The Problem with ISO 100.
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- Опубликовано: 25 сен 2024
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This week I'm talking briefly ISO, and why I rarely shoot at base 100 on my Sony A7R5.
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Idea: Make a video where you try to completely break your own style principles. I'm thinking tilted horizons, lack of symmetry, motion blur, black and white, weird angles, tons of grain, etc. etc. Would be interesting to see what you end up with and what you thought of the experience.
Tilted horizons, especially ones in which the perspective is markedly off to the human eye. I’ve taken a few and they’re such interesting shots!
Because of you, my wife and I planned a trip to Wales. We completed that trip about 10 days ago. We did not see another American the whole time we were there, but I was pleasantly surprised of the number of British travelers even in September that choose Wales as a getaway from the lives in England. We had a wonderful time exploring castles and the Snowdonia region of northern Wales. Thank you for your inspiration.
On Fujis, the gain resets again on the second A/D converter at ISO 640 so ISO 640 has the same noise as ISO 320.
Great feeling to see a new James video when opening RUclips
He's my favorite youtuber
I know you've addressed this before James, but overall I like the 'density' of your videos more than your pictures, which to me are a bit too light. But guess that's just me :-)
but that IS the Popsys Style, that's what makes photography as a whole so diverse when you have a style/preference of your own.
On my X100V I shoot at 640 no matter what so that I can use the DR400 setting. And yes, it helps dynamic range. And if it's too bright? ND filter built in, what a great camera.
madness!!
I prefer to control the shutter and aperture and let the ISO be whatever, The only thing I will do sometimes is to use exposure compensation if I think the camera has picked the wrong ISO
I shoot on ISO 800 95% of the time on fuji
Same noise as 400 and better Dynamic range from 400 up.
Methinks you may be overthinking the ISO thing. Have you looked at photos taken at ISO 250 vs 320 and really been able to detect a difference with your eyes? Call me skeptical, but I suspect they would be indistinguishable.
Normally not, but actually the difference from ISO 250 to 320 on some Sony Cameras can be visible, because of dual gain, fx Sony A7RIV and A7RV have a boost at ISO 320, so you should not use ISO 250 but jump ti ISO 320.
Methinks not. Watch the video.
I pretty much never think about it nowadays, except when I make a video about it. And while you’re right that the difference between 250 and 320 is small, the added bonus of a faster shutter speed is sometimes crucial 😃
And when you print say at the size that your book looks like it will be , will you really notice a bit of noise ? I think not ! 😊
Every camera manufacturer sets up iso slightly different. There’s a great web site, photons to photos that has all the charts for cameras iso noise levels. I don’t think it’s about whether we can detect the difference between iso settings, it’s about setting your camera to capture the most information it can. Can you tell the difference between 8bit and 14bit with the naked eye? Probably not, but why not shoot at 14bit with all that color range.
Very similar to how I do it - I shoot micro 4/3s which tends to mean I have tons of depth of field unless I'm at super-wide apertures. Because of that I often shoot in shutter priority and auto iso (200-6400). That wayI can always make sure I have control over sharpness/motion blur; I can handle high iso issues in post if I need to but a blurry shot I can't
I appreciate just how many of these videos are shot with the same camera and lens setup. It moves people to consider more their own style and philosophy, rather than gear.
That being said, I see that you list the Sigma 90mm f2.8 as a lens you use. It would be nice to see a video on this since I don't think you have one already.
Keep up the good work!
This is why I wish my camera had a way to block out certain ISO settings so that it jumps from 100-320. That would require Sony to acknowledge that their cameras have dual-gain, and for some reason they don't wanna do that.
I wish the same, even more important on my cameras where the magic happens at iso 640. Let us pick multiple auto-iso intervals that the camera can pick from!
So cool seeing Abersoch, we’ve taken the same family holiday there every year for about 30 years 😂
I've been caught out with too slow a shutter a few times, recently found though that on Sony you can also program one of your buttons to jump straight to a pre-programmed setting - I've set my AEL button so when I hold it down my settings immediately jump to 1/1000th f2.8 & auto iso
Similar here (AEL hold recall custom settings) but with 1/250 SS - fast enough for day-to-day stuff, and much slower than when in eg. sport mode (1/2000 SS). Assigned small spot focus area also acts as a fast way to frame the shot precisely (eg. focus on a single person in the crowd) when you are in say zone focus area. Also the focus mode is DMF.
Thanks, James. I've found that chart and values for my X100VI and X-T5
Hi:D could you provide a link to that source please? I was not very lucky with my own research 🫠 Thank you very much in advance!:)
Hi please do share
Would this idea of using ISO 320 apply to Fujifilm X cameras?
Standard intro to James Popsys videos: "I forgot..." 😂
Helpful information concerning ISO
Hunh, so looking at this and looking at graphs for it,, Iso 400 is my Canon's equivalent of your 320...
But I think dynamic range better at ISO 100
I actually shoot on my A1 at 320iso mostly even studio
I always love your photography, and videos. keep up the good work!
Is there a best iso for dynamic range for a7iv?
my default ISO is 320 for my work and 400 for my personal- i've never really loved the results from base ISO and thats just my personal preference.
I wish they would add min ss to the ZV-E10...
Really cool video dude!! But omg love the camera strap 😍 where did you get it , been looking for a decent leather strap for a while now , that one looks perfect 🥰
I wish i could assign ISO AUTO Min. SS to a dial to change it as if i'm changing shutterspeed.
I don't use Sony, but do enjoy looking at the pictures. Carry on. 👍🥂
I got a Nikon Df last week and the high ISO performance is crazy, and this a ten year old camera.
At last! I found someone who shoots at my settings. Kudos! I usually do 1/250th during the day. Around sunset it's 1/60th.
silhouettes of cats on a beach would be the only thing that would top silhouette of dogs on a beach
😅
Well that made perfect sense to me! I do like how you always(intentionally) get bright exposures, this ensures excellent image quality!
9:46 The most valuable purchase I recently did for photography is a foldable ladder. So I don't have to raise my arm uncomfortably for a shot like this haha.
A good explanation of a useful technique if your camera has dual-gain. I have found that a photo must be sharp first and foremost, ie. in-focus and without motion blur. I've definitely had to cull some great shots because of pushing shutter speed too far but I can't recall having to discard any for noise alone.
Hahaha, Oh man, when you said let’s look at some more photos after the 320 explanation I fully expected to look at my phone and see iso 100, iso 100, iso 100
Looking forward to the book 👍
Loved that shot or shots of that house 😊
How do you find what the base & extended ISO's are on a dual gain sensor?
I’ve been pushing the limits of my higher iso photography lately as well. I do think it’s something that comes with time.
ISO can be like playing within the safety of your front yard some times.
Great video as always James, love the information you impart, the subject matter you shoot and the style of you processing, all sublime. It’s only video where you called the Q3 the most hated camera in the world that I thought you were bat shit crazy 😂
Can’t wait to hear what you have to say about lens flare
I still don't get this "dual base ISO" dark magic. If there can be dual base ISO why not make it so every ISO, until a certain threshold is reached, the same in terms of noise and dynamic range? I guess my brain refuses to google this one for some reason. Love yours shots btw, 100 iso or not. The human nature thing and the overexposed skies make you stand out on IG; that is at least until the algorithm starts recommending posts that copy yours. I am done yapping. Cheers.
I just use std, fast and faster for min shutter speed iso
Great explanation 👍👏
So many of your shots I would have done differently or not at all - and every week you show that I SHOULD look at taking those shots. Keep up the great work; it makes me question why I do what I do - and maybe I should expand my skill set and style a bit more. Especially when you consider magic hour is such a small slice of the day.
Personally ISO is about the last thing I worry about. Certainly after wondering if the battery is charged. More folks should join you to "devalue" it somewhat.
After i shot my first and then second wedding i hammered home in my brain that iso doesnt matter as long as the shot is sharp. Only from 12500 onwards you start to get unsharpness in a shot due to the noise, but that can be compensated with B&W and only from 25000 onwards its a tossup. BUT well, i cant change the light on the venue, i cant freeze the couple in time for a slower shutter speed and i cant do pixie magic.... Im no pro, just to state that. For landscapes i only use low iso / or sub base iso if i dont have a filter with me and i need to slow the shutter down as much as possible (waterfalls e.g. during a hike) ... F16 and base iso is the only real trick i can do here. Or i could wait 10h for the sun to set..... no.
Hi James, bit off topic but i've been camping in the Llyn Peninsula, right at the tip opposite Bardsey Island and the area is stunning. Never forget one morning the fog came in and not exaggerating it was so thick i couldn't see 2 metres in front of me, and the silence, amazing, a beautiful part of the country.
I pretty much always have my camera in aperture priority mode with ISOASS turned on so my shutter speed never drops low enough that it will cause a blurry image, even in low light. I've found this a winning recipe for shooting on the go because as you say, I never want a blurry pic. I'd rather have a more noisy image which I can control in editing over a blurry pic which is cooked. I never considered that it would be better to set a min ISO at the 2nd base level though. Thats especially useful in low light shooting. Always get good tips here :) I even tend to edit my images similarly
I legitimately wondered "wow, how's he recording the sound? Hearing those footsteps at the beach is quite immersive" haha. Then again I'm only watching on the phone atm..
As someone who is still reletively new to photography the iso explanation was long enough to make sense, but short enough to not become boring. Plus having it a video where you are out taking shots and seeing the images too worked great.
Another enjoyable video.
im pretty sure the best way to get teh full dynamic range is to shoot at the native iso not the base the lower the iso from the native you start loosing detail in the shadows and same for going higher than the native iso. for example for my fuji xh1 the native iso is 800, should be the same with sony but i might be wrong.
granted the lower the iso the lower the noise but that about it. you loose dynamic range tho.
I don’t believe you…I think the weather is going to stay warm at least until mid October.
Interesting topic!
On my camera, the dynamic range is limited on ISO lower than 400 so I just set that as the minimum.
Great video! I love the soft-bright-light feel of your photos! I'll be fantastic to see a video about how you achieve this look in editing 🙏 :)
There's no such thing as 'too sunny' or too anything.Unless it's the end of times and it's showering us with fire and brimstone,we make the most of what we're given regardless of anything else.
Really feels like you’re hunting for topics to make filler videos about instead of sharing what actually inspires you lately.. As you said in the comments here, you’re not even thinking about these technical things when shooting, so these videos about technical details come off as a bit hollow. More about the why and less about the how would feel a lot more genuine
worrying about iso settings in the low hundreds on a modern day full frame camera that also has ibis ...
Not all of us have a camera with IBIS.
@@dansmouse7393 yeah but surely most do by now, and if not, a lot have stabilized lenses and tons of people use full frame sensored sony cameras with brilliant image quality and "high" iso capabilities. i do admit however that i myself try to use base iso as often as possible. on my last roadtrip, testing out auto-iso, i noticed that my camera would aim for needlessly fast shutter speeds & high iso values when there was no need for either.
Iso is a myth . It only exists in your mind .
Lovely colors! Are there any presets we can buy? ;) P.S.: found them!
where?)
I'm thinking about asking chatGPT why the graph isn't linear, why there's a spike in dynamic range from ISO to ISO, even at higher ISO than the previous one like in this case, but my brain hurts just imagining how technical the answer will be. Maybe I'll ask him to answer me like I'm 12.
ChatGPT:
### 1. As if you were 12 years old:
Imagine ISO is like the sensitivity of your eyes when you’re trying to see in the dark. When you change ISO, it’s like putting on different glasses that let you see more or less. Sometimes, one pair of glasses (ISO) lets you see better (more details) than another, even though it seems like it shouldn’t. This happens because the camera isn’t perfect, and some settings just don’t do as good a job at capturing light and colors as others.
### 2. As for a smart adult:
The dynamic range graph isn’t linear because the way the camera adjusts sensitivity changes based on the electronic gain applied at each ISO level. In some ranges, the adjustment is less efficient, resulting in less capability to capture details in shadows and highlights. That’s why a higher ISO like 320 can paradoxically capture more information than a lower ISO like 250. It depends on how the camera digitally compensates for these levels.
### 3. As for a technical photographer:
The non-linear behavior in the dynamic range graph is due to the application of analog and digital gain in signal amplification. Certain ISOs, like ISO 320 in the Sony Alpha R V, use different amplification (or “gain amplifiers”) that maximize dynamic range compared to others, like ISO 250, which apply less efficient gain. This phenomenon, known as "dual gain," is common in modern camera sensors, creating “sweet spots” for specific ISOs. That’s why, even though we expect a gradual drop in dynamic range as ISO increases, there are spikes and dips due to these gain-switching points.
because I use older compact cameras, I HAVE to use base ISO or else the "sharpness" is lost due to horrible noise. anything above ISO400 is too noisy. so im okay using the flash, or staying still.. mainly because noise just ruins the image, and moving objects are kinda nicer blurry anyways, they tell a story.
I also need to be using full manual, as my cameras do not have any settings to set limits. also because they pick odd settings.
I remember seeing an in depth video on RUclips when I bought a Sony A7r4 a couple of years ago. It was far too long & technical but he proved better results on 320 than 100. I believed him because he had a white lab coat on & loads of pens in his top pocket.
Love your vids & soundtracks, thank you
Where did the ISO graph come from or did you make it?
Photons to photos website 👍🏻
@@JamesPopsysPhoto thanks
Just get a F0.8 lens and no need to faff about ISO, shoot 100 at any time of the day.
You completely forget the fact that lenses aren't at their sharpest wide open. Every lens has a sweet spot if you're looking for sharpness, usually between f5.6 and f8.
@@QErikNL
If you care about sharpness, get Hasselblad and a XCD 90V lens which has double the sharpness of even the best full frame glass money can buy.
james lad. we all know what a second native iso is. you almost blew a fuse there buddy.
There is NO problem with ISO 100 !!!
There is if your shot is woefully under exposed
Nobody actually said there was.
The part that confuses many is that 18% middle grey moves with each iso setting. Base iso tries to get the best dynamic range above and below middle grey. Each camera manufacturer sets their cameras slightly different. For example, at iso 800 for certain cameras you may get 9 stops of dynamic range above middle grey and 3 stops below middle grey so a bright beach scene might be best shot with a 400-800 iso to capture all the bright and fine gradients. Conversely a shot of a rock outcrop might be best shot at iso 100 where the camera captures 9 stops of dynamic range below middle grey. Base iso in a camera tries to place the noise and dynamic range in the sweet spot.
hIgher iso also means you can set higher dynamic range?
Do you intentionally shoot some of your photos overexposed, or do you give it that look in post processing?
If you take the read noise at ISO 320 as "acceptable", then you have a 50/50 chance that you will get read noise higher - if you encounter random scene and your ISO is set floor is set at 100. (100,125, & 320 being good - 160,200,250 being bad) BUT - you are fine with your auto iso going up to 12800! The "bad ISOs" (notably 250) still have better read noise than ISO 640. What is the logic that says the read noise at 160, 200, and 250 is unacceptable, but from 640 on - those higher numbers are acceptable? It's annoying that there is that jump in read noise, but unless you can set auto ISO to skip numbers, losing some dynamic range and the chance/potential for auto ISO to still pick 100 (or 125) with my desired shutter speed means I would keep it 100 and just set my min SS faster when I need it. Which I do by the way and change it on the fly with custom button for quick access. 🤷♂
Oh a first comment, winning!
And the Cringe-Award goes to ...