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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Do you use auto ISO?
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10/29/2017 06:28:12 PM · #1
Originally posted by QuickClickMick:

I never use it. I start with 100 default for sunny days, 200 for not so sunny days, 400 for low light / night and then adjust from there when I need to.


Ditto.
10/29/2017 04:30:13 PM · #2
I recently upgraded the firmware in my Nikon D810, which unbeknown to me, resets everything to factory standards. I caught the JPEG Fine setting and switch it back to RAW. I did miss the fact that AutoISO (yes I know it's in the little LCD window and all) and went happily shooting. Nighttime at Bodie, California, I was perplexed why all my images were previewing totally black, with minimal detail regardless of where I set ISO. I was at 12800 when I realized AutoISO was on. Quick reset and I was done.

The attached image is unedited, shot at ISO 12800 at 9:36 pm. Nikon D810, Sigma 24 mm f/1.4 30 sec exposure
09/03/2017 09:39:42 AM · #3
Originally posted by Cory:

I do, but the 1D lets me limit the ranges of any setting, so I can control min shutter/max shutter - max ISO - min/max aperture, etc.

Or, I should say, I do whenever I actually shoot. Generally, having the ability to set the min/max is WAY better than just auto, at least if you know what you're up to anyway.


That was an incredible discovery. I'm thinking about setting up a bunch of presets. I just brought my daughter for an animal adventure with red pandas and sloths. I set the auto ISO with a maximum range and aperture priority wasn't doing it because of animal movement, so I changed it to shutter priority. But I was thinking I could have had a preset to aperture priority, a specific shutter minimum and the the auto ISO with a max setting. Then I could have achieved the shallow depth of field I wanted, minimized the movement blur, etc.

Neat options!
09/02/2017 09:55:57 PM · #4
I do, but the 1D lets me limit the ranges of any setting, so I can control min shutter/max shutter - max ISO - min/max aperture, etc.

Or, I should say, I do whenever I actually shoot. Generally, having the ability to set the min/max is WAY better than just auto, at least if you know what you're up to anyway.
09/02/2017 09:04:37 PM · #5
Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by vawendy:

No!!!! Don't use p! Then the camera is doing everything!!!

On my camera "P" ("Program") mode allows the ISO to be fixed, and the camera calculates aperture and shutter-speed only.


I have to look up the details but when I read them it didn't seem awful...it's NOT auto
09/02/2017 08:53:12 PM · #6
Originally posted by vawendy:

No!!!! Don't use p! Then the camera is doing everything!!!

On my camera "P" ("Program") mode allows the ISO to be fixed, and the camera calculates aperture and shutter-speed only.
09/02/2017 08:22:50 PM · #7
Originally posted by Ja-9:

Well I found this discussion to be not only informative but very helpful. I have always selected my ISO not allowing the camer to decide until this weekend.

We went to several Florida attractions this weekend. In n out of exhibits as well as outside..so I tried auto...I'm impressed!!! Now I still need to get them on my computer to check my grain. But on the camera it was quite good. I got shots that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

I also read up on the P program on my camera...I need to explore that more. Haven't ever used that...but I'm willing to try it out ...

Thank you!!


No!!!! Don't use p! Then the camera is doing everything!!!
09/02/2017 11:41:39 AM · #8
Well I found this discussion to be not only informative but very helpful. I have always selected my ISO not allowing the camer to decide until this weekend.

We went to several Florida attractions this weekend. In n out of exhibits as well as outside..so I tried auto...I'm impressed!!! Now I still need to get them on my computer to check my grain. But on the camera it was quite good. I got shots that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

I also read up on the P program on my camera...I need to explore that more. Haven't ever used that...but I'm willing to try it out ...

Thank you!!
08/30/2017 09:34:01 AM · #9
Originally posted by rooum:

Originally posted by vawendy:


The one thing that is intimidating me is the upcoming wedding and working with short lenses. How do people successfully shoot 16-50mm range. My shots are snapshots, yet others really manage to make a person the main focus while still having a huge amount of background. I need to figure out how close they're getting to the person, how close the person is to the rest of the scene. Are they saying from eye height or crouching down a bit? Does more foreground help so there's not so much vertical space above them? Etc. I'm the close up portrait type, so I play to my strengths. Need to learn the rest now


As i've said elsewhere, I use two cameras during a wedding. One with a wide angle (21-35mm equiv) and one with a telephoto (85mm equiv). I once read one photographer describing this approach as having one 'story-telling' lens and one 'beauty' lens and this really struck a chord with me and it's how I see it as well (although there is overlap of course). It is easier using the 'beauty' tele, portrait lens in many ways. It's much easier to make things look good and pretty if you just blur out the background with a very shallow depth of field and focus on one person/element. With a wide angle you really need to get in close and pay more attention to composition and what is being framed. I have a background working in theatre and I think a lot of these elements are ingrained in me. My old mentor/boss (who also was a keen photographer) used to teach me by bringing in books of Old Masters paintings and such to study and there is a lot of value there. It's about seeing a tableau in a scene - the storytelling and composition.

The 'Inspired by Manet' challenge was a great example of this. My photo was actually with a 50mm but it does explain what I try to do…

Here is a recent wedding I did. If you think about all of those photos were either done with a shot telephoto (beauty/portrait/shallow DOF) or a wide angle (storytelling/tableau) lens. The wide angles, in particular the ones at the reception on the lawn, are all about creating/representing a scene/story and finding a composition to hold that. Mingle, get in close and watch for the frame and the elements to fall into it in a pleasing way. That will also dictate where you are at eye-level or crouching. I don't crouch much unless there are small people/kids in the shot.

There are exceptions of course, as I also like to use a wide angle for portraits - for putting the subject in a wide scene.


I like this thought process. I've always gone for the beauty process, but I like story telling. I guess the thing I'm missing the most is the setup story telling. The candid moments are going to be what they are. You find the stories and do the best you can to tell them. But the more formal portraits can tell a story, as well, as yours do. So I need to find out positioning, distance, etc. to create the tableaus. I'm actually starting to think of it as candids, tableaus and beauty. I actually like that. It helps me wrap my mind around groups shots a bit more. Because I really hate the typical "line up everyone" standard group portraits. They may still want them. But I can create better tableaus. Well... after practicing I'll be able to! :)

I'm going to spend a lot of time searching through Clive's albums. Te biggest problem is that the only wedding photos I've particularly seen are the completely traditional cliche shots. Time to explore some more.
08/30/2017 09:06:44 AM · #10
Originally posted by vawendy:

From what I can see, auto ISO is good for stationary objects. Even though it recognizes objects moving and adjusts the focus, it's not smart enough to know to adjust the ISO. So it gave me an ISO of 200, but a shutter speed of 1/30-1/60 and the moving dog was blurry in every shot.

Hmmm... just thought that through as I was typing. If I'm going for something moving, switch from aperture to shutter. I never used that because I would set my ISO and keep the shutter wide open and get what I could, switching ISO when needed.

Ok... time to rethink the whole shooting process. I feel like my world has been turned upside down. There were very distinct reasons that I shot how I shot, and those are starting to dissolve before me.

bizzarre.


Actually, I would say the opposite in that it is great for action shots. For stationary objects you likely have time to make adjustments, which you likely don't for things like sports and wildlife. The key though is that you need to control both aperture and shutter. I've found that most likely the time I would simply set my aperture wide open and change my shutter speed as necessary. Then let the camera choose the appropriate ISO for a properly exposed shot.
You may find this useful for your upcoming wedding as well. The one I just shot was outside as well and as the light started to fade, I used the same technique. Except in this case it was about lowering the shutter speed to what I thought I could get away with depending on my focal length. I could even quickly take multiple shots of the same subject but only changing the shutter (so have one shot with low shutter and low ISO and another with the opposite, just in case there is camera shake in the first).
08/30/2017 06:48:37 AM · #11
Originally posted by rooum:

Originally posted by P-A-U-L:



I did see your prices on your website and thought they were very good tho I do understand you need to base your prices on your location. It looks like you really put in a good number of hours for each wedding so it really is a bargain. I hope you manage to do enough weddings per year so you can live like a king. You sure deserve to with those skills.


Thanks Paul. Certainly not living like a king although it's not too bad. For the last two or three years I seemed to have plateaued at between 25-30 weddings a year which is quite good although many of them are shorter day/cheaper weddings. Scraping by but one of the main reasons I started to do weddings was that it allowed me to go and live where I do and not be tied down to a big town or city. Plus, it's more important to me to be 'time rich' as opposed to 'money rich' and averaged out over a year I probably work about 15-20 a week which i'm more than happy with! Still, i've plans to expand a bit into video and get back into doing some property/commercial/stock agency type work to hopefully increase my money flow.


It sounds good to me. I don't seem to have any time for my photography these days - chained to a desk from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday and unable to go out before or after this due to parental duties. I am making good money working but I really need to scrape back some time for me. I am really pleased you are making photography work for you as a job. Doing those weddings must be great fun though very tiring and stressful I am sure. Being able to live where you want to is very important to me - I am lucky to work from home in a rural village but writing computer code doesn't really fill me with excitement.
08/30/2017 06:17:22 AM · #12
Originally posted by P-A-U-L:



I did see your prices on your website and thought they were very good tho I do understand you need to base your prices on your location. It looks like you really put in a good number of hours for each wedding so it really is a bargain. I hope you manage to do enough weddings per year so you can live like a king. You sure deserve to with those skills.


Thanks Paul. Certainly not living like a king although it's not too bad. For the last two or three years I seemed to have plateaued at between 25-30 weddings a year which is quite good although many of them are shorter day/cheaper weddings. Scraping by but one of the main reasons I started to do weddings was that it allowed me to go and live where I do and not be tied down to a big town or city. Plus, it's more important to me to be 'time rich' as opposed to 'money rich' and averaged out over a year I probably work about 15-20 a week which i'm more than happy with! Still, i've plans to expand a bit into video and get back into doing some property/commercial/stock agency type work to hopefully increase my money flow.
08/30/2017 05:23:19 AM · #13
Originally posted by rooum:

Thanks for the compliments guys!

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

I hope you're charging the big fees you are worth :-)


Ha! I'm probably charging as much as I can at the moment in rural Wales. I would bump the prices up if I lived in a city like Cardiff or London. Adding video from next year is my next plan.


I did see your prices on your website and thought they were very good tho I do understand you need to base your prices on your location. It looks like you really put in a good number of hours for each wedding so it really is a bargain. I hope you manage to do enough weddings per year so you can live like a king. You sure deserve to with those skills.
08/30/2017 05:11:47 AM · #14
Thanks for the compliments guys!

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

I hope you're charging the big fees you are worth :-)


Ha! I'm probably charging as much as I can at the moment in rural Wales. I would bump the prices up if I lived in a city like Cardiff or London. Adding video from next year is my next plan.
08/29/2017 02:48:53 PM · #15
Originally posted by Cyrilda:

Originally posted by GinaRothfels:

My camera is set to use auto ISO more often than not. Since moving from the 7D to the 80D it's been set to a maximum of ISO 6400 (default setting), compared to ISO 3200 on the 7D and I've been amazed by how much sharper my low light photos are.


Gina, I have the same camera and love it. I upgraded from a 60D. I've never tried setting my ISO to the 6400 but thanks to you and this thread I'll certainly give it a go. Thank you.


I hope you're happy with the results.
08/29/2017 01:37:21 PM · #16
Originally posted by P-A-U-L:

@Clive - those wedding photos are superb. I am sure the bride and groom were over the moon with those. Thank you for sharing. It looks like it was a really wonderful day.

Originally posted by rooum:

Cheers Paul. Yea, it was a lovely day and the couple were very pleased. I've done over 150 wedding now (where does the time go!) and pretty much all with that two camera wide/tele set up (mostly primes) and it seems to work for me.

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

I gotta echo the sentiment. What a fine, fine set of wedding shots, Clive! I hope you're charging the big fees you are worth :-)

Yah, me too!

I've done a handful of weddings.....enough to know I'm not a wedding photog and that this was a truly well done event.
08/29/2017 01:33:28 PM · #17
Originally posted by rooum:

Originally posted by P-A-U-L:

@Clive - those wedding photos are superb. I am sure the bride and groom were over the moon with those. Thank you for sharing. It looks like it was a really wonderful day.

Cheers Paul. Yea, it was a lovely day and the couple were very pleased. I've done over 150 wedding now (where does the time go!) and pretty much all with that two camera wide/tele set up (mostly primes) and it seems to work for me.

I gotta echo the sentiment. What a fine, fine set of wedding shots, Clive! I hope you're charging the big fees you are worth :-)
08/29/2017 11:06:57 AM · #18
I always cry at weddings
08/29/2017 06:41:06 AM · #19
Originally posted by P-A-U-L:

@Clive - those wedding photos are superb. I am sure the bride and groom were over the moon with those. Thank you for sharing. It looks like it was a really wonderful day.


Cheers Paul. Yea, it was a lovely day and the couple were very pleased. I've done over 150 wedding now (where does the time go!) and pretty much all with that two camera wide/tele set up (mostly primes) and it seems to work for me.
08/29/2017 06:14:06 AM · #20
@Clive - those wedding photos are superb. I am sure the bride and groom were over the moon with those. Thank you for sharing. It looks like it was a really wonderful day.
08/29/2017 06:02:10 AM · #21
Originally posted by vawendy:


The one thing that is intimidating me is the upcoming wedding and working with short lenses. How do people successfully shoot 16-50mm range. My shots are snapshots, yet others really manage to make a person the main focus while still having a huge amount of background. I need to figure out how close they're getting to the person, how close the person is to the rest of the scene. Are they saying from eye height or crouching down a bit? Does more foreground help so there's not so much vertical space above them? Etc. I'm the close up portrait type, so I play to my strengths. Need to learn the rest now


As i've said elsewhere, I use two cameras during a wedding. One with a wide angle (21-35mm equiv) and one with a telephoto (85mm equiv). I once read one photographer describing this approach as having one 'story-telling' lens and one 'beauty' lens and this really struck a chord with me and it's how I see it as well (although there is overlap of course). It is easier using the 'beauty' tele, portrait lens in many ways. It's much easier to make things look good and pretty if you just blur out the background with a very shallow depth of field and focus on one person/element. With a wide angle you really need to get in close and pay more attention to composition and what is being framed. I have a background working in theatre and I think a lot of these elements are ingrained in me. My old mentor/boss (who also was a keen photographer) used to teach me by bringing in books of Old Masters paintings and such to study and there is a lot of value there. It's about seeing a tableau in a scene - the storytelling and composition.

The 'Inspired by Manet' challenge was a great example of this. My photo was actually with a 50mm but it does explain what I try to do…

Here is a recent wedding I did. If you think about all of those photos were either done with a shot telephoto (beauty/portrait/shallow DOF) or a wide angle (storytelling/tableau) lens. The wide angles, in particular the ones at the reception on the lawn, are all about creating/representing a scene/story and finding a composition to hold that. Mingle, get in close and watch for the frame and the elements to fall into it in a pleasing way. That will also dictate where you are at eye-level or crouching. I don't crouch much unless there are small people/kids in the shot.

There are exceptions of course, as I also like to use a wide angle for portraits - for putting the subject in a wide scene.

Message edited by author 2017-08-29 06:10:00.
08/29/2017 04:53:38 AM · #22
Originally posted by rooum:



That's where the minimum shutter speed comes in handy. This means that if you set auto ISO to a maximum of 6400 using a minimum shutter speed of, say, 1/125, it will not start lowering the shutter speed below that until it has hit 6400.


Yes, this is what I have both my Fuji's set to.
08/29/2017 01:13:45 AM · #23
I never use it. I start with 100 default for sunny days, 200 for not so sunny days, 400 for low light / night and then adjust from there when I need to.
08/28/2017 09:51:11 PM · #24
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:

My camera is set to use auto ISO more often than not. Since moving from the 7D to the 80D it's been set to a maximum of ISO 6400 (default setting), compared to ISO 3200 on the 7D and I've been amazed by how much sharper my low light photos are.


Gina, I have the same camera and love it. I upgraded from a 60D. I've never tried setting my ISO to the 6400 but thanks to you and this thread I'll certainly give it a go. Thank you.
08/28/2017 10:44:30 AM · #25
Originally posted by NikonJeb:

Originally posted by vawendy:

Ok, this is offering a lot more options than I realized. I'm excited. I'm realizing just how much I "know", but have never really used. How much I still have to learn. It's starting to boggle my mind. I figured I had things pretty much under control.

Nobody knows your limits of acceptability better than you. As I stated, I have my own Semi-Auto default mode set up. I based it on my own tastes, style, and compromised only to where I get what I want most of the time. Just change one thing at a time and decide where you want to go with each setting. Adjust and tweak until you get the best balance for your shooting.

You know all this! You're just dragging your feet 'cause of the learning curve with the new camera!

Get to work! LOL!!!


That's just it. I know it, but haven't really used it because of limits on my old camera. So this is opening areas that have been off limits for a long time. I always wanted to do shutter priority because I knew the speed I wanted for the birds, but I couldn't go past 640 ISO. So I set the aperture wide open and tried to pan, etc.

I didn't know about seeing minimums and maximums, so that's helpful. Because I know what range in which I want to stay.

So I'm not dragging my feet, I'm just realizing how well I know my style, and how little I know other shooting styles simply because I've had to work around the weaknesses. So I have to dig back into what I haven't been using and explore. It's exciting to have that option.

The one thing that is intimidating me is the upcoming wedding and working with short lenses. How do people successfully shoot 16-50mm range. My shots are snapshots, yet others really manage to make a person the main focus while still having a huge amount of background. I need to figure out how close they're getting to the person, how close the person is to the rest of the scene. Are they saying from eye height or crouching down a bit? Does more foreground help so there's not so much vertical space above them? Etc. I'm the close up portrait type, so I play to my strengths. Need to learn the rest now
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