Automatic ISO versus Manual Setting

Blinky the Shark added these comments in the current discussion
du jour ...

But now, at age 60, below 1/30 with my Rebel XT and I get
noticeable shake, so there's a lot of variables to consider.

Hi, H-P. Look at the bright side, though...if you were much
younger than 60, you wouldn't *remember* those *real* hemis.


PS I'm sixty, as well.

I see your smiley face ... I do have a "real" HEMI, just a new
generation 350 hp 5.7L, not the "elephant motor" 426 Street Hemi,
but in today's world, it is much more pleasant to drive and FAR
cheaper than a restored 426-anything. And, happy 61, Blinky,
whenever that is! Mine is next month.

--
HP, aka Jerry

"Surely you jest - and don't call me Shirley!" - from the movie
"Airplane!"

Bob Williams added these comments in the current discussion du
jour ...

[snip]
Keeping your camera at its lowest ISO setting will always give
the lowest noise level.....BUT..... If you shoot in a low
light situation you will pay a price, one way or another.
"There ain't no free lunch". Low ISO will mean low shutter
speed which can cause blur from camera or subject movement.
You may end up with a well exposed, low noise, UNsharp image.
Image stabilization helps but it has its limits too. If yo
bump up the ISO to say 400 you can use a faster shutter speed
to reduce motion blur, but the price you pay is more noise.
As the old adage says, "You pays your money and you takes your
choice". Bob Williams

Agreed, Bob. Image stabilization is to cameras what anti-lock
brakes is to cars. A Godsend and a great safety feature but not a
substitute for good operation practice.

--
HP, aka Jerry

"Surely you jest - and don't call me Shirley!" - from the movie
"Airplane!"

Morton added these comments in the current discussion du jour
....

Hi,

Thanks for all the nice replies. My Canon SD 850 says in its
handbook that at higher ISOs it automatically applies noise
reduction. As I understand it, that entails some loss of
sharpness. I guess it is a matter of weighing all the factors
together, e.g. large DOF needed, etc..moving versus stationary
subjects,etc.. In the old days, with Kodachrome ASA 10, it was
1/25 at f. 6.3 in sunlight, and cross your fingers.

Suggest you turn OFF the noise reduction! It is MUCH better to do
that while you're looking in PhotoShop, PSP, or whatever you use
than to have your camera blindly apply some arbitary smoothing
factor. I'm not at all saying you'll mangle your images, just that
you won't ever know what they looked like without the noise
reduction. BTW, noise reduction and retention of detail and
sharpness at any given ISO from 100 to 32000 is a tradeoff because
in general they are mutually exclusive.

When I do lean against a wall, or use a beanbag, if it is a
stationary subject I use the selftimer to reduce vibration.

Also, try spreading your feet apart a comfortable distance, pull
your arms in close to your sides, and hold the camera tight against
your head. And, if the subject isn't moving, try using your
camera's self-timer to avoid the shake inherent in pressing the
shutter button.

--
HP, aka Jerry

"Surely you jest - and don't call me Shirley!" - from the movie
"Airplane!"

HEMI - Powered wrote:

Blinky the Shark added these comments in the current discussion
du jour ...

But now, at age 60, below 1/30 with my Rebel XT and I get
noticeable shake, so there's a lot of variables to consider.

Hi, H-P. Look at the bright side, though...if you were much
younger than 60, you wouldn't *remember* those *real* hemis.


PS I'm sixty, as well.

I see your smiley face ... I do have a "real" HEMI, just a new
generation 350 hp 5.7L, not the "elephant motor" 426 Street Hemi,

Takes me back to hanging out at the drags every other weekend in the late
'60s.

but in today's world, it is much more pleasant to drive and FAR
cheaper than a restored 426-anything. And, happy 61, Blinky,
whenever that is! Mine is next month.

Mine's not until June -- ya old fart.


--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
Blinky: http://blinkynet.net

Blinky the Shark added these comments in the current discussion
du jour ...

Hi, H-P. Look at the bright side, though...if you were much
younger than 60, you wouldn't *remember* those *real* hemis.


PS I'm sixty, as well.

I see your smiley face ... I do have a "real" HEMI, just a
new generation 350 hp 5.7L, not the "elephant motor" 426
Street Hemi,

Takes me back to hanging out at the drags every other weekend
in the late '60s.

In my case, it was running the Woodward Avenue Grand Prix every
Friday and Saturday night in my muscle car and that of my friends
trying our hand at street drag racing and picking up girls. Did
lousy at both, I recall ... But, these days, we have the Woodward
Dream Cruise. Not quite the same thing, but it's nice to see those
old Mopars, Fords, Goats, SS-396s, etc.

happy 61, Blinky, whenever that is! Mine is next month.

Mine's not until June -- ya old fart.

Let's just say that you're an old geezer and I'm a (slightly) older
geezer. grin Have a great week, Blinky!

--
HP, aka Jerry

"Surely you jest - and don't call me Shirley!" - from the movie
"Airplane!"

HEMI - Powered wrote:

Blinky the Shark added these comments in the current discussion
du jour ...

Hi, H-P. Look at the bright side, though...if you were much
younger than 60, you wouldn't *remember* those *real* hemis.


PS I'm sixty, as well.

I see your smiley face ... I do have a "real" HEMI, just a
new generation 350 hp 5.7L, not the "elephant motor" 426
Street Hemi,

Takes me back to hanging out at the drags every other weekend
in the late '60s.

In my case, it was running the Woodward Avenue Grand Prix every
Friday and Saturday night in my muscle car and that of my friends
trying our hand at street drag racing and picking up girls. Did

I was doing that in my Corvette. Those were the days, eh?

lousy at both, I recall ... But, these days, we have the Woodward
Dream Cruise. Not quite the same thing, but it's nice to see those
old Mopars, Fords, Goats, SS-396s, etc.

I was on the other side of the state, at US131 Dragway, just north of
Kalamazoo.

happy 61, Blinky, whenever that is! Mine is next month.

Mine's not until June -- ya old fart.

Let's just say that you're an old geezer and I'm a (slightly) older
geezer. grin Have a great week, Blinky!

One of my best RL friends is two months older than I am -- April '47
versus June '47. That gives me two months every year to give him his
ration of **** for the year.

See ya.

--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
Blinky: http://blinkynet.net

Blinky the Shark wrote:

HEMI - Powered wrote:

Blinky the Shark added these comments in the current discussion
du jour ...

Hi, H-P. Look at the bright side, though...if you were much
younger than 60, you wouldn't *remember* those *real* hemis.


PS I'm sixty, as well.

I see your smiley face ... I do have a "real" HEMI, just a
new generation 350 hp 5.7L, not the "elephant motor" 426
Street Hemi,

Takes me back to hanging out at the drags every other weekend
in the late '60s.

In my case, it was running the Woodward Avenue Grand Prix every
Friday and Saturday night in my muscle car and that of my friends
trying our hand at street drag racing and picking up girls. Did

I was doing that in my Corvette. Those were the days, eh?

(Not in Detroit.)


--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
Blinky: http://blinkynet.net

Blinky the Shark added these comments in the current discussion
du jour ...

Takes me back to hanging out at the drags every other
weekend in the late '60s.

In my case, it was running the Woodward Avenue Grand Prix
every Friday and Saturday night in my muscle car and that of
my friends trying our hand at street drag racing and picking
up girls. Did

I was doing that in my Corvette. Those were the days, eh?

What engine did you have? Mine My 1970 Challenger was only a 383
because I valued A/C more than power, but my next door neighbor's
Challenger was a 440 Six Pack.

lousy at both, I recall ... But, these days, we have the
Woodward Dream Cruise. Not quite the same thing, but it's
nice to see those old Mopars, Fords, Goats, SS-396s, etc.

I was on the other side of the state, at US131 Dragway, just
north of Kalamazoo.

Was or an, Blinky? We get people from most of the states but I
don't know how to read MI plates to give me any clue as to where
they live. I don't even try to cruise on Saturday, the official
day of the cruise on the 3rd weekend in August. But, I did cruise
Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings last year in the
week before the formal cruise. Great feeling, 4 windows down
sucking in the sights, sounds, and smells. By Thursday, Woodward
is pretty much a parking lot, which is why I don't try on Sunday.
It takes about 2 hours to crawl from 11 Mile Road, where I try to
enter the pre-cruise, to maybe 14 Mile Road.

I usually take pictures at several places in the month before the
cruise. These are pre-cruise informal gatherings vs. a formal car
show. The biggest gathering, with maybe 80 cars or so moving in
and out all day, is in the Northwood Center parking lot at 13
Mile Road and Woodward. Another is at a large gas station around
14 Mile, and in the evenings after dinner, guys and gals back
into the angled parking spots along the street where there's a
strip of stores. I was too ill last year to walk around shooting
car pictures, but strong enough to sit in my Charger and just
cruise.

happy 61, Blinky, whenever that is! Mine is next month.

Mine's not until June -- ya old fart.

Let's just say that you're an old geezer and I'm a (slightly)
older geezer. grin Have a great week, Blinky!

One of my best RL friends is two months older than I am --
April '47 versus June '47. That gives me two months every
year to give him his ration of **** for the year.

See ya.

Yepper! Don't see you all that many places, Blinky, but it is
always a joy to debate things with you; we have a lot in common
and you have extraordinary knowledge in several technical areas
that are of interest to me. Have a great week and stay warm!

--
HP, aka Jerry

"Surely you jest - and don't call me Shirley!" - from the movie
"Airplane!"

Blinky the Shark added these comments in the current discussion
du jour ...

Takes me back to hanging out at the drags every other
weekend in the late '60s.

In my case, it was running the Woodward Avenue Grand Prix
every Friday and Saturday night in my muscle car and that of
my friends trying our hand at street drag racing and picking
up girls. Did

I was doing that in my Corvette. Those were the days, eh?

(Not in Detroit.)

Yeah, in those days, Detroit enjoyed the unenviable reputation as
the Murder Capital of the World.

--
HP, aka Jerry

"Surely you jest - and don't call me Shirley!" - from the movie
"Airplane!"

On Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:24:24 GMT, Dave Cohen wrote:
: Morton wrote:
: Hi,
:
: I'm an advanced photographer, who for reasons of age and decreasing
: vision gave up on my SLR film outfit. I'm now using a Canon Digital Elph
: SD-850. I can set the ISO values for automatic, which is usually OK but
: occasionally results in very noisy pictures when a high ISO setting was
: turned on. Setting the ISO manually for, e.g. ISO 100 should
: theoretically give the best noise-free pictures. This camera has a shake
: icon for when the shutter speed is too slow, and can be set to bump up
: the ISO on one shot at a time by pressing one button.
:
: In general, is one better off with automatic ISO, or manual at 100 while
: watching out for slow shutter speeds?
:
: Thank you.
:
: Mort
:
: I set my camera to 100. If a special situation should require something
: higher I override it for that instance.
: Dave Cohen

Outdoors you can do pretty much as you please. I set my camera to 200 because
I've seen no discernible difference in image quality between 100 and 200. I
don't believe my camera even has an auto-ISO setting.

Indoors is another matter. Modern Canon flash units are almost pathologically
averse to blown highlights. So if I use a low ISO setting, the flash exposes
for the highlights, and the picture is badly underexposed overall. I get much
better results by setting the ISO to 400 or even 800 (i.e., almost high enough
for an available light shot, depending on the lens). This reduces the overall
contrast of the scene, and I get much more even coverage from the flash. This
is especially true if I'm using bounce flash, with the counterintuitive result
that I often get more illumination with bounce flash than with direct flash.

Bob