Using Auto ISO and Manual mode.

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
For me it's the way I go when I need both a particular shutter speed and aperture setting. When you're in manual mode chances are you're either there because you want to control both and then you would simply play with the ISO to get your settings to work, or you're shooting with a fixed ISO and you want to control either aperture or shutter speed parameters at will and will adjust the other to suit (i.e. you're doing Aperture or Shutter Priority the old fashion way). My take is using Auto ISO allows the camera to make the decision you would have made doing the first thing above for you. Great for sports and action (ala birds in flight). My 150-500mm needs to be at f8-9 to get really sharp, so I just leave it there and set my shutter speed where I need it (between 1/800 and 1/1600 generally for moving critters).
 

FastGlass

Senior Member
I usually choose between Aperture and Shutter priority modes. Used to shoot in manual and still do in certain circumstances but got tired of constantly rolling my thumb or finger to adjust while moving. I'm going to give this a try. Using my D3s I'll limit the ISO at 8000 and see what happens.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I usually choose between Aperture and Shutter priority modes. Used to shoot in manual and still do in certain circumstances but got tired of constantly rolling my thumb or finger to adjust while moving. I'm going to give this a try. Using my D3s I'll limit the ISO at 8000 and see what happens.

And that's the beauty of auto ISO - you set your aperture and shutter speed to create the look/feel you want while the camera adjusts ISO for the proper exposure.
 

Just-Clayton

Senior Member
Haven't had much time to sit down and try new stuff. I just happened across this video on my face book page. I am going to try I more tomorrow and see what it brings.
 

WayneF

Senior Member
And that's the beauty of auto ISO - you set your aperture and shutter speed to create the look/feel you want while the camera adjusts ISO for the proper exposure.

It is not as if there are wide choices though.. ISO 100 to ISO 3200 is "only" five stops of range, so as always, our choice of shutter and aperture still depends on what works at the light level we find there. The only difference in this method is what varies...ISO, or shutter speed/aperture. My own notion is that choice of ISO value is more important than that. :)
 

J-see

Senior Member
That's a nice tip. I was exactly struggling with that when birding. I used A because I usually shoot f/7.1 with the Tam and auto-ISO depending upon the light with a minimum of 1/1000th - 1/1250th.

My problem was indeed that if I have a still shot in between my shutter and ISO are way too high for what I need but it was just too much work to change that quickly. This makes that easy.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
It is not as if there are wide choices though.. ISO 100 to ISO 3200 is "only" five stops of range, so as always, our choice of shutter and aperture still depends on what works at the light level we find there. The only difference in this method is what varies...ISO, or shutter speed/aperture. My own notion is that choice of ISO value is more important than that. :)

There's always a most important choice with every photo, and there are times when ISO is at the bottom of the list as in my example - I need f8 for sharpness and 1/800s or faster to freeze the subject. I can fix ISO noise far easier than I can a blurred subject.
 

cbg

Senior Member
Need to take a look at the video. I've been using Auto ISO and Aperature priority lately with my D7000 and Sigma 150-500 with a minimum shutter speed of 1/1000. It's been working OK, but going to manual will probably me a little more control
 

JJM

Senior Member
It seems Auto ISO is favourite as a bit of grain is easier to fix than out of focus shot. However, in the March issue 43 of NPhoto, article LIGHTBOX, images from readers show nearly all images shot at ISO100. (One image was with a shutter speed of 20secs while the next was 0.4 secs but both at ISO100)I am still a beginner and still finding it difficult to decide among all the advice what to do. I tried setting the ISO to 100 (My D7000 only seems to want to set a minimum of ISO200) but my images came out underexposed. If ISO is set to 100 is it best to adjust the shuttter speed or aperture? I am trying to get sharp DOF in architecture/landscape so usually try f/8-F/22. Any assistance appreciated.
 

J-see

Senior Member
It seems Auto ISO is favourite as a bit of grain is easier to fix than out of focus shot. However, in the March issue 43 of NPhoto, article LIGHTBOX, images from readers show nearly all images shot at ISO100. (One image was with a shutter speed of 20secs while the next was 0.4 secs but both at ISO100)I am still a beginner and still finding it difficult to decide among all the advice what to do. I tried setting the ISO to 100 (My D7000 only seems to want to set a minimum of ISO200) but my images came out underexposed. If ISO is set to 100 is it best to adjust the shuttter speed or aperture? I am trying to get sharp DOF in architecture/landscape so usually try f/8-F/22. Any assistance appreciated.

I shoot at ISO100 only but it's only possible when you know exactly how far you can push your cam and what you can normalise in post.

It's not a "shoot-load-ready" style of shooting.
 

Eyelight

Senior Member
It seems Auto ISO is favourite as a bit of grain is easier to fix than out of focus shot. However, in the March issue 43 of NPhoto, article LIGHTBOX, images from readers show nearly all images shot at ISO100. (One image was with a shutter speed of 20secs while the next was 0.4 secs but both at ISO100)I am still a beginner and still finding it difficult to decide among all the advice what to do. I tried setting the ISO to 100 (My D7000 only seems to want to set a minimum of ISO200) but my images came out underexposed. If ISO is set to 100 is it best to adjust the shuttter speed or aperture? I am trying to get sharp DOF in architecture/landscape so usually try f/8-F/22. Any assistance appreciated.

If you are doing shots with a tripod, my thoughts would be to keep ISO low, set your aperture small for maximum DOF and then set the shutter speed for as long as needed for the available light and/or use some portable lighting.
 

wev

Senior Member
Contributor
I find that using auto ISO almost always results in over-exposed shots. In very bright SoCal sunlight at 200, the camera still jumps to 400 ISO and the image is blown. I pull the speed back to 100 and it still shots at 350+. I drop auto ISO, reshoot at 200 and get a perfect image. Unless I am shooting in very unfavorable light or really need to push the speed, I have stopped using auto entirely.
 

J-see

Senior Member
I find that using auto ISO almost always results in over-exposed shots. In very bright SoCal sunlight at 200, the camera still jumps to 400 ISO and the image is blown. I pull the speed back to 100 and it still shots at 350+. I drop auto ISO, reshoot at 200 and get a perfect image. Unless I am shooting in very unfavorable light or really need to push the speed, I have stopped using auto entirely.

When I used auto-ISO, I simultaneously used exposure compensation to have some control over it. On the D750 EV worked while in manual but on the D3300, it is not an option. It still works when you have set it to a value but you have to get out of manual if you want to change it.

If you know it always overexposes one stop, you pick -1EV and auto-ISO will do it correct.
 
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dennybeall

Senior Member
I still think in Manual so this works well for me. Works well with the D5300 with the few tests I just out it through. I like the technique.
 

Lee532

Senior Member
I only use auto ISO when I am trying to capture fast moving action. It lets me pick the quick shutter speed and aperture I want without having to worry about the exposure when shooting in burst mode. Any other time I try to keep the ISO low.
 

JJM

Senior Member
Yes I try to keep the ISO as low as possible as recommended by many, especially in the NPhoto magazine. I am curious to know how to keep ISO at 100 whether using shutter speed of 20secs or much faster as in NPhoto March edition.
 

J-see

Senior Member
Yes I try to keep the ISO as low as possible as recommended by many, especially in the NPhoto magazine. I am curious to know how to keep ISO at 100 whether using shutter speed of 20secs or much faster as in NPhoto March edition.

Keeping ISO low isn't the hard part, it's knowing how far you can push it before you can not salvage the shot. At slow shutters you can easily use low ISO since there will be plenty of light and ISO does not affect that directly but at fast shutters, incoming light is limited which makes using low ISO a rather technical affair.

You can only go as far as your cam can handle.
 
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