Just bought a compact DC last week, whats about the ISO ?
I got mine with max 1250 ISO.

In which condition should i only use it ? tq.

ISO is the film/sensor sensitivity, the higher the ISO, the sensitivity.

This means that your exposure will increase, for example increase by 1-stop from ISO100 to 200, thus u can take faster shutter speed or smaller aperture.

The consequence of using higher ISO is ur pic will become grainy, aka noisy.

Try to google and read up exposure

compact DC has such small sensor that any pic above iso default 100 or 200 will be plaque with noise. 1250 iso is a gimick... to be used only if u want very fast shutter.. or very dark condition.... pic quality will suffer.

When it is low light then you turn your ISO high. But it will have more noice. Lowest ISO has highest quality image in term of noice.

ISO, basially you see the back days film with 100, 200 400. Those are ISO. Ppl always tell you that ISO100 for high bright sunlight is good and 200 just for day and night. ISO best for night shooting just because it is more sensitive to the light.

Be careful about the super high ISO gimmicks. Any shot from a compact camera using ISO higher than 400 will be virtually peppered with ugly noise and can have strange artifacts like bands or stripes running across your image.

However, compact cams nowadays come with complicated algorithms to remove all that ugliness of high ISO noise so that they can be safely advertised to be able to output ISO1000, ISO1600, etc. or higher ISO levels. BUT, a big downside to all noise reduction algorithms is that it makes your pictures unnaturally smooth, and in extremes makes it look like a water colour painting more than a photo. Even if it doesn't don't expect crispy sharp pictures like those taken with proper environmental lighting and low ISO.

Changing the ISO setting on your camera changes the sensitivity to light of the image sensor inside of it.

The lower number that you select the less sensitive the sensor is to light (and conversely the higher the number the more sensitive it becomes).

This is useful when you're shooting in different lighting situations - particularly when there's low light and you might not be able to use a flash (you'd bump up your ISO setting in this case).

The only cost of increasing ISO is that as you do it you'll notice that the 'noise' or 'grain' in your shots also begins to increase.

. Am I hand holding the camera? - when using a tripod you might be able to use a slower shutter speed which would allow you to lower your ISO.

. Is my subject moving? - if your subject is perfectly still (like when shooting a still life) and where you're using a tripod you'll be able to slow your shutter speed and lower ISO.

. Do I need a big Depth of Field? - If you don't need a large depth of field you might be able to increase your aperture which allows more light into the camera and will allow you to lower ISO.

. Can I use some Artificial Light? - using a flash or even switching on a light can help to get more light into your camera - allowing you to decrease your ISO setting.

. Can I get away with Grain? - sometimes a photo can actually look better with grain. Some photographers love the mood and atmosphere that a little noise can add and will bump up their ISO in the hope of getting it.

. How big will the image be enlarged? - the reason that noise is not able to be seen on your camera's LCD is that it is very small. As a result the pixels in the picture are small also and the grain is unable to be seen. It is only when you enlarge the picture on a larger screen or in printing that it becomes noticeable. If you're only ever going to use the shot in a small size you can probably get away with a higher ISO.

Keep in mind that it's only when you shoot in a manual or semi-manual mode that you need to change ISO. When you're in auto mode or one of your camera's preset modes it will select the lowest one that it can for you.

Also keep in mind that if you change ISO that you will need to get in the habit of checking what setting is selected at the start of every photo shoot. Many photographers have been disappointed at the end of a shoot to find that they'd forgotten to check what ISO setting they'd left their camera on in their last shoot. There's nothing worse than thinking you're shooting at an ISO of 100 only to find you forgot to switch it back from 1600.

http://digital-photography-school.com/blog...al-photography/

the higher the light sensitivity, the more noise your pic will have...

but beware, low ISO with no tripod can cause blurry image( if your dc doesnt have stabilizer).

Your info is incomplete.

"but beware, low ISO with no tripod can cause blurry image( if your dc doesnt have stabilizer)... AND if pictures are taken in poor lighting necessitating a slow shutter speed"

thanks for adding that..

I think one really should learn the basics of ISO, Aperture, and Shutter speed. The relationship between the these three is something everyone with a camera should know.

The more complete relationship is:

EV = function(ISO, Aperture, Shutter).

EV: Exposure Value.

image taken using ISO 1600



it was dark but i wanted to capture the lights from that scene.

if i were to show you the original picture, you'll see that it's noisy. in fact if you look at this picture closely you would probably notice the noise.

Thanks for the help .
One more question please.. the shutter speed ?
1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1 <-- i have these in my DC.

shutter opens for

1/8 = 1 8th of a second.
1/4 =
1/2 = 0.5 secons
1 = 1 sec..

the longer they open, the more lights and details it captures... but more blur if your hand shaking or no tripod

which camera do you have ijoel?
for compact cams, only fuji f-series have good high ISO capability.
i regularly shoot at ISO800 with my F30. happy with the outcome so far. sometimes even ISO1600 if anything else fails

u need to learn more about exposure, which is a combination of ISO, aperture & shutter speed. just google them & u should get at least some basic understanding for free. i think your manual should also mention something about it

my camera only can set iso and long shutter only.. cant set aperture and shutter speed(less than 1 sec) manually.. cheap canon a550..

Huh? Can't?
I owned the Canon Powershot A510 and bought for my sister the A540 and they both can manually set shutter AND aperture together.