Your ISO Settings Are Ruining Your Filmmaking

In this video, I'll talk about some misconceptions about ISO and how to better approach low-light cinematography

[seanhattingh]

I think a major misconception is that ISO is mostly described as increasing sensitivity to light when in actual fact it is amplifying whatever light is captured by the sensor and is essentially adding gain, and therefore noise.

[SteakFromJakeFarm]

i've been a cinematographer for over a decade including working on 35mm film, and i don't think i have ever heard this explained so clearly before. i would just refer to charts and tables but never wrapped my head around the 'why' until your headphones example. super clear after all these years. nice work.

[mrshadow]

INDEED....the more I watch BTS videos, all I see is that DPs simulating lights. There is only 1 desk lamp in the scene, when you watch the video, you think that is the light source but when you see the BTS shots, there is a huge 5' by 5' diffused light behind it. Your formula is spot on and correct. ADD MORE LIGHT while keeping the integrity of the scene

[ChuckSeayII]

Using audio to explain was actually brilliant! They call it gain staging in audio mixing but it makes sense and I love the fact that now I see ISO like the noise floor in audio but in video and I believe it to be an accurate representation! Very well put! Thank you for sharing this! I have been enlightened or should I say exposed correctly with the right information LOL!

[pierrezapata]

The explanation with the lightbulbs was the single most useful explanation I think I have ever seen concerning noise and ISO relationships. The figurative lightbulb just turned on in my head when you showed that! Subbed!

[elcasanelles]

I've seen many videos explaining this concepts and you surely did one of the best jobs at it that I remember.

[nrgao]

As a 20 year audio engineer but brand new to this, your analogy was PERFECT for me! Thanks!

[leftclot]

Explaining ISO as an amplifier is such a clear way to break it down! Great stuff!!

[ScottJeschke]

Very interesting. Greig Fraser explained something similar on the team deakins podcast. Suggesting lower ISO's for darker scenes, and higher in brighter scenes, then compressing in post. It's a similar technique that Ansel Adams would use. I was very confused when he explained it. This makes sense. thanks1

[leonardodelpuertoburk]

I think this is easier to understand if you've worked with film. Having more light information is always better since you can always change how much you expose the photographic paper.

[RDRvideoprod]

Really good overall explanation of not just how ISO works but determining what ISO to choose depending on the scene. I also tend to use higher ISOs on bright exteriors if most of my image lives in the highlights and midtones. The details in those areas have more "bandwidth" and not squashed. Subbed!

[ShockryzeFilm]

What a beautiful explanation! I figured this out very recently and I wished I had seen your video sooner. You give a very informative explanation of how and why ISO functions the way it does as well as how to adjust your set and camera for both low and high light exposures. Good stuff

[mathiaslien]

I've been saying this for so long. I try to shoot at 200/400 ISO as much as I can, but I always temporarily bump the ISO up to the native 800 to check that I'm not clipping or loosing any highlights, and then turn it back down until the image has the desired look. Keeps the image as clean as possible.

[jordanjcreates]

This was a really good watch. The music analogy helped me understand ISO in such an easy way! Great video man, keep them coming!

[donhendricks]

Your tutorials are spot on. Technically masterful and so well presented. I thoroughly enjoy watching your channel! With love from Atlanta.

[JimRobinson-colors]

Good subject and explanations - A lot of people have this concept all mixed up. I usually explain that exposure is controlled by everything in front of the sensor. - i.e. aputure, shutter, lens speed, and lighting etc. The only part left out of your really good video was ND filters or diffusion - When in bright sunshine sometimes to protect highlights - raising the ISO requires to reduce the overall exposure to make it possible - so you can raise the ISO from 400 to 800 and then add a one stop ND filter to return to the visual exposure and return the detail in highlights because the cameras middle grey is putting more stops above middle grey without clipping the highlights.

[tallskeleton]

this was a good video, I remember when filmmaker IQ made a video about BMPCC's duel native iso he blew my mind explaining the science of how if you want to retain highlight detail use a higher ISO, and if you want to preserve shadow detail, do a lower iso bc it shifts the dynamic range window to what is middle and what it can perceive in the highs and lows. total opposite of what we would normally think to do

[GeekTherapyRadio]

I had about 15 years experience as an audio engineer before getting into videography. I always knew my audio experience would be a HUGE benefit for better understanding cameras and filmmaking. Exposure settings are very similar to audio gain structure...as you have brilliantly described. Color grading is like EQ'ing, etc...there are tremendous parallels between audio engineering and videography.

That said, I don't quite think it's as easy the other way around, for a videographer to so quickly grasp audio engineering. In my experience, filmmakers tend to struggle with audio where audio engineers tend to have less of a learning curve getting into filmmaking.

The best film in the world will be unwatchable with bad audio, whereas fantastic audio paired with subpar filmmaking can still be enjoyable.

So, my biggest tip for any filmmaker is to pay attention to audio. In fact, to learn audio first, if possible.

[lusavi]

Literally the best explanation I've ever head of the subject. And I have to say I watched a lot of videos regarding this, while trying to understand how to expose with a RED Komodo for the first time. Congrats! Wil be sharing your video a lot!

[BenGoshawk]

Wow very well put, something clicked for me with this! I've been struggling with noise in some of my POV/overhead shots (using a GoPro) and I couldn't work out why. I'm going to give some of these tips a go for sure. It looks like this video is taking off for you, I wish you a lot of success.