disconnect with the real world.
I shoot iso auto when doing anything action because I can’t change exposure manually to compensate for the variable aperture. Exposure comp to keep iso low … mainly for use this for sport
Only time I don't use auto ISO, is Astrophotography, since the auto exposure control and auto focus on my camera's have no idea how to deal with a dark night sky and thus my foolish brain has to figure it out instead, with questionable results
I watch all of James videos, partly to check if he states his hate for tripods. I love them, I never go out without my tripod and every time I have done that, I have fucked up at least one good oportunity, so I love to see him working without one and complaining about them XD
i mostly shoot manual but if the lighting sucks i would use higher or auto iso. For example shooting a moving bicycle at night. I believe people needs to understand the histogram while shooting
I’ve been using auto ISO since I got my mirrorless camera. Is with to full manual every now and then but end up back in auto ISO as it just makes it much quicker to get the shot.
I've always shot in manual but one day while shooting some birds it dawned on me to just put ISO into auto because I had to keep adjusting for the light. Best thing to ever happen me. All I had to focus on was my shutter speed because obviously I needed one fast enough to stop the birds wing motion in place. Aside from that however, unless I'm hand holding the camera, I like to be in control of everything
Or….know your camera and what ISO is within your camera sensor’s capacity to use with acceptable noise characteristics while achieving the shutter speed you need.
You actually make the case for the existence of God and that man is created in God's image. Your appeal to honor or respect the divine simply as a hypothetical falls flat on many levels. But that is the dilemma of man, who needs to respect morality for his own good but destroys it by denying an absolute source for it.
Until recently I was shooting with a very old Canon and the auto iso was awful- you couldn't set a maximum and it would always tend to choose far too high a number. And the iso was not the best anyway. Then I got a Sony (still old, an A7ii) and now I have to admit that auto iso is the best thing ever invented.
always using auto iso and checked the results for clean iso settings for a max iso setting my lumix G is max iso 1600 night -3200 day a lumix S serie or sony or other full frame a bigger iso possible full frame is better in low light iso so you can set your iso to a bigger number is0 6400 or more thats my choice to. focus breating its terrable panasonic is bad only this is the top of uglyness
Been using Auto-ISO for years, and though mocked by many my results speak for themselves (a little noise reduction nudge in editing and hey-presto, done).
I consider myself a beginner photographer and i cant bring myself for the camera to controll my shots. Usaly the camera over exposes and adds unneeded noise that cant be fixed properly in lightroom. So yeah i shoot in Manual.
Each to their own but the only time I use Auto ISO is if I'm shooting wildlife as then shutter speed is my key criteria. I agree with modern cameras noise isn't as big a deal as it used to be and programmes like DxO PureRaw and ON1 Denoise AI do fantastic jobs on higher ISO images but they are trying to correct for the noise and personally I think it better not to have the noise in the first place if you can help it. I want to be thinking about my choices of aperture, shutter speed and ISO when I'm taking shots. I also shoot a lot of panos, focus stacked and bracketed images so I want all the settings to be identical not changing as I shoot them. I'd say I could get by with Auto ISO most of the time but I don't think it is a good idea to try - just my personal opinion.
You're shooting on a Sony, man! We have some distinct advantages when using ISO (as well as some other manufacturers that have started doing this) that you're probably not used to. Our Sony cameras are largely ISO-Invariant at two gain stages. On the RIV, the second gain stage kicks in at ISO 320. From 320 all the way to 12,800, the back end read noise is virtually identical, so apart from raising ISO enough to be practically useful on your screen, you don't really need to worry about changing the ISO to accomodate. Your main consideration becomes dynamic range instead of noise now. Keeping your ISO lower within a gain stage will help preserve maximum dynamic range, but you don't really have to worry about noise anymore apart from switching to the higher gain stage for low light (you get improved shadow detail at the expanse of a little dynamic range). Your camera is also ISO invarant between ISO 100 and 250.
