Auto ISO

[Darcy Grizzle]

Hi guys & dolls,
Hey, I am going on an Alaskan Cruise the end of August with family. I have switched my camera to auto ISO as if it is sunny I want to use my polarizer....and sometimes not. Do any of you use auto ISO, if not why & if so why? I figured with the time frames we are in ports, clouds, rain etc it would be a good thing. Also if any of you have been on a cruise, are tri pods good or no. I have researched & researched & am bringing my tripod for long shore days, but have heard not so good on ship.

 

[AlanLichty]

I use auto ISO whenever I am doing hand held shooting so I can fix my shutter speed and f/stop and let the ISO adjust to what I have selected. I do fix the upper limit of the ISO for what I am comfortable with for noise levels specific to my camera which in my case is 6400. I can shoot higher but don't particularly like the results.

Never done a cruise so can't speak to the rest of your queries beyond the simple observation that we use tripods to anchor our cameras to the scene we are shooting. An onboard image of the ship might benefit from a tripod but shooting the land from a floating platform not so much.....

 

[Kyle Jones]

I almost always shoot full manual, so I don't use auto ISO. I'm just used to watching my histogram and adjusting everything as needed.

I'd say a tripod can't hurt. I'd say it would at least remove one source of camera movement (you) even if it can't remove the other (the ship).

 

[JimFox]

Hey Darcy, I usually shoot in Aperture priority with my choosing the ISO I want and letting the camera choose the shutter speed, though I keep an eye on the shutter speed and adjust the iso as needed.

But with that said, I got a little Sony to play around with and I typically shoot it in Auto-Iso. I shoot it in manual, and choose the aperture abundance shutter speed I want. The camera then picks the ISO.

It certainly works, and auto iso helps you not to have to think too much sometime. In a sense it almost turns your DSLR into a point and shoot, but with better IQ.

For the cruise I could take a tripod, but decided it was best to just handhold and have the VR turned on. I usually made sure I was shooting at a much faster shutter speed then normal too to help compensate for the boat movements.

 

[Darcy Grizzle]

Thanks guys, I usually shoot full manual & it's kinda weird having it on auto ISO . But I figured I would need to keep my shutter speeds up especially if overcast/rainy. We have one day we are renting a car & driving the Yukon Highway from Skagway to Carcross so the tripod is coming for that! Most of my shots will be handheld other than that day, as I have heard & read that they are more trouble than worth on the ship (so many people)

 

[JimFox]

Yep, good thinking Darcy. I never used Auto Iso until I got the Sony, but it’s a great help in fast changing situations. I think it will work well. Now if you are able to stop and use your tripod somewhere, I would put it to a set iso so that you can limit your noise Incase the auto iso would bump the iso up a little too high for you.

 

[Darcy Grizzle]

Yep, good thinking Darcy. I never used Auto Iso until I got the Sony, but it’s a great help in fast changing situations. I think it will work well. Now if you are able to stop and use your tripod somewhere, I would put it to a set iso so that you can limit your noise Incase the auto iso would bump the iso up a little too high for you.

I set it to max at 3200, which on my poor D7000 the noise is unbearable so I am going to reduce that to 1800. I think I am going to invest in the D500.

 

[AlanLichty]

I set it to max at 3200, which on my poor D7000 the noise is unbearable so I am going to reduce that to 1800. I think I am going to invest in the D500.

You definitely need to set the upper limits to something you feel results in a workable noise level and that is entirely dependent on the sensors in your camera body. I have had a number of camera bodies that gave horrible results above ISO 1200. All of those camera bodies are decorating a shelf at this point.

 

[ckcarr]

Well,
There's not enough activity over here in Nikonland. I was going to write a current response then realized this is the newest, yet an old thread with no replies since July here.

But I'll write my thoughts anyway.

When I shoot, with my D850, it depends on if I'm shooting animals or landscapes.

With landscapes, since I'm a firm believer in tripods and remote releases, I always set the camera for ISO 64 if feasible, unless it's still dark out. Never have I used auto ISO with landscapes. Landscapes usually give you the luxury of taking your time and doing 30 second exposures... Or longer.

Wildlife is the opposite. I always set auto ISO to on, with a maximum of 2400 or 3600. I'll set the camera on manual, while setting aperture to the most open (lowest number) like f/4, down to f/2.8. But usually f/4 depending on subject distance and the background. I then try and keep the shutter in a workable range for what I want, but will go up to 1/3200 no problem with this camera. Usually if I'm walking through a field or looking for birds I keep it on 1/3200 which seems to work for me.

Steve Perry put together a good video on using auto-ISO also if you haven't watched it yet:

 

[AlanLichty]

Not a Nikon specific response but I can confirm that what Steve is describing is exactly how I am using my Canon 5D mk IV for auto ISO for handheld shooting. I don't shoot a lot of wildlife so most of my tripod work is done with fixed ISO but for occasions where the tripod can't come along it's nice to be able to fix my shutter speed and aperture to fit my scene/shooting circumstance and let the auto-ISO take care of meeting my desired exposure compensation.

I really like the way this works and think it should included as a programable feature on all DSLR/mirrorless cameras going forward. I think its a pretty significant tool for us to have available as photographers as we progress into more cameras that have extended low noise ISO ranges.

 

[JimFox]

@Darcy Grizzle check this out.

 

[Darcy Grizzle]

I watched that video, thank you. I also got Steve Perry's guide for autofocus & have done some settings on my camera as per his manual. We shall see