Im a beginner to photography - What does the ISO mean on my camera?

Question

Ok, so recently i brought a Kodak Digital camera, But as i looked throught the menu, I wondered what "ISO" means?

A the moment its set to auto - what is it and what does it do?

Thankyou =)

Answer 1

The ISO number is how sensitive to light the camera is. It's descended from film cameras, then it would be how sensitive the chemicals were. The higher the ISO setting the more light your camera picks up, useful for low light conditions. However, as the ISOs get higher so does the amount of 'noise' (visible pixels that aren't supposed to be there) on your photos. It's up to you to decide what's a suitable level of noise and how sensitive you need your camera for each particular photo.

Answer 2

ISO is your film speed. The lower the setting (example..100) the better the quality of your picture. The higher your setting like 800 or higher you can take pics in lower light at a faster shutter speed, but with more noise, or grain on your picture. A good site to learn about all things photography is http://www.hobopublishing.com They have an advanced photography tips program that covers everything! Hope that helps.

Answer 3

ISO is the equivalent of film speed. When you buy film it can be iso(used to asa) of 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600.  The higher the number the sensitive to light.  So on your digital the higher the iso sets how sensitive the sensor is to light.  The higher numbers 800 1600 are used in low light situations.  The lower numbers 100, 200 are used fro bright light conditions.  You want to use the lowest iso possible.  The higher the number the more grain or digital noise is going to be in the image.  Experiment and see what looks best.  Set up a simple still life and use each one of the iso settings and see which one you think looks best.  That is one of the first setting you should get control of(don't let the camera set for you- you decide) over.

Answer 4

International Standards Organization I think but what it means to you is how sensitive the film or sensor is to light. An ISO of setting of 100 requires more light to the film or sensor for an exposure than an ISO of 400 does. So higher ISO lets you shoot in lower light. Or it can let you shoot at a faster shutter speed or smaller aperature to get the effect you want.  The penalty for doing this is grain in film or noise in digital

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Answer 5

Be careful with ISO sensitivity when you use manual exposure, sometimes it can make your picture have "dead pixels", or so called "noise". Depending on your camera. ISO 1600 or higher, for night shoots, is useful, but can make such problems if the exposure isn't right.    

Answer 6

In film cameras the ISO is the sensitivity of the film to light. In digital cameras the iso is determined by the sensitivity of the image sensors to  light. The higher the number the better it comes out in the dark.