Understanding the ISO setting of a DSLR camera: A detailed discussion

The ISO setting of your camera is one of the three most significant pillars of photography (the other two being the shutter and the aperture speed).

Every DSLR photographer, be it a professional or an amateur, must understand the concept of ISO in thorough detail (especially if s/he is serious about turning photography into an integral part of his/her career).

Now in this article, we have discussed the very same thing for your reference. So pay attention as closely as possible.

What is ISO?

Source- Public Domain Pictures

In simpler terms, it can be said that ISO is the sensitivity of your camera to the available light. The lower the value of the ISO, the lower the sensitivity.

A typical ISO scale starts from 100 and goes up in an ascending order. The values normally double in the interim. Here’s how it generally looks like:

*100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, and so on.

Such a widely used ISO standard is introduced by the International Standards Organization.

ISO effect on exposure

The ISO scale is more or less similar to the shutter speed.

When the ISO value is doubled, the exposure of the camera also gets doubled at one, and the same time.

Thus, we can easily come up with this thumb rule that higher ISO values result in higher exposure, and lower ISO values result in lower exposure. So make sure you remember this by heart and incorporate the same in your photographs at the time of the shoot.

Photograph shot with a lower ISO value (for lower exposure)

Source- pxhere

The different ISO numbers: A brief discussion

We already said this before that typical ISO numbers originate from 100 (AKA the base ISO) and goes up in an ascending order by doubling the precursor [you may again refer to the ISO series* mentioned above].

There’s another point that you must remember as far as all of these ISO numbers are concerned, i.e., each step between the numbers (in the aforementioned series*) effectively DOUBLES the sensitivity of your camera sensor. The more the sensitivity of your camera, the lesser the time it should take for capturing the photograph.

You may refer to the following key to understand it better:

• ISO100 is equivalent to that of 1 second.

• ISO200 is equivalents to that of ½ of a second.

• ISO400 is equivalent to that of 1/4th of a second.

• ISO800 is equivalent to that of 1/8th of a second.

• ISO1600 is equivalent to that of 1/15th of a second.

Note: Lower ISO usually results in sharper images. Higher ISO, on the other hand, usually results in “noisy” and poor quality images.

The following diagrammatic representation should explain it better.

When should you shoot with a higher ISO setting?

If the amount of light is low around you, it is advisable to shoot with a higher ISO setting.

A higher ISO setting will also help to prevent the photograph from getting blurred as a result of the low light. The following is an example for your reference.

Source- Pexels

It is also advisable to use a lower ISO setting for capturing photographs of objects in motion. Here’s another example for your reference.

Source- Pixabay

When should you shoot with a lower ISO setting?

It is advisable to shoot with a lower ISO setting if there’s plenty of light available for the shoot.

A lower ISO setting will give you the best and the sharpest image of the lot. Case in point:

Image: Photograph shot with a lower ISO setting

Source- Pexels

ISO cheatsheet

• ISO100-200: For shooting during the day.

• ISO 400-800: Apt for shooting indoors WITH FLASH.

• ISO 800-1600: Apt for shooting photographs in low light events and landscape photography.

• ISO 1600-3200: For extreme low light photography such as night time photography without the support of a tripod.

• ISO 3200+: For shooting artistic photographs. A grainy effect is bound to come as a result of this range.

So that’s basically it. It’s time we bring this to an end for now. Hope the information shared in this article come in handy for your photography adventures. Good luck!