SueScott Loc: Hammondsville, Ohio

Hi all! A year and a half ago I upgraded from a Nikon P520 bridge camera which I used as a point and shoot to a D7200 - a huge change considering my total ignorance about such basics as aperture and ISO. I've made considerable progress since then and am now playing around with auto-ISO in manual, which brings me to my question.

I set the upper value to 5000 (probably too high) and am happy with daylight pictures - however, at dusk outdoors the results look like midday. This is concerning because next week I'm heading down to NC to the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. The first night there will be a Calling of the Clans in front of a bonfire and I need to get a proper exposure that shows darkness and shadows. Would it be better to cancel the auto-ISO and just go strictly manual for this? BTW, I'll be using my 17-55 f/2.8 lens for nighttime events and my 18-300 lens during the day. Thanks!

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

Sue, it's each person's preference, but I typically leave my ISO set to 200, and use aperture priority. If it gets too dark to shoot hand-held, I take it to a tripod. The 17-55 is a very capable lens.

daveptt

Reduce the ISO till you get the effect you want

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Consider taking it off auto ISO. Set ISO starting at 1000 and increase it till you get what you want. I would shoot in A aperture of F8 at the bonfireI
Use a tripod or support the camera for the possible long exposure.
Welcome to UHH. Have fun in NC

MtnMan Loc: ID

You have two other controls you might consider.

The first is metering mode. It is important but most often overlooked in UHH threads. With spot or center metering you can get quite different exposures depending on where you hold the spot when allowing the camera to meter.

The second is EV. It works with auto ISO in M mode just like in the other autoexposure modes. You can chimp what your settings did and adjust as needed.

SueScott Loc: Hammondsville, Ohio

Thanks for all the advice!!

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

Sue, welcome to UHH and photography. It's a fun hobby but sometimes can drive you 'nuts'.

I shoot a Canon 60D so some of these comments you may have to translate the terminology. I'm also a 'seasoned' citizen so please make allowances for that too.

First you are correct that ISO 5000 is way to high for normal shooting; I set my camera for Auto ISO but with a 400 top limit. It's adequate for most work, and I don't blow out too many shots; I also shoot shutter priority generally with a minimum of about 1/250-300 second to compensate for old, not as steady as they were, hands and always use spot focus; if it is set so the camera picks the . My favorite, and probably most challenging, venue is on the water photography from our boat of other boats racing--mostly sail but sometimes power, and most of these are with a 70-300 mm zoom, generally set at about 250mm. For non-racing shots, those settings seem adequate, but if I need more shutter speed, I don't hesitate to use 1/1000 or 2000+ if I'm trying to 'stop' the prop of a bouncing hydrofoil boat, and increase the ISO as needed. I let the camera worry about the f-stop. I seldom have the time to fuss with other settings, but on a dark day with little sunlight, I have used ISO's in the 1000+ range.

At the highland games and assuming the light is good, I'd probably start with Auto ISO at 400, and the shutter speed at perhaps 1/500-750; after the first couple of shots, check the picture and make sure the action is what you want and increase the speed if too much is blurry. Don't forget to put on the lens hood; at some points the sun will be exactly where you don't want it.

Enjoy the games--wish I could be there!

SS319

Sue, I launched my tirade on ISO on your later post, but it is always worth repeating:

I abhor Auto-ISO! on film cameras, the manufacturer set the ISO for their film and you had to co-fiddle with concentric knobs to match your camera to the film specifications - that was good. I would often set EKTAChrome 1/2 stop slower (100 ISO to 84), and negative film 1/2 stop faster (100 ISO to 125) to gain saturation.

ISO is the only operator controllable contributor to image noise (or grain in film days) - the higher the ISO, the more you magnify the signal and the more prominent the noise becomes in the image. I always - ALWAYS maintain the ISO at the lowest value possible and will exhaust the capabilities of Aperture and Shutter control before changing the ISO. Of course, if you artistically want to use grain or noise as an integral part of your art, then yes, use the ISO to obtain that effect.

The photography on this site alone would improve 40-60% if people would take control of their ISO and use it for what it is there for.

SueScott Loc: Hammondsville, Ohio

Thanks for the advise - I agree - 5000 is WAAAY too high (I'm still learning!) I'm considering just turning off the auto for this trip and go back to all manual or AP. My daughter and I are taking her 5 children to the games and leaving Dad and Grandpa at home - it's going to be a great time!!

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

I agree. I don't use auto ISO at all. I'm stuck in my film background. Don't be adraid to use the higher ISO when you have to. I try to stay below 400. but go higher when necessary, A noisy photo is a lot better than a blurry photo, or no photo.

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

Sue, With a new camera, I wouldn't think you should go back to Manual unless you are very comfortable with the setting(s). With the Canon, I've had good luck the few times I've used the preset program (mostly for flash), but really prefer to tweak the settings. The camera only knows what generally works for average sports, and the Highland Games are not 'average'.

frankie c Loc: Lake Havasu CIty, AZ

your description of what you are going to be shooting is by itself problematic. You may find ISO is the least of your problems. The bon fire is most likely gonna be your highlight. So following normal rules to shoot for the highlight will most likely create a silhouette effect for anyone or thing in front of it. If the show is in an area that has artificial lighting to light up the subjects that would help keep them from being in total shadow. To overcome this a flash is recommended (not the pop up one on the camera). You do say dusk... which should mean you have some available/ambient light on the participants which may help. The amount of available light used in the exposure is a function of shutter speed. So the slower the shutter speed the more light is captured. I personally like to keep that at around a 30th of a second in the situation you describe. Aperture controls the depth of field and the amount of light. (the distance you are from the subject can significantly effect this). Someone suggested f8 as a starting point to keep things sharp. You may find that maybe an unrealistic goal for this shoot. You mentioned your lens is an f 2.8 (does it hold at f 2.8 through the zoom range? Auto ISO is something you can use but I would prolly change the upper limit to 2800. The other thought is to put the camera in Program mode and trust it will give you workable images with some post processing. Good luck and have fun at your event.

67skylark27 Loc: Fort Atkinson, WI

Can you practice at someone's July 4th bonfire??

SueScott Loc: Hammondsville, Ohio

I just checked out some shots from last summer's bonfire and got good results with my 35mm prime at f/4 and 250 ISO - also, several shots with a 50mm prime at f/1.4 and 640 ISO, so hopefully I can tinker around with the 17-55mm lens which has a constant f/2.8 and get what I want. Thanks for your advice!

67skylark27 Loc: Fort Atkinson, WI

Those settings are doable on your 17-55. The ISO you chose helped them turn out!