Raise your ISO for Better Quality Photos

A quick tip to help you get better images in low light. Helpful- take the time to like, subscribe and follow me on Instagram.

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[MrMom]

I learned the hard way to not be scared of high ISO...

last Christmas at the light show, I was scared to push my ISO too high, in fear of the infamous "NOISE!!" <<EEK!!>>

What I ended up getting was 95% of my shots suffering from motion blur and / or camera shake... And I had almost no usable shots of this great memory of my daughter in amazement at the lights all around her.

I now tell people EXACTLY what you mentioned in the end of the video, in order to prevent them from suffering the same heartache...

Noise is easily fixable... motion blur / camera shake isn't... so CRANK THAT ISO UP TO GET THE SHOT!!

Don't be scared of ISO!

[dris]

I shoot ISO 12, 800 on my Canon 5D Mark IV all the time, it's so clean, very fine grain. It's better than ISO800 on most other cameras I use. Love it! 14 stops of dynamic range, can underexpose at ISO800 for the highlights, bring back a couple stops, and it's still near perfection. Such a fun camera!

[svendura]

I really like your focused way to explain things. You come right to the point without being in a hurry. Specially love your quick tipps. Thank you for the good work.

[zoebaz]

This is such an important lesson! I never really un-learned the fear of digital ISO that came with CCDs until I started shooting concerts. At this point, I occasionally find myself shooting upwards of ISO 10000, and although there is noise, as long as the image is correctly exposed, it's still workable.

[jeffjberry]

Learn to shoot in aperture priority mode for the best results. Adjust exposure via physical light, fstop, and ISO so that your shutter speed clocks in at just a tad bit above your focal length's mm for sharp/clear and perfectly exposed images.

[Mamiyas]

Finally i found this detail explanation. Because I confused with my canon for mukbang channel. Thank you from Indonesia 🙏

[JoeJacksonJr]

Solid advice. I know when I started shooting star trails and time lapses of the night skies years back, not wanting to raise the ISO was a habit I had to learn to break.

[AgnostosGnostos]

High ISO lowers the dynamic range of photos.
Just check your camera in DXOmark website. That's why studio photographers with controlled light shoot only with base ISO (The minimum ISO of the camera).

Chrominance (areas with color) and Luminance (areas with black or white color) noice can be reduced later with software.

A tripod and long shutter speed is a solution for low ISO (not good for people or moving objects).

Also a good powerful bouncing flash with a diffuser can help for the lowering of noice (Bouncing flash light sometimes gives unnatural results).

Some cameras have multi-shot noise reduction function which produce only jpeg photos with lower noice and good dynamic range (no raw images are produced due to photo stacking).

Bigger image sensors nearly always produce lower noise at the some ISO than smaller sensors (Bigger image sensors have usually bigger pixels which gather more light so their electronic amplification is lower).

Many times ISO noice is present even with daylight at base ISO (Especially on blue sky with gradient color).

Photos with mostly green colors have less noice with photos with mostly blue and red colors (The typical Bayer sensor have more green filters than blue or red because human eye is more sensitive to green color).

Very long shutter speed produces thermal image noise to photos. Most cameras can reduce this kind of noice by shooting a dark frame and compare it with the original photo.

The image noise the camera produces to the photos is influenced by image sensor temperature. During very hot weather the image sensors are less efficient and give higher noise than normal.

The expanded ISO should be avoided. It is not a real ISO and makes things worst with dynamic range and noice.

[KellyTrayah]

I just found your videos and I have subscribed. I'm new at photography and I find so much information overwhelming. Just when I start learning something I find there's a lot more to learn. How the heck am I going to remember everything or at least what I should.

[andyQ]

I have found the reverse to be true when shooting raw. Use a lower ISO and get an underexposed image then boost the exposure in Lightroom. The end result is better than a shot taken initially with a high ISO. Many other videos available on YouTube demonstrating this.

[mppodcastDOTcom]

I push my ISO as far as ISO 6, 400 and 12, 800 and still got good photos. Even with a little noise I'm still happy. Lightroom does a good job with noise reduction.

[TheLilTerminator]

It should be noted that this is only true for ISO-variant camera, like most made by Canon. On most Nikons, Fujis, and Sonys exposure compensation can be added in post without any noise penalty.

[jobaecker]

Thanks for the tip, yes, totally counter intuitive. I'm still used to the days of film - 1000 speed film was grainy as heck and I used it only if I absolutely had to. Anytime I go above 1000 ISO it still freaks me out!

[LoriGraceAz]

You know, this has been my biggest problem until recently. My Canon 5D Mark III was supposed to be the camera that I could use high ISO's with, but I kept underexposing images. I recently watched a Ryan Brenizer video and his review of the Mark III surprised me. He said basically the same thing you did, that this camera is more than capable to shoot weddings and other low light events AS LONG AS you expose the scene correctly. Yes, we all know Nikon offers more dynamic range, but if I didn't know to ETTR (Expose to the right), I'd still be taking poorer quality photos. BTW, you should make your next quick tips video about ETTR, i bet a lot of people could improve the quality of their photos by doing just that! Thank you for putting this out there!

[GetCraftyPhotographers]

Great advice! As a photography teacher I also tell people to increase their ISO and it makes a huge difference when done properly. Really liked the way you explained everything.

[alancrook]

I had to adjust. In wet photography 400 had grain like golf balls. Early 400 digital was a mess. There has been great improvement!

[roki]

With my cheap 1200d and 50 STM I never shoot over 800, 1600 sometimes. Even at night. With monopod I can get away with 400 at night street lights shots. Just get faster glass, nothing beets that and it can be cheap... 150$ for 50 stm and manual flash like 460 and most of the low light problems solved, at least for manual shooters

[zvxcvxcz]

Canon sensors are also not ISO-less sensors (so far at least in the DSLRs). Because of how their DACs work you will actually get less noise at the higher ISOs. On some other sensors, like the ones from Sony in their own cameras and many Nikon DSLRs, Samsung, and others, they use ISO-less sensors. For these sensors the noise levels will be the same regardless of whether you raise the ISO or if you raise the exposure in post. Whether you prefer to raise it in camera or not then will depend on which methods of noise reduction you prefer (if any), those that are in camera or in your processing tools.

[CHixon]

I typically shoot ISO priority on my Nikons when I'm not on the tripod. Another issue is when the images exhibit a fine mosiac pattern, increasing the noise typically renders a sharper image (up to a point).

[felini]

straight to the point, quick and very clear, Thank you.