ASA setting? (Page 2): It went international: ASA = American Standards Association ISO = International Organization for Standardization...

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

traveler5450 wrote:

>>ASA and ISO are the same thing

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

It went international:

ASA = American Standards Association
ISO = International Organization for Standardization

amehta Loc: Boston

traveler5450 wrote:

>>ASA and ISO are the same thing

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

The really absurd thing is that both ASA and ISO are acronyms for organizations which do much, much more than talk about film speeds. It is completely arrogant of us in the photography world to use simply "ISO" to mean film speed, like the organization exists just for us. :-)

JD750 Loc: SoCal

traveler5450 wrote:

That should give you an idea of how out of date I am.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.

Film is not by any means dead. And film cameras can be found at great bargains today!

BUT, digital is much more convenient, you get instant feedback on the shot, no waiting for the results, you can do your own processing, and the cost per shot is much lower than with film.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

ASA = American Standards Association, ISO = International Standards Organization. That's what happens when the Empire starts to crumble...

mwalsh Loc: Houston

American Standards Association vs International Standards Organization But the standards are the same.

Himat Loc: Toronto

Lower the iso (asa) setting will give more sharpness and details as
increase iso and the picture start losing sharness g

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

jd7000 wrote:

"On an international level, the ASA system was superseded by the ISO film speed system between 1982 and 1987"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

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

And as previously stated, typically, the higher the ASA/ISO the more noise. I keep my Nikon D7100 below 800 unless there is a real need to go higher. And will shoot portraits and well lit shots at 100 - 200. My camera menu allows to set a specific ISO, a min and max ISO, or Full Auto. I rarely use full auto.

escape99201

I bought my first digital camera about 7 years back, and i am still learning. with the above notes i still an learning as i just found thing that i did not know. Thanks to all of the fine works from all

twillsol Loc: St. Louis, MO

I do not leave my ISO at one setting. I change it depending on the conditions.

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.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

dcampbell52 wrote:

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

And as previously stated, typically, the higher the ASA/ISO the more noise. I keep my Nikon D7100 below 800 unless there is a real need to go higher. And will shoot portraits and well lit shots at 100 - 200. My camera menu allows to set a specific ISO, a min and max ISO, or Full Auto. I rarely use full auto.

I've been shooting since 1957 and still finding things I either didn't know or misunderstood. But, that's part of being interested in the hobby/job. If you weren't interested, you wouldn't look for advice, help, criticism, encouragement, and more knowledge.

traveler5450 Loc: Maryland, USA

I understand, thank you

traveler5450 Loc: Maryland, USA

There is a saying that "a shy person does not learn". You only learn when you dare ask someone more knowledgeable what you don't understand.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

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.

For best results and the least amount of noise ISO should be set as low as possible in any given situation. It should only be increased when needed to get a good exposure in lower light situations to keep the shutter speed fast enough for hand held shooting or when the aperture and shutter speed you choose to use doesn't pass enough light to the sensor. Using ISO 600 all the time is not a good idea even with the best sensors. You should rethink your approach.

MadMikeOne Loc: So. NJ Shore - a bit west of Atlantic City

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. :)

Brilliant idea. Never thought of it myself, but will certainly try it out on my existing cameras/lenses.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

mwsilvers wrote:

For best results and the least amount of noise ISO should be set as low as possible in any given situation. It should only be increased when needed to get a good exposure in lower light situations to keep the shutter speed fast enough for hand held shooting or when the aperture and shutter speed you choose to use doesn't pass enough light to the sensor. Using ISO 600 all the time is not a good idea even with the best sensors. You should rethink your approach.

When I switched to digital, one of the things I was most impressed with was changing ISO on the fly, rather than having to change to a different film. It's crazy not to take advantage of it.