Search
Close this search box.

Understanding ISO is essential to becoming comfortable with perfecting manual camera settings. This guide will cover the basics you need to know about camera ISO.

What is ISO?

ISO is the camera sensor’s sensitivity to light. The greater the ISO, the more sensitive the sensor becomes to light (ex., ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200).

How is ISO Used?

ISO does not serve a creative purpose, such as shutter speed and aperture. Instead, ISO allows our camera to create more light in the scene, allowing faster shutter speeds at larger aperture numbers.

When Should I Adjust ISO?

Keeping the ISO at 100 is standard for lighting conditions that give enough light for the shutter speed and aperture needed. However, excellent lighting conditions are sometimes not the case; increase the ISO to even out the camera’s light meter in these instances.

Increasing ISO makes getting correct exposures in low lighting possible without sacrificing adjusting the shutter speed or aperture, which will diminish the creative potential of the image.

ISO Can Increase Camera Noise

In photography, “noise” is grain introduced into the photo using higher than needed ISO numbers. To avoid noise, increase ISO only enough to even out the light meter. Editing programs like Lightroom can be a last resort for fixing noise.

Conclusion

Becoming efficient in choosing the necessary ISO allows the photographer to express the creative utilization of shutter speed and aperture in a scene lacking quality light.

I hope you found this guide helpful for better understanding your camera’s settings. Please leave a comment below!

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Reddit

How to Use Camera ISO

In this post, we will cover the basics of camera ISO. Follow along for a descriptive guide to better understand how to apply ISO to get better results in your photography.

Read More »