ISO settings

[PaulD]

ukcatfan is right about aperture affecting contrast but I'm not so sure about saturation. Generally speaking, as you increase ISO you tend to lose saturation as well as adding noise. ISO 400 on newer DSLRs is generally pretty good but that may not be true with older DLSRs and especially with point and shoot cameras. What camera are you using? I always shoot with the lowest ISO that I can in a given lighting condition.

Why don't you take a couple test shots of the same subject under the same lighting with different ISOs and compare the results.

Another thing to consider is the lighting conditions that you are shooting under. In this photo the subject is in the shade. This is very diffused lighting and you lose contrast as a result.

Lastly, this may just be how your camera renders color and contrast in it's default setting. If you don't like the look that it produces you can adjust the saturation and contrast in the camera to something that you like better.

Let us know how it goes!

Paul

 

[ukcatfan]

ukcatfan is right about aperture affecting contrast but I'm not so sure about saturation.

Yeah, I was not too sure of the saturation. I suggest shooting RAW. I know, that is always the answer around here, but there is a reason for that. While you cannot completely recover from the shortcomings of a particular lens, it does offer some leniency over JPG.

 

[oogieboogieman]

IMO, the muted colors are due to the WB settings. I've had better luck with my cameras (Olympus 410/510/E1) using the sunny 5300k when shooting outdoors even in the shade. Now I will change them when shooting under lights and I NEVER use the auto WB setting.

This is one of the things I love about digital cameras and it's the fact it won't cost anything to process photos when tinkering around with settings.

I would experiment with different setting including a lower ISO, aperture, metering and WB setting and see what reaction your camera has.

Keep us posted.

 

[JoeDif]

Depending on the lighting situation sometimes I'll purposely underexpose the photo by 2/3 stop. This will sometimes help getting richer colors in your photo

 

[jann1033]

if you have a canon check what picture styles you are using...the neutral and faithful have muted colors as it expects you are going to post process. you might want to use something like standard or landscape for more vivid colors. you can also make your own in the picture styles software( never used it)

 

[GrillMouster]

In an effort to preserve shadow detail in the background the camera slightly overexposed your son. In a situation like this, where most of the scene is dark and your main subject is much lighter, dial in some negative exposure compensation. The result is that shadows may clip in the background, but the subject (which is most important) will expose properly.

As for what ISO to use, it depends on how much light is in the scene. If there's plenty of light, which is the case if you're shooting the subject in bright sunlight, then you should use a low ISO. If the subject is in shade, then you may need a slightly higher ISO. If the subject is in dim light indoors, you may need an even higher ISO, etc.. Generally, start out with the lowest ISO setting. Then make sure that the aperture gives you the depth of field you want and the shutter speed is fast/slow enough for your purpose, then, if necessary adjust the ISO to properly expose the subject. Increasing ISO tends to increase image noise and reduce dynamic range.

 

[ColleenG]

Thanks everyone for the input. I am still on the learning curve with the camera. I have a Canon T1i. I have it set to standard picture style. I will definately have to try a lower ISO and play around some more with the settings. I checked out some of the flickr photo streams that some have links to and it seems like for out door shootng most are using ISO 200 or 100 I have been shooting in JPG only because I'm trying to figure out the camera and haven't had time to figure out the software that came with it to process RAW files.

Now I just need for the sun to come back. The last 2 days have been cloudy and really humid. We got spoiled with almost 2 weeks of no humidity and low 80s. If any of you are from NJ you know this time of year is usually pretty humid. I will definately let you know how the trial and error goes. Thanks again.

 

[seashoreCM]

ISO 100 is usually best for outdoor shots in the sun.

It is not unusal for pastel details to be washed out as solid white and/or shadow details to be buried in solid black. You will have to get to know your camera well and know when to lighten up or darken down a picture to fix that.

To lighten or darken a non-flash picture using an automatic camera, adjust the exposure compensation, not the ISO.

When you take multiple shots of the same scene with different exposure compensations to see what is better, be sure to frame each of the shots precisely the same way. The camera will re-adjust depending on how much light content and how much dark content there is. Varying the framing will make it impossible to figure out how much a change in brightness was due to the exposure compensation and how much a change was due to the camera's additional re-adjusting.

In fact, with some cameras, you can fake exposure compensation by aiming the camera at a darker part of the picture and holding the button down halfway and then do your real framing and get a brighter picture (or aim first at a brighter spot for a darker picture).

Digital camera hints: http://www.cockam.com/digicam.htm

 

[WDWFigment]

I go with 100 ISO outdoors unless the shutter speed or aperture I want to use give me a reason to use otherwise. Then again, I've never really understood the "Sunny f/16" or "Use ISO 400 outdoors" rules. I just always use the lowest possible ISO for the scenario that doesn't compromise the other settings I want, and use f/8-f/11 when I don't want to use a more "creative" aperture, as those are the sharpest apertures for the lenses I have.

 

[seashoreCM]

OT: About "Sunny f/16" -- It's an easy to remember benchmark for manual camera users. The average exposure for bright sunlight is f/16 with a shutter speed of 1 divided by the ISO. For example with ISO 100 use f/16 at 1/100'th second or f/8 at 1/400'th second.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I have a couple of questions.
Have any of you ever used Auto Exposure Compensation or Auto ISO? I was thinking that trying AEC may help me to get a better understanding about EC and when to use what setting.
And Auto ISO, I thought would just make it easier so I don't have to fumble with it. I used Auto ISO on my last DL trip and it helped me a lot. However, there were times I felt it over compensated like during bright afternoons, sometimes it would show up as 3200 ISO and the photo would still be not quite right even though in Program mode the Aperture and Shutter speeds auto adjust as well...Ha! Maybe I was using too much auto!
Basically in Program mode, Auto ISO would be maxed because the shutter and aperture would start stopping down to compensate for bright sunny conditions. (Or vice versa; not sure which came first the P mode stopping down or the maxed ISO.) Anyway, that's what I think happened.
Any ideas about why or how or what I should do in similar conditions? I take a lot of landscape type shots, and on bright days the photos tend to look washed out or too dark (silhouette). I have an SB800 flash that I don't normally take to DL because it's heavy. And for lansdcape shots, it won't really work anyway, right? You have to be within x amount of feet to see results. I tried using a polarizer on this trip and some photos came out decent. Some I noticed the program mode settings trying to compensate and ISO would boost to overcome the filter. So any ideas for what I'm doing wrong? Should I use Auto EC to get a better understanding of when to do what with it? Should I use Auto ISO? Any tips, ideas are welcome!
Also, skies: they never come out as blue as I see them with my eyes. In the photos they always look washed out or greyish unless I have my polarizer filter on it. What's causing this?
Thanks!

 

[wenrob]

I can't answer half of your questions, lol but I'll take a stab at a couple. As to auto ISO I think it leaves far too much to chance. I leave my ISO set to 200 for outside and 400 for inside and adjust from there. It's super easy and quick to adjust since we have a dedicated button on the D90. I personally think you'll learn what ISO to (admittedly I'm still learning) use dialing it in and reviewing later rather then letting the camera make the decision. To be honest P mode confuses me, I don't know why. If I have to shoot fast I use Aperture or Shutter priority so I don't have to think about it.

I don't know anything about auto AEC. What mode are you metering in? Have you tried center weighted? That may help. When shooting people rotfl2 in bright outdoors I will dial in minus EC to avoid blowing out the sky too much and use fill flash for my subjects. I'm not half as talented as most here but these are all things I've learned hanging out here and my photos have improved %100 over the last year.

 

[annnewjerz]

I can't answer your questions---but I am interested in seeing what others have to say!

I haven't used Auto since I got my camera last year, or Program ever just because to be honest, I don't really "get" what's different than Auto. When I used auto for my shots right out of the box and was just learning what ISO, etc. were I didn't think twice about the camera picking the wrong ISO, but upon reviewing my photos from the first few weeks with the camera, I see that most that I took outdoors in plenty of light were ISO 1600, which to me is odd. I use ISO 200 for anything outside in bright light (just because with the D90 I'm not sure if there is any downside to using "Lo1" and "Lo2" or whatever those are. I have used them in full on afternoon sun before because everything just looked horribly overexposed, but usually I do 200 outside and 400 inside and go from there.

Good luck and I hope you get the answers you are looking for. Exposure compensation is something I would like to start utilizing in the upcoming months as well. I do find that I tend to get grey blown-out skies and subjects that are exposed properly. I have been using Wen's technique of using negative exposure comp and pop-up flash for getting my subject exposed and the skies look greatly improved. Still not as nice as Bob's HDR skies or skies that people get using their CPs (because I don't have one yet)---but nicer than those icky grey ones.

 

[ukcatfan]

Not sure what you mean by "Auto Exposure Compensation". I have never heard of that. The whole idea of Exposure Compensation is that you are manually overriding what the auto exposure meter is saying is correct, so there is no reason for having it auto. Could you explain a little more about what you mean?

 

[WDWFigment]

I only use auto ISO in low light circumstances, even then I set it so it adjusts the shutter speed before raising the ISO. Outside during the day, I just use 100 (Lo 1) or 200 ISO.

 

[MICKEY88]

do you possibly mean auto exposure lock, rather than compensation

 

[ukcatfan]

I think I might have figured out what you are seeing. I believe you seeing Auto Exposure Compensation is just another way of just saying Exposure Compensation. i.e. it is not "Auto" Exposure Compensation, it is "Auto Exposure" Compensation. Am I making any sense? All exposure modes, but full manual, are still doing auto exposure.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I think I might have figured out what you are seeing. I believe you seeing Auto Exposure Compensation is just another way of just saying Exposure Compensation. i.e. it is not "Auto" Exposure Compensation, it is "Auto Exposure" Compensation. Am I making any sense? All exposure modes, but full manual, are still doing auto exposure.

Actually, on the D90 there is a mode in the menu that is called Easy Exposure Compensation. I looked it up in the manual, and from what I understood, I thought it was like an auto mode that would pick the right EC for the photo one is taking.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I can't answer half of your questions, lol but I'll take a stab at a couple. As to auto ISO I think it leaves far too much to chance. I leave my ISO set to 200 for outside and 400 for inside and adjust from there. It's super easy and quick to adjust since we have a dedicated button on the D90. I personally think you'll learn what ISO to (admittedly I'm still learning) use dialing it in and reviewing later rather then letting the camera make the decision. To be honest P mode confuses me, I don't know why. If I have to shoot fast I use Aperture or Shutter priority so I don't have to think about it.

I don't know anything about auto AEC. What mode are you metering in? Have you tried center weighted? That may help. When shooting people rotfl2 in bright outdoors I will dial in minus EC to avoid blowing out the sky too much and use fill flash for my subjects. I'm not half as talented as most here but these are all things I've learned hanging out here and my photos have improved %100 over the last year.

I usually shoot in A, S or M. In fact when I first started, I forced myself to shoot in A or M mode to try and figure what worked vs. what didn't. I tried the P mode thing while walking around sometimes during the daytime and I noticed the blown out skies. But then when I would switch to Manual, A or P, it would be the same - blown out or people/things sillouetted when I wanted to see them. I noticed that using the polarizer made the skies a little better but in P mode, the camera would start slowing down the shutter speed, etc. I think I should have just taken it out of P mode, but again this was when I was not really there to photograph, more to go on rides and while rushing from one to another. I didn't really have time to stop and think before composing, etc. I figured I would need the flash and use EC. I know I use negative EC when taking photos of people on stage under bright lights, so I was thinking that would have solved the probem of people being dark in the photos where the sun is very bright. I just couldn't bring myself to carry around that heavy flash all day long at DL. I do use Center weighted metering. Thanks!

Good luck and I hope you get the answers you are looking for. Exposure compensation is something I would like to start utilizing in the upcoming months as well. I do find that I tend to get grey blown-out skies and subjects that are exposed properly. I have been using Wen's technique of using negative exposure comp and pop-up flash for getting my subject exposed and the skies look greatly improved. Still not as nice as Bob's HDR skies or skies that people get using their CPs (because I don't have one yet)---but nicer than those icky grey ones.

Thanks Anne! I was wondering, I tried to use the pop up flash while using the 18-200 and I noticed that there is a shadow at the bottom of some pics. I think it was the lens hood causing it. The shadow was there even when the lens shood was reversed if I used the pop up. Do you ever have the same problem using the pop up? That's partly why I didn't want to use the pop up flash even though I knew it would help, it would also hinder due to that shadow. When I completely removed the hood, the shadow went away as long as I wasn't zoomed out too far. Then I had yet one more thing to fumble with which is a pain when you're trying to run around DL and quickly take photos in between rides/attractions! Dang hood, where to put it and not lose it? Any ideas; have you had similar problems using the 18-200 and pop up flash?

I only use auto ISO in low light circumstances, even then I set it so it adjusts the shutter speed before raising the ISO. Outside during the day, I just use 100 (Lo 1) or 200 ISO.

How do you set it to adjust the shutter speed before raising ISO? Are you still using the D40? I didn't see where I could do this on the D90. It seemed like it was all auto ISO or all manual. Do you know where in the menu I can find this? Thanks! I think auto ISO in low light makes a lot of sense.

Thanks to everyone for responding and trying to help! I appreciate it. I can't wait to read your responses!

 

[ukcatfan]

Actually, on the D90 there is a mode in the menu that is called Easy Exposure Compensation. I looked it up in the manual, and from what I understood, I thought it was like an auto mode that would pick the right EC for the photo one is taking.

I just pulled up the manual. It is not an auto mode. It just sets how you adjust it. With easy mode on, you use a dial to change it. With easy off, you have to press the EC button while rotating the dial. The easy part is that you do not have to hold the button in. I honestly do not think it is possible to have an auto EC. It actually goes against what EC is. If the camera could always pick the right exposure, there would be no need for EC. Sorry to disappoint you

The ever popular "Understanding Exposure" has a good section on EC.