ASA setting? Olympus OMD EM-5 The default setting for the camera is 200 ASA. Though this works excellently for outdoor shots I have changed to 640 ASA as my standard setting. That...

traveler5450 Loc: Maryland, USA

Olympus OMD EM-5

The default setting for the camera is 200 ASA. Though this works
excellently for outdoor shots I have changed to 640 ASA as my
standard setting. That setting works well for dim indoor shots as
well as outdoor or so it seems to me. Will I loose detail with
outdoor shots at that settings?

BTW, this is a great camera for a novice who is interested in getting serious about photography.

bioteacher Loc: Brooklyn, NY

traveler5450 wrote:

Olympus OMD EM-5

The default setting for the camera is 200 ASA. Though this works
excellently for outdoor shots I have changed to 640 ASA as my
standard setting. That setting works well for dim indoor shots as
well as outdoor or so it seems to me. Will I loose detail with
outdoor shots at that settings?

BTW, this is a great camera for a novice who is interested in getting serious about photography.

ASA is old school. Most people starting to shoot recently use ISO.

You might have more noise at higher ISO's.

nicksr1125 Loc: Mesa, AZ

I agree with bioteacher. The hazzard with using a higher ISO is noise in digital shots. What we used to call grain back in film days. You could push Tri-X to 3200 (400 standard) for shooting in low light but, you had to deal with significantly grainier photos which limited the enlargement capability.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

traveler5450 wrote:

Olympus OMD EM-5

The default setting for the camera is 200 ASA. Though this works
excellently for outdoor shots I have changed to 640 ASA as my
standard setting. That setting works well for dim indoor shots as
well as outdoor or so it seems to me. Will I loose detail with
outdoor shots at that settings?

BTW, this is a great camera for a novice who is interested in getting serious about photography.

When I got my first digital camera I wondered the same thing, so I set up a scene outdoors with lots of fine detail and light and dark areas and, with the camera on a tripod, exposed the same scene at every ISO setting from lowest to highest, keeping careful notes. Close examination of the resulting images clearly indicated that camera's limitations. I would suggest you try the same, and let us know your results. :)

amehta Loc: Boston

traveler5450 wrote:

Olympus OMD EM-5

The default setting for the camera is 200 ASA. Though this works
excellently for outdoor shots I have changed to 640 ASA as my
standard setting. That setting works well for dim indoor shots as
well as outdoor or so it seems to me. Will I loose detail with
outdoor shots at that settings?

BTW, this is a great camera for a novice who is interested in getting serious about photography.

ASA and ISO are the same thing, so if you're comfortable calling it ASA, that's fine, it's just a convention. I agree, the Olympus OM-D E-M5 is an excellent camera. Glad you're having fun with it.

Just like you used different film for different situations, it makes sense to use different settings in the digital camera for different situations. At ISO 640, there will be more noise, especially in the shadows. It won't ruin your pictures, but if there is enough light to use ISO 200, then there will be less noise.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

traveler5450 wrote:

Olympus OMD EM-5

The default setting for the camera is 200 ASA. Though this works
excellently for outdoor shots I have changed to 640 ASA as my
standard setting. That setting works well for dim indoor shots as
well as outdoor or so it seems to me. Will I loose detail with
outdoor shots at that settings?

BTW, this is a great camera for a novice who is interested in getting serious about photography.

Set your max iso in the menu to whatever number you are comfortable with. For me that number is 3200. Then set your iso to auto. Shoot in aperture mode and choose the f stop, and let the camera adjust for speed and iso.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

traveler5450 wrote:

Olympus OMD EM-5

The default setting for the camera is 200 ASA. Though this works
excellently for outdoor shots I have changed to 640 ASA as my
standard setting. That setting works well for dim indoor shots as
well as outdoor or so it seems to me. Will I loose detail with
outdoor shots at that settings?

BTW, this is a great camera for a novice who is interested in getting serious about photography.

As has been said, noise is lower at lower ISO settings. If you shoot a scene at different ISO settings and then zoom in close, you will see some differences. Also if you look at a camera review, often they show the same image taken across the cameras entire ISO range and you can visually see the effect of the higher ISO on the image quality.

Having said that, each generation of sensor has been better, and ISO 640 might be the "new" ISO 200 for that camera.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

traveler5450 wrote:

Olympus OMD EM-5

The default setting for the camera is 200 ASA.

"On an international level, the ASA system was superseded by the ISO film speed system between 1982 and 1987"

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_speed

traveler5450 Loc: Maryland, USA

This is an excellent answer. Actually all the answers I get in this forum are top notch. Thank you

traveler5450 Loc: Maryland, USA

That should give you an idea of how out of date I am. I still have my dark room equipment which I should get rid of. I am re-learning photography from scratch.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Use the lowest native setting possible for all shots and only raise it when you run out of scope with aperture and shutter.

traveler5450 wrote:

Olympus OMD EM-5

The default setting for the camera is 200 ASA. Though this works
excellently for outdoor shots I have changed to 640 ASA as my
standard setting. That setting works well for dim indoor shots as
well as outdoor or so it seems to me. Will I loose detail with
outdoor shots at that settings?

BTW, this is a great camera for a novice who is interested in getting serious about photography.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

RWR wrote:

When I got my first digital camera I wondered the same thing, so I set up a scene outdoors with lots of fine detail and light and dark areas and, with the camera on a tripod, exposed the same scene at every ISO setting from lowest to highest, keeping careful notes. Close examination of the resulting images clearly indicated that camera's limitations. I would suggest you try the same, and let us know your results. :)

I do the same thing whenever I get a new camera, and I'm surprised everyone doesn't do the same thing.

traveler5450 Loc: Maryland, USA

digital noise = What we used to call grain back in film days

Good explanation. I know exactly what you are referring to.
thank you

traveler5450 Loc: Maryland, USA

Good idea. I actually started doing this but in regard to other features like F stop to see how much blur I could achieve in the back ground. I have to repeat a number of experiments when I try learning a new aspect of the camera settings.

traveler5450 Loc: Maryland, USA

>>ASA and ISO are the same thing

Thanks for clarifying that term. I was wondering what the difference was?