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like i said before im extremely new to photography and wondering if someone has the patience to answer my questions.Okay...i'm using my close up mode ,my focal length is7.5-26.3 mm im using a 64 iso,im recently looking through these beautiful pictures and i noticed that hardly anyone uses a 64 setting and i see alot of 400 and 200 im i using the wrong iso and what the diffrence between 64 and lets say 200 or 400

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Cory,

The lower ISO you can use the better. Most likely the shots you are referencing the photographer had to increase ISO for one reason or another. For instance, I have a shot in my gallery ( http://www.bytephoto.com/photopost/...php?photo=86897) of my daughter performing at her dance recital. Dark theatre with flash proscribed and I had no tripod. So I bumped the ISO to 400 so that I could handhold the shot. If I hadn't moved to 400 ISO my shutter speed would be much slower and I most likely would have had a shot that was blurry due to camera shake. There may be specific instances where one would rasie the iso to create a specific effect but that's the exception rather than the rule. ISO is a measure of sensitivity to light and the higher the ISO the more apt you are to see grain/noise in an image. Let me know if that fully answers your questions.

Darren

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thank you so much i really appreciate that.So basically the lower the iso the less noise and clearer picture and the higer the more noise because of the longer shutter speed

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Hi Cory,

You're mostly correct with that summary. Higher ISO has more noise because it has to boost the signal to allow for a shorter exposure time. This allows you to take a picture in lower light without using something to hold the camera steady. If you use a lower ISO, you'll need a longer exposure time for the same shot compared to a higher ISO, and thus you'll increase the chance of shaking the camera during the shot, resulting in a blurry shot.

It's similar to cranking up a speaker to hear it better - the signal becomes a little less clear as the intensity/volume increases because more noise is now discernible too.

A general rule of thumb is to use the lowest ISO you can. It's very easy to add noise (sometimes referred to as grain) artificially to a shot after you take it, but it's very difficult to remove noise and still have a clear shot. However, it's even more difficult (sometimes impossible) to sharpen a blurry shot that should have been done either with a tripod or at a higher ISO.

Hope that makes sense,
steve

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i think i get it ,if im in a room or outside with no tripod and low light i want to increase my iso so that my picture wont come out as blurry as opossed to using a low iso with no tripod.But if im in a room or outside with sufficiant lighting your best bet is to go with the low iso and tripod?correct? thanks again for being patient with me im kinda thick headed

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Cory,

You've got the basic idea pretty much. Here is a link that explains ISO and noise. http://www.shortcourses.com/use/using2-2.html.

Darren

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It is important to understand your camera settings completely to use it properly. There is a direct relationship between ISO/f-stops(exposure)/shutter speed. It can take some time to fully understand it so I won't go into it here. Check your manual or better yet, go to the library and get a few books.
You should also know how to control dof (depth of field). Only by understanding (and practicing) will you be able to reach your maximum potential. Good luck. --Rick

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punwit im having trouble opening the link that you provided for me.But im sure i can find something along those line....thanks again for heading me in the right direction

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